Two police officers shot as Italian government sworn in

By Gavin Jones and Roberto Landucci

ROME (Reuters) - Two Italian police officers were shot and wounded on Sunday outside the prime minister's office in Rome at the same time as Prime Minister Enrico Letta's new government was being sworn in just a kilometer (mile) away.

It was not immediately clear whether the attack was linked to the launch of the new government, but the episode came at a time of bitter political division with rising social tensions exacerbated by a long economic slump.

Letta, 46, the moderate deputy head of the Democratic Party (PD), on Saturday ended two months of political stalemate following February's inconclusive election when he united former political rivals in a broad coalition government.

The mix of center-right and center-left politicians and unaffiliated technocrats was largely welcomed in Italy's mainstream press on Sunday, especially for the record of seven female ministers and the relatively young average age.

However, the political risks that Letta faces were spelled out on Sunday by a close ally of center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi who is a core stakeholder in the government.

Renato Brunetta, lower house leader of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party (PDL), said the government would fall unless Letta promised in his maiden speech to urgently abolish an unpopular housing tax and repay the 2012 levy to taxpayers.

Letta is expected to set out his government's plans in parliament on Monday and will then need to win a vote of confidence in both houses to be fully empowered.

"If the prime minister doesn't make this precise commitment we will not give him our support in the vote of confidence," Brunetta told daily Il Messaggero.

Brunetta, who was himself a candidate for the post of economy minister, said that during negotiations for the formation of the government Letta had "given his word" on the abolition and repayment of the tax, which would leave an 8 billion euros hole in public accounts.

However, on Sunday attention was focused on the dramatic shooting outside Palazzo Chigi, the prime minister's official residence, with several politicians warning that the fevered political climate may have contributed to the episode.

Luigi Preiti, in his forties, from the southern Italian region of Calabria, was arrested.

Having fired several shots at the two police on duty outside the prime minister's office, he shouted "shoot me, shoot me" to other police officers nearby, police said.

One of the two officers was shot in the neck and was in a serious, but not life-threatening condition, while the other officer was shot in the leg and less seriously hurt.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones, Antonella Cinelli, Roberto Landucci; Editing by James Mackenzie and Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italian-government-under-enrico-letta-sworn-094720376.html

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WH: Anthony Foxx in line for transportation post

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx as his new transportation secretary, a White House official said Sunday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Foxx would replace outgoing Secretary Ray LaHood.

Foxx is Obama's first black nominee among the new Cabinet members appointed for the second term. The president faced criticism early in his second term for a lack of diversity among his nominees.

The official insisted on anonymity to avoid public discussion of the pick before the official announcement.

The official noted that Foxx has led efforts to improve his city's transit infrastructure to expand economic opportunity for businesses and workers. During Foxx's term as mayor, Charlotte has broken ground on several important transportation projects, including the Charlotte Streetcar Project to bring modern electric tram service to the city as well as a third parallel runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. The city has also moved to extend the LYNX light rail system to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the official said.

Foxx, an attorney who has worked in several positions with the federal government, was first elected mayor in 2009. He also served as a member of the Charlotte City Council.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wh-anthony-foxx-line-transportation-post-211537174.html

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Paranoid Android teases in-app pop-up window multitasking (video)

As advanced as multitasking gets on smartphones, many times you're still left to completely switch between apps. Paranoid Android is looking to set things into overdrive with in-app, multiple-window multitasking for its skin of Android, going beyond the similar (but limited) functionality seen in the likes of Samsung's basked-in Galaxy apps. PA's Paul Henschel recently posted a demo to YouTube highlighting the feature working with various apps on both an Android tablet and a Nexus smartphone, with a post to Google+ saying it shows less than 10 percent of the planned functionality. If that weren't enough, the post further clarifies PA's drive to build out its version stating: "We think these [Samsung, Cyanogen & Cornerstone] implementations suck and we want to get it right this time." Thirsty for more info? Hit the source link and the video after the break, while we eagerly wait further updates.

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Source: Paranoid Android (Google+)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/28/paranoid-android-teases-in-app-pop-up-window-multitasking-video/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Deal of the Day: LLOYD HD Clear Screen Protectors for Google Nexus 7

The April 24 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the LLOYD HD Clear Screen Protectors for Google Nexus 7. These screen protectors are custom designed to protect your Nexus 7's screen while giving you an ultra-clear, high definition look and feel to your device. Durable and scratch resistant, the TruTouch sensitivity gives these custom protectors a more natural feel on your touchscreen. Includes 3 per package.

The LLOYD HD Clear Screen Protectors are available for just $7.00, 72% off today only. Grab yours while supplies last!

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/YWcLm4CJBqo/story01.htm

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Television networks taking wrong course against threats | The Daily ...

• 

Major television networks are going the wrong way in trying to deal with the changing?communications environment, says a media expert.

?Viewers are ditching ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox in droves, giving their eyeballs to cable shows, DVDs, video games and the Internet,? wrote Jeff McCall, a professor of communication at DePauw University, in an editorial published in the Indianapolis Star recently. ?Traditional broadcast television just isn?t relevant for most Americans anymore.?

McCall notes that while viewers benefit from-increasing diversification of programming and relatively cheap media streaming services, these advances have led to estrangement between viewers and television networks. But he says the networks are trying to deal with these?challenges through an ill-advised niche market approach.

In an interview with The Daily Caller, McCall said a major mistake by television networks is their persistence in mirroring the techniques of specific cable channels, particularly when it comes to graphic or racy scenes. Because cable channels are not subject to FCC regulation to the extent that major television networks are, they are able to air scenes that are considered inappropriate for major television audiences.

McCall said that rather than attempting to appeal to a larger audience with more generally acceptable programming, television networks have followed the example set by cable channels and are airing more violent, graphic shows in an attempt to capture the attention of younger viewers.

?Broadcast networks have responded to the threat of cable by acting more like cable,? McCall said. ?Networks [are pushing] the graphic language and the graphic images. Most of the programs you watch, you say, ?Okay they?re trying to appeal to that young audience, or this young audience.??

A related problem facing networks is the increasing diversification of television programming. Because viewers have ?quite a menu? for programming, McCall said, there is a severe lack of shows that attract nationwide audiences, such as NBC?s The Cosby Show (which aired from 1984 to 1992). This individualistic programming detracts from a notion of national culture and fragments viewership into particular niches.

Audiences, McCall told TheDC, have become tremendously ?polarized and fractured, both politically and culturally.?

The rising popularity of online video streaming is a very serious?threat to major television networks. It it a huge draw for ?younger audiences and one of the largest forces in the fragmentation of viewership .

A January study conducted by analysts from Morgan Stanley and published in Business Insider found that online viewership has increased from approximately 120 million viewers in 2008 to 400 million viewers in 2012.

At the forefront of this increase in online streaming are video providers Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video. All three operate on a business model that may steal away younger audiences who aren?t loyal to a particular television channel.

These three video providers operate similarly. Users subscribe to the service and are granted access to a wide array of television shows, movies, comedy stand-up specials ? even the daily news.

Videos are streamed to users? computers, tablets, smartphones, gaming consoles or any device with access to the provider?s internet databases. Users can also purchase movies or other videos to watch while offline for extended periods of time, such as during a flight.

Netflix and Hulu Plus both charge $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming. While Netflix is commercial-free, Hulu Plus has occasional ads. Amazon Instant Video, meanwhile, coupled with a $79.99 yearly subscription to Amazon Prime, allows users to stream from Amazon?s entire database of shows, movies and videos without limit.

Episodes are generally only uploaded to the online databases as early as the day after they debut on television. Amazon Instant Video, for example, allows users to purchase and download individual videos the day after they debut on television. Hulu Plus allows users to stream new episodes the day after they debut, though its database is limited in comparison to Amazon and Netflix. Netflix occasionally uploads entire seasons of shows only after the previous season is completed and a new one has begun, which can take up to a year.

While television networks require viewers to sit in front of a television at a designated time on a certain day and sit through the network?s specific advertising, these online streaming providers allow users to watch almost whatever they want, whenever they want to, in almost any location, in an unlimited amount, nearly commercial-free, for about eight bucks a month.

The one saving grace for network television is that the boob tube remains the dominant medium for video consumption. The Morgan Stanley study found that though television viewership has fallen approximately 50 percent since 2002, revenue from television broadcasts are only down between six and seven percent during that same time.

This is partly due to increased prices for television packages, but also because live television still remains the dominant means through which people consume video. Online video, while on the rise, currently remains but a small fraction of the nation?s total viewership.

McCall told TheDC that the networks are missing the chance to leverage this remaining dominance with broadly appealing product.

?I do think it reduces the amount of common cultural experiences that we have as a nation,? McCall said. ?The major television networks are virtually disconnecting from the audiences they?re trying to reach. They?re too worried about what?s going on in the niche channels.?

Source: http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/23/communications-expert-television-networks-taking-wrong-course-against-threats/

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The new Apple

Apple

Tuesday evening?s Apple results were beyond dramatic. The company buried a massive 18% drop in profits under an even bigger pile of cash, announcing that it will take on debt and create value for investors by increasing its stock buyback and dividend programs to return $100 billion to investors between now and 2015. The stock immediately shot up by more than 4.5% in after-hours trading, but those gains were completely wiped away when CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple doesn?t have plans to launch any exciting new products until this coming fall. Quite the roller coaster ride, indeed.

[More from BGR: Samsung Galaxy S4 review]

As analysts? downgrades began to pour out on Wednesday morning, a piece penned Tuesday evening by Reuters?finance blogger Felix Salmon does a terrific job of explaining exactly what?s happening. We?re now looking at a completely different stock than we were this time last year, and the new Apple is going to take some time to get used to.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry Q10 review]

?Apple is officially no longer a high-growth tech stock, valued on its monster potential,? Salmon wrote. ?Instead, it has become a cash cow, valued on its ability to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into its shareholders? pockets.?

The transition we?re currently seeing at Apple happened so fast that investors are having trouble processing it, hence Tuesday night?s roller coaster ride that continued into Wednesday morning?s pre-market session as Apple shares continued downward and were trading below $400. Again.

On the flip side of the coin, Apple CEO Tim Cook is a numbers man first ? unlike late co-founder Steve Jobs, who was a geek first ? so the new Apple may play right into his wheelhouse.

What was once a high-yield stock that attracted a rush of investors is now becoming a safe low-yield investment that will attract a more conservative crowd. That fundamental shift will clearly take some time to adjust to, and volatility will likely continue for some time as a result.

?Apple is trading at an astonishingly low valuation, with a p/e ratio in single digits, because it has now become that animal investors like least: a slow-growing tech stock,? Salmon wrote. ?Either one is fine on its own, and both slow-growing stocks and fast-growing tech stocks can support much higher multiples than Apple is seeing right now. But conservative investors, who like slow-growing stocks with high dividends, are constitutionally uncomfortable with the volatility inherent in the tech world. And technology investors, who are happy taking that kind of risk, want to see substantial growth. Apple, notwithstanding the fact that it?s one of the most valuable companies in the world, is falling through the capital-markets cracks.?

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-151056155.html

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Residential lawns efflux more carbon dioxide than corn fields

Apr. 23, 2013 ? More carbon dioxide is released from residential lawns than corn fields according to a new study. And much of the difference can likely be attributed to soil temperature. The data, from researchers at Elizabethtown College, suggest that urban heat islands may be working at smaller scales than previously thought.

These findings provide a better understanding of the changes that occur when agricultural lands undergo development and urbanization to support growing urban populations.

David Bowne, assistant professor of biology, led the study to look at the amount of carbon dioxide being released from residential lawns versus corn fields in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His co-author, Erin Johnson, was an undergraduate at the time of the study and did the work as part of her senior honors thesis. Their findings were published online today in Soil Science Society of America Journal.

For Bowne, the study allowed him to look beyond the obvious impact of losing agricultural fields to development -- the loss of food that was once produced on the land.

"That is a legitimate concern, but I wanted to look more at how this change could potentially impact the carbon cycle with the understanding that the carbon cycle has implications for global climate change," explains Bowne.

To begin to understand how the carbon cycle was changing, Bowne and Johnson measured carbon dioxide efflux, soil temperature, and soil moisture under the two different land uses. They found that both carbon dioxide efflux and soil temperature were higher in residential lawns than in corn fields. Additionally, temperature had the most influence on the levels of carbon dioxide efflux, followed by the type of land use.

Higher temperatures leading to increased carbon dioxide efflux was not a surprise for Bowne and Johnson as this relationship has been documented before. "As you increase temperature," Bowne explains, "you increase biological activity -- be it microbial, plant, fungal, or animal." That increased activity, then, leads to more respiration and higher levels of carbon dioxide leaving the soils.

What was unexpected, however, was that the higher temperatures found in residential lawns suggested urban heat islands working at small scales. Urban heat islands are well documented phenomena in which development leads to large areas of dark-colored surfaces such as roofs, buildings, and parking lots. The dark color means more heat is absorbed leading to an increase in temperature in the neighboring areas. Urban areas, then, are warmer than the surrounding countryside.

The interesting part of Bowne's study is that the urban heat islands in the areas he was looking seem to operate on much smaller scales than he previously thought. While heat islands are usually studied on large scales -- such as comparing a large city and its surrounding rural areas -- fewer studies have been done to work out how development may affect temperatures on small scales.

"Within a developed area, within a city or town, you could have local increases in soil temperature because of the amount of development within a really small area," says Bowne.

His research suggests that temperatures may vary even across short distances due to the influence of development. One source cited in his paper says that development within even 175 meters of a location can cause an increase in temperature. Bowne is planning further experiments to test soil temperatures over a range of development setups and sizes.

The other factor that Bowne will test in the future is the sequestration of carbon. Along with the carbon dioxide efflux data in the current study, information about carbon sequestration would give a bigger picture of carbon cycling. That picture could then help researchers determine how various land uses as well as management practices such as no-till agriculture or leaving grass clippings on lawns can change the carbon cycling.

"If we go from one land use to another land use, how does that impact carbon cycling which in turn can affect climate change? Our current study touches on one component of that cycle, and more research is needed to address this huge topic," says Bowne.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Soil Science Society of America (SSSA).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. David R. Bowne, Erin R. Johnson. Comparison of Soil Carbon Dioxide Efflux between Residential Lawns and Corn Fields. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2013; 0 (0): 0 DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2012.0346N

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/lDxyqrGcYCA/130423110711.htm

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New research findings open door to zinc-oxide-based UV lasers, LED devices

Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers from North Carolina State University have solved a long-standing materials science problem, making it possible to create new semiconductor devices using zinc oxide (ZnO) -- including efficient ultraviolet (UV) lasers and LED devices for use in sensors and drinking water treatment, as well as new ferromagnetic devices.

"The challenge of using ZnO to make these devices has stumped researchers for a long time, and we've developed a solution that uses some very common elements: nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen," says Dr. Lew Reynolds, co-author of a paper describing the research and a teaching associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State. "We've shown that it can be done, and how it can be done -- and that opens the door to a suite of new UV laser and LED technologies," says Dr. Judith Reynolds, a research scientist at NC State and lead author of the paper.

To make laser and LED technologies, you need both "n-type" materials and "p-type" materials. N-type materials contain an abundance of free electrons. P-type materials have "holes" that attract those free electrons. But the holes in the p-type materials have a lower energy state, which means that electrons release their excess energy in the form of light as they travel from the n-type material to the p-type material. The shedding of excess energy at the so-called "p-n junction" is what produces light in lasers and LED devices.

Researchers have been interested in using ZnO to create these devices because ZnO produces UV light, and because ZnO can be used to make devices with relatively fewer unwanted defects than other UV emitters- which means the resulting lasers or LEDs would be more energy efficient.

However, researchers had been unable to consistently produce stable p-type materials out of ZnO. Now researchers have solved that problem by introducing a specific "defect complex," via a unique set of growth and annealing procedures, in the ZnO. The defect complex looks different from a normal ZnO molecule. The zinc atom is missing and a nitrogen atom (attached to a hydrogen atom) substitutes for the oxygen atom. These defect complexes are dispersed throughout the ZnO material and serve as the "holes" that accept the electrons in p-type materials.

Not only does the research illustrate how to create p-type materials from ZnO, but the defect complex allows the ZnO p-n junction to function efficiently -- and produce UV light -- at room temperature.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. G. Reynolds, C. L. Reynolds, A. Mohanta, J. F. Muth, J. E. Rowe, H. O. Everitt, D. E. Aspnes. Shallow acceptor complexes in p-type ZnO. Applied Physics Letters, 2013; 102 (15): 152114 DOI: 10.1063/1.4802753

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/K9CYvhXShek/130423110815.htm

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Hacked AP Twitter reports White House bombing, causes brief dip in Dow

You might have noticed that the AP's Twitter account was hacked this afternoon and spread a report of a bombing at the White House. That yet another Twitter account was hacked isn't the interesting part, it's the immediate (if brief and shallow) plunge that the financial markets took. We don't really need any further reminders of the power of social media, but it's hard to ignore this particularly stark demonstration of the real-time effects. In this hyper-connected environment a breaking news tweet that was only live for a few minutes and, in retrospect, contained many glaring clues to its falsehood, caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop to 14,567, from 14,697. Now, that only represents a roughly 1-percent drop, and it lasted only about as long as the tweet itself -- the markets quickly bounced back and stabilized. But it is a firm reminder that virtual events can have significant real world consequences.

Filed under: Internet, Alt

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/23/hacked-ap-report/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Distro Issue 86: The return of Roku's simple set-top box

Prior to the company's recent milestone announcement, Roku released its latest streaming effort. In a smokin' hot issue of our weekly, the Roku 3 gets put through the full review treatment to see just how it stacks up against other set-top boxes. We also spend some quality time with OUYA's Founding Backer's Edition and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 before offering up detailed analysis for both. Eyes-On gazes on the Joey Roth Ceramic Speaker System and Elon Musk discusses service and the Tesla Model X. Go on and swipe to that weekly download spot because this issue is certainly one you won't want to miss.

Distro Issue 86 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro in the Windows Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
Like Distro on Facebook
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Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile

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Source: iTunes, Google Play, Windows Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/12/distro-issue-86-roku-3/

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Saga 12 and the story of the four failures

Recently a story on Image Comics claimed Apple's App Store "banned" a comic book, Saga 12, from a comic book app, Comics by comiXology, for content reasons. An uproar followed that story so closely that it actually seemed to overtake it at times. The original story turned out to be incorrect. According to comiXology, they assumed Apple would have a problem with the content and so decided on their own not to release it. They were wrong. Apple was fine with it. They subsequently released it. Though the original story still hasn't been updated to reflect any of that, a new story has been posted on Image Comics addressing the matter. So what does this all tell us?

1. Apple failed to create an environment where distributors like comiXology could focus on releasing great content like Saga 12 instead of wasting time and energy fearing what might or might not get them in trouble with the App Store review team.
2. comiXology failed to check with Apple before deciding not to release Saga 12 through their App Store apps, and to properly communicate that choice to the content creators, Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Image Comics.
3. Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Image Comics failed to check with comiXolgy as to the real reason for Saga 12 not being released before posting their misinterpretation of events to the internet.
4. Many media outlets and vocal consumers failed to check with Apple or comiXology before losing our collective online minds.

There are no pats on the back for this one. No I-told-you-sos either. There is, however, a learning opportunity, and a chance to improve the way we all do things. More certainty. More courage. More consideration. More care.

Yes, it was a collective failure, but from it could come a collective success. Let's put just as much energy into that.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/u56VIxlQL1c/story01.htm

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Nasdaq slashes Greifeld's bonus over botched Facebook IPO

(Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said it slashed the 2012 annual bonus of Chief Executive Robert Greifeld by $542,100 over the botched handling of Facebook Inc's initial public offering last year.

Nasdaq said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late on Thursday that Greifeld's bonus for 2012 fell 62 percent to $1.35 million.

The mishandling of Facebook's IPO also cost Anna Ewing, Nasdaq's executive vice president of Global Technology Solutions, a $263,625 cut to her bonus for 2012.

"The committee and board explicitly considered the Facebook IPO in connection with their review and determination of these reduced payouts," the company said in a filing.

Facebook's eagerly anticipated listing on May 18, which raised $16 billion, was initially delayed by 30 minutes due to a technical glitch at Nasdaq.

The exchange then made the decision to get the stock trading by using a secondary system that ended up leading to delays in many clients' orders and confirmations, costing some investors big losses as the stock price dropped after an initial gain.

In March, U.S. regulators approved Nasdaq's $62 million compensation plan for firms that lost money in Facebook's market debut, far less than the $500 million in estimated losses.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasdaq-slashes-greifelds-bonus-over-botched-facebook-ipo-030411945--sector.html

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New tax break gives small business owners a boost - Charlotte ...

The husband and wife team behind Will Johnson Building Co. recently learned that they qualified for a state tax break that would save them at least $3,875.

The money was a welcome surprise for owners Laurie and Will Johnson, who plowed through their savings to keep their custom home building and remodeling business in Chapel Hill afloat during the Great Recession.

?Truthfully, I just said it was a gift from God,? said Laurie Johnson, who serves as secretary and treasurer of the family business,

The Johnsons are among hundreds of thousands of business owners who could qualify for a state income tax deduction on their personal income tax returns.

Effective Jan. 1 2012, the law allows sole proprietors and active shareholders of S corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies to deduct up to $50,000 of active net business income on their personal state income tax returns.

?In a nutshell, that is offering a lot of savings in a way of actual income in the pockets of small business owners,? said Lauren Massie, a tax specialist with Simply Taxes in North Raleigh. The firm specializes in working with sole proprietorships and individuals.

Massie and other tax professionals from Raleigh to Charlotte say many small business owners and self-employed contractors don?t know about the tax break.

?It?s the best-kept secret there has been,? said J.A. Lesemann Jr., managing member of the Huntersville firm Lesemann & Associates and chair of the N. C. Association of Certified Public Accountants.

The deduction doesn?t apply to passive income, such as certain types of real estate and other investments, income claimed on Form W-2, and owners who aren?t active in the business.

The deduction can be found on the North Carolina individual tax return form D-400 on line 48, which is labeled ?Adjustment for net business income that is not considered passive income.?

?If it was late at night or you are in a hurry, you might just glance right past it,? said Ward Simmons, a Charlotte certified public accountant and owner of Ward Simmons CPA, P.A.

Following rules carefully

Small business owners also need to make sure they don?t underestimate or overestimate their income that qualifies for the deduction, tax professionals say. The maximum that an individual could claim is about $3,875 and some married couples could claim double that.

Husband and wife S corporation shareholders can claim an up to $100,000 net business income deduction, but only if revenue they receive from the business parallels that amount.

In general, if a husband has a net business income of $30,000 and the wife has $100,000, jointly they can only claim an $80,000 deduction.

?That is where people I think are going to the most confused if they are doing it in their head,? Lesemann said.

Another tricky area is determining whether the revenue is active or passive, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, particularly when real estate is involved, tax professionals say.

Active and licensed real estate agents who own rental properties would likely be able to deduct related income, while someone else with a full-time job who owns an unrelated limited liability company that leases property may not, Lesemann said.

In general, passive revenue, such as investments and companies in which an owner doesn?t participate, cannot be included in the deducted business income, and passive partners and spouses cannot claim the deduction.

Will Johnson Building Co. had profit in 2012 for the first time in years. Laurie Johnson said she would probably use the tax savings to help pay for the three-and-a-half new positions created this year or to put a down payment on a replacement for their 1995 van. The company employs 11 people, including the Johnsons and their son and his wife.

A surprise for many

Susan Shackelford, a freelance writer and editor based in Charlotte, said she would use the tax savings on a long-term care insurance policy or dental work.

While Shackelford is grateful, she was shocked to learn about the tax break given the state?s budget challenges. Shackelford said she is concerned about a lack of funding for essential services such as education and Medicaid.

?Given the straits that our state is in financially, I was just very, very surprised that was a tax break,? she said.

The N.C. General Assembly Fiscal Research Division estimated that the tax would cost the state about $336 million in revenue. The division estimated 750,000 tax filers would qualify for the deduction, but only 450,000 would be able to use it due to business losses.

Tax professionals say some small business owners may want to consider taking steps to maximize their tax benefit in 2013 by reducing the wages they pay themselves to increase an S corporation?s net revenue, or increasing a spouse?s share in the business.

Small business owners should consult tax professionals to understand any implications of any changes, but changes should be made quickly, said Neely McLaughlin, a partner with accounting firm Blackman & Sloop in Raleigh.

?The earlier the better,? said McLaughlin, because the net income is generally determined by the number of days they own the business.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/10/3974584/new-state-tax-break-could-save.html

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Kid Rock: Embarrassed to Be a Republican!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/kid-rock-embarrassed-to-be-a-republican/

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3 ways to bring more civility to the office - Business Management Daily

Incivility?being disrespectful, un???pro??fes??sional or just plain rude?is an epidemic in many workplaces today, Joyce E.A. Russell writes for The Wash??ing??ton Post. And it?s a problem for businesses, customers and employees.

Employees are less productive when they use up their emotional energy on interpersonal drama. Customers get a poor impression of the business and make more complaints. And those problems take a hit on the business.

You can?t force your co-workers to change, but if you suspect you aren?t being as civil as you could be, you can work on your behavior. As you demonstrate civility, you will make a difference in your office and set an example others just may start to follow.

1. Learn your triggers. Figure out what makes you irritable and prone to incivility. Then work on controlling those impulses or learn when you need to take a break from a conversation.
2. Be punctual. Treat your co-workers as though their time is as valuable as yours?because it is. If you?re late to finish a project or arrive to a meeting, be sure to apologize.
3. Take responsibility for your actions. No one is perfect. When you make a mistake admit you were wrong, apologize and do what you can to make amends.

? Adapted from ?Cultivating civility in the workplace,? Joyce E.A. Russell, The Washington Post.

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Sheriff: Knife attack at Texas college was random

Dylan Quick, who is a suspect in the multiple stabbings on the Lone Star Cy-Fair Campus, right, is escorted by Harris County Sherrif's Office investigators after being questioned, Tuesday, April 9, 2013, in Houston. Quick, a student at the school, allegedly went on a building-to-building stabbing attack at the Texas community college Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people ? many in the face and neck ? before being subdued and arrested, authorities and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Cody Duty)

Dylan Quick, who is a suspect in the multiple stabbings on the Lone Star Cy-Fair Campus, right, is escorted by Harris County Sherrif's Office investigators after being questioned, Tuesday, April 9, 2013, in Houston. Quick, a student at the school, allegedly went on a building-to-building stabbing attack at the Texas community college Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people ? many in the face and neck ? before being subdued and arrested, authorities and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Cody Duty)

Dylan Quick, 20, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff's Office. The Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that Quick used a razor-type knife in a rampage Tuesday at the Lone Star College System's campus in Cypress, a Houston suburb, hurting more than a dozen people. Quick was charged Tuesday night, April 9, 2013 with three counts of aggravated assault. It wasn't immediately clear if additional charges would be filed, though he is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday. (AP Photo/Harris County Sheriff's Office)

In this photo provided by Teaundrae Perryman, a victim is loaded into an ambulance after being wounded in a stabbing attack on the Lone Star community college system's Cypress, Texas campus Tuesday, April 9, 2013. At least 14 people were wounded when a suspect went building-to-building in an apparent stabbing attack at the college campus authorities said. (AP Photo/Teaundrae Perryman)

This photo provided by Michael Chalfan shows a man in custody after a series of stabbings at the Cy-Fair campus of Lone Star Community College in Cypress, Texas, on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The attack sent at least 12 people to area hospitals, including four who were taken by helicopter. A fire department spokesman says several others refused treatment at the scene. (AP Photo/Michael Chalfan)

Students run from the Lone Star College's Cy-Fair campus in Cypress, Texas, where a student went on a building-to-building stabbing attack Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The attacker wounded at least 14 people before being subdued and arrested, authorities said. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, James Nielsen) MANDATORY CREDIT

CYPRESS, Texas (AP) ? A man accused of stabbing more than a dozen people at a suburban Houston community college randomly selected his victims and told investigators he had been fantasizing about conducting such an attack since he was 8 years old, authorities said Wednesday.

Dylan Quick, 20, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault in the Tuesday attack at the Lone Star Community College in Cypress, a school he attended about 20 miles northwest of Houston.

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said Quick has been "forthcoming" with investigators and indicted to them that he had been planning the attack for some time. Garcia said authorities were investigating a motive but that the attacks at the school's health sciences center appeared to be random.

Quick slashed at his victims with a razor utility knife, and a similar weapon was found in his backpack when he was apprehended, Quick said. Several of the 14 victims were hospitalized but all were expected to survive.

Campus President Audre Levy said college police were notified of the attack at 11:13 a.m. Tuesday and that Quick was taken into custody at 11:17 a.m. Authorities said students assisted by tackling Quick and holding him down outside the health science building until police arrived.

Neighbors said Quick was a shy young man who would say hello when he took out the trash and helped his parents to tend the yard, though he rarely came out alone.

"I can't imagine what would have happened to that young man to make him do something like this. He is very normal," said Magdalena Lopez, 48, who has lived across the street from the Quick family for 15 years.

The Quicks were friendly and fit in well with the other families on the block of brick, ranch-style homes. Most were aware that Quick is deaf. A street sign, "Deaf Child In Area," was posted on the block to warn drivers.

"I can't believe he would do it," Lopez added.

But hours after the stabbing attack, Quick was charged with the attack and authorities were seen leaving Quick's home with two brown paper bags.

No one answered the door or the phone at the red brick home, though two vehicles were parked in the driveway, one of them a Honda Accord with a license plate that read "DYLAN." It was not immediately known if Quick has an attorney.

___

Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Terry Wallace and David Warren in Dallas and AP researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this report.

__

Plushnick-Masti can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-10-US-Texas-College-Stabbing/id-77254502a0fc4c3e89f66187d7a5fa29

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The Facebook Phone Consensus From 7 Reviews: An Impressive First Try For $99

Why trust one reviewer to tell you what phone to buy? Better to get a consensus, and across reviews by seven leading publications the verdict is that the HTC First features a stylish yet casual design, efficient messaging, reliable battery, and an addictive feed-reading experience. But its "apperating system" is confusing, the camera fails in low light, it sacrifices widgets, and has privacy issues.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GFQVF9B2plI/

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Researchers engineer 'protein switch' to dissect role of cancer's key players

Apr. 10, 2013 ? Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have "rationally rewired" some of the cell's smallest components to create proteins that can be switched on or off by command. These "protein switches" can be used to interrogate the inner workings of each cell, helping scientists uncover the molecular mechanisms of human health and disease.

In the first application of this approach, the UNC researchers showed how a protein called Src kinase influences the way cells extend and move, a previously unknown role that is consistent with the protein's ties to tumor progression and metastasis.

"This rationally designed control of protein conformations represents a breakthrough in computational protein design," said senior study author Nikolay Dokholyan, PhD, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics. "We now have a new tool for delineating the activities of various proteins in living cells in a way that was never before possible."

The research was published online ahead of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In the study, Dokholyan created a "switch" that would make a protein wobbly and unable to do its job unless it was flipped "on" by a drug called rapamycin, which would stabilize the protein and let it perform its function.

The approach is a simpler and more reliable version of a protein engineering system pioneered three years ago by Dokholyan and Klaus Hahn, professor of pharmacology at UNC, called rapamycin regulated or RapR. In the old approach, the switching mechanism depended on two proteins and the drug. The first protein -- the one the researchers wanted to study -- was given the RapR modification and put in cells in tissue culture. The second protein was placed in the cells as well, but simply floated around until the addition of drug caused it to latch on to the modification in the first protein and turn it on. The problem with the approach was that some cells would have a lot of the first protein and less of the second, or vice versa.

"It became the Achilles heel of the technique, because there was variability in the results due to the different ratios between the proteins," said Hahn. "What Dokholyan was able to do, which was extremely challenging from a protein engineering standpoint, was to combine the two parts into one."

Dokholyan and his colleagues took the two proteins and broke them apart into their individual components, structures called alpha helices and beta sheets. They then rewired them together to make a whole new protein where the parts could interact with each other. When researchers compared this system, called uniRapR, with the previous approach, they found the new one gave cleaner, more reliable and more consistent results.

They then applied the technique to study Src kinase, a protein involved in the metastasis or spread of tumor cells. Scientists had postulated that Src kinase plays a role in cell motility, but previous methods have not allowed them to isolate its activity from other similar proteins.

Working both in cultured human cells and in the model organism zebrafish, the researchers showed that turning on Src causes the cell to extend its edges as part of cell movement. Now that they have dissected the role of one protein, the researchers plan to look at a variety of other kinases to understand their roles in the development, progression, and spread of cancer.

The research was funded in by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the National Cancer Institute. Study co-authors from UNC were Onur Dagliyan; David Shirvanyants, PhD; Andrei V. Karginov, PhD; Feng Deng, PhD; Lanette Fee; and Srinivas N. Chandrasekaran. Co-authors from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, were Christina M. Freisinger, Gromoslaw A. Smolen, and Anna Huttenlocher.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. O. Dagliyan, D. Shirvanyants, A. V. Karginov, F. Ding, L. Fee, S. N. Chandrasekaran, C. M. Freisinger, G. A. Smolen, A. Huttenlocher, K. M. Hahn, N. V. Dokholyan. Rational design of a ligand-controlled protein conformational switch. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218319110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/SzapJq_n8R4/130410154906.htm

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How carbon moves within planet plays big role in planetary atmosphere formation

Apr. 8, 2013 ? A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the way carbon moves from within a planet to the surface plays a big role in the evolution of a planet's atmosphere. If Mars released much of its carbon as methane, for example, it might have been warm enough to support liquid water.

A new study of how carbon is trapped and released by iron-rich volcanic magma offers clues about the early atmospheric evolution on Mars and other terrestrial bodies.

The composition of a planet's atmosphere has roots deep beneath its surface. When mantle material melts to form magma, it traps subsurface carbon. As magma moves upward toward the surface and pressure decreases, that carbon is released as a gas. On Earth, carbon is trapped in magma as carbonate and degassed as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that helps Earth's atmosphere trap heat from the sun. But how carbon is transferred from underground to the atmosphere in other planets -- and how that might influence greenhouse conditions -- wasn't well understood.

"We know carbon goes from the solid mantle to the liquid magma, from liquid to gas and then out," said Alberto Saal, professor of geological sciences at Brown and one of the study's authors. "We want to understand how the different carbon species that are formed in the conditions that are relevant to the planet affect the transfer."

This latest study, which also included researchers from Northwestern University and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, indicated that under conditions like those found in the mantles of Mars, the Moon and other bodies, carbon is trapped in the magmas mainly as a species called iron carbonyl and released as carbon monoxide and methane gas. Both gasses, methane especially, have high greenhouse potential.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that when volcanism was widespread early in Mars' history, it may have released enough methane to keep the planet significantly warmer than it is today.

A key difference between conditions in Earth's mantle and the mantles of other terrestrial bodies is what scientists refer to as oxygen fugacity, the amount of free oxygen available to react with other elements. Earth's mantle today has a relatively high oxygen fugacity, but in bodies like the Moon and early Mars, it is very low. To find out what how that lower oxygen fugacity affects carbon transfer, the researchers set up a series of experiments using volcanic basalt similar to those found on the Moon and Mars.

They melted the volcanic rock at varying pressures, temperature, and oxygen fugacities, using a powerful spectrometer to measure how much carbon was absorbed by the melt and in what form. They found that at low oxygen fugacities, carbon was trapped as iron carbonyl, something previous research hadn't detected. At lower pressures, iron carbonyl degassed as carbon monoxide and methane.

"We found that you can dissolve in the magma more carbon at low oxygen fugacity than what was previously thought," said Diane Wetzel, a Brown graduate student and the study's lead author. "That plays a big role in the degassing of planetary interiors and in how that will then affect the evolution of atmospheres in different planetary bodies."

Early in its history, Mars was home to giant active volcanoes, which means significant amounts of methane would have been released by carbon transfer. Because of methane's greenhouse potential, which is much higher than that of carbon dioxide, the findings suggest that even a thin atmosphere early in Mars' history might have created conditions warm enough for liquid water on the surface.

Other authors on the paper were Malcolm Rutherford from Brown, Steven Jacobson from Northwestern. and Erik Hauri from the Carnegie Institution. The work was supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Deep Carbon Observatory.

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Journal Reference:

1. Diane T. Wetzel, Malcolm J. Rutherford, Steven D. Jacobsen, Erik H. Hauri, and Alberto E. Saal. Degassing of reduced carbon from planetary basalts. PNAS, April 8, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1219266110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/g3sAD9F5v5Y/130408152949.htm

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Opposition holds big rally in Venezuelan capital

By Diego Ore and Eyanir Chinea

CARACAS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan opposition supporters rallied in a staunchly pro-government part of the capital on Sunday, answering a call by their candidate Henrique Capriles and showing strength a week before the presidential election.

"Today the streets of Caracas are full of happiness and hope, confirming what will happen next Sunday," Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda state, told the crowd.

Capriles faces acting President Nicolas Maduro, who has vowed to continue the hard-line socialism of his late boss, Hugo Chavez, if he wins the April 14 election. Maduro held a huge rally on Sunday in rural Apure state, on the Colombian border.

More often seen filled with the red flags and T-shirts of Chavez's loyal supporters, the capital's historic Bolivar Avenue was packed with opposition supporters decked out in the blue, yellow and red of Capriles' campaign.

"We're winning this process ... April 15 will be a day of peace and reconciliation between all Venezuelans," Capriles said, before addressing supporters of Maduro's government directly.

"Those who put on a red shirt today, I just ask you: open your eyes! I'll work hard, I'll shed skin, to win your trust."

Despite the opposition leader's optimism, opinion polls give Maduro a lead of more than 10 percentage points.

Both candidates are touring the South American country during a lightning, 10-day campaign ahead of next Sunday's vote, which was triggered by Chavez's death from cancer on March 5.

It has been a bitter run-up to the election, characterized by deeply personal attacks and accusations of dirty tricks by both sides.

The race took a somewhat surreal turn on Saturday when Maduro said a centuries-old curse would fall on the heads of those who do not vote for him.

Maduro, 50, was a bus driver and union leader who rose to become Chavez's foreign minister, then vice president.

At his rallies, he frequently refers to Chavez in adoring terms and plays a video from December where the former president endorsed Maduro as his successor.

"He taught us the supreme value of loyalty. With loyalty, everything is possible," Maduro told cheering supporters in Apure on Sunday. "Betrayal only brings defeats and curses."

Capriles, who is predicting a late pro-opposition surge as sympathy wears off after Chavez's death, is vowing to install a Brazilian-style administration of free-market economics with strong social welfare policies.

Capriles mocks Maduro as a bad imitation of Chavez. He says Maduro's decisions as acting president resulted in a currency devaluation and price spikes that have been disastrous for Venezuelans.

"This country is broken. I like Capriles ... the other one is immature. He just wants to be a copy of Chavez," said Gisela Quijada, a 68-year-old nurse attending the opposition rally.

"Chavez was a leader for them. I can't deny it. But he (Maduro) has nothing in his head. If Capriles doesn't win, we'll keep on fighting for him. But we're sure he's going to win!"

The election will decide the future of "Chavismo" socialism and determine control of the world's biggest oil reserves and economic aid to left-leaning nations across Latin America and the Caribbean.

(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Philip Barbara and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavez-protege-invokes-curse-those-vote-against-him-013937725.html

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Army vet accused in Syria fighting to stay jailed

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) ? An al-Qaida affiliate operating among Syrian rebels wanted a Phoenix man fighting alongside them to serve as their face to the Western world, but he refused to take on the role, prosecutors said Monday.

A few new details emerged at a court hearing Monday in the case against Eric Harroun, 30, a U.S. Army veteran accused of joining up with a group known as "al-Qaida in Iraq" earlier this year as it and other rebel groups battled the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Specifically, Harroun is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction outside the U.S. by firing rocket-propelled grenades at Syrian government forces while he was with the al-Qaida group, known as Jabhat al-Nusra. The U.S. government designated the group as a terrorist organization in December.

At Monday's hearing, U.S. Magistrate Ivan Davis found probable cause to send the case to a grand jury and ordered Harroun remain jailed while he awaits trial.

Prosecutor Carter Burwell told Davis that members of Jabhat al-Nusra at one point asked Harroun to serve as their "Adam Gadahn," a reference to the American-born al-Qaida member who once served as a spokesman of sorts for Osama bin Laden. Burwell said Harroun declined the offer.

Prosecutors also said for the first time Monday that Harroun could possibly face the death penalty if the government can prove at some point that Harroun's actions caused a death. Harroun has told the FBI in voluntary interviews that he may have shot 10 people during the course of his fighting in Syria ? from January to March of this year ? but he was unsure if he actually killed anyone.

During Monday's detention hearing, public defender Geremy Kamens asked the judge to consider the fact that Harroun was fighting with Syrian rebels who share the U.S. government's desire to oust al-Assad's regime.

"It is extremely unusual for the U.S. to charge a person who is fighting in a manner that is aligned with U.S. interests," Kamens said.

The law under which Harroun is charged applies to U.S. nationals anywhere in the world and does not specify exceptions for those fighting hostile regimes.

Still, Kamens questioned whether the criminal charge filed against Harroun applies in a circumstance where the U.S. government considers the regime he was fighting to be illegitimate. The statute bars using a weapon of mass destruction "without lawful authority." Kamens argued that because the Assad regime lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the U.S. and among the Syrian people, those who take up arms against it are within their rights to do so.

But prosecutors argued successfully that no chances should be taken when the rebel group in question is a branch of al-Qaida.

Burwell said the fact that Harroun "knowingly aligned himself with al-Qaida is perhaps one of the gravest threats to national security that the U.S. government can countenance."

The judge asked Burwell directly if the U.S. government would have brought charges against Harroun if he had been fighting with the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group that has no terrorist designation, as opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq. Burwell said he couldn't answer that question, but made clear that the U.S. Justice Department considers the case far more serious because it involves an al-Qaida affiliate.

According to the FBI affidavit, Harroun originally joined the Free Syrian Army in January after crossing the border from Turkey. Within a few days, he was in a battle where the Free Syrian Army and the Jabhat al-Nusra Front launched a joint attack. During the retreat, Harroun hopped on the back of an Jabhat al-Nusra truck.

According to the affidavit, Jabhat al-Nusra initially treated Harroun like a prisoner until he eventually gained their trust and joined them in subsequent firefights, where he used a grenade launcher and other weapons.

His willingness to serve with Jabhat al-Nusra was a subject of debate Monday. Kamens suggested that Harroun had no choice but to fight alongside them, or else he would be considered an American spy. And Harroun told the FBI that he hated al-Qaida.

On the other hand, the FBI said Harroun bragged of his exploits with Jabhat al-Nusra on his Facebook page and admitted in interviews with the FBI that he knew Jabhat al-Nusra had been designated a terrorist group.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/army-vet-accused-syria-fighting-stay-jailed-172810800.html

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Bobby Jindal's popularity hits the skids in Louisiana

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, often rumored to be considering a 2016 presidential run, has run into popularity problems in his home state. A controversial plan to eliminate state income tax could be contributing to his 38 percent approval rating.

By Stephanie Grace,?Reuters / April 7, 2013

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks to reporters of the political common ground that he and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, (l.) share April 3, during a media availability prior to a closed fund raising dinner for the state Republican Party in Jackson, Miss.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

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Louisiana?Governor Bobby?Jindal, one of the nation's most prominent Republicans and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has fallen out of favor with local voters, and his bold plan to scrap the state income tax is running into trouble.

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Jindal?was re-elected to a second term with two-thirds of the vote in 2011. But his?Louisiana?approval rating was down to 38 percent in a recent poll, worse than Democratic President?Barack Obama?in one of the most conservative US states.

The poll suggested voters think he is spending more time traveling outside the state and burnishing his credentials for a possible?White House?run than tending to local matters.

As the?Louisiana Legislature?prepares to kick off its two-month session on Monday,?Jindal's signature proposal to eliminate the state income tax is facing resistance.

His detailed plan would do away with all state personal and corporate income taxes. It also calls for a 56-percent increase in the state sales tax, a much higher cigarette tax, and the elimination of some tax loopholes to make up the $3 billion shortfall from scrapping the income taxes.

To allay fears that the plan would hurt the poor,?Jindal?has proposed a rebate for low-income residents and some retirees.

The governor says the change would attract business by making?Louisiana?competitive with states such as oil-rich neighbor?Texas, which has no income tax.

In speeches across the state, he has cast it as a way to simplify the system, make it fairer, and give people more control over their own money.

Eliminating income taxes would also be an attention-getting accomplishment for a Republican governor with national aspirations.

"A lot of the pressure seems to be coming from national groups. It's hard to find a constituency in?Louisiana?that was demanding an end to the income tax," said?Jan Moller, director of the nonprofit?Louisiana?Budget Project, which advocates for raising revenue to provide more services.

Jindal, who is Indian-American and chairs the Republican Governors Association, has been outspoken in the debate about how to broaden the appeal of the party after last November's painful election losses.

He made national headlines earlier this year by calling on Republicans to "stop being the stupid party," - a reference to some 2012 candidates self-destructing with comments about women and rape.

HIGH PROFILE

Jindal, 41, appears regularly on national television shows and at events where presidential hopefuls test their appeal such as the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Jindal?was a leading campaign surrogate for losing Republican presidential candidate?Mitt Romney?last year. He gave the Republican response to Obama's first address to a joint session of?Congress?in 2009, but his performance received poor reviews.

His tax proposal has won plaudits from national conservatives such as Grover Norquist, the guru of anti-tax reformers who asks politicians to pledge never to raise taxes.

However, local skeptics have raised concerns that the sales tax increase would disproportionately hit poor residents, increase costs for businesses, hurt New Orleans' tourism industry and make it harder for local taxes to be imposed.

The increase would require a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Legislature, which have Republican majorities.

But the same poll that showed?Jindal's slumping popularity, conducted by Southern Media & Opinion Research, found 63 percent opposed the tax plan.

The poll of 600 likely?Louisiana?voters was taken March 18-20 and has a 4 percentage-point margin of error.

The?Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, normally an ally of the Republican governor, has opposed the tax plan. Republican House Speaker?Chuck Kleckley?has warned that the changes might increase the tax burden on businesses.

Republican House?Ways and Means Committee?Chairman Joel Robideaux, author of bills that make up the governor's package, said he will not schedule votes until an independent analysis of the plan is completed.

But?Jindal?may yet get his way.?Louisiana?governors historically have done well in bending the Legislature to their wills.

"If the governor is pushing something," Robideaux said in the capital of Baton Rouge recently, "it's never dead on arrival."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/UWsx_9A2xCo/Bobby-Jindal-s-popularity-hits-the-skids-in-Louisiana

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