In a strange and funny moment, London Mayor Boris Johnson got stuck on a zip line during a celebration for the city's 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
The cause of the mid-air snafu was not immediately clear.
ITV, the British partner of NBC, which is broadcasting the Olympics (or at least trying to), reported that Johnson had to be pulled the rest of the way down by some folks on the ground. Happens to the best of us, Boris ...
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Appearing anything but brutally tough with Iran over its nuclear program is one of the last things President Obama wants going into the politically critical month of August in an election year.
That helps explain why the president announced two new measures Tuesday aimed at tightening the screws once again on Iran?s ability to sell its oil abroad and operate in the world financial system.
The White House is also bolstering its tough-on-Iran credentials by speaking anew of long-standing international demands that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment ? a position it had silenced in recent months as it pursued a diplomatic resolution of Iran?s nuclear challenge.
RELATED: How much do you know about Iran? Take our quiz to find out.
The new actions include additional sanctions on Iran?s huge petroleum sector, and target two banks, one Chinese and one Iraqi, that have been facilitating millions of dollars in Iranian financial transactions. They come just two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that ?sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian [nuclear] program by one iota.?
In reviewing the new measures with reporters Tuesday, administration officials were careful not to say they disagreed with Mr. Netanyahu ? even as they disputed the criticism that sanctions are having no impact.
?We do see the sanctions having an effect in terms of sharpening the choice for the Iranian government,? said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. According to Mr. Rhodes, the US and international sanctions are significantly reducing the Iranian government?s revenues, while the sanctions are ?making it much more difficult for Iran to procure the technology it needs? to advance its nuclear program.
International sanctions are reducing Iran?s oil revenues by more than $9 billion a quarter, according to Robert Einhorn, special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the State Department. Oil sales provide the bulk of the government's revenues.
The cumulative effect of the sanctions, he said, is that they are slowing Iran?s progress. That, he added, is providing more ?time and space to pursue a diplomatic resolution.?
Where the White House agrees with Netanyahu, Rhodes added, is that ?we have not yet seen Iran make a decision to come in line with [its] international obligations? by suspending uranium enrichment and curtailing its nuclear program.
One of Obama?s orders Tuesday was for the Treasury Department to impose sanctions against the Bank of Kunlun in China and Elaf Islamic Bank in Iraq for facilitating financial services with Iranian banks already under international sanctions for their connection to Iran?s international proliferation or terrorism activities.
The other order also seeks to crack down on Iran?s use of alternative forms of payment, include barter, to get around international sanctions that are making it harder for Iran to collect for the oil and petroleum products it is selling.
The new executive orders also come as Congress finishes up work on yet another set of sanctions and other measures against Iran. The new legislation, which congressional leaders say they expect to pass before Congress goes on August recess Friday, calls on Obama to officially designate supreme leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as human rights abusers, and would make it the policy of the US to offer political asylum to jailed Iranian dissidents and to call for their release by name.
Rhodes said there was ?absolutely not? an effort by the White House to forestall the latest congressional efforts in light of continuing international diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement with Iran.
One area of potential disagreement is that the proposed legislation speaks of preventing Iran from acquiring a ?nuclear capability,? which is different from current Obama?s stance ? which is that Iran must be prevented ?from acquiring a nuclear weapon,? as Rhodes said. Acquiring nuclear capability might potentially set a lower bar for triggering action.
But Rhodes also hinted at a toughening in the Obama White House approach to Iran, when he repeatedly cited existing United Nations Security Council resolutions that demand Iran?s ?full suspension of enrichment activities.?
Earlier this year some White House officials had suggested that the US might be prepared to accept some low level of uranium enrichment for power-generation purposes, in exchange for a verifiable suspension of the higher-grade enrichment Iran is now pursuing. That puts it closer to obtaining the fuel it would need for a nuclear weapon.
Tuesday?s references to ?suspending all enrichment? ? a position that Israel?s Netanyahu has insisted on ? suggests that perhaps the White House is publicly toughening its stance on Iran as the presidential campaign swings into full gear.
RECOMMENDED: Iran's new quest for nuclear submarines: dangerous and needless
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Exactly one year ago today, I was celebrating a milestone in manhood. I was pacing back and forth after a sleepless night, waiting to hear from the doctor about the status of my wife and our daughter, whom she had just given birth to.
Because this is Morocco and things here don?t happen quite the same way as they do back in the United States or other fully developed western countries, I found myself in the position of one of those sleepless dads from movies back in the 1940?s and 1950?s. ?I wasn?t allowed in the delivery room, had no access to where my wife was, and because of the language barrier ? wasn?t able to even find out if she was okay. The birth had been difficult. ?Not just for me waiting, but more particularly for my wife who went into labor 24 hours earlier, was shifted into the maternity ward of our local hospital in Sefrou where she laboured through the day, into the night, and finally was transported to the bigger regional hospital in Fes at about midnight.
No one had bothered to tell me they moved her. She was simply loaded up into an ambulance with a soldier who was dying from a tsetse fly bite and driven to where she could get better medical attention. Her mom went with her and the rest of the family knew, but they didn?t want to bother me with the information, so they told me to go home, get some sleep and they would tell me if anything changed.
It was only in the morning that they told me she had been moved. I never had the chance to be that expectant father to be from movies of the 1960?s 1970?s and 1980?s who holds his wife?s hand and says ?breathe, breathe, breathe? ? they just don?t do that here. ?So, one year ago this morning after a sleepless pacing night and about 4000 cigarettes, I showed up at the Morekab (Stadium) Hospital in Fez, asking if my wife and daughter were okay. In fact, I wasn?t even positive I had a daughter since the doctor had told my wife she couldn?t tell from the ultrasound since the baby had been covering herself.
So, I showed up and everyone told me everything was fine and I was a proud father of a healthy baby girl. No one bothered to tell me that there had been complications with the birth, that my wife had nearly died from blood loss, that the baby had been in danger, that on the way to the hospital my wife rode with a man who died halfway there. Finally, at around 8:30 in the morning ? they released my wife and daughter. I was a proud papa!
I would have celebrated with cigars and whiskey at the bar across the street from the hospital like some character from a Frank Capra movie, but this is Morocco ? no bar across the street and besides, Ramadan began with the arrival of my daughter ? so no food or drink during daylight hours for my first month of being a dad. Along with no sleep ? and of course, no smoking or drinking whiskey. Just like now, because it?s Ramadan again. It?s also my little girl?s 1st Birthday today.
In Hawaii, the 1st birthday party is a big celebration because back in the late 1800?s there was actually a year when infant mortality was 100%. The 1st birthday is a time of friends, family, beach barbecues, and lots of presents. Here in Morocco, they don?t really celebrate birthdays. Lots of people don?t even know when their birthday is. And, since it?s Ramadan and we live in a landlocked mountain town ? no chance for barbecue, beach, beers, or the kind of celebration you get in Hawaii.
But, we aren?t going t let it pass unmarked. We?ve arranged a party at my in-laws house. We?re having a big Moroccan meal of chicken with prunes made, we?ve ordered a big fancy cake with ?Happy Birthday Sophia? written on it and we told everyone that we invited that they need to bring a present, even if just a small one of a couple of dirhams. ?My wife bought a big plush Teddy Bear for Sophia and since she loves my guitar so much, I bought her a tiny guitar. It?s not a ukulele, it?s an actual tiny six string guitar. I?m not sure if she?ll get any other presents, but really that?s okay ? she?s one year old.
They say that your first year has a huge impact on your life. We?ve given Sophia a pretty wonderful first year. ?Her toy basket is filled with toys from all over the world given to her by friends, family, or picked up by me on my various trips. Her wardrobe is also international ? Moroccan, Belgian, French, Italian, Greek, Australian, British, Turkish and American. In fact, while she didn?t get to use the ticket I bought for her to go to Paris (because we weren?t able to get my wife?s visa in time) ? she did have a ticket to Paris when she was just a few months old.
She?s actually a pretty well traveled baby. In addition to Fez and Sefrou, she has been to Casablanca and Rabat. She?s ridden horses in Essaouira and wandered the medina in Marrakech. ?She?s flown to Turkey, explored Istanbul, Izmir, Cappadocia, Antalya, Bodrum, Pamukkale, and Manisa. ?She?s ridden horses, trains, plains, automobiles, and blue water gullets in both Bodrum and Antalaya?s crystal waters. She?s kayaked a stream through ancient Greek ruins in Olympos and cried when she was denied the chance to ride with us on a hot air balloon.
While she can?t talk yet ? her baby vocabulary is sprinkled with English, Arabic, French, and Turkish sounds ? for some reason she insists on calling her mom Anne (pronounced ann-nay) ? which is the Turkish word for mom. I think she thinks she?s Turkish ? after all, she was made in Turkey. What a mixture she is ? Arab, Berber, Scottish, French, Italian, Irish, English, Cherokee ? a true African-American but made in Turkey with the genes of Africa, Europe, and North America. Someday, perhaps she?ll marry a South American ? Asian ? Aussie and they can have children of the world.
Being a dad has completely changed my life. Shortly after she arrived, I gave up smoking. I?ve had to learn to live with less sleep and of course, having a baby is expensive, so I?ve had to learn to live with less money. The freedom of mobility that I used to have became halved when I married (because my wife has a Moroccan passport and so can?t go to a lot of places without extensive paperwork) and with fatherhood it was quartered. ?Our married life has changed significantly ? lack of sleep, lack of private time together, and more.
And yet- when she look up at me with those two teeth and those smiling little eyes ? when she babbled those first sounds, ate her first solid food, hugs me, kisses me, yells Da-DEE from across the room, or when she began toddling around on her own two legs for the first time just a couple of days ago ? there?s no feeling in the world like it. There?s no price that isn?t worth paying for those moments.
We?ve given our daughter a pretty wonderful first year of life ? I hope it forms the foundation of a long and happy life. She in turn has given us a wonderful first year of life which has added texture and joy to our lives in ways that we never expected. ?My travels with her are more fulfilling as I try to see the world from her eyes ? ?my travels without her are more fulfilling because I find myself wanting to capture memories and things that might make her life better.
It?s been said before, but I?m happy to say it again. Fatherhood is a trip. A wonderful trip.
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Collaboration is an emerging technology, one that uses enterprise communications and business processes to allow end users to work together over any devices, media, and distances that they desire. But making collaboration work for enterprises will require, among other things, getting back to Interop?s roots?interoperability.
Because enterprises must integrate so many different platforms, systems, and networks to enable collaboration, the need for interoperability has never been greater. Legacy PBX systems, advanced Unified Communications applications, video and web conferencing, business process and office productivity applications?all of these must work together if enterprises are going to take collaboration to the next level. And so one of our main goals in the Interop New York Collaboration Track is to present you with the most current information and most useful recommendations for how to get this array of diverse systems working together.
We?re kicking off the track with a ?UC Interoperability? session led by two consultants who have done extensive work in cataloguing the degree to which interoperability is a reality today?and where it?s lacking. Marty Parker of UniComm Consulting and UCStrategies.com is a veteran of dozens of enterprise implementations who?s done hands-on work integrating and making interoperability work. His co-presenter, Russell Bennett of UC Insights has not only studied UC interoperability, he has developed new techniques for measuring how widely UC interoperation has been deployed in the real world. Together they?ll give you a reality check that will help you set expectations and goals for your own integration work.
?Marty will also present our session on ?Integrating Communications with Business Apps,? which will help you uncover opportunities for quick wins with major ROI benefits that come when you open up business processes to communications. By speeding up time to sale, time to market, and other key business metrics, you can get beyond ?soft? gains in end user productivity, into the big-money returns that come from fundamentally transforming your business with communications.??
Of course, interoperability isn?t an end in itself?it?s a means of achieving the end of truly ubiquitous multimedia business communications. Toward that end, we?ve also got a couple of sessions on video. If you?re worried about whether video traffic is going to seriously impact your enterprise network?and you should be?then don?t miss our session on ?Video?s Impact on the Network Infrastructure.? Network management guru Terry Slattery of Chesapeake NetCraftsmen will bring his encyclopedic knowledge of IP networking to bear in helping you understand how to protect your other mission-critical apps from bandwidth-hogging video?while also protecting the delay-sensitive video (and voice) traffic from the other applications.
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Our other video session features Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research explaining the latest trend in video conferencing systems: ?Moving Video from Hardware to Software.? Zeus will explain exactly how this trend is playing out, what the leading vendors are doing to foster it, and what its implications are for your legacy gear and future plans. Zeus will be joined by a representative of the Open Visual Communications Consortium (OVCC), who will return us to the topic of interoperability by describing the exciting progress that OVCC has been making toward this goal.??
We?ve also got sessions on communications in the cloud, and on the effect of social business on Collaboration.
All of our sessions are being led by top independent experts in the Enterprise Collaboration field, offering a wealth of data as well as real-world experience to share with you. If your end users need ever-better means of collaborating, then Interop New York?s Collaboration track is the place to jump-start your technology leadership in this area.
Register with priority code TCBLOG by 8/14 and save $300 on the onsite price of Flex or Conference Passes by taking advantage of the early brid pricing offer.
Tags: cloud, cloud computing, collaboration, Interop, interop new york, interop ny, interop_ny, Unified Commu, unified communications, video
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