Ark. treasurer accused of taking cash from broker

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas' state treasurer was accused Monday of taking at least $36,000 in cash ? sometimes stashed in a pie box ? from a broker who later came to manage a large share of the state's $3.3 billion investment portfolio.

Democrat Martha Shoffner, who made her initial court appearance Monday, said she had no plans to resign despite members of her own party joining Republican calls for her to step down. She was released on her own recognizance but ordered to surrender her passport.

Federal prosecutors allege Shoffner accepted $12,000 a year from a broker who would sometimes deliver cash in a pie box, with the pie included. They said the broker is cooperating with investigators.

"The allegations against Ms. Shoffner are serious and they completely erode the public trust that we put in our elected officials, if they prove to be true," U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer said at a news conference.

Outside the courthouse, Shoffner, 68, said she does not intend to resign. She was re-elected in 2010, and has faced inquiries over the past year about the way her office has handled state investments.

She didn't enter a plea Monday, but her attorney, Chuck Banks, said she'd plead not guilty at the appropriate time. A federal grand jury will decide whether to indict Shoffner, who is charged with attempt and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.

The charges carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. A next court date was not set.

Shoffner was arrested during a sting operation Saturday and spent the weekend in Pulaski County Jail.

"This has been a very, very tough proceeding for her and a tough weekend," Banks said.

An FBI affidavit filed in federal court alleges that a broker ? unidentified in court documents ? would roll up cash in $6,000 increments and have it delivered to Shoffner's office every six months. At least two of the payments were delivered in a pie box with a pie. The broker "recognized his/her bond business with the state grew because of the payments," the affidavit said.

The payments were made after Shoffner asked the broker for $1,000 a month to pay her rent in Little Rock, according to the affidavit. The document said the broker was granted immunity in exchange for his or her cooperation.

Legislative auditors last year questioned Shoffner's selling of bonds before they matured, a practice that they said cost the state more than $434,000 worth of earnings.

The state's top elected officials, including Gov. Mike Beebe, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, called for Shoffner to resign.

"I think she should resign immediately," said Beebe, adding that the details provided by prosecutors are so specific that Shoffner has been rendered unable to lead.

"It would be very hard, in my opinion, for that office to properly function under her continued leadership," the Democrat added.

The heads of the Democratic and Republican parties also said Shoffner should step down.

"The incompetence that has been uncovered, the criminal charges that are pending, and the distraction from her office that due process will involve make her unfit to continue in her service as State Treasurer," Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said.

Banks, Shoffner's attorney, said he "probably" would advise Shoffner to resign, but that the call is ultimately up to her.

"If she cannot properly perform her duties and responsibilities and still protect herself in a crime accusation, then to me it would be something for strong consideration," he told reporters.

Lawmakers could hold impeachment proceedings to remove Shoffner from office if she doesn't resign, but legislative leaders stopped short of saying whether they'd consider it.

Shoffner was arrested at her home in Newport after the broker agreed to record the meeting and bring $6,000 in a pie box, according to the affidavit. FBI agents executed a search warrant and found the cash inside a cigarette package in Shoffner's kitchen.

"Shoffner admitted she knew it was wrong to accept the payments," the affidavit said.

Thyer said he did not know how much the state had invested with the broker, or how much commission the broker made from the bond transactions. Thyer said it wasn't an easy decision for prosecutors to grant immunity to the broker, who he wouldn't name.

"It was a decision made out of necessity more than anything else," the U.S. attorney said. "At the core of this particular conspiracy as alleged in the affidavit there were two people, and if both of those two people remained silent we would not be here today."

The State Securities Department, which regulates brokers, said it would look into who made the payments to Shoffner and whether they were acting alone or on behalf of a firm.

"We're probably going to have to hunt this person down and we're going to do that," Securities Commissioner Heath Abshure said.

The CEO of St. Bernard Financial Services, the firm that legislative auditors said handled the bulk of bond investments by Shoffner's office, said he had not been contacted by the FBI.

Auditors said the office purchased $1.69 billion in bonds from St. Bernard and a related firm between July 2008 and March 2012, almost double the amount purchased from any other broker.

"If my broker is the one involved, I am not aware of it," Robert Keenan wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "At this time I don't believe he was, but anything is possible."

___

Associated Press Writer Chuck Bartels contributed to this report from Little Rock.

___

Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ark-treasurer-accused-taking-cash-164725221.html

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Editorial: Google confuses magic with middling as it steps into music streaming

First of all: that name. Google Play Music All Access. Perhaps Google's presenters realized, as they were driving to the I/O keynote, that they had forgotten to name the new music-streaming service, and came up with that clunker backstage.

Unique? Magical? It's easy to dismiss those claims within minutes of signing up.

Jump to the keynote, where Chris Yerga described All Access as "a uniquely Google approach to a subscription service," and remarked, "Here's where the magic starts." Unique? Magical? It's easy to dismiss those claims within minutes of signing up. Prosaic and useful, yes; unique and magical, no. All Access is nowhere near an innovation. The major ecosystem companies, each of which started with groundbreaking technical development, now seem to fashion their business destinies on buttressing their networks with products innovated elsewhere, plugging holes to sway existing users from drifting out of the system. It's not a new story, but always a sad one.

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Software, Google

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/20/google-confuses-magic-with-middling-as-it-steps-into-music-streaming/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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CSN: Reliant to get upgrades before Super Bowl LI

The Super Bowl is coming back to Houston in 2017.

On Tuesday, NFL owners decided that Super Bowl LI will be at Reliant Stadium. Houston beat out Miami for the big game in 2017. Miami lost to San Francisco to host Super Bowl L in 2016. The loser of that one (Miami) faced Houston for the game the next season.

?I can?t tell you how excited I am for Houston in being selected as the site for the 2017 Super Bowl,? Texans owner Bob McNair said. ?This is a worldwide stage that will be constructed in Houston and the world will be watching. It?s an opportunity to showcase our wonderful city, the NFL and the Super Bowl all at the same time.?

This will be the first time Houston will host the Super Bowl since 2004.

?Yeah. That?s pretty cool,? Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said after practice on Tuesday. ?I know there?s been a tremendous amount of work put in by our organization and Mr. McNair. I know that the city was a tremendous host back years ago, of course I wasn?t here at that time. I know they?ll do a great job again.?

Houston beat Miami and its experience. Miami has hosted the event 10 times, tied with New Orleans for the most times of any city.

"It's a happy moment for us," McNair said on NFL Network. "We had a wonderful time in 2004 and we loved having the NFL in Houston and celebrating the Super bowl."

In early May, lawmakers did not approve a deal to provide taxpayer support for $350 million worth of upgrades to Sun Life Stadium in Miami. That doomed the city's chances of hosting either Super Bowl.

?Certainly what happened doesn?t help Miami?s bid,? McNair said a few days after that news came out.

In mid-April, the Texans hosted NFL Senior Vice President of Events Frank Supovitz. Supovitz was in town to tour the city and help strengthen Houston's bid.

One notable addition to Reliant Stadium will be extra-wide video boards on either side of the field. These boards will be ready for use this season but also helped make the bid stronger.

NFL Network asked McNair if he enjoyed telling Jerry Jones that his new video boards would be bigger than the one in Dallas. "Yeah but I didn't tell him about that until after he voted," McNair said.

The Houston Super Bowl Committee was led by chairman Ric Campo. The honorary chairman, James Baker, was not allowed to be a part of the presentation because the league deemed him a celebrity. But Baker still helped to build the bid.

?The Super Bowl brings an enormous economic impact to its host city,? Campo said in late February. ?It also offers us a chance to show a worldwide television audience what a vibrant and international city Houston truly is.?

The Super Bowl committee was composed of 15 community leaders and according to a release from the Texans earlier in the year, the city saw an economic impact of more than $350 million when it hosted Super Bowl XLVII in 2004. ?

?We?ve accomplished what we set out to do,? Campo said. ?Thanks to the support and efforts of Mayor Parker, Judge Emmett and the entire Houston Bid Committee, we?re bringing another Super Bowl back to Houston. Our plans for the international celebration leading up to the game will create an unprecedented fan experience for Super Bowl LI.?

Next year's Super Bowl will be held in New York, the first time the game will be held in a cold-weather city. If that goes well, other places like Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago will likely bid for future games.

The Super Bowl in 2015 will be in the Phoenix area.

Source: http://www.csnhouston.com/football-houston-texans/talk/houston-will-host-super-bowl-2017

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Murray Lipp: Public Protests and Pride Parades: The Power of Participation

As we move through life we each leave a legacy, a personal imprint on the world. For me, an increasingly important and meaningful part of my personal story is my engagement in LGBT activism and my participation in LGBT cultural events.

I have attended four LGBT-related public protests in recent months and I am eagerly awaiting the 2013 LGBT pride parade season in New York City. Both types of events -- protests and parades -- are very empowering ways in which to participate in society and help effect societal change.

One of the defining characteristics of the LGBT community is our resilience and refusal to accept oppression. We're also known for our capacity, as a community, to put on a grand party when the situation demands it. Public protests and pride parades, respectively, play a key role in challenging discrimination against LGBT people and celebrating LGBT diversity.

Public Protests (Same-Sex Marriage in New York)

A public protest is a form of direct action whereby a group or community of people comes together, in a public manner, to express opposition or discontent about some type of unsatisfactory or unjust situation. While the aim is to communicate a message to the broader public about a given topic or issue, there is also the hope that this engagement with society will lead to positive social change.

From the historic Stonewall 'uprising' in New York City in 1969, to the HIV/AIDS protests in the 1980s/90s, through to the marriage equality rallies across the USA in 2013, the LGBT community in America has a long and rich history of publicly advocating for societal change. Through protests and collective action, the private and individual experience of discrimination is given a very necessary public stage. When the same 'private troubles' are experienced by a mass of individuals, such problems become 'public issues' requiring group level intervention (see C.Wright Mills and The Sociological Imagination). Discrimination against LGBT people is a prime example.

My foray into LGBT-activism was in 2009 in New York when efforts were being made to legalize same-sex marriage. While I had started an online campaign to promote the legalization of gay marriage in New York, I decided I also needed to participate in direct action events or 'real-world' (organic) activism as I call it. I wanted to connect with others in a more human way -- not just online -- and I wanted to be able to document these experiences for those who couldn't or wouldn't participate.

So I began attending LGBT-related political rallies in New York and started taking photos of what I saw at these events. From Equality & Justice Day 2009 in Albany lobbying state politicians, to marriage equality rallies in Queens and Manhattan, I started to get a sense of how significant and important these events were in exerting influence over broader society. While same-sex marriage was not legalized in 2009, these collective and direct action efforts certainly paved the way for future change.

By the time 2011 arrived, New York had been primed for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Various protests and rallies were held by pro-marriage equality advocates in the months leading up to the successful vote in the New York legislature in June 2011. Looking back on that period it is with a sense of satisfaction that I can say I participated in a number of these. I attended Equality & Justice Day 2011 in Albany, I photographed a rally against an anti-gay politician in Brooklyn, and I participated in two marriage equality rallies in Manhattan (Stonewall Inn rally, Union Square rally).

Public Protests (National Marriage Equality and Other LGBT Issues)

My experiences with real-world activism in New York in 2009 were accompanied by a growing desire to participate in societal change at a more national level. Attending the National Equality March 2009 was an inspirational experience in this regard. Marching together with thousands of LGBT people and our allies from all across the country in a united voice against LGBT-related discrimination was empowering and exhilarating.

After participating in New York City's inspiring 'End DOMA' rally in March 2013, I became aware of an intense desire to participate in the Supreme Court rallies that had been planned for later that month to coincide with the Prop 8 and DOMA hearings. I attended the March 27 DOMA rally in Washington DC and it was indeed an amazing experience. I will never forget the joy and exhilaration of being amongst the cheering crowd that greeted Edie Windsor (DOMA complainant) when she emerged from the Supreme Court after the hearing (see my video tribute to Edie Windsor here).

More recently, in recognition of the fact that marriage inequality is not the only issue that negatively impacts LGBT people, I've attended two protests relating to other forms of LGBT discrimination. In early May 2013 a group of LGBT Catholics and allies engaged in a vigil outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City in protest of Cardinal Timothy Dolan's suggestion that LGBT people should wash their hands before entering a Catholic Church. As an observer I was on hand to photograph and document this action. This past week, in response to anti-gay violence in New York City, I attended the 'Take Back the Night' rally in Manhattan joining together with other New Yorkers in condemning homophobic abuse.

Participating in public protests and direct action efforts are not for everyone, however. LGBT people who are not 'out' to friends and family are highly unlikely to attend such events due to the potential public exposure. Others cannot break away from commitments and responsibilities such as work and family. There are also those of course who simply have no interest in participating in these types of societal actions. As someone who has the capacity and the desire to participate, I now increasingly feel a personal obligation to do so -- not only to show my personal support for these causes but to photographically document these events for those who cannot or will not attend.

Pride Parades (New York City)

It's not just protesting and rallying, however, that the LGBT community has developed particular skill in. With roots in the 1969 Stonewall movement, LGBT pride parades are now held annually in various cities across America, all aiming to celebrate and honor the diversity and validity of LGBT identities and culture. While protests have as their starting point a need and desire to challenge something unacceptable (e.g. discrimination), parades have as their starting point a wish to celebrate something positive (e.g. human diversity).

Some people question the necessity of LGBT pride parades and reference the fact that there aren't 'straight pride parades.' Indeed, there would be no purpose for the latter because straight people are not an historically oppressed minority group. Straight people, as a group, are not subjected to violence and oppression the world over simply for being 'straight.' We live in a society which to a large extent remains structured around the erroneous assumption that all people are straight. Slowly, that is changing. It's fair to say, however, that in many places around the world each day still seems like one massive 'straight pride parade' in which the lives and culture of LGBT people are seldom featured or reflected.

In this sense LGBT pride parades aim to empower LGBT people by, firstly, acknowledging our very existence and, secondly, by celebrating our diversity and culture. Such parades are not an effort to promote separatism or to communicate any degree of superiority or inferiority. They aim simply to validate and celebrate a group of people who have historically been demonized by broader society.

My own personal experience of participation in LGBT pride parades began in 2011. Despite having lived in New York City for nearly four years by that point, I had not once attended a pride parade. With my growing interest in political activism and photography, however, I hit the pride parade scene in June 2011 and what a blast I had. It started with Queens, then Brooklyn, and then the biggest one of them all, the Manhattan pride parade. A month later, in July 2011, I was present outside the NYC Office of the City Clerk to photograph the first group of same-sex couples issued marriage licenses in NYC, a day which itself became an impromptu 'pride parade' and cultural celebration.

In 2012, hooked from the previous year's participation in pride parades, I repeated the Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan trifecta taking hundreds of photos in the process and sharing them online across the Gay Marriage USA Facebook network.

While right-wing anti-gay conservatives hysterically argue that LGBT pride parades are simply an effort to promote some kind of 'deviant sexual lifestyle,' the truth is something very different. While pride parades feature a collection of characters in outlandish costumes who dress-up intentionally for the occasion, they also feature the participation of regular LGBT folks wearing regular clothes honoring their regular lives. Like any community or group of people, we (LGBT people) are a mixed one that incorporates the mild to the extreme and everything in between.

Participation, Photography, and History

As direct action efforts advocating for the legalization of same-sex marriage continue across the country, and as the LGBT pride parade season looms on the horizon, I encourage those LGBT people who have never participated in a public rally or a pride parade to seriously consider doing so. There is something particularly powerful and meaningful about participating in these public events that literally do have the potential to change society and to change lives.

I agree that online activism is fueling a rapid change in attitudes about LGBT rights and helping to fast-track the path toward full equality, and I will continue to engage in it via Gay Marriage USA. On the other hand, our daily lives are becoming so heavily impacted by social media and online activities that sometimes it's easy to forget about the 'real world' out there, that one that has streets and people and noises and aromas.

We must continue to recognize the importance of real-world public protests and pride parades in helping to shape society in ways which ultimately benefit us all. In that regard, I will continue to find meaning and satisfaction in attending and photographing these events and playing my small part in helping to effect historic social changes. Helping to create a world which is kinder to LGBT people has become an important part of my life story and my contribution to society.

NYC Pride Calendar

* Staten Island parade: Saturday, June 1, 2013
* Queens parade: Sunday, June 2, 2013
* Brooklyn parade: Saturday, June 8, 2013
* Manhattan parade: Sunday, June 30, 2013

(Article Images: Photos taken by Murray Lipp, 2009-2013)

?

Follow Murray Lipp on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GayMarriageUSA

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/murray-lipp/gay-pride-parades_b_3299768.html

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Lovelorn frogs bag closest crooner

May 20, 2013 ? What lures a lady frog to her lover? Good looks, the sound of his voice, the size of his pad or none of the above? After weighing up their options, female strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) bag the closest crooner they can, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers of Zoology. This seemingly short-sighted strategy turns out to be the optimal mate choice strategy for these colourful frogs.

Males of the species congregate in the Costa Rican rain forest 'lek-style' to display and call together, giving females the chance to weigh up multiple males at once. But despite their best efforts, build and territory size, females tend to mate with the closest calling male, Ivonne Meuche from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany, and colleagues report.

The find was confirmed by playback experiments where females, played recordings of various male calls, failed to discriminate between different call rates or frequencies, preferring instead, the nearest speaker.

Female mate choice is a tricky business. Some species chose the first mate that is 'good enough' whilst others seek out and compare many mates before returning to choose the fittest. But the simplest, least costly option is to mate with the first or nearest male encountered, regardless of quality. The strategy doesn't seem an evolutionary winner as it means that nearby, unfit frogs sometimes get to pass on their genes at the expense of more distant, genetically-superior specimens. But it does make sense in certain situations.

Non-choosy behaviour like this has been noted in fishes, and some frog species with a lek-like mating system. It's thought the strategy works for them because it reduces 'costs' in terms of search time and competition for mates. Female strawberry poison frogs may also benefit little from 'shopping around' because strong inter-male competition means the available mates are all much of a muchness.

The team also noted that females unable to find a mate within a certain time period ended up laying unfertilised eggs that never hatch. So in species, like the strawberry poison dart frog, where the choosing sex outnumbers the chosen sex, it makes sense to 'grab the nearest guy' rather than run the risk of not mating at all.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/BoBpdJzuBGM/130520095103.htm

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Senators want fingerprint checks at airports

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate supporters of far-reaching immigration legislation accepted minor changes in public while negotiating over more sweeping alterations in private Monday as they drove toward expected Judiciary Committee approval by mid-week.

The legislation would provide an opportunity of U.S. citizenship to millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, create a new visa program for low-skilled workers and permit a sizeable increase in the number of high-tech visas, at the same time it mandates new measures to crack down on future unlawful immigration.

In two previous weeks of deliberations, supporters of the legislation have demonstrated their command over the committee's proceedings, alternately accepting some proposals advanced by the bills critics and rejecting others ? all without losing a single showdown.

The same pattern held true as the committee embarked on its third and final week of drafting.

On a vote of 13-5, the legislation's supporters agreed to require foreigners leaving the country through any of the nation's 30 busiest airports to submit to fingerprinting, part of an attempt to strengthen security. The proposal was drafted by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has yet to announce whether he will support the bill.

"This is an agreement that we need to build toward a biometric visa exit system," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. He said the system is "long overdue." Most of the committee's Democrats supported the provision, along with four Republicans. Among them were GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona, two the so-called Gang of Eight that negotiated the bill's basic framework over many months.

The committee last week rejected a proposal by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to impose the fingerprinting requirement at all of the nation's airports rather than only the biggest. He said the system's partial implementation marked a "retreat from current law," which already requires a nationwide biometric system. The requirement has not been fulfilled because of the cost.

While the committee met, officials said a complex private negotiation was playing out over proposed changes to a section of the legislation that would expand the current cap on H-1B high skilled visas from 65,000 annually to 110,000, with the possibility of a further rise to 180,000.

Lawmakers, aides and lobbyists familiar with the talks said that Hatch, whose state of Utah is home to a burgeoning high tech industry, was seeking to ease the terms and costs that would apply to companies that make use of highly skilled immigrant workers.

In general, organized labor and its allies on the committee, including Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., wanted tougher conditions than industry was seeking, part of an attempt to assure than American workers are not disadvantaged by a larger influx of H1-B visa holders.

In an email issued during the afternoon, the AFL-CIO urged its supporters to contact the committee and express opposition to "Hatch's anti-worker amendments...

"Hatch's amendments would change the bill so high-tech companies can hire new immigrant employees without first making the jobs available to American workers," it said. "Hatch's amendments would mean American corporations could fire American workers in order to bring in new immigrant workers at lower wages."

A short while later, Hatch's spokesman, Matthew Harakal, said the Utah Republican is "encouraged with where discussions are headed and hopes that an agreement can be reached on something he can support."

One Senate official said two earlier stabs at compromise had failed, one when the high tech industry rebelled at the terms, and the other when the AFL-CIO balked. The officials who described the deliberations did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to speak on the record.

The bill's supporters are eager to strike a deal with Hatch, although officials say they would insist that he agree to vote for the legislation in committee if they made concessions he wanted.

Whatever the ultimate outcome of the negotiations, it seemed unlikely that the committee's vote would be the final vote on high tech visas ? or any other major portion of the measure.

"This bill is not perfect," Schumer said at one point during the day, one of several occasions in the past two weeks he has signaled that he and other supporters will be receptive to some changes when the legislation reaches the Senate floor.

And in fact, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., arguably the Republican with the largest ability to sway the vote in the Senate, has said he wants to tighten the fingerprinting requirement that the committee accepted last week. "I will continue to fight to make the tracking of entries and exits include biometrics in the most effective system we can build when the bill is amended on the Senate floor," he said.

In other votes, the committee approved more visas for Tibetans and increased information sharing among federal agencies when people overstay their visas.

It also voted to strip asylum or refugee status from individuals who return to the country they fled, unless they can show a good reason for doing so.

Graham, R-S.C., said the asylum change was merited in light of the Boston Marathon bombings. The brothers who allegedly set off the bombs arrived in the U.S. as boys when their family sought asylum here.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senators-require-fingerprinting-30-airports-164720558.html

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The Future Of Mobile-Social Could Spell The End For Social Networks

Editor's note:? Keith Teare is the founder of just.me and a partner at Archimedes Labs. He is also the co-founder of TechCrunch. This was a momentous week for those of us who are watching the rapid transition that is taking place from desktop computing to mobile., and particularly for those focused on mobile-social as I am due to my job at just.me. Here is my take on what we just witnessed.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/OD5QpDrxKhE/

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