Vietnamairlinesgroup.net Released its New Website

Recently, Vietnamairlinesgroup.net, a well-known fashion review blog, has announced its new website. Vietnamairlinesgroup.net features the latest fashion news from a broad variety of stars, designers and companies.

(PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Recently, Vietnamairlinesgroup.net, a well-known fashion review blog, has announced its new website. Vietnamairlinesgroup.net features the latest fashion news from a broad variety of stars, designers and companies.
According to Marc Walters, president of Vietnamairlinesgroup.net, the new website is to help luxury lovers stay well-informed on the latest in upscale fashion and helps people choose the best women's fashion handbags before making any purchasing decisions.
Luxury handbags are a main affair of common concern for all women, and many females have a fairy storyline when it comes to top fashion handbags from a high-class brand.
Marc Walters said, “The Internet must be the most critical device of the 21st century, and it makes it simple to compare the prices with other online retailers. We offer visitors with much information from our rich product database. Moreover, we offer a service of quality guarantee, which provides customers a risk-free way when buying our amazing product lines."
Vietnamairlinesgroup.net loves high-end fashion, and believes finding a high quality but classic piece is an enjoyable thing. It has built a reputation for providing amazing deals on handbags.
About Vietnamairlinesgroup.net

Founded in 2005, Vietnamairlinesgroup.net is a popular fashion review blog. It has developed its own fashion shop recently. Vietnamairlinesgroup.net has always paid much attention to the latest fashion trends. With the effort of Vietnamairlinesgroup.net, customers can get better fashion shoes and handbags at affordable prices.

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GL Announces INAP Emulation Over IP (Intelligent Network Application Part)

Gaithersburg, MD (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
GL Communications Inc. announced today the release of its latest product INAP Emulation over IP.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Jagdish Vadalia Senior Manager for product development of the company said, “INAP is part of SS7 protocol suite and used for services such as single number translation (800), local number portability, incoming call management (do not disturb or call forwarding), backup call destinations in case of disaster, and similar services.”
He added, “MAPS™ ANSI INAP is an advanced protocol simulator/tester for ANSI INAP (Intelligent Network Application Part) services. The tester supports testing network elements gsmSCF and gsmSSF, error tracking, regression testing, conformance testing, and load testing/call generation. It is able to run pre-defined test scenarios against ANSI INAP test objects in a controlled & deterministic manner.”
Mr. Vadalia further added, “MAPS™ ANSI INAP scripts are suitable for testing objects accurately, reliably and validated for compliance with ANSI specifications. It is suitable for controlling telecommunication services such as CNAM (Calling Name Delivery), LNP (Local Number Portability), and Toll-free 800 Number over TCAP layer."
"The MAPS™ ANSI INAP application gives the users the unlimited ability to edit ANSI INAP messages and IN service scenarios (message sequences). "Message sequences" are generated through scripts. "Messages" are created using message templates.”
Main Features:

ANSI INAP Emulator can simulate GSM SSF and GSM SCF entities
User-friendly GUI for configuring the SCTP Layer
User configurable signaling links
Access to all ANSI INAP message parameters like CNAM, TCAP 800 Number, LNP, Signaling .Link Test Message, and more
User controlled access to optional parameters such as timers
Ready scripts for Customizable 800 Number, CNAM, LNP, Call Diversion
Supports customization of call flows and message templates using Script editor and Message editor
Supports scripted call generation and automated call reception
Provides protocol trace with full message decoding, and graphical ladder diagrams of call flow with time stamp
Script based & protocol independent software architecture
Provides call statistics with associated captured events and error events during call simulation
About GL Communications Inc.,

Founded in 1986, GL Communications Inc. is a leading supplier of test, monitoring, and analysis equipment for TDM, Wireless, IP and VoIP networks. Unlike conventional test equipment, GL's test platforms provide visualization, capture, storage, and convenient features like portability, remotability, and scripting.
GL’s TDM Analysis & Emulation line of products includes T1, E1, T3, E3, OC-3, OC-12, STM-1, STM-4, analog four-wire, and analog two-wire interface cards, external portable pods, and complete system solutions. Capabilities include voiceband traffic analysis and emulation across all traffic types (voice, digits, tones, fax, modem), all protocols (ISDN, SS7, GR-303, Frame Relay, HDLC, V5.X, ATM, GSM, GPRS, LTE, etc.), and with capacities up to thousands of channels. Our newest products provide astonishing capacity and capture capability up to and including gigabit speeds.
GL’s VoIP and IP products generate / analyze thousands of calls and traffic simultaneously with traffic types such as frames, packets, voice files, digits, video, tones, noise, and fax.  Almost all codecs are supported including G.711, G.729, AMR, EVRC-A,B,C, GSM, iSAC,  and many more. Additional features include visual analysis, real-time listening, and recording. The product line also includes Ethernet / IP Testing capability that simulates and checks frame transport and throughput parameters of Ethernet and IP networks, including delay, errors and other impairments.
GL's Voice Quality Testing (VQT) product line complements all of GL's products. Using ITU-standard algorithms (PAMS, PSQM, and PESQ), GL's VQT provides a widely accepted solution for assessing voice quality in the telecom industry. Voice Quality Testing across multiple networks (T1, E1, T3, E3, OC-3, OC-12, VoIP, Wireless, and Landline) are all available.
GL’s Wireless Products perform protocol analysis and voice quality assessment on GSM, CDMA, UMTS, and LTE networks. Connections can be made to any wireless phone with automated call control, GPS mapping and real-time signal measurements.
GL’s Echo Canceller testing solutions provide the broadest range of simulation and analysis, including line and acoustic echo. GL’s compliance testing per G.168. G.167, and P.340 across TDM, IP, VoIP and Wireless networks is widely accepted in the industry.
GL’s wireless VQT solutions help assessing impairments to voice quality such as poor mobile phone quality, voice compression and decompression algorithms, delay, loss and gain in speech levels, noise, acoustic and landline echo, and other distortions are easily assessed and accurately measured.
GL’s Handheld data testers can test a wide variety of communications facilities and equipment including T1, fractional T1, E1, fractional E1, T3 and E3 modems, multiplexers, CSU, DSUs, T1 CSUs, DTUs, NTUs and TIUs and more. The testers provide convenience, economy, and portability for almost any interface, including RS232, RS-422, RS-530, X.21, T1, E1, T3, E3, and many others.
GL’s Network Surveillance and Monitoring products include Probes for TDM, IP, VoIP, ATM, and Wireless networks. An open standards based approach provides a scalable, feature rich, real-time access to network characteristics.  Centralized or distributed access, efficient transport and database loading allow compatibility with 3rd party and standards based monitoring systems.

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Gladden Water Awarded 2012 Food Excellence Award

Gladden Water, a bottled water delivery company in Dallas/Fort Worth, was awarded the 2012 Food Excellence Award from the City of Garland Texas.

Dallas (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Gladden Water, a bottled water delivery company, was awarded the 2012 Food Excellence Award from the City of Garland Texas Health Department. Gladden Water manufactures, bottles and delivers Premium Purified Bottled Water to homes and businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and surrounding North Texas communities.
The City of Garland Texas states, "The award is difficult to obtain and one in which the the management and employees should be proud."
Company spokesman Bob Jesperson says, "We are very pleased to win this award from the City of Garland. The quality of our water and the cleanliness of our facilities have always been a priority. Our dedicated employees insure these standards are met every day."
Gladden Water reports tremendous growth in 2012 following expansion into many new communities in North Texas including Weatherford, Waxahachie, McKinney, and Allen. To handle the expanded coverage area Gladden opened additional bottling facilities in the Dallas Fort Worth area and now bottles and dispatches water delivery trucks from multiple locations.
About Gladden: Gladden Water purifies, bottles and delivers bottled water throughout North Texas. Most recently Gladden has been getting ready to enter into the water filtration business in North Texas. On the Gladden Water website several new options have popped up. They include options for reverse osmosis systems, bottleless water coolers and ice machines. Gladden will be making a formal announcement soon.

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HairStylistExam.com Registers its 100th Member Two Months After Launch

The first portal dedicated to helping hairstylists pass the hairstylist exam registers new members daily.

Toronto,Canada (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
HairStylistExam.com is Ontario’s only web-portal dedicated to helping hairstylists pass their hairstylist exam, better known as the certificate of qualification exam. Launched in late October, the web portal is seen as a success as it just recently registered its 100th member.
Individuals looking to practice hairstylist exam questions can register for the portal and gain access to the 21 hairstylist sample quizzes and tests. This equates to over 1,000 questions. Membership costs $49 for six months of unlimited access.
Specifically, each hairstylist test contains questions from eight problem areas including occupational skills, hair and scalp, cutting hair, styling hair, wigs, chemically waving, sales and marketing, and coloring hair.
All the questions on the sample tests are universal to North American hairstyling standards and practices, and therefore anyone looking to write their hairstylist exam for their specific region can use the portal.
With the coming new year, and as more regions in North America make it mandatory for hairstylists to write their qualification test, HairStylistExam expects the number of registers it will get in the coming months to continue to grow.

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Fire Island Social Media Fundraising Campaign Brings Aid to an Island Devastated by Hurricane Sandy

Refusing to allow Fire Island to become forgotten in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a grassroots fundraising effort went viral across the Internet with support by the local news website FireIsland.com.

Fire Island, New York (PRWEB) December 20, 2012
Refusing to allow Fire Island to become forgotten in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a grassroots fundraising effort went viral across the Internet with support by the local website FireIsland.com.
Primarily known as a summer destination, there was no Red Cross or National Guard presence on Fire Island, like there was in other coastal areas affected by Sandy. The job of cleanup and public safety was primarily left to the volunteer fire departments that mobilized in short order, the largest of which is Ocean Beach Fire Department whose encompassing district covers a significant central swath of Fire Island.
“I knew that the Ocean Beach Fire Department must be blowing through their budget on chain saws, generator repair and fuel being used every day,” said Lauren Eckstein Forman, founding organizer of the drive. “I tracked the homeowner association newsletters that were circulating, and recognized an opportunity to reach a much larger audience among renters, groupers, day trippers and greater Long Island residents.”
However, Eckstein-Forman’s on-line campaign to benefit OBFD hit a plateau of about $2,000 until she aligned forces with an old high school friend Brendan Smith, President of FireIsland.com. Coincidentally, Smith was also trying to spread the word of this devastating storm. Smith’s FireIsland.com network has tremendous reach with a Facebook readership over 25,500 strong, thousands of twitter followers and a Fire Island iPhone app with over 30,000 downloads. In just one week Smith managed to increase the fundraiser six-fold, raising a total of $14,318.
“I know the kind of traffic we have and how it responds,” said Smith. “So when Lauren came to me I knew our network would be able to raise at least $10,000 in a few days.”
Shortly after starting their fundraising, an online petition for dune restoration began to circulate. The petition calls local, state and U.S. Congressional elected officials to rebuild the decimated dune system of Fire Island “as soon as possible.”
The petition had limited reach and was not getting enough exposure. Once again Smith and Eckstein-Forman volunteered to take it online. Utilizing FireIsland.com network they exceeded all expectations and secured over 24,000 signatures.
"When touring the damage on Fire Island I was shocked to see sand dunes completely gone for miles,” stated New York State Senator-Elect Phil Boyle, who also signed of the petition. “Its a much more dangerous situation than we have ever seen. Rebuilding the dunes will be top priority in my role as state senator, we cannot afford to be unprotected from the next big storm."

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Cannabis Chewing Gum from Medical Marijuana Inc. Coming Soon, Says UnitedPatientsGroup.com

CBD-based chewing gum, the latest development of the medical marijuana industry produced by Medical Marijuana Inc. and CanChew Bio-technologies, will hit the shelves of health food markets in the near future, says UnitedPatientsGroup.com.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Cannabis chewing gum may sound like a fairy tale product from the future, but patients can expect it to be a reality soon. CanChew gum, the newest addition to the Medical Marijuana Inc. portfolio of revolutionary CBD-based products, is in the market testing phase right now and will become available at health food markets in early 2013. UnitedPatientsGroup.com explains how this gum can benefit many medical marijuana patients.
“Medical Marijuana Inc. recently acquired a 50% interest of CanChew Bio-technologies from European based pharmaceutical company Sanammad to come up with this industry changing product that will offer a discreet way for patients to take their medication and find relief,” says John Malanca, founder and owner of UnitedPatientsGroup.com.
Malanca says other benefits of CanChew gum include:

    Rapid absorption of pain relieving Cannabidiol (CBD) – When the gum is chewed, the active compounds are released directly into the blood stream via the oral mucosal glands, providing more rapid relief.
    Regulated dosages – Each piece of gum contains a regulated amount of CBD, so the guesswork of pain relief is virtually eliminated.
    A socially acceptable delivery method – Unlike smoking, CanChew gum allows patients to take their medication any place and any time without having to worry about the negative social stigma.
    A travel-friendly alternative to medical marijuana – CanChew has the potential to give patients a completely new way to travel with their medication without the stress of security checks and possession fines. (More information about traveling with medical marijuana.)
In addition to these benefits, UnitedPatientsGroup.com says Medical Marijuana Inc’s CBD products provide an innovative way for patients to find relief.
For more information about CanChew gum, visit canchewbiotech.com or medicalmarijuanainc.com.
To learn more about UnitedPatientsGroup.com, please call (415) 524-8099 or visit UnitedPatientsGroup.com. The best way to stay informed about developments is to “like” United Patients Group on Facebook and “follow” Untied Patients Group on Twitter.
About UnitedPatientsGroup.com
UnitedPatientsGroup.com is a discreet, safe, and professional [online medical cannabis information resource for prospective and current patients, caregivers, and medicinal cannabis industry professionals.
While most online medical marijuana sites cater to patients already familiar with medical marijuana, the UnitedPatientsGroup.com website is a comprehensive and easy-to-use information source for people of all ages and experience levels, from novice medical cannabis users to experienced industry professionals. The site’s News, Resource, and Blog pages introduce new patients to the ins and outs of medical marijuana healthcare, while helping experienced providers stay abreast of the latest developments in CBD therapies.
A complimentary Five Star-rated UPG medical marijuana app is now available on the iTunes app store for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and any iPad.

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Why we should politicize the Newtown school shooting, starting right now

Two events, each more than a century old, instruct us about how we should act in the face of what happened Friday in Newtown, Conn.
On March 25, 1911, fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in lower Manhattan. Because the owners had locked the doors and stairwells, in an effort to prevent theft and unauthorized work breaks, the garment workers were trapped in the fire; 146 of them, almost all young female immigrants, died.
In the wake of the disaster, New York politicians–including future Gov. Al Smith and future Sen. Robert Wagner–“exploited the tragedy.” How? By helping push through a series of reforms that made New York state a model of workplace safety.
Little more than a year later, on April 15, 1912, the unsinkable ocean liner Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, taking 1,522 passengers and crew members to their deaths. After the disaster, regulators and public officials “exploited the tragedy.” How? By insisting that ships carry enough lifeboats for all passengers (the Titanic, operating under then-current rules, had barely enough for half); by insisting that ships man their radios 24 hours a day; by better designs of hulls and bulkheads.
A shocking event is exactly the right time to start, or restart, an argument about public policy. A story like the Newtown killings rivets our attention, forces it to the front of our consciousness, insists that we sweep aside the thousand and one distractions that compete for our brain space, and demands that we ask: Is this how we want things to be, and, if not, what do we do about it?
Consider a more recent example. On March 7, 1965, voting rights demonstrators on a march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery were met by a phalanx of state troopers at the Edmund Pettis Bridge. They met the marchers with fists and billy clubs. A week later, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to a joint session of Congress. He made no apologies for “politicizing the tragedy.” Instead, he said:
“At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Ala.”
The speech—which borrowed the famous assertion that “we shall overcome”—propelled the Voting Rights Act into reality and effectively ended 100 years of state-sanctioned repression.
What those images from Selma did—as the images of police dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham had done in May of 1963—was to make real what for most of us had been an abstraction. The images said, This is what it means to be black in Alabama and seek the most elemental of civil rights.
What happened in Newtown, I think, was very much the same story. The day after the shooting, I was with my grandson at his elementary school’s book fair; I would wager that every parent, every teacher, every school staff member there looked at the kids, with their painted faces and their fists filled with cookies, and thought: This could happen to them. Those same thoughts were going through the minds of every parent dropping a child off at school on Monday, I imagine.
This is why the words of President Barack Obama on Sunday struck such a responsive chord. But it must not be forgotten that in the days, months and years before Newtown, the president has been something less than a profile in courage on the gun question. His response to a question on assault weapons during October’s town hall debate with Mitt Romney is best described as craven: “What I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally,” Obama said in part. “Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence.”
You can understand the thinking: I can’t get a bill through Congress, it’s a waste of political capital, there are lots of Democrats who hunt and shoot in Ohio. But it does not change the fact that the triumph of the gun lobby has been a bipartisan affair. To be fair, Republicans have been at the forefront of a never-ending effort at the state and federal level to permit guns of all sorts at all sort of venues, from schools to national parks. Before Newtown, it was only a matter of time before some zealot proposed letting citizens purchase Predator drones with Hellfire missiles.
The culture of hunting, and the legitimate case for self-protection, have too often been brushed aside by advocates of restricting gun ownership. But when a Second Amendment stalwart like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia endorses a national commission on gun violence and tweets, "This awful massacre has changed where we go from here. Our conversation should move beyond dialogue," you know the Newtown murders can act as a hinge moment.
Newtown forces us to look at the consequences of decisions–or indecision–squarely, unflinchingly. It forces us to ask ourselves, “What do we do in the face of this new evidence?” That is as far from exploitation as you can get.

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A memory of Robert Bork: A bracing, imaginative teacher

Robert Bork, who died today, will be best-remembered for two things: First, he was the solicitor general who, the night of the 1973 "Saturday NIght Massacre", obeyed Richard Nixon's directive to fire Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor, when Attorney General Eliot Richardson refused to do so. Second, he was rejected by the Senate after President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court; the Democratic majority considered his constitutional views to be outside the mainstream.

I have another memory: He was a professor at the Yale Law School. In that capacity, he was as bracing a figure as a student could hope to find.

Without question Bork was out of the mainstream of the Yale Law School in the mid-1960s, when I was a student there. He was possibly the only member of the faculty to support Barry Goldwater for president. But that made him exactly the right person to teach, and to challenge, the assumptions of an overwhelmingly liberal group of students. I still remember the last question he posed to his first year constitutional law class: "Write a dissenting opinion in Brown v. Board of Education,” the Court's 1954 opinion that outlawed racial segregation in public schools.

Was this evidence of Bork's Neanderthal views on civil rights? I thought (and still think) otherwise. He was asking students to wrestle with legal concepts on which the opinion itself--which was unanimous--cast no light. He was asking us to go beyond our own convictions, and to think imaginatively. And yes, I'm sure there was an element of puckishness as well.

That same spirit was on display in a seminar Bork conducted, along with another legendary Yale law professor, Alexander Bickel. We spent weeks arguing--or, rather, listening to Bork and Bickel argue--about a single hypothetical case. A group of passengers flee a sinking ship for a lifeboat on which there is one passenger too many. A very wealthy passenger offers a deal to an impoverished crew member: Give up your seat to me and I will ensure your family financial security for generations. The question: Should American courts allow that contract to be enforced?

In the years after his Supreme Court rejection, Bork became a dyspeptic, partisan figure. On this day, I choose to remember him as a teacher who succeeded in the single most important job: He taught us how to think.

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5 important facts and misconceptions about Asperger's syndrome

Crucial info about the developmental disorder that reportedly afflicted the alleged shooter in the Newtown massacre — and has been linked, incorrectly, to violent tendencies
We have a natural, if often regrettable, tendency to fear the things we don't understand. In the aftermath of the Newtown shootings that claimed the lives of 20 young children, the blogosphere seized on unconfirmed reports that the alleged shooter, Adam Lanza, was once diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and the term rocketed up Google's search charts. A controversial first-person essay titled "I am Lanza's mother," which illustrated a mother's fear of violence from her own Asperger's-afflicted son, was widely distributed by websites ranging from Gawker to the Huffington Post, garnering millions of pageviews and inciting bloggers everywhere to weigh in (some more successfully than others). But what do we really know about the developmental disorder, which was hastily conflated with Sandy Hook's bloodshed. Five facts and misconceptions:
1. Asperger's is considered a form of autism, but differs in a few key ways
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines Asperger's syndrome, first identified in 1944, as an "autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one of a distinct group of complex disorders characterized by social impairment, communication difficulties, and restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior." Recent revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM-5) have merged Asperger's syndrome with autism, says Dr. Manny Alvarez at Fox News. However, one of the main differences is that Asperger's does not typically involve a speech delay, and autistic symptoms are typically less severe. Individuals with Asperger's often have strong language skills, "but their speech patterns may be unusual, and they may not pick up on subtleties such as humor or sarcasm." Sometimes Asperger's is referred to as "high-functioning autism." It shouldn't, under any circumstances, be confused with a mental illness like clinical depression.
2. We still have no idea what causes it
The root of Asperger's, like autism, is largely a mystery. Current research suggests it's connected to early developmental changes in brain structure, which may be caused by "abnormal migration of embryonic cells during fetal development" that "rewires" a person during early childhood, according to the NIH.
3. Asperger's individuals can be remarkably intelligent
People with Asperger's typically have an "unusual preoccupation" with very specific subject matter. "Basically, you get an individual who might have a real restricted repertoire of things they are interested in," Henry Roane, a specialist in the treatment of behavior disorders, tells ABC News, and that's why individuals with Asperger's often get bored easily or shy away from socializing. In fact, what separates Asperger's from many other forms of ASD is that individuals often demonstrate normal or above-normal levels of intelligence, and often perform well academically. For example, in a 2007 study measuring fluid problem-solving abilities, 17 children with Asperger's scored much higher than their age- and sex-matched peers.
4. The diagnosed often self-alienate
Individuals growing up with Asperger's often shy away from human contact, which can kick off a vicious cycle of social alienation. "Today, if you met me, you would think I'm a bit odd but you wouldn't guess that I have Asperger's," says an affected individual in a first-person iReport on CNN. "Because we alienate ourselves at first, and then society alienates us, we have no good reason to seek out friendships other than the basic human need to belong. It is unsurprising to me that many with Autism and Asperger's alienate themselves by choice." He continues: "We want what anyone in their right mind wants: We want to be loved. And we are stubborn people."
5. The connection between Asperger's syndrome and violence is misleading
Autism expert Dr. Ami Klin of the Emory University School of Medicine says that the link that's been drawn between the Newtown shootings and Asperger's is "an enormous disservice" to those affected by developmental disorders. "Any human condition can coexist with violence," but no correlation should be drawn, he tells New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan. Now, experts are speaking out, saying that the carefully calculated attack carried out in Sandy Hook last Friday is out of character for someone suffering from Asberger's. "I have known a lot of people with Asperger's and I have never known one who is violent," Dr. Travis Thompson at the University of Minnesota tells NBC News. "They have a lot of problems with anxiety and they have problems with relationships with other people too but that doesn't translate into violence. When they are little kids, they have tantrums because they don't know what to do and they feel adults don’t understand them. When they become older they develop mechanisms and since they are usually very verbal they can ask questions."

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President Obama's gun-violence task force: A cop-out?

Some gun-control advocates are displeased that Obama isn't taking immediate action
President Obama on Wednesday launched a gun-violence task force, led by Vice President Joe Biden, that will be charged with offering recommendations by January on how to prevent massacres like the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. "The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing," Obama said. "The fact that we can't prevent every act of violence doesn't mean we can't steadily reduce the violence and prevent the very worst violence." Furthermore, Obama called on Congress to vote on several measures that a "majority of Americans support," including a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, as well as background checks for all prospective gun buyers.
It was Obama's most explicit call for gun control since the Newton tragedy, and represented the first time that a sitting president has even discussed the issue with any seriousness for years. But the creation of another presidential commission — the place where good ideas die before they even get to the mass graveyard of Congress — looked a lot like a classic political dodge. Obama, well aware of the sketchy reputation of task forces and the like, even went so far as to say that his Washington commission "is not some Washington commission."
So is the gun-violence task force a copout? "Appointing a task force on guns seems a little mealy-mouthed to me," says Michael Tomasky at The Daily Beast:
Obama's style is to be deliberative, gather evidence. It's a lot better than shooting from the hip on general principle. But sometimes there's a public mood out just waiting to be caught and exploited before it dissipates and before the opponents can confuse and redirect it.
Right now, there is an opportunity to make a very simple and straightforward statement: We need far, far tougher regulations on the kinds of guns that exist only to kill large numbers of human beings very quickly, and the ammunition that goes in them.
Well, of course the task force "will undoubtedly frustrate many in [the Democratic] party who want immediate action," says Byron York at The Washington Examiner:
Obama's move will likely dissipate the energy behind gun control advocacy on Capitol Hill. It's unlikely that even the most pro-gun-control Democrats would want to get out in front of the Biden Commission and pass specific measures. And the political world, and the emotional intensity behind the gun issue, could be quite different even a month from now. So Obama is stopping Democratic momentum, and he knows it. Republicans know it, too.
However, some liberals are more optimistic. Obama's action "demonstrates what presidential leadership on this issue is supposed to look like," says Greg Sargent at The Washington Post:
Obama didn't take refuge in generalities; he staked out very specific policy goals that need to be achieved. He voiced support for banning the sale of military style assault weapons and high capacity magazine clips, and for requiring background checks before "all" gun purchases… He tasked his Vice President to draw up ways to accomplish these goals, and also called for a Congressional vote on them in January. That means Obama understands the need not to let public sentiment dissipate on the issue, and for a specific time frame for legislative action.

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What the dark side of Saturn looks like

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures the gas giant from an unusual angle, making for one haunting photograph
Thanks to a rare set of circumstances not unlike a solar eclipse here on Earth, NASA's Cassini spacecraft was able to capture this photograph of Saturn on Oct. 17, 2012, during the craft's 174th orbit around the gigantic ringed planet. Noticeably missing is Saturn's signature brownish orange hue; what the camera captures instead is an expansive, ominous shadow that highlights the gas giant's rings. NASA calls the newly released snapshot a "splendor seldom seen," adding that the "very scientifically advantageous and coveted viewing position... [reveals] details about both the rings and atmosphere that cannot be seen in lower solar phase." "Absolutely remarkable," says Robert T. Gonzalez at io9. We tend to agree.

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