Rights officials in Russia go to meet Snowden

MOSCOW (AP) ? NSA leaker Edward Snowden wants to seek asylum in Russia, according to a Parliament member who was among about a dozen activists and officials to meet with him Friday in the Moscow airport where he's been marooned for weeks.

Duma member Vyacheslav Nikonov told reporters of Snowden's intentions after the meeting behind closed doors in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

A photo attributed to a Human Rights Watch representative who attended the meeting was posted on the Guardian and other websites, in the first image to appear of Snowden since the newspaper broke the story of widespread U.S. Internet surveillance based on his leaks.

Snowden is believed to have been stuck in the transit zone since June 23, when he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong, where he had gone before his revelations were made public.

He had been expected to transfer in Moscow to a Cuba-bound flight, but did not get on the plane and had not been seen in public since then.

Snowden earlier made an initial bid for Russian asylum, but President Vladimir Putin said he would have to agree to stop leaking secrets about U.S. intelligence before asylum would be considered. Snowden then withdrew his bid.

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua recently have offered him asylum, but it is unclear if he could fly to any of those countries from Moscow without passing through airspace of the United States or its allies.

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Putin, told Russian news agencies after the announcement Friday that Russia has not received a new bid for asylum from Snowden and that Putin would continue to insist that Snowden stop leaking information

The activists at the meeting included Sergei Nikitin, head of Amnesty International's Russia office, and Tatiana Lokshina, deputy head of the Russian office of Human Rights Watch. Also taken into the meeting room were Russia's presidential human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, prominent attorney Genri Reznik, and Nikonov.

They came after an email in Snowden's name was sent on Thursday. On Facebook, Lokshina posted the text of the email, which says in part that Snowden wants to make "a brief statement and discussion regarding the next steps forward in my situation."

Hundreds of journalists flocked to the airport, but were kept in a hallway outside the meeting area which was behind a gray door marked "staff only." It was not clear if Snowden would have to come out that door or if he could exit by another route.

The text of the invitation did not directly address the offers of asylum, though it expressed gratitude for asylum offers and says "I hope to travel to each of them." It accuses the United States of "an unlawful campaign ... to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum."

Reznik said before the meeting that he expected Snowden called for it in order to seek asylum in Russia.

How much the human rights organizations could influence a Russian asylum bid or other aspects of Snowden's dilemma is unclear. Putin takes a dim view of non-governmental organizations' involvement in political matters.

But an appeal by Snowden to internationally respected groups could boost his status and give Russia a pretext for reconsidering asylum.

Russia has said it cannot extradite him because by remaining in the transit zone he is technically outside Russian territory.

___

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rights-officials-russia-meet-snowden-133955995.html

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Florida Traditions, Florida Shores Southwest post gains

While Wells Fargo and Chase, two of the Tampa Bay area?s largest banks, are reporting better than expected earnings, a couple of smaller institutions also showed income gains for the second quarter of 2013.

Florida Traditions Bank in Dade City had $884,000 in net income for the three months ended June 30, compared to $401,000 in the second quarter of 2012, according to regulatory filings. Income also was about double for the first half of 2013 ? $1.4 million for the six months ended June 30, compared to $754,000 for the year-ago period.

Total assets at Florida Traditions at June 30 were $287 million, a 13 percent increase from a year ago.

Florida Shores Bank-Southwest in Venice had $570,000 in 2Q 2013 net income, compared to $455,000 in the same period last year. For the first half of 2013, the bank?s net income was $905,000, compared to $585,000 in the year-ago period.

Florida Shores Bank-Southwest saw assets grow 7.9 percent year-over-year, to $375.75 million as of June 30.

Florida Shores and Florida Traditions were the only local banks to file second-quarter 2013 reports as of mid-day July 12.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), the No. 2 retail bank in the Tampa Bay area, reported second-quarter net income of $5.5 billion, up 19 percent over the second quarter of 2012, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

Second quarter net income at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), the ninth-largest bank in the Tampa Bay area, was $6.5 billion, up 30 percent from the year-ago period, a statement from the bank said.

Margie Manning is Quality and Content Editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She also covers banking, finance and professional services.

Source: http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_tampabay/~3/Yvp7FU0AsNc/florida-traditions-florida-shores.html

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Boost College Savings With State Grants, Scholarships

12 July 2013 4 views No Comment

Apply for need- and merit-based scholarships offered by states that contribute to 529 plan accounts.

Read the whole article originally published in: U.S. News - Education.

Source: http://www.financialaidnews.com/news/boost-college-savings-with-state-grants-scholarships/

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Watch WWE pay-per-views on all of your devices

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/how-to-watch-wwe-pay-per-views

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Florida on guard for post-Zimmerman unrest

Published: Thursday, July 11, 2013 at 5:16 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, July 11, 2013 at 5:16 p.m.

Police and city leaders across Florida say they have taken precautionary steps for the possibility of mass protests or even civil unrest if George Zimmerman is acquitted in the killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, particularly in African-American neighborhoods, where passions run strongest over the case.

For months, officials in Sanford and South Florida have been working with pastors, youth coaches, community activists and summer camp counselors to stress a non-violent approach if Zimmerman walks free.

At the same time, police say they have quietly been making plans for dealing with any potential emotional flare-ups that could quickly turn into storefront-smashing, car-burning riots.

In Gainesville, a rally will be held Saturday to pray for Trayvon Martin's family and to urge Gainesville and Alachua County residents to remain peaceful in the wake of the trial's outcome.

Organized by the Rev. Milford Griner, president and founder of the Rosa Parks Quiet Courage Committee, the Gainesville rally will be held at 6 p.m. at Bartley Temple United Methodist Church, 1936 NE 8th Ave.

Griner said the rally will be held to pray for Trayvon Martin's family, to pray for strength for Trayvon's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, and to pray for peace in Gainesville and Alachua County if Zimmerman is acquitted.

Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, is charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting death of 17-year-old Martin, who is black, in Sanford.

"We are going to start with prayer and then we are going to get input and feedback from the different organizations that will be represented, and then we will get feedback from the audience," said Griner, adding that the rally will last approximately one hour.

Meantime, Gainesville Police Chief Tony Jones said he's counting on a constructive reaction locally regardless of the trial's outcome in Sanford.

"We as a community can stand fast in our resolve to overcome and learn from these tragic events," Jones said of the shooting death of Martin.

"Regardless of the verdict ? I am confident that this community will choose to voice their concerns through our churches, media, town hall meetings, and with elected and non-elected community leaders," Jones said in a Speaking Out column that appears on today's Sun editorial page.

Griner, who organized a Gainesville march and rally for Martin last year and a tribute earlier this year to recognize the one-year anniversary of Martin's death, said Saturday's rally in northeast Gainesville is important to him because Martin's death affected him emotionally.

"This is a young man who I feel didn't have to die," said Griner, senior pastor of Pleasant Plain United Methodist Church in Jonesville. "So for me, as a Gainesville resident and as a father and grandfather, I feel it is important for all of us who were affected in different ways to come together."

Darry Lloyd, president of the African American Accountability Alliance of Alachua County, said he will participate because it involves an important issue. He said too many serious issues get "lost in conversations," and it is important to involve as many people as possible in discussions about issues that affect the black community locally, statewide and nationally.

"We need folks to be involved on all levels," Lloyd said. Using a track-and-field analogy, Lloyd said there "a lot of sprinters and not enough long-distance runners" fighting for civil rights today.

"We need distance runners in the new civil rights movement," Lloyd said.

As for possible protests statewide in the wake of a verdict, the Rev. Walter T. Richardson, longtime pastor and chairman of Miami-Dade County's Community Relations Board, which has been holding town hall-style meetings about the case, said, "It's all right to be vocal, but we don't want to be violent. We've already lost one soul and we don't want to lose any more."

Martin is from the suburb of Miami Gardens. He was in Sanford visiting his father and father's fiancee when Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, fatally shot him during a physical confrontation in a gated community in February 2012.

Martin's supporters portrayed the shooting as racially motivated, while Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, claimed self-defense. Charged with second-degree murder, Zimmerman pleaded not guilty at the trial unfolding in a Sanford courthouse.

After police initially refused to arrest Zimmerman, there were many large but peaceful protests in both Sanford and the Miami area ? as well as in New York and other cities. Those demonstrations included a mass walkout at nearly three dozen South Florida high schools.

Many in Sanford say they doubt the trial's outcome would spark local residents to take to the streets.

"The main focus was to get Zimmerman arrested and have him tried before a jury of his peers in a court of law," said Clayton Turner Jr., president of the Seminole County branch of the NAACP. "That was the main issue, not how we felt about whether he's innocent or guilty."

Correspondent Cleveland Tinker and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130711/articles/130719907

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Canada train derailment: Death toll at 50; Lac-Megantic residents jeer rail CEO (photos)

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec -- Everyone missing in the fiery crash of a runaway oil train in Quebec is presumed dead, police told grieving families, bringing the death toll to 50 in Canada's worst railway catastrophe in almost 150 years.

Meanwhile, attention focused on the CEO of the railway's parent company, who faced jeers from local residents and blamed the train's engineer for improperly setting its breaks before the disaster.

Officials said Wednesday evening that 20 bodies had been found in this burned-out town, and 30 people were missing.

"We informed them of the potential loss of their loved ones," said Quebec police inspector Michel Forget, who came to an afternoon news briefing from a meeting with families of the dead and missing. "You have to understand that it's a very emotional moment."

Edward Burkhardt, the head of the train's U.S.-based parent company blamed the engineer for failing to set the brakes properly before the unmanned Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train hurtled down a seven-mile (11-kilometer) incline, derailed and ignited in the center of Lac-Megantic early Saturday. All but one of its 73 cars was carrying oil, and at least five exploded.

The crash has raised questions about the rapidly growing use of rail to transport oil in North America, especially in the booming North Dakota oil fields and Alberta oil sands far from the sea.

The intensity of the explosions and fire made parts of the devastated town too hot and dangerous to enter and find bodies days after the disaster. Only one body had been formally identified, said Genevieve Guilbault of the coroner's office, and she described efforts to identify the other remains as "very long and arduous work."

Burkhardt, president and CEO of the railway's parent company, Rail World Inc., faced jeers from residents and scorn from Quebec's premier as he made his first visit to the town since the disaster. He was expected to meet with residents and the mayor Thursday.

Burkhardt said the train's engineer had been suspended without pay and was under "police control."

Investigators also had spoken with Burkhardt during his visit, said a police official, Sgt. Benoit Richard. He did not elaborate.

Until Wednesday, the railway company had defended its employees' actions, but that changed abruptly as Burkhardt singled out the engineer.

"We think he applied some hand brakes, but the question is, did he apply enough of them?" Burkhardt said. "He said he applied 11 hand brakes. We think that's not true. Initially we believed him, but now we don't."

Burkhardt did not name the engineer, though the company had previously identified the employee as Tom Harding of Quebec. Harding has not spoken publicly since the crash.

"He's not in jail, but police have talked about prosecuting him," Burkhardt said. "I understand exactly why the police are considering criminal charges ... If that's the case, let the chips fall where they may."

Investigators are also looking at a fire on the same train just hours before the disaster. A fire official has said the train's power was shut down as standard operating procedure, meaning the train's air brakes would have been disabled. In that case, hand brakes on individual train cars would have been needed.

The derailment is Canada's worst railway disaster since a train plunged into a Quebec river in 1864, killing 99.

Quebec police have said they were pursuing a wide-ranging criminal investigation, extending to the possibilities of criminal negligence and some sort of tampering with the train before the crash. The heart of the town's central business district is being treated as a crime scene and remained cordoned off by police tape.

At a news conference shortly before Burkhardt's arrival, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois faulted his company's response.

"We have realized there are serious gaps from the railway company from not having been there and not communicating with the public," Marois said. She depicted Burkhardt's attitude as "deplorable" and "unacceptable."

Burkhardt, who arrived in town with a police escort, said he had delayed his visit in order to deal with the crisis from his office in Chicago, saying he was better able to communicate from there with insurers and officials in different places.

"I understand the extreme anger," he said. "We owe an abject apology to the people in this town."

In an exchange with reporters, Burkhardt defended the practice of leaving trains unmanned, as was the case when the train rolled away. Canadian transportation department officials have said there are no regulations against it.

"For the future we, and I think probably the rest of the industry, aren't going to be leaving these trains unmanned," Burkhardt said. "We'll take the lead with that. I think the rest of the industry is going to follow."

Among the residents looking on as Burkhardt spoke was Raymond Lafontaine, who is believed to have lost a son, two daughters-in-law and an employee in the disaster.

"That man, I feel pity for him," Lafontaine said. "Maybe some who know him properly may think he's the greatest guy in the world, but with his actions, the wait that took place, it doesn't look good."

The disaster forced about 2,000 of the town's 6,000 residents from their homes, but most have been allowed to return.

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/canadian_train_derailment_death_roll_at_50_residents_of_lac-megantic_jeer_rail_c.html

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UPDATED: State Farm announces career fair next week in downtown Tacoma for 500 jobs

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UPDATED: State Farm announces career fair next week in downtown Tacoma for 500 jobs

This just in, from State Farm regional spokesman Brad Hilliard: ?We are seeking to fill 500 openings at our Job Fair?next Tuesday and?Wednesday.? The rest of his email: People interested in a career with State Farm are encouraged to visit?www.statefarm.com/careers?to fill out an application then come to the job fair on?July 16?or 17 prepared to interview with HR recruiters and department managers. Candidates will be considered for claim handling and processing careers that focus on customer service. We are looking for career minded individuals who are interested in competitive salaries, great benefits and flexible work schedules. ? Read more ? ...read

by The Biz Buzz 3 hours ago

Source: http://www.feedtacoma.com/entry.php?id=34886

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