Higher prices for fruit, veggies ahead as heavy rains cripple crops

By Janet Shamlian, NBC News

Last year, Georgia farmer Duke Lane?s orchards were parched.

But this year, the owner of Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley, grower of one of the largest peach crops in the nation, has the opposite problem.

After a summer of nonstop downpours, Lane has lost a full one third of his yield, he said.

"We were picking in water for most of the summer,? Lane said. ?And so that?s a problem for the peaches ? not being picked in the proper time.?

Though the peaches are larger because of the rain ? softball size rather than baseball size ? the numbers are down, and the excessive amount of water make them less sweet and tasty.

And Lane isn't the only farmer suffering, either. Across the Southeast, the ground is too soaked to cut wheat, and cotton and peanut crops are drowning, growers say.

?This is the worst amount of water we?ve had since I?ve been farming,? Larry Redmond, owner of Shiloh Farms in Guyton, Ga., told NBC News.

Indeed in Georgia, rainfall totals are 34 percent higher than normal, and in North and South Carolina they are up 25 percent, and Alabama is 22 percent above normal precipitation. And the outlook doesn?t look any drier.

?The forecast for the Southeast is for a continued, above average wet pattern going in through the fall,? said Greg Forbes, a severe weather expert at The Weather Channel in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the West is in a drought.

The excessive rain in the Southeast means billions of dollars of damaged crops, according to some estimates. Add a drought in the West, and that could mean higher prices at the grocery store for staples such melons, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Heavy rainfall across the southeast United States caused crop output to slow across the region. Ricky Volpe, a research economist for the USDA, warns consumers may see a spike in prices for some fruits and vegetables.

?I would expect to see average prices for fruits and vegetables maybe 10 percent higher this fall than they were in the spring or where they are right now just because there?s going to be less supply available,? predicted Bernard Weinstein, an agricultural economist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Although the farms of the Southeast have been hardest hit by the unusually wet summer, Vermont's corn crops are also soaked, and in upstate New York, saturated fields have crippled plows and other workhorses of the farm, endangering the pea crop as well as tomatoes and even hearty pumpkins.

?I?ve never sold green pumpkins at Halloween,? said Jack Moore, owner of Gro-Moore Farms in Henrietta, N.Y. ?But you never know, might be this year."

The pumpkin-selling season is still months away, but for farmers are hoping last year?s severe drought and this year?s heavy rains are behind them, and that Mother Nature will be kinder to them next year.

?It?s gonna hurt cause you know money that?s made here rolls over to the community about seven times," said Georgia farmer Lane. "That money?s going to be missed.?

Jeff Black of NBC News contributed to this report.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2f5c4910/sc/8/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C30A0C19780A540A0Ehigher0Eprices0Efor0Efruit0Eveggies0Eahead0Eas0Eheavy0Erains0Ecripple0Ecrops0Dlite/story01.htm

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San Francisco Giants visit President Barack Obama at the White House

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One two-time winner celebrated another on Monday at the White House.

President Barack Obama welcomed the World Series champion San Francisco Giants into his home for the second time in three years, with the players getting a tour before being honored on the South Lawn.

"They're making this a habit," the president said.

The Giants came to the White House with a decidedly different vibe this time around. They were 59-43 and four games ahead in the National League West when they visited in 2011, but they entered the famous gates Monday in last place, 10 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

The slide has the Giants considering trading away marquee pieces before Wednesday's deadline, but for a few minutes Monday, the recent struggles and the looming uncertainty were put on hold. All of the attention was on a man who earned a second term nine days after the Giants earned a second title.

"It's a tremendous honor," catcher Buster Posey said. "I'm very humbled that the president could take a little bit of time out of his busy schedule to invite us here and spend some time with us. We're out here in a beautiful place on a beautiful day and getting to celebrate a great accomplishment."

The Giants were honored in the East Room in 2011, but under clear skies Monday, they paraded down the South Portico of the White House and onto a waiting platform. Hall of Famer Willie Mays was introduced individually, followed by manager Bruce Bochy, team president and CEO Larry Baer and President Obama.

The president made special mention of Mays during his speech, saying "he keeps on looking younger every time I see him." As the Giants toured the White House, with many players tweeting out photos from historic rooms, the president and Mays spent some time together.

"Willie and the president go back a ways," Bochy said. "They had a few things to talk about."

Mays was front and center as President Obama praised the work the Giants do in the community and pointed out the similarities in their postseason runs, citing the pitching, defense and timely hitting that carried the Giants to titles in 2010 and 2012.

The president did, however, notice one significant change this time around.

"Where's Tim?" President Obama said, looking around for right-hander Tim Lincecum, who cut his hair after the title. "There he is. See, you don't even recognize him anymore."

Standing in front of the country's most recognizable house, the Giants presented President Obama with a signed World Series ball and bat.

"You should know that I can't read any of their signatures," President Obama said, drawing laughter. "But it's greatly appreciated."

The visit was a welcome reprieve for a group that gladly traded jerseys for suits on a hot day in the nation's capital. For a moment, the Giants were taken back to their magical 2012 run and allowed to push aside a stretch of 22 losses in 30 games. When Bochy mentioned before the ceremony that the Giants were struggling, the president dispensed a brief motivational message.

"He said, 'You guys are a second-half team. You did it in 2010 and you did it in 2012,'" Baer said. "We liked the enthusiasm."

The message wasn't lost on Posey, who was hopeful that the White House visit would provide a spark for a reeling group that begins a six-game trip Tuesday in Philadelphia.

"It's good to remember that we're a good ball club," Posey said. "Sometimes when you're struggling, it's easy to get down on yourself. Hopefully a trip like this will remind everybody that we're all good players."

As Posey spoke to reporters just outside a White House door, general manager Brian Sabean stood a few feet away, proudly wearing an orange tie as he took in the scene. In his pocket, Sabean carried two phones, a reminder that the ceremony was about to give way to the realities of Wednesday's trade deadline.

It's all but guaranteed that the Giants will not return to the White House next summer, but it might not be long before they see President Obama again. He told Baer that he intends to make a trip to AT&T Park at some point.

"He knows he has a standing invitation," Baer said.

If the president is unable to make it during his second term, he promised to come as the First Fan. Posey, who missed the 2011 visit because of a devastating leg injury, doesn't plan on waiting that long before crossing paths with the president again.

"This is hopefully not a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me," he said, smiling.

Source: http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_23758033/san-francisco-giants-visit-president-barack-obama-at?source=rss_viewed

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EU's top diplomat says Egypt's Morsi doing 'well'

Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans one holding a picture of Morsi with Arabic writing that reads: "Morsi is my president," at Nasr City, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 29, 2013. Europe's top diplomat urged Egypt's government to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood as she worked Monday to mediate an end to the country's increasingly bloody crisis, while the mainly Islamist protesters calling for the return of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi massed for more protests. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans one holding a picture of Morsi with Arabic writing that reads: "Morsi is my president," at Nasr City, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 29, 2013. Europe's top diplomat urged Egypt's government to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood as she worked Monday to mediate an end to the country's increasingly bloody crisis, while the mainly Islamist protesters calling for the return of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi massed for more protests. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A picture of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi is displayed on a makeshift barricade in Nasr City, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies, in Cairo, Monday, July 29, 2013. Europe's top diplomat urged Egypt's government to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood as she worked Monday to mediate an end to the country's increasingly bloody crisis, while the mainly Islamist protesters calling for the return of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi massed for more protests. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

T-shirts with the face of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi are displayed for sale at Nasr City, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 29, 2013. Europe's top diplomat urged Egypt's government to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood as she worked Monday to mediate an end to the country's increasingly bloody crisis, while the mainly Islamist protesters calling for the return of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi massed for more protests. Arabic on the shirts reads, "Morsi is our president," and "yes to legitimacy." (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

A supporter of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi cries during a protest against Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at Nasr City, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans at Nasr City, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 29, 2013. Europe's top diplomat urged Egypt's government to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood as she worked Monday to mediate an end to the country's increasingly bloody crisis, while the mainly Islamist protesters calling for the return of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi massed for more protests. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO (AP) ? The European Union's top diplomat said Tuesday that deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is "well" and that the two had a "friendly, open and very frank" discussion about the country's political crisis and the need to move forward.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's two-hour meeting with Morsi late Monday marked the first contact the ousted Islamist leader has had with the outside world since he was overthrown by a military coup on July 3.

Egypt's army-backed administration originally said they were holding him for his own safety, but last week authorities announced he was being detained pending an investigation. His supporters and family have decried his detention as illegal and call for his release.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Ashton said Morsi "has access to information, in terms of TV and newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation, and we were able to talk about the need to move forward." She declined to reveal anything further about their conversation.

"I sent him good wishes from people here, and he asked me to pass on wishes back, and of course I've tried to make sure that his family knows that he is well," she said.

Ashton said she was able to see the facilities where Morsi is being held, but that she does not know where he is.

Since the coup, which followed days of mass protests by millions of Egyptians calling for Morsi's ouster, the former president has been detained by the military at an undisclosed location. A group of Egyptian rights activists was allowed access to Morsi this week but he refused to see them.

On Friday, prosecutors said Morsi was facing accusations of conspiring with the Palestinian Hamas group to escape from prison during the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Egypt's interim presidency says he "is not a political prisoner" and that the issue is in the hands of the judiciary.

Ashton's trip to Cairo is her second since the military coup, as she tries to help find a way out of an increasingly bloody and complex crisis in Egypt that has killed more than 270 people since Morsi was deposed.

During her visit, she has met with the country's interim leadership, including army chief and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, as well as representatives of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in search of a path out of the crisis.

"This great country has to move forward and has to do so in an inclusive way," she said.

She said that has made clear to all sides of the conflict that "there is no place for violence in this and that peaceful demonstration is important." She said authorities also "have a huge responsibly to make sure that happens."

"I also, as I've indicated, have made clear that we're talking with a breadth of people, not because we're coming up with great ideas, but because we want to help facilitate the bringing together of ideas the people here have."

"I am not here to ask people to do things," she added. "I am here to find out where the common ground might be, the confidence-building measures could be, that can help everybody move forward."

There was no immediate sign that either side of Egypt's deep political divide is willing to heed her appeals. The Brotherhood has rejected calls to work with the new leaders, insists that Morsi must be reinstated and has vowed to keep up its nearly daily protests until he is. The group has called for new mass demonstrations later Tuesday.

The government, meanwhile, has made no conciliatory gestures and has forged ahead with a transition plan that provides for parliamentary and presidential elections early next year.

After their talks with Ashton, a delegation of Islamist politicians representing the pro-Morsi camp said the military-backed government must take the first step toward any reconciliation by releasing jailed Brotherhood leaders, ending the crackdown on their protests and stopping media campaigns against Islamists.

"Creating the atmosphere requires those in authority now to send messages of reassurance," Mohammed Mahsoub, of the Islamist Wasat Party, told reporters.

Speaking alongside a Brotherhood official and another Islamist politician, Mahsoub appeared to be sticking by the demand to reinstate Morsi by saying any solution must be on a "constitutional basis."

But a spokesman for military-backed interim President Adly Mansour suggested Monday that there would be no deviation from the transition plan.

When asked about reconciliation initiatives on the table, Ahmed el-Muslemani said: "The ship has sailed and we have no way but to go forward."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-07-30-ML-Egypt/id-9f84bdb866be459f818980ffa6d12c3d

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Walker says his public union philosophy like FDR

MILWAUKEE -

Gov. Scott Walker says Detroit would not be bankrupt and Chicago public schools would be flourishing if those cities were in Wisconsin and operating under the state's public union laws.

Days before he hosts the National Governors Association conference in Wisconsin, Walker previewed his speech to state leaders in an address to a government research conference in Milwaukee Monday.

The Journal Sentinel reported Walker likened his public union philosophy to that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, saying the former president felt "that there wasn't a need for collective bargaining in the public sector "because the government is the people."

Walker saids if Detroit were in Wisconsin, Detroit wouldn't be declaring bankruptcy. And if Chicago were in Wisconsin, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel would be successful with his school reforms.

Contentious legislation passed in Wisconsin in 2011 repealed collective bargaining for most public employees.

Source: http://www.channel3000.com/news/politics/Walker-says-his-public-union-philosophy-like-FDR/-/4030/21242068/-/4b342k/-/index.html

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Scientists discover thriving colonies of microbes in ocean 'plastisphere'

June 27, 2013 ? Scientists have discovered a diverse multitude of microbes colonizing and thriving on flecks of plastic that have polluted the oceans -- a vast new human-made flotilla of microbial communities that they have dubbed the "plastisphere."

In a study recently published online in Environmental Science & Technology, the scientists say the plastisphere represents a novel ecological habitat in the ocean and raises a host of questions: How will it change environmental conditions for marine microbes, favoring some that compete with others? How will it change the overall ocean ecosystem and affect larger organisms? How will it change where microbes, including pathogens, will be transported in the ocean?

The collaborative team of scientists -- Erik Zettler from Sea Education Association (SEA), Tracy Mincer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Linda Amaral-Zettler from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), all in Woods Hole, Mass. -- analyzed marine plastic debris that was skimmed with fine-scale nets from the sea surface at several locations in the North Atlantic Ocean during SEA research cruises. Most were millimeter-sized fragments.

"We're not just interested in who's there. We're interested in their function, how they're functioning in this ecosystem, how they're altering this ecosystem, and what's the ultimate fate of these particles in the ocean," says Amaral-Zettler. "Are they sinking to the bottom of the ocean? Are they being ingested? If they're being ingested, what impact does that have?"

Using scanning electron microscopy and gene sequencing techniques, they found at least 1000 different types of bacterial cells on the plastic samples, including many individual species yet to be identified. They included plants, algae, and bacteria that manufacture their own food (autotrophs), animals and bacteria that feed on them (heterotrophs), predators that feed on these, and other organisms that establish synergistic relationships (symbionts). These complex communities exist on plastic bits hardly bigger than the head of a pin, and they have arisen with the explosion of plastics in the oceans in the last 60 years.

"The organisms inhabiting the plastisphere were different from those in surrounding seawater, indicating that plastic debris acts as artificial 'microbial reefs," says Mincer. "They supply a place that selects for and supports distinct microbes to settle and succeed."

These communities are likely different from those that settle on naturally occurring floating material such as feathers, wood, and microalgae, because plastics offer different conditions, including the capacity to last much longer without degrading.

On the other hand, the scientists also found evidence that microbes may play a role in degrading plastics. They saw microscopic cracks and pits in the plastic surfaces that they suspect were made by microbes embedded in them, as well as microbes possibly capable of degrading hydrocarbons.

"When we first saw the 'pit formers' we were very excited, especially when they showed up on multiple pieces of plastic of different types of resins," said Zettler, who added that undergraduate students participating in SEA Semester cruises collected and processed the samples. "Now we have to figure out what they are by [genetically] sequencing them and hopefully getting them into culture so we can do experiments."

The plastic debris also represents a new mode of transportation, acting as rafts that can convey harmful microbes, including disease-causing pathogens and harmful algal species. One plastic sampled they analyzed was dominated by members of the genus Vibrio, which includes bacteria that cause cholera and gastrointestinal maladies.

The project was funded by a National Science Foundation Collaborative grant, a NSF TUES grant, and a Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health Pilot award.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/EvM7_1uPFzw/130627142549.htm

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MacNN | iPhone News: First look: Can iOS 7 give Apple back its mojo?

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Sir Jony Ive remakes iOS with a new design language, features

Back in February this year I wrote, ?A new design and look for iOS will be nice (as will the banishment of skeuomorphism), buy in many ways it is not essential from the perspective of pure functionality.? It would seem that this is indeed the approach that Sir Jony Ive and the design and software engineering teams have taken with the new iOS 7 beta. With iOS 7, the iPhone still functions in fundamentally the same way that it always has - apps will still take center stage. iOS 7 is not a fundamental rethink of how iOS works, but it does bring some long-sought after feature enhancements to Apple?s latest mobile operating system along with a gorgeous new look.

Following Apple?s WWDC Keynote, I have had an opportunity to play with Apple?s latest mobile operating system. I can report that Apple CEO Tim Cook?s decision to put Sir Jony Ive in charge of software design, in addition to his duties as Apple?s hardware design maestro has been a masterstroke. While reaction to the new, flatter and more minimalistic design has been mixed, I am in the camp that absolutely loves the new design. At the same time, however, I still believe that Apple has more to do before it can again be considered the overall leader in mobile software - even if it has reclaimed the mantle as the most beautiful mobile OS on the planet.

So what has Apple got right with the new UI? For starters, the new, flatter UI is much more consistent across the device, from the system interface through to the way the built-in applications look and work. It really feels unified and cohesive in a way that it may have been previously lacking. Transitions and animations are incredibly fluent, creating a seamless, elegant user experience. The new ?layers? of UI also makes for a much more sophisticated experience. The approach is very much consistent with Apple?s hardware design aesthetic, but now applied to its software ? if you had thought that Apple?s software and hardware were well-integrated in the past, the whole experience has never been better integrated than it is now.

Changes abound in iOS 7. The only sign of skeuomorphism that remains is a very subtle allusion to parchment in the Notes and Reminders applications, which look very attractive. Gone, however, is the impression of torn pages from a notepad, any sign of leather, faux stitching or linen. Safari now has a unified search and URL window, while tabbed browsing has been improved with a new animation effect that looks like a cross between Cover Flow and the Windows Vista switcher. Swiping to the left of the home screen no longer activates a system-wide search; instead it is activated by holding the screen just below the top of the display and then dragging from the top down. A swipe downwards, however, reveals a much cleaner and minimalistic Notification Center. A swipe from the bottom up reveals the new Control Center, which is a long-awaited addition to iOS, bringing with it much faster access to frequently used controls, switches and utilities.

Also new are dynamic wallpapers, which have long been a feature of Android. In fact, along with the new Android-like Control Center, there a several enhancements to iOS 7 that have been present in Android for some time including the look of the revamped and animated Weather app. Other new features in iOS 7 that resemble features in other mobile operating systems include the new multitasking function that now also includes a screenshot from open/suspended/background apps that looks similar to both Windows Phone 8 and Web OS. While Safari has new tabbed browsing arrangement, users can now also peak between two open webpages, which is reminiscent of the Peak function in BlackBerry OS 10, although it is implemented differently. Not to mention the new ?flat? design look that follows a similar aesthetic to Windows Phone. None of the new inclusions seems bolted on, however, but integrated quite organically into a new, vibrant, whole that is Apple iOS 7.

There are still some functions that Apple has not implemented this time around, although quite frankly, it has done much more with iOS 7 than I would have thought possible in such as short time frame. Perhaps in future versions of iOS we will finally see the introduction of live widgets that can be placed on the home screen. While Calendar has always shown the correct day of the week, the only new ?live? icon is the Clock app, which even shows a moving second hand if you look closely enough. Others would still like Apple to introduce a mobile version of a file manager to iOS, multi-user accounts (although this could still appear in the yet to be released version of iOS 7 for the iPad), and further user customization of the UI ? for example, users still can?t place an app to any position on the home screen without iOS arranging it for you. I would also like to see Swype by Nuance pre-installed as an alternative keyboard.

When iOS 7 is released in its final form, Electronista/MacNN will revisit it with a more comprehensive review. In the meantime, it can be safely said that (after a long and unnerving period of silence) Apple has emerged from its self-imposed exile raring to go. If iOS 7 is the first real taste of Apple without the late great Steve Jobs, then it leaves a very pleasant aftertaste. Steve Jobs once commented that one of the design goals for OS X?s original Aqua UI was that ?when you saw it you wanted to lick it.? I think that Steve would have wanted to lick iOS 7 too.

By Sanjiv Sathiah

By Electronista Staff

Source: http://feeds.smartphonemag.com/~r/iPhoneLife_News/~3/TUfVAR4Sn6o/story01.htm

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Italy watchdog presses Google for privacy data, weighs sanctions

It's being reported that rapper Kanye West and his reality star girlfriend Kim Kardashian have named their brand-new baby, born this weekend, Kaidence Donda West. Donda was Kanye's late mother's name, so that makes sense, but, um, Kaidence? What's going on with Kaidence?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italy-watchdog-presses-google-privacy-data-weighs-sanctions-092650283.html

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