Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Huge Ancient Civilization?s Collapse Explained

The mysterious fall of the largest of the world's earliest urban civilizations nearly 4,000 years ago in what is now India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh now appears to have a key culprit ? ancient climate change, researchers say.

[Related: Earliest evidence of Bethlehem found]

Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia may be the best known of the first great urban cultures, but the largest was the Indus or Harappan civilization. This culture once extended over more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) across the plains of the Indus River from the Arabian Sea to the Ganges, and at its peak may have accounted for 10 percent of the world population. The civilization developed about 5,200 years ago, and slowly disintegrated between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago ? populations largely abandoned cities, migrating toward the east.

"Antiquity knew about Egypt and Mesopotamia, but the Indus civilization, which was bigger than these two, was completely forgotten until the 1920s," said researcher Liviu Giosan, a geologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. "There are still many things we don't know about them." [Photos: Life and Death of Ancient Urbanites]

Nearly a century ago, researchers began discovering numerous remains of Harappan settlements along the Indus River and its tributaries, as well as in a vast desert region at the border of India and Pakistan. Evidence was uncovered for sophisticated cities, sea links with Mesopotamia, internal trade routes, arts and crafts, and as-yet undeciphered writing.

[Slideshow: Rare treasure trove of ancient jewelry found]

"They had cities ordered into grids, with exquisite plumbing, which was not encountered again until the Romans," Giosan told LiveScience. "They seem to have been a more democratic society than Mesopotamia and Egypt ? no large structures were built for important personalitiess like kings or pharaohs."

Like their contemporaries in Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Harappans, who were named after one of their largest cities, lived next to rivers.

"Until now, speculations abounded about the links between this mysterious ancient culture and its life-giving mighty rivers," Giosan said.

Now Giosan and his colleagues have reconstructed the landscape of the plain and rivers where this long-forgotten civilizationdeveloped. Their findings now shed light on the enigmatic fate of this culture.

"Our research provides one of the clearest examples of climate change leading to the collapse of an entire civilization," Giosan said. [How Weather Changed History]

The researchers first analyzed satellite data of the landscape influenced by the Indus and neighboring rivers. From 2003 to 2008, the researchers then collected samples of sediment from the coast of the Arabian Sea into the fertile irrigated valleys of Punjab and the northern Thar Desert to determine the origins and ages of those sediments and develop a timeline of landscape changes.

"It was challenging working in the desert ? temperatures were over 110 degrees Fahrenheit all day long (43 degrees C)," Giosan recalled.

After collecting data on geological history, "we could reexamine what we know about settlements, what crops people were planting and when, and how both agriculture and settlement patterns changed," said researcher Dorian Fuller, an archaeologist with University College London. "This brought new insights into the process of eastward population shift, the change towards many more small farming communities, and the decline of cities during late Harappan times."

[Slideshow: Glimpse of ancient war in Jerusalem tunnel]

Some had suggested that the Harappan heartland received its waters from a large glacier-fed Himalayan river, thought by some to be the Sarasvati, a sacred river of Hindu mythology. However, the researchers found that only rivers fed by monsoon rains flowed through the region.

Previous studies suggest the Ghaggar, an intermittent river that flows only during strong monsoons, may best approximate the location of the Sarasvati. Archaeological evidence suggested the river, which dissipates into the desert along the dried course of Hakra valley, was home to intensive settlement during Harappan times.

"We think we settled a long controversy about the mythic Sarasvati River," Giosan said.

Initially, the monsoon-drenched rivers the researchers identified were prone to devastating floods. Over time, monsoons weakened, enabling agriculture and civilization to flourish along flood-fed riverbanks for nearly 2,000 years.

"The insolation ? the solar energy received by the Earth from the sun ? varies in cycles, which can impact monsoons," Giosan said. "In the last 10,000 years, the Northern Hemisphere had the highest insolation from 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, and since then insolation there decreased. All climate on Earth is driven by the sun, and so the monsoons were affected by the lower insolation, decreasing in force. This meant less rain got into continental regions affected by monsoons over time." [50 Amazing Facts About Earth]

Eventually, these monsoon-based rivers held too little water and dried, making them unfavorable for civilization.

"The Harappans were an enterprising people taking advantage of a window of opportunity ? a kind of "Goldilocks civilization," Giosan said.

Eventually, over the course of centuries, Harappans apparently fled along an escape route to the east toward the Ganges basin, where monsoon rains remained reliable.

"We can envision that this eastern shift involved a change to more localized forms of economy ? smaller communities supported by local rain-fed farming and dwindling streams," Fuller said. "This may have produced smaller surpluses, and would not have supported large cities, but would have been reliable."

This change would have spelled disaster for the cities of the Indus, which were built on the large surpluses seen during the earlier, wetter era. The dispersal of the population to the east would have meant there was no longer a concentrated workforce to support urbanism.

"Cities collapsed, but smaller agricultural communities were sustainable and flourished," Fuller said. "Many of the urban arts, such as writing, faded away, but agriculture continued and actually diversified."

These findings could help guide future archaeological explorations of the Indus civilization. Researchers can now better guess which settlements might have been more significant, based on their relationships with rivers, Giosan said.

It remains uncertain how monsoons will react to modern climate change. "If we take the devastating floods that caused the largest humanitarian disaster in Pakistan's history as a sign of increased monsoon activity, than this doesn't bode well for the region," Giosan said. "The region has the largest irrigation scheme in the world, and all those dams and channels would become obsolete in the face of the large floods an increased monsoon would bring."

The scientists detailed their findings online May 28 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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HBT: Schilling's pretty nervy to say what he did

Curt Schilling has spent many years promoting conservative candidates and causes and styled himself a champion of private enterprise, limited spending and self-reliance. Good for him. Even if I don?t agree with his political views, I do not believe that anyone has a monopoly on wisdom and I respect those views as a legitimate alternative to the things I believe. Noble opposition if you will.

However, just as there are no?atheists?in foxholes, there are no conservatives when business is poor. ?And as for responsibility and self-reliance? Well, Curt Schilling is not a big fan of those things these days:

In his first public remarks on the company?s problems, Schilling told the newspaper for its Tuesday editions that public remarks by Gov. Lincoln Chafee that the state was trying to keep his company solvent were ?devastating.? He said that shortly after those remarks, a video-game publisher pulled out of a deal to finance a new game.

?The governor is not operating in the best interest of the company by any stretch, or the taxpayers, or the state,? Schilling told the newspaper. ?We?re trying to save this company and we?re working 24/7. The public commentary has been as big a piece of what?s happening to us as anything out there.?

Yes, it?s the government?s fault for daring to speak when you defaulted on your obligations, Schilling. Obligations you made in order to receive breaks and incentives from that same government. ?Don?t like the spotlight? Tough. As The Common Man wrote earlier today, you live by your fame and personal brand, you die by it too.

And either way: if you think taking handouts from the government is a bad idea, don?t take them. And if you do, don?t complain when the government gets somewhat antagonistic with you.

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London 2012 Olympics: Race to stop human rights abusers attending games

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NLRB Member Terence Flynn Resigns Abruptly

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Best iPhone gaming apps: casual - Pocket-lint

Sometimes the best kind of apps are the ones you can just pick up and play. Instantaneous fun for the train, bus or any other boring situation, they are ideal time fillers to pull out of your pocket.

Consider these guys the iPhone classics - easy to play, hard to master and just as much fun whether being picked at for five minutes tor for over an hour. The other great thing is, they're usually cheap.?

Oh! Edo Towns

We are big fans of Kairosoft over at Pocket-lint, its uber-addictive formula of retro gameplay and graphics has had us wile away many an hour on one of its numerous apps.?Oh! Edo Towns puts you in charge of building villages in Japan. Think of it like a simplified version of Sim City, without all the complex building zone laying. You start off with a small plot of land and only a few residents to manage. Build on vacant lots and wait until people start arriving, from then on the game begins to get seriously fun.

Once you have a decent little collection of chappies enjoying the delights of your simple yet likely barren village, you're going to want to start building fields, shops and all other types of entertainments for your citizens. The usual emphasis on upgrading and researching is there, as in all Kairosoft titles.?You can boot straight into the gameplay, provided the app hasn't been killed, and it saves ands load very quickly. This makes it the perfect title to pick at while on the train and well worth the ?2.49 asking price. Read More

iTunes: Link

Price: ?2.49

Rating: 3/5

?

Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense

This little gem combines real-time strategy and tower defence, merging the two, admittedly very similar genres, into one - and creating an excellent game in the process.?The plot is straightforward enough: you take control of a variety of friendly formicidae which all work together to gather food and destroy enemy bugs so that your anthill might be preserved. There are workers who collect the food, an army variety that gets stuck in hand-to-hand, and flying ants that bombard the opposition with green goo, among others.

Anthill iPhone app

As ever, it's a case of balancing the different varieties at your disposal; creating workers to forage for food and combat troops to defend them, if you're going to be successful. You can determine where each type of ant goes by creating a line on the screen which they'll follow to a target - the whole system working very well.?Where the real beauty lies is in the gameplay. Things can look pretty hectic at times, but because of the intuitive interface everything remains under your control. For a game that, somehow, feels quite fresh on the iOS platform, we have to say that it's a bargain. Read More

iTunes: Link

Price: ?1.99

Rating:?4/5

?

The Nightjar

The Nightjar is a space adventure in which you play the last crew member of a spacecraft about to spiral into a black hole. As black holes and spacecraft (and pretty much anything for that matter) don't tend to mix, the aim of the game is to get the hell out of Dodge.

The storyline is all pretty straightforward sci-fi, but it's in the gameplay that things start to get interesting. Immersed in total darkness, it is by use of sound cues that you have to navigate your way off the doomed ship.?You also have a guide at hand in the form of Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who gives you hints on the task at hand.

This is a genuinely unnerving game, which increases the tension with subtle suggestions of other lifeforms on the ship - whether it's the gruesome chomping of a nearby lifeform dining on a fallen shipmate or the computer announcing that a party of complex lifeforms has just boarded: "one of which is human".?The game is brief but while it lasts every step and sound oozes quality; and the fact that it's a free download means that if you have the iDevice on hand it's a must. Read More

iTunes: Link

Price: Free

Rating: 3/5

?

Paper Glider

Neon Play, known for Flick Football and Golf Putt Pro, couldn't buy the sort of publicity that it has been awarded by its Paper Glider being the 10 billionth application downloaded from the App Store. So it's incredibly heartening to note that it couldn't have happened to a nicer company or concept.?

Paper Glider is a mind-boggingly simple idea: guide a paper aeroplane as far as you can by an initial swipe and gentle gusts of wind. Yet it is fiendishly addictive and an ideal and welcome time-waster for any journey.

You can also post your scores to Twitter and Facebook or send an email. Simple, cunning and a prime example of a "just one more go" game.?Also, as the app is completely supported by advertising, it's free - you won't lose anything by giving it a try. Read More

iTunes: Link

Price: Free

Rating: 4/5

?

Angry Birds Space

Space is the final frontier, as that fella on Star Trek says, and now, rather than heading down to Brazil in some movie tie-in, or finding yourself blasting pumpkins in some extra levels for Hallowe'en, Rovio's latest venture takes the angry birds and the green pigs out of this world.

What ensues are three?planetary?bodies, with 30 levels apiece and plenty of space pigs to kill.?The gameplay is as addictive as it always has been, and not too?dissimilar from the tried-and-tested formula of AB games past, so you'll know whether that means you are bored of it already or raring to go.?The key difference is that gravity has been added as a gameplay tool, and specifically the gravitational pull of planets and moons. They have an affect on the trajectory of your birds and that's something you now have to factor in. Read More

iTunes:?Link

Price: ?0.69

Rating: 4/5

?

Where's My Water?

Where's My Water? revolves around our hero (in the loosest sense of the word) Swampy the Alligator. Swampy wants to take a shower, but someone has been messing with his water supply. We're sure you can guess how the game unfolds after that.?

Of course, the aim of the game is to get the water running out of Swampy's shower so the dirty 'gator can give himself a good scrub. But this isn't just a pipe game like Toobz, here you have a whole range of different environmental conditions to deal with.

?

Along the way you'll have to clear earth to let the water through, move ramps, avoid weeds, divert acid, bounce water jets, navigate mazes, avoid mines and all manner of things to complete the level.?Levels are beautifully designed and we love the cartoon styling. Levels are easy enough to make good progress without getting frustrating, but there are moments when you'll need a little trial and error to figure out exactly what everything does. Read More

iTunes:?Link

Price: ?0.69

Rating: 4/5

?

Cut the Rope: Experiments

Like the original Cut The Rope game, this involves getting as many sweets as possible into the mouth of your Om Nom. Rope-cutting is of course also central to the premise of the application, though there are now plenty more special items thrown into the mix to make feeding your Om Nom harder.

Things like the rope gun and suction cup holder now mean you can take more direct control over the path of your sweet. This doesn't mean things are any easier than they were. In fact all this new controllery makes the game a little bit tougher, which we definitely like. Read More

iTunes:?Link

Price: ?0.69

Rating: 4/5

?

Temple Run

There's no great complexity to Temple Run, but it's within its simple gameplay that its genius lies. Its simple, twisted, evil genius - even more evil and tortured than the monster-monkeys that chase you throughout the entire experience.

For you see, as with any successful casual mobile game, the power of Temple Run is its addictiveness. The "one more go" lure that will see evenings, days and weeks lost, blurred into a hazy nightmare involving hollow trees, gold coins and, weirdly, an American footballer.

The premise is straightforward: your character (there are several protagonists who you can unlock) has escaped from a temple (hence the name) and is being chased incessantly by the aforementioned monster-monkeys.

You're not sure why you're running but run you shall. Run, turn, jump and slide. That's it. Avoid the trees, don't fall off the track and make sure you collect as many coins as you can along the way - presumably whatever your character has made off from the temple isn't enough for him or her.

iTunes:?Link

Price: Free

Rating:?4/5

?

Flick Kick Football

There is one football app that, regardless of whether you follow the beautiful game, you'll be glued to as if it's Match of the Day and you don't know the result. The premise is simple. You've got to score as many goals as possible to carry on playing. Shooting at certain areas classed as the Skill Zone earns you lives or more time. Do well and you'll be on to a cracking score; crack under pressure and you'll be starting back from scratch.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? That is until you put moving goalies and players in the way. Then you've got the varying distances to cope with and the ability to curve the ball like you're David Beckham. Ten minutes in and like Paper Toss you'll find you're addicted. With smart graphics, some great nail-biting camera replays and gameplay that you'll enjoy and be infuriated by, this app is a winner. GOOOOOOAALLLLLLLLLLLLL. Read More

iTunes: Link

Price: 69p

Rating: 4/5

?

Whale Trail

This highly stylised and polished game has clearly been influenced by previous successful iPhone games, such as Tiny Wings. This is not to say that it's not original - there are plenty of innovative ideas - but the simple gameplay, controls and sound are nothing if not reminiscent.

Whale Trail

Game mechanics are simplicity itself: pressing and holding anywhere on the screen makes the whale rise, while releasing brings about a swooping action - the aim being to collect bubbles to fuel your flight.

As you move on through the levels, bubbles become more scarce and your flying skills will need to improve. Nice elements include frenzy mode which makes your whale invincible, enabling you to smash through the dark clouds - these suck away your bubble fuel in order to curtail your flight - and high-speed boosts that enable you to go where no whale has gone before.

iTunes:?Link

Price:?69p

Rating:?4/5

Any other casual style games we have missed? Let us know in the comments below ...?

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4A and 3A championship baseball -- Twitter updates

I will be out at Gesa Stadium in Pasco all day Saturday to cover the final day Class 4A and 3A high-school baseball playoffs.

Here is the schedule:

Third-fourth

Class 3A

Bishop Blanchet (16-10) vs. No. 4 Kelso (18-8), 10 a.m.

Third-fourth

Class 4A

No. 4 Richland (21-6) vs. No. 10 Beamer (18-7), 1 p.m.

Class 3A

Title game

No. 8 Eastside Catholic (19-6) vs. No. 9 Kamiakin (18-9), 4 p.m.

Class 4A

Title game

No. 3 Puyallup (22-5) vs. No. 2 Kentwood (24-2), 7 p.m.

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Victor Cruz ? Salsa in Madden NFL 13

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Technological savvy part of senior's drive to help others

ST. CHARLES ? Brian Ricketts had no trouble falling in love with robots.

After all, as he tells it, robotics have become an essential part of his life.

?There aren?t many people that can say they have a microprocessor in their leg,? Ricketts said, with a sly grin.

For as long as he can remember, Ricketts, a graduating senior at St. Charles North High School, has been fascinated by computers, the technological devices they power and the way they run.

At the age of 7 or 9, he began programming computers.

And those speaking with the young man or his mother, Julie Ricketts, of St. Charles, easily could be overwhelmed by the tales they might share of the tinkering Brian has done with household appliances and devices.

His mother noted, for instance, that his favorite toy when he was 2 years old was a surge suppressor.

Lately, those urges have turned to video games, which Brian creates himself, and gaming systems, which he might take apart and rewrite some code to make it do things it otherwise could not.

He reprogrammed a Microsoft Xbox Kinect system to allow users to ?fly? a virtual aircraft by moving their hands or speaking commands.

?It?s how I like to spend my free time,? Ricketts said.

So when the opportunity arose for Ricketts to join the competitive robotics team, PWNAGE Team 2949, sponsored by St. Charles manufacturer Genesis Automation, he did not think on the decision too long.

?I used to be in the Boy Scouts, and I tried piano lessons,? said Ricketts. ?But then I found robotics. And I thought, ?This is where I belong.??

Ricketts joined the team in his senior year, becoming one of the later members of a group that is interested and skilled in engineering, computer programming and other disciplines related to robotics.

The team takes its robots to regional competitions against those designed by other high school teams in task-based contests.

Teams were judged this year on their robots? abilities to move about a playing court, pick up foam basketballs and throw them through small basketball hoops.

Ricketts helped program the robot and said he loved every minute of the work and the competition.

Marsha Brown, technology and engineering instructor at St. Charles North, said Ricketts? infatuation with robotics should not be a surprise to anyone.

?There are things I?m learning from him,? Brown said. ?With the programming, and the things he?s able to do, it?s just nuts sometimes.?

In a class project earlier this year, students were asked to create a machine that could accurately launch ping-pong balls.

Ricketts? team created an accurate launcher. But then they went further, making their machine mobile.

?It did shock me when it moved around the room, because no one had told me,? Brown said.

Ricketts still laughs about that project.

?You should have seen the look on her face,? he said, chuckling.

Brown said Ricketts? penchant for exceeding expectations, along with his knowledge and ability, is what sets him apart.

?He is just so knowledgable about these things,? Brown said. ?So passionate and so driven.?

Ricketts, however, demonstrated his drive in more than just robotics projects or at-home tinkering.

At age 6, he was diagnosed with cancer in his left leg. Despite treatment, the cancer spread to his knee. Ultimately, doctors amputated his leg at the thigh.

Not until about two years ago, after a fight that lasted almost a decade, did doctors declare the cancer in remission.

In the years since the amputation, Ricketts learned to walk with a prosthesis, including a recent model that includes technology to help prevent him from falling.

?So I guess you can say I have experience with a robot on my knee,? he said with a grin.

Ricketts enrolled at DePaul University and will attend classes in the fall. He will major in computer science.

He said he has not decided yet how he wants to use his technological abilities, although he did mention a fascination with virtual reality and autonomous automobiles. And he wasn?t averse to defense applications, he said.

?That would be kind of cool, maybe working with drones,? Ricketts said.

No matter what he does, Ricketts said he wants his work to focus on one thing:

?I want to make technologies to make people?s lives easier. It?s so important to me.?

There are 19 hours, 1 minutes remaining to comment on this story.

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Images vary of man charged in old murder of NY boy

This undated file image provided Friday, May 28, 2010 by Stanley K. Patz shows a flyer distributed by the New York Police Department of Patz's son Etan who vanished in New York on May 25, 1979. New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday May 24, 2010, that a person who's in custody has implicated himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz, (AP Photo/Courtesy NYPD/file) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, FOR USE ONLY IN ILLUSTRATING EDITORIAL STORIES REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ETAN PATZ OR OTHER MISSING CHILDREN

This undated file image provided Friday, May 28, 2010 by Stanley K. Patz shows a flyer distributed by the New York Police Department of Patz's son Etan who vanished in New York on May 25, 1979. New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday May 24, 2010, that a person who's in custody has implicated himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz, (AP Photo/Courtesy NYPD/file) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, FOR USE ONLY IN ILLUSTRATING EDITORIAL STORIES REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ETAN PATZ OR OTHER MISSING CHILDREN

Stan Patz, father of missing child Etan Patz, arrives at his home in SoHo, Friday, May 25, 2012, in New York. New life has been breathed into the case after Pedro Hernandez implicated himself in the death of 6-year-old Etan Patz, whose disappearance 33 years ago on his way to school helped launch a missing children's movement that put kids' faces on milk cartons. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A woman speaks to a reporter through a door at 116 E. Linwood Ave., Apt. B, in Maple Shade, N.J., Thursday, May 24, 2012. The woman, who would not identify herself said that it is the home of Pedro Hernandez, who is in custody in the disappearence of Etan Patz in 1979. Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of Patz, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Mel?Evans)

Stan Patz, father of missing child Etan Patz, arrives at his home in SoHo, Friday, May 25, 2012, in New York. New life has been breathed into the case after Pedro Hernandez implicated himself in the death of 6-year-old Etan Patz, whose disappearance 33 years ago on his way to school helped launch a missing children's movement that put kids' faces on milk cartons. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A house, left, at 116 E. Linwood Ave., is seen in Maple Shade, N.J., Thursday, May 24, 2012. A woman who would not identify herself, answered the door at Apt. B, door left, back of house, and said that it is the home of Pedro Hernandez, who is in custody in the disappearence of Etan Patz in 1979. Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of Patz, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Mel?Evans)

(AP) ? The anniversary of the day 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished on his way to school dawned with his suspected killer in police custody, but it ended with a muddled portrait of the man who confessed to strangling the little boy and dumping his body in the trash.

A former neighbor who knew Pedro Hernandez as a teenager says he was someone you wouldn't want to cross ? a reserved but "pent-up" young man. But the pastor of his church says Hernandez, now 51, is simply a shy and timid man who faithfully attends Sunday services.

Now on suicide watch at Bellevue Hospital, Hernandez was arraigned Friday via video link from a hospital ward on a charge of murder. His court-appointed lawyer, Harvey Fishbein, told the judge that Hernandez is bipolar, schizophrenic and has a "history of hallucinations, both visual and auditory."

Hernandez, who was a teenage convenience store clerk at the time Etan went missing, now lives in Maple Shade, N.J. He was arrested Thursday after making a surprise confession in a case that has bedeviled investigators for 33 years. Hernandez told police he lured Etan into the basement of a convenience store with a promise of a soda, choked him to death, then stuffed his body in a bag and left it with trash on the street a block away.

The legal proceeding lasted only about four minutes. Expressionless, wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, Hernandez didn't speak or enter a plea.

A judge ordered Hernandez held without bail and authorized a psychological examination to see if he is fit to stand trial.

The prosecutor who appeared in court, Assistant District Attorney Armand Durastanti, said it was 33 years ago Friday that 6-year-old Etan Patz left his home on Prince Street to catch his school bus. "He has not been seen or heard from since. It's been 33 years, and justice has not been done in this case," Durastanti, said.

Etan disappeared on May 25, 1979, on his two-block walk to his bus stop in Manhattan. It was the first time his parents had let him walk the route by himself.

Next to the bus stop was a convenience store, where Hernandez, then 18, worked as a clerk. Police interviewed him this week, acting on a tip.

Etan's remains were never found, even after a massive search and a media campaign that made parents afraid to let their children out of their sight and sparked a movement to publicize the cases of missing youngsters. Etan was one of the first missing children to be pictured on a milk carton.

Hernandez's confession put investigators in the unusual position of bringing the case to court before they had amassed any physical evidence or had time to fully corroborate his story or investigate his psychiatric condition.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said investigators were retracing garbage truck routes from the late 1970s and deciding whether to search landfills for the boy's remains, a daunting prospect.

Crime scene investigators also arrived Friday morning at the building in Manhattan's SoHo section that once held the bodega where Hernandez worked. Authorities were considering excavating the basement for evidence.

They also were looking into whether Hernandez has a history of mental illness or pedophilia.

Browne said letting Hernandez remain free until the investigation is complete was not an option: "There was no way we could release the man who had just confessed to killing Etan Patz."

Legal experts said that even though police have a confession in hand, they are likely to work hard to make certain Hernandez isn't delusional or simply making up the story.

"There's always a concern whether or not someone is falsely confessing," said former prosecutor Paul DerOhannesian.

As Fishbein arrived at the courthouse, he asked reporters to be respectful of some of Hernandez's relatives there, including his wife and daughter.

"It's a tough day. The family is very upset. Please give them some space," Fishbein said.

Etan's father, Stanley Patz, avoided journalists gathered outside the family's Manhattan apartment, the same one the family was living in when his son vanished.

Former SoHo resident Roberto Monticello, a filmmaker who was a teenager when Patz disappeared, said he remembers Hernandez as civil but reserved and "pent-up."

"You always got the sense that if you crossed him really bad, he would hurt you," Monticello said, although he added that he never saw him hit anyone.

Monticello said Hernandez was also one of the few teenagers in the neighborhood who didn't join in the all-out search for Etan, which consumed SoHo and the city for months. "He was always around, but he never helped. He never participated," Monticello said.

Hernandez, who moved to New Jersey shortly after Etan's disappearance, suffered a back injury that has kept him on disability for years, according to police.

The Rev. George Bowen Jr., pastor at Hernandez's church in Moorestown, N.J., said he attended services regularly.

"I would judge him to be shy and maybe timid. He never got involved in anything," Bowen said.

He said Hernandez's wife, Rosemary, and daughter, Becky, a college student, went to see him Thursday morning after he was taken into police custody.

"They were just crying their eyes out," Bowen said. "They were broken up. They were wrecked. It was horrible. They didn't know what they were going to do."

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Hernandez gave a detailed confession that led police to believe they had the right man. He also said Hernandez told a relative and others as far back as 1981 that he had "done something bad" and killed a child in New York.

___

Associated Press reporters Julie Walker in New York, Patrick Walters in Moorestown, N.J., and Michael Virtanen in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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A review of Currency trading | Sharing Reviews & Advices

What?s Currency trading?

FOREX is short for the FOReign EXchange market, that is a worldwide fiscal market place where foreign currencies are dealt. The foreign exchange market started inside 1970s and is the greatest economic industry on earth, with the typical every day turn over of US$1.Nine trillion. Which is 25 instances how much daily exercise on each of the Us all stock markets.

Each Foreign exchange trade requires together buying one forex along with marketing an additional. By way of example, if you think that the Pound may go up in accordance with the particular dollar, you?ll spot any Euro/Dollar buy and sell. Your foreign exchange technique would then buy the Euro and then sell a similar quantity of the Dollar. Next, when you need to close your position, you?d probably place the Dollar/Euro industry. This would find the Dollar and sell your Euro. In the event the Pound got increased up against the Money, you?d probably make a profit, but if the idea experienced decreased in accordance with the Greenback you?d probably create a decline.

Precisely what currencies are dealt?

Most of the earth?s stock markets are available to industry, nevertheless the majority of marketplace action entails a gaggle of main values, including the People Buck, your Dinar, the Yen, the actual Switzerland Franc and also Sterling.

Where?s the Forex market situated?

In contrast to many stock markets worldwide, Foreign exchange isn?t centralized on an swap. Alternatively that operates on a basis known as the interbank market or older your Counter (Over the counter). While every single Forex trading involves two shared deals (acquire one forex and then sell another), these are generally carried out electronically with any kind of agent who is willing to recognize your industry.

Who is able to buy and sell within the Foreign exchange market?

Typically, entry to currency trading had been restricted to banking enterprises, such as main financial institutions, industrial financial institutions and also purchase finance institutions. That?s the reason it runs using something referred to as the interbank marketplace.

Even so, the amount of neo financial institution members inside Forex market, such as international businesses, cash supervisors, cash brokers and private speculators, is increasing quickly. And because of the actual fairly little bit of funds needed to open up an investing consideration (usually $500) Foreign exchange will be opening in order to a lot more people continuously. If you are more than 18, get access to the internet your enough cash to open a trading account, the world of Forex trading is actually accessible to you.

Just when was forex available for buying and selling?

While Forex won?t exist inside a standard change, it does not take only Round-the-clock financial market place in the world. Forex currency trading will begin every day in Modern australia then movements world wide since the significant worldwide real estate markets within Tokyo, Birmingham as well as The big apple available.

Put simply, there?s always traders someplace in the world who will be make an effort to investing foreign currencies. Which means you will make positions and reply to significant interpersonal, financial along with political events nite and day. Nevertheless, there exists a brief sleep period coming from shut regarding exchanging for the United states fiscal market on Friday until investing will begin around australia on Monday morning hours. Nonetheless, due to the time variances around the globe, this era just lasts for about 48 hours.

What is an exchanging margin?

Forex trading investments come in plenty of $100,500. When you present that amount of money to hide your situation prior to deciding to can trade, the market industry would always once again always be on a banks and other institutional people. So brokerages established the principle associated with perimeter trading. Essentially they allow individuals to buy and sell $100,Thousand hindrances of currency exchange whether they can produce an component of security towards possible deficits.

As an example, they will often allow individuals to industry over an edge involving 1% (in contrast, conventional stock brokers usually have to have a 50% perimeter). This means that they can trade $100,000 blocks, furnished his or her account consists of at the very least $100,1000 by 1% = $1000. One thousand dollars can safeguard your dealer in opposition to any probable deficits that their client can make (foreign currency values rarely go up and down by simply a lot more than 1% within a morning). If your buyer?s accounts can be reduced through losses (i.electronic. lowering the broker?s protection under appropriate ranges), the particular dealer can close all investments and also demand one more put in prior to even more deals can be produced.

Exchanging margin lets people to manage huge amounts of foreign currency wiith fairly small amounts of capital (often 50, Hundred as well as 190 occasions the quantity of funds they have put in). This may lead to substantial benefits, yet boosts the likelihood of dropping the majority of or perhaps your investment finance.

Just how much does it charge?

Because of the exchanging margin provided by most Foreign exchange brokers, it?s possible to open a free account and obtain began buying and selling using a comparatively small amount of funds.

Currency trading trades come in lots of $100,Thousand. Nonetheless, nearly all Forexs brokes gives you an influence ratio all the way to 100:One, so that you have the ability to management any $100,500 invest as low as $1000 with your accounts. A few agents will provide influence associated with 2 hundred:A single and even 500:1, that allows you to commence with as low as $500 or perhaps $250 in your consideration.

Nonetheless, remember to remember that despite the fact that increased control enables you to improve your profit potential, it also raises the danger aspect. The larger the control ratio, smaller investing change that is to be forced to eliminate your current trading capital. So choose the level of power that you employ wisely.
For new dealers, it could be safer to begin with power of Twenty:One or 55:1. This will improve the amount you?ll want to available a forex account, however it will certainly decrease the probability of seeing all your exchanging funds go away because of a small change in the price of the currency exchange.

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