NYC's gay pride march celebrates Supreme Court win

NEW YORK (AP) ? Only days after the Supreme Court used her lawsuit to grant same-sex couples federal marriage benefits, Edith Windsor helped lead New York City's Gay Pride march on Sunday.

Signs along the route read, "Thank you, Edie" ? celebrating Windsor for her successful challenge of a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

"If somebody had told me 50 years ago that I would be the marshal of New York City's gay pride parade in 2013, at the age of 84, I wouldn't have believed it."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined hundreds of bikers whose motorcycles roared to life at noon to kick off the celebration, a colorful cavalcade of activists and others who marched down Fifth Avenue 44 years after the city's first pride march.

Longtime LGBT activist Cathy Renna said Windsor's suit and the Supreme Court's favorable ruling in a challenge to Proposition 8, the California gay marriage ban, made this year's celebration special.

"It is an especially thrilling year to march this year," she said. "I have seen more real progress in the past three years than the nearly two decades of activism before it."

But, she added, "we must remain vigilant; hate crimes, discrimination and family rejection loom in our lives still."

A spate of recent hate crimes in New York provide a stark reminder of work left to be done. In one case last month, police said a gunman used homophobic slurs before firing a fatal shot into a man's face on a Manhattan street alive with a weekend midnight crowd. The city's police commissioner called it an anti-gay hate crime.

A. Carlos Cardinas, a native of Colombia who lives in Queens, is a transvestite who dressed up in festive attire for the day: a green sequined top with a salmon-colored flower ringing the waist.

"We are so happy to live free in America," said Cardinas, a hairdresser who is engaged to be married to his boyfriend.

Carl Siciliano, who heads the Ali Forney drop-in center for homeless gay youth in Harlem, said he's happy about the court decision. But he said the humanitarian fight is not over.

"Now that our adults have won this wonderful victory, it is time for us to begin to build a safety net for the more than 200,000 homeless LGBT youth who are stranded on America's streets without shelter," said Siciliano.

Windsor said she long enjoyed the parade with her late wife, Thea Spyer, whom she married in Canada as Spyer was dying in 2007.

In 2009, she suffered a heart attack a month after Spyer's death. While recovering, Windsor faced a hefty bill for inheritance taxes ? more than $363,000, because Spyer was, legally, just a friend.

On Sunday, Windsor was one of three grand marshals, joining musician and activist Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes, head of the Center for Black Equity.

"I have marched in the parade for the last several years carrying a huge rainbow flag," she said. "Last year, I was so elated that I danced my way down the whole street, for the entire route of the parade."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nycs-gay-pride-march-celebrates-supreme-court-win-152806276.html

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New Microsoft Visual Studio Features Show Importance Of Windows Azure, Developing For Connected Devices

Microsoft showed the new Visual Studio 2013 at the Build conference today. The new independent development environment (IDE) features include performance tools for power consumption, asynchronous calls for debugging and an overall focus on the connected app.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uCvR-9LbHOM/

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Mormons to use technology in missionary work

PROVO, Utah (AP) ? Mormon missionaries will soon spend less time knocking on doors and more time chatting online with potential converts.

Leaders with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say it's critical to adapt to a changing world in which many people prefer to connect over social media.

The strategy shift announced Sunday in a worldwide broadcast from Provo, Utah, will start in a limited number of locations this year and should be in place worldwide next year.

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles says missionaries will be using Facebook, blogs, email, text messages and the church's website, Mormon.org, in their ministry.

There are more Mormon missionaries than ever due to a lowering of the minimum age eight months ago.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mormons-technology-missionary-151916141.html

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Garmin Monterra a 4-inch handheld Android GPS

Garmin today announced the Monterra, a handheld GPS device with a 4-inch display running Android. It's got a proper WIfi connection, and full access to Google Play. 

The device itself is rugged and waterproof, Garmin says. It's loaded with sensors you'd expect in such a device, including a three-axis compass, accelerometer and gyroscope, barometric altimeter and built-in UV sensor. It's running a dual-band GPS and GLONASS as well. It's got an 8-megapixel camera as well that records video in 1080p. Bluetooth 3.0 is on board, as is NFC (useful for ... NFCing in the wilderness) and is ANT+ capable for those fitness trackers.

One of Garmin's standout features on the Montera, however, is 3D MapMerge, which combines multiple kinds of maps, like TOPO, basemap or BirdsEye imagery.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QA73WeOuzjA/story01.htm

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McDonalds has served its last halal McChicken sandwich in US

McDonalds has served halal food, which is in accordance with Muslim dietary laws, at two Michigan restaurants for 12 years. But it's stopping the service after a lawsuit alleging the food was not halal. One problem: Not everyone agrees what halal is.

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / June 25, 2013

A sign in English and Arabic at a McDonald's restaurant in Dearborn, Mich., on Thursday announces the restaurant no longer sells halal products. It was one of the only two McDonald's restaurants in the nation serving food prepared according to Islamic law.

Detroit Free Press/AP

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McDonald?s, the largest fast food chain to offer menu alternatives designated for observant Muslims, is removing the items from its menu, suggesting that preparing food exclusively to suit individual religious tastes is problematic for restaurants involved in mass production food services.

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The fast food giant had limited the items to just two stores in east Dearborn, Mich., which has a large Arab American population. The stores offered Halal chicken McNuggets and Halal McChicken sandwiches for 12 years. Halal foods are prepared in accordance with Muslim dietary laws.

In April, the company reached a $700,000 settlement in response to a 2011 lawsuit that alleged the restaurants were advertising items as halal that were not, in fact, prepared according to custom. According to The Detroit News, the company did not admit wrongdoing.

Kassem Dakhlallah, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, called the McDonald?s decision, which it announced on Monday, to stop selling halal food ?disappointing.? He told The Detroit News that the chain should have tried ?to ensure that all products sold were halal as advertised,? adding that, without that guarantee, ?ceasing to offer halal products was probably the best decision.?

Part of the difficulty for restaurants selling halal items is that Muslim groups differ regarding what constitutes correct preparation. Some groups focus exclusively on how the animals are treated and raised, while others are more concerned with how they are slaughtered. Even regarding methods of slaughter, there is debate: Some say killing the animals by hand is the only way to observe halal, while others say certain forms of mass slaughter are acceptable.

?It?s a very fragmented market when it comes to the authentication of halal,? says Shahed Amanullah, founder of Zabihah.com, a Washington-based website that tracks and reviews restaurants across the world that offer halal food. ?Sometimes it?s hard for even me to get answers.?

The debate has created roadblocks for the market to grow. Many agree the potential is certainly present: Mr. Amanullah says that when he started his website in 1998, he identified only 200 restaurants across the US that would qualify as serving halal items; today there are more than 7,000.

The Association of American Halal Certifiers, an advocacy group in Bolingbrook, Ill., estimates that, with the approximately 7 million Muslims living in the US, the annual market potential is between $30 billion and $40 billion.

For fast food chains that source its meats and ingredients from a variety of suppliers through systems that are often incredibly complex, being able to prove certain items adhere to halal custom is tricky.

?The nature of food production, the cross-contamination issues, the separating of equipment and utensils is a concept aiming for consistency and speed, not accommodating a halal customer menu,? says Mary Chapman, director of product innovation at Technomic, Inc., a Chicago-based food and food service research and consulting group. ?Looking at the big picture and where they?re going to please the most customers, if [fast food chains] don?t have to jump through hoops or take extra steps, they won?t.?

While Amanullah says that the next step for the market to grow in the US is to establish set universal guidelines for halal, he also says the market would benefit from emphasizing elements of preparation that would appeal to non-Muslim consumers invested in the health benefits of meat that is locally produced from stock raised on free range farms.

One example of a company doing just that is Elevation Burger, a 35-unit US chain operating in 10 states that promotes its products as grass-fed and free-range. In February, the company opened a single location in Dubai, which is its sixth location in the Middle East. The others are in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Amanullah says the company?s emphasis on grass-fed beef, among other ingredients, made it naturally appealing to Muslim consumers, which aided in its expansion efforts overseas.

Another chain, Outback Steakhouse, also is friendly to customers seeking halal food because it happens to outsource its lamb products from halal-certified suppliers in New Zealand, earning it a certification of halal accreditation from The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ATQpPjZFoAE/McDonalds-has-served-its-last-halal-McChicken-sandwich-in-US

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Exclusive: Men's Wearhouse founder clashed with CEO, mulls comeback

By Nadia Damouni and Siddharth Cavale

(Reuters) - Tensions started rising at Men's Wearhouse Inc over the past six months, as founder and executive chairman George Zimmer increasingly butted heads with his handpicked CEO over the clothing retailer's strategy.

CEO Doug Ewert wanted to sell the company's K&G Fashion Superstore business, while Zimmer wanted to keep it, two sources familiar with the situation said. Zimmer also objected to rising compensation for top executives, including Ewert, while the board thought it was appropriate, the sources said.

Zimmer, who is known to U.S. TV audiences for his advertising catch phrase "you're gonna like the way you look - I guarantee it," was seen by company directors to be undermining Ewert's authority, the sources said.

Last week, the Men's Wearhouse board abruptly fired Zimmer from the chairman's job, even as its share price had climbed about 50 percent in the past two-and-a-half years. The board, populated by some directors Zimmer has known for decades, told him of the decision the day they announced the firing, the sources said.

Zimmer, who was shocked by the decision, quit the board on Monday, and is now mulling his options, they added.

While Zimmer is still unclear what those options might be, an attempt to stage a comeback at the company is possible. He is talking to his advisers, including legal counsel Cooley LLP, but a decision is not imminent, the sources said.

Industry bankers and lawyers said these options could involve teaming up with private equity firms to launch a buyout bid or trying to wage a proxy battle with the help of shareholder activists or institutional investors.

"Typically a founder will not leave the company that easily as he thinks it is his baby," said Larry Cagney, a partner at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, which is not involved in the situation.

Spokesmen for both Men's Wearhouse and Zimmer, who founded the clothing chain in 1973, declined to comment. Ewert was unavailable for comment.

CUSTOMERS UPSET

Men's Wearhouse, based in Fremont, California, operates more than 1,100 stores under the Men's Wearhouse, Moores and K&G brands. The stores sell suits, tuxedos and other articles of clothing.

The story behind Zimmer's surprising exit, which has not been previously reported, adds a new twist to an unfolding corporate drama that has riveted investors, employees and the broader public. The company's Facebook page, for example, was filled with customers urging his return.

"You have lost my business. I guarantee it," wrote Ed Elias, of Lauderhill, Fla.

"Every time I read a post from Men's Wearhouse, I read it in George Zimmer's voice," wrote David Coy, of San Antonio, Texas, in reference to the founder's raspy baritone.

Founders of other companies who have faced similar situations have had mixed success in taking back the reins of their firms. Last year, for example, Best Buy Co Inc's former chairman Richard Schulze tried to buy the electronics retailer with the help of private equity firms. He failed in that bid, but managed to find his way back on the board 10 months later. He now serves as Best Buy's chairman emeritus.

Schulze, however, had owned about 20 percent in Best Buy.

The Zimmer family's combined equity stake of about 4.7 percent - Zimmer holds about 3.5 percent - is not large enough on its own to pressure the company to allow him to return.

He also has no provision in his employment contract that compensates him following the ousting. A licensing agreement will award him $250,000 for each of the next four years if Men's Wearhouse continues to use his image in advertising.

BOARDROOM DRAMA

Zimmer's spectacular downfall was all the more unexpected because he had picked Ewert, who had worked at the company for nearly two decades, as his successor two years ago. The two shared offices next to each other, but the relationship started to unravel in recent months, the sources said.

One of the issues that led to Zimmer's ouster was his growing concern about rising compensation for the top executives, which he opposed.

Ewert was awarded a base salary of $1.25 million for the current year, more than double last year's figure, and a potential annual bonus of up to $1.25 million and other incentives.

Under Ewert, the company's revenue grew to $2.48 billion last year, up from $2.01 billion the year before. In its most recent quarter, it posted better-than-expected results, with sales rising 5.1 percent to $616.5 million.

Another sticking point between Zimmer and the board was the sale of K&G, a clothing retailer that Men's Wearhouse bought in 1999. K&G has been underperforming and Ewert hired investment bank Jefferies to sell it, while Zimmer was not convinced, the sources said.

Soon these tensions came to a head, and the board unanimously decided to oust Zimmer, taking both investors and the founder by surprise, the sources said.

Over the years Zimmer has built a loyal following among some of the company's 17,500 employees.

"Zimmer makes us feel like family," said a Men's Wearhouse store manager who has met the founder several times but requested anonymity for fear of losing his job.

The store manager said Zimmer often visited the store and talked to customers. "He is an awesome guy, and for a company like this to come and fire him, is ridiculous."

Men's Wearhouse has not given any reason for Zimmer's dismissal. In May, it had nominated the founder for re-election to the board, but the June 19 annual shareholder meeting was rescheduled after his ouster.

Among Men's Wearhouse directors is Deepak Chopra, the new age guru. Over the years, Chopra has taught Zimmer not to be upset about the vagaries of life, one of the sources said.

Chopra could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Last week, Chopra told Reuters in a statement that he was "very excited about the future of the company" and that he would "totally support our CEO Doug Ewert and the management team of the Men's Wearhouse."

(Additional reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Jilian Mincer and Paritosh Bansal, Gary Hill, Martin Howell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-mens-wearhouses-ousted-founder-mulls-possible-comeback-000135712.html

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This Is What Happens When Galaxies Collide

This amazing image shows how messy space can be, as two galaxies collide and deform each other? creating new stars as gas and dust are pushed and pulled in all directions.

Captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the picture shows the star-forming spiral galaxy NGC 2936 and its elliptical companion NGC 2937?known collectively as Arp 142. NASA explains what's going on:

Gas and dust drawn from the heart of NGC 2936 becomes compressed during the encounter, which in turn triggers star formation. These bluish knots are visible along the distorted arms that are closest to the companion elliptical. The reddish dust, once within the galaxy, has been thrown out of the galaxy's plane and into dark veins that are silhouetted against the bright starlight from what is left of the nucleus and disk.

The interaction causes the orbits of the stars in the elliptical galaxy to be radically altered?so it's a relief that our humble little galaxy isn't undergoing a similar collision. [NASA]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-is-what-happens-when-galaxies-collide-554399797

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