Alabama school bus shooting suspect holed up in bunker: police

MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - The gunman suspected of fatally shooting an Alabama school bus driver before holing up in an underground bunker with a young child is a Vietnam veteran with anti-government views, authorities and an organization that tracks hate groups said on Wednesday.

Law enforcement officials from multiple agencies were bivouacked near the bunker in Midland City but offered few details about an overnight standoff with the shooter that stretched into Wednesday evening.

Authorities said driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was killed after the gunman boarded a bus ferrying more than 20 children home from school on Tuesday.

The suspect demanded the driver let a student off the bus, Alabama media reported. When Poland refused, the man boarded the bus and shot the driver before taking a 6-year-old kindergarten student and fleeing the scene.

On Wednesday, the gunman remained holed up with the boy in the underground bunker on his property down a dirt road. Dale County Coroner Woodrow Hilboldt said the man and child were barricaded in "some kind of a tornado bunker."

The shooting comes as national debate rages over gun violence, especially in schools, after a gunman shot dead 20 students and six staff members at a Connecticut elementary school last month.

Schools in the area of the Alabama shooting were closed on Wednesday and will remain shuttered for the rest of the week.

Dale County Superintendent Donny Bynum lauded Poland as "a hero...who gave his life to protect 21 students who are now home safely with their families."

The superintendent's assistant said the young boy still being held by the gunman appeared to have been chosen at random.

"Emotions are high, and it's a struggle for us all to make sense of something so senseless, but let us keep this young student, his family and Mr. Poland's family in our thoughts and prayers," Bynum said in a statement.

Reuters could not independently verify the gunman's identity. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported on its Hatewatch blog that a chief investigator with the Dale County Sheriff's Office identified the gunman as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes.

Investigator Tim Byrd said Dykes' friends and neighbors described him as a "survivalist" who did not trust the government, according to the law center blog.

"He was standoffish, didn't socialize or have any contact with anybody," Byrd told Hatewatch.

Dykes had not been on the law center's radar before the shooting and standoff, and there was nothing to suggest he was a member of any hate group, said senior fellow Mark Potok.

"What it looks like is that he's some kind of anti-government radical and survivalist," Potok told Reuters. "And exactly what that means, we don't know."

Court records show Dykes had been due to appear for a bench trial on Wednesday following his arrest last month on a menacing charge.

James Edward Davis told CNN the arrest stemmed from an altercation he had with Dykes that ended with Dykes allegedly firing two gunshots from a pistol, as Davis sped off in his car.

"He fired the gun twice," said Davis, adding that he had a child inside the vehicle when the shooting occurred.

Neighbors told the Dothan Eagle newspaper they also had seen Dykes walk around his yard late at night with a shotgun and flashlight. Ronda Wilbur, who lives across the street from Dykes, said he once beat her family dog with a lead pipe. The dog later died from his injuries, she said.

(Reporting by Kaija Wilkinson in Mobile, Alabama; Additional reporting and writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Tom Brown and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-shoots-school-bus-driver-alabama-child-seized-015512702.html

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Orion reflects safety push after Columbia disaster

Ten years after the devastating Columbia space shuttle accident that took the lives of seven astronauts, NASA is building a new spacecraft that will take humans farther into space than ever before, and will incorporate the safety lessons learned from the disaster that befell the agency Feb. 1, 2003.

That day, the shuttle Columbia was returning from a 16-day trip to space devoted to science research. But what began as a routine re-entry through Earth's atmosphere ended disastrously as the orbiter disintegrated about 200,000 feet (61 kilometers) over Texas.

Later analysis found that Columbia was doomed during its launch, when a small bit of foam insulation broke off the shuttle's external fuel tank and tore a hole in the orbiter's wing. That hole prevented Columbia from withstanding the scorching heat of re-entry.

Afterward, the independent team that investigated the accident, called the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), found a number of factors, from the safety culture at NASA to the design of the shuttle, that led to the disaster. [ Photos: The Columbia Space Shuttle Tragedy ]

All of the lessons the agency learned were incorporated into every subsequent flight NASA flew, and are now being used to inform the design of its next-generation spaceship, Orion. That vehicle is slated to carry people to asteroids, the moon and Mars sometime in the mid-2020s.

"We're hoping nothing ever goes wrong, but if it does, we've taken every possible step to keep the crew safe and give them every possible fighting chance they can have," said Dustin Gohmert, NASA crew survival engineering team lead, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It's especially important to us that were here during the Columbia accident, because they were our friends, too."

Race car seats and children's seatbelts
The Columbia investigation exposed a number of flaws in the design of the shuttle's crew cabin, including its seats, seatbelts, spacesuits and life-support system. Each of these has been redesigned for Orion.

"The seats were one of the weaker links during the Columbia accident," Gohmert told Space.com. "We wanted to make these seats formfitting so they had a true fit to the body's shape."

NASA looked to the formfitting seats used in professional race vcars, which provide even support to every part of the body, offering extreme cushioning and shock absorption during a crash. Orion designers even fine-tuned the vibration frequency of the seats to have different resonances than the internal organs of a human body.

The engineers also redesigned the seatbelts, which were another issue during Columbia's flight. Here, they took inspiration from the belts on children's car seats, which are adjustable to fit a wide range of body sizes.

"We wanted an exact fit for every single person who could fit in the vehicle, from females down to 4'10" and males up to 6'4"," Gohmert said. "It was quite a challenge."

Suiting up
The astronaut spacesuits were also completely redesigned for Orion. The Columbia investigation board found that the crew members didn't have time to configure their suits to protect against depressurization, which occurred rapidly. In fact, some of the astronauts were not wearing their safety gloves, and one didn't even have a helmet on, because of how quickly the accident took place. [ Columbia Shuttle Disaster Explained (Infographic) ]

"In the case of Orion, the suits will instantaneously, and without any action of the crew, inflate and protect from the loss of pressure," Gohmert said.

The capsule life-support system was also upgraded to provide a constant flow of oxygen to the crew, even with their helmet visors up and locked, which wasn't possible in the shuttle.

Each of these changes addresses flaws exposed by the Columbia shuttle disaster. Yet Gohmert said none of these upgrades alone would have made a difference during the disaster.

"I caution against saying that any one thing we've corrected would have protected against the outcome," he said. "However, we examined all the lethal events that occurred in Columbia and addressed each of them in the Orion. We're doing a whole lot of things to make it safer, and everything we've learned from the shuttle accidents, from Russian space accidents, automobile accidents ? we've taken lessons from all of them and tried to incorporate them into Orion."

Capsule vs. space plane
Perhaps the largest change from shuttle to Orion is the shift from a winged space plane design to the cone-shaped capsule, which sits atop the rocket rather than next to it.?

"When we went to the capsule, we went from a side-mounted spacecraft to a forward-mounted one," said Julie Kramer White, Orion chief engineer.

"Therefore, it's not exposed to debris environments, which was obviously a huge issue for Columbia."

This configuration also allows the crew compartment of the capsule to be ejected from the top of the rocket stack in the case of an emergency on the launch pad or during liftoff. Such an escape would not have been possible for the crew cabin of the space shuttle.

Of course, the shuttle had capabilities that no capsule has ? namely, the ability to haul large, heavy cargoes, such as the building blocks of the International Space Station, inside its cargo bay, White pointed out.

Moreover, the culture of safety at NASA has changed for the better since the days of Columbia, Gohmert said.

1. Space news from NBCNews.com

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      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: NASA's top expert on near-Earth objects says that new telescope systems are gradually getting a handle on potentially threatening asteroids. But comets? That's a completely different story.

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"The reaction has been very positive around all of NASA in terms of giving us the capacity to make these safety improvements," he said. "Previously, it was difficult to implement some of the safety features as we'd hoped. Now it really is on the forefront of everyone's mind."

Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook? and??Google+.

? 2013 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50631537/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Start Making A Difference With Your Internet Marketing By Using ...

As a business owner, you may want to increase demographic awareness and, of course, drive profits. Internet marketing is where you want to be! Internet marketing is a fast paced, easy way to promote sales through advertisements that people will see on their computers. The following article will demonstrate how you can utilize internet marketing for your own purposes.

You need to have good leads to get good sales. They are perfect because you can immediately see who is looking at your products. You will have a chance to contact this potential customer in a matter of just milliseconds after they have submitted some information. This may ultimately lead to a successful transaction between you and your new customer.

If you make claims about any product you sell, provide proof. Posting a video of yourself having a conversation in French will be far more persuasive than simply claiming that your potential customers can learn the language from the French course you?re selling. Make a video of yourself demonstrating your products or performing the services you advertise to convince your audience.

Look into advertising at the start of your marketing plan for your online business. Advertising can greatly increase the profits of your business. This is a great tool to reach customers who may not have found you otherwise.

Your emails are essential for your Internet marketing plan. Remember to choose a secure e-mail service. Retaining old emails and email addresses can have a huge impact on your business, so don?t use an email service that will delete old messages. Pay for reputable companies to archive and maintain this sensitive information.

Few things incite potential customers to make a purchase like a juicy, limited-time offer. These incentives can help build a good rapport between you and your customers and should be considered a marketing expense. Make sure that the end date is noticeable in order create urgency.

Always have a signature for your emails, even if the email is only personal. Your signature is your online business card, so you should distribute it freely. Your website will enjoy greater revenue and greater traffic thanks to this practice.

Your company needs a tagline and a logo, no matter how small it is online. Customers will remember you and your brand if you use marketing tools like this. Catchy slogans have a way of staying in the mind of consumers for long periods of time. Your slogan may end up being the reason some consumers choose to do business with your company.

Find ways to utilize Facebook and Twitter throughout your Internet marketing. These social media sites keep you in direct contact with your customers and give you the quickest way to promote sales or promotions. You should be aware that people do not like you to advertise too much to them. Instead, use the websites to provide insights with occasional promotions.

The performance and appearance of your site is as important to a physical store buying experience. Follow a regular schedule of checks and follow-ups on your sites links, ads or anything else that impacts the buying experience. If the link to your latest product doesn?t work, no one is going to be able to buy what you?re selling.

When advertising your business on the internet, be very mindful of the quality and content of your information. Make every effort to include value and pertinent details in your promotions. It is essential that the visitors to your site learn more about your company. You need to be sure that your site is regularly updated with relevant content.

These suggestions will help you and your online business grow and be very profitable. As a business owner, Internet marketing is going to be an extremely valuable tool to help you sell more products to more people. Apply these tips to your internet marketing strategy and watch the customers fly in.

Source: http://www.webdesignssg.com/start-making-a-difference-with-your-internet-marketing-by-using-these-tips/

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Lewis says he's 'agitated,' not angry about story

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Smiling, even laughing, at questions about a report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said Wednesday he "never, ever took" the stuff.

Lewis described himself as "agitated," not angry, that the story has become part of the Super Bowl-week prelude to Baltimore's game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

He added that he's certain his teammates won't be distracted by the report in Sports Illustrated. The magazine said Lewis sought help from a company that says its deer-antler spray and pills contain a banned product connected to human growth hormone. The 37-year-old Lewis is the leading tackler in the NFL postseason after returning from a torn right triceps that sidelined him for 10 games.

In a private conversation with Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, and later in the public setting of a news conference, Lewis distanced himself from Sports With Alternatives To Steroids (SWATS). SI reported that company owner Mitch Ross recorded a call with Lewis hours after the player hurt his arm in an October game against Dallas. According to the report, Lewis asked Ross to send him deer-antler spray and pills, along with other items made by the company.

"It's so funny of a story because I never, ever took what he says or whatever I was supposed to do. And it's just sad once again that someone can have this much attention on a stage this big, where the dreams are really real," Lewis said Wednesday, wearing his white No. 52 Ravens jersey, gray sweatpants and a black hat with the team's purple logo. "I don't need it. My teammates don't need it. The 49ers don't need it. Nobody needs it."

The magazine reported that when it spoke to Lewis for its story, he acknowledged asking Ross for "some more of the regular stuff" on the night of the injury and that he has been associated with the company "for a couple years."

Lewis' stance Wednesday was different.

"He told me there's nothing to it. ... He's told us in the past, he's told us now, that he's never taken any of that stuff, ever. And I believe Ray. I trust Ray completely. We have a relationship. I know this man. And I know what he's all about," Harbaugh said. "It's just too bad it has to be something that gets so much play."

Harbaugh didn't think his players would be bothered a bit by the subject this week, dismissively waving his left hand while saying: "As a football team, it's not even a factor for us."

Known for his frequent references to God and faith, 2001 Super Bowl MVP Lewis called the whole episode a "joke" and a "trick of the devil," adding that he told teammates: "Don't let people from the outside ever come and try to disturb what's inside."

Faced with a handful of questions about SWATS, and on-field topics, Lewis never had to deal with a single reference to a dark chapter in his life: He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with a double murder after a Super Bowl party at an Atlanta nightclub in 2000.

"We all in here have a past. You know? But how many people actually dwell into it? You know? Nah, it ain't about your past. It's about your future," Lewis said in response to a question about the Ravens keeping focused on Sunday's game.

"And for me and my teammates, I promise you, we have a strong group of men that we don't bend too much," he said, raising a clenched right fist, "and we keep pushing forward. So it's not a distraction at all for us."

Asked about deer-antler spray, San Francisco's tight end Vernon Davis' take was, "I don't think Ray would take any substance."

Carlos Rogers, a 49ers cornerback, chuckled when asked about it and what effect the headlines could have on the Ravens.

"I don't think they'll get a distraction. I don't know what to make of that. I heard it was something that can't be detected. They can't test (for) it, anyway," Rogers said. "Him saying that he's never failed a test, he probably hasn't failed a test for what they test for."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lewis-says-hes-agitated-not-angry-story-194400446--nfl.html

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UN, experts poised to confirm any NKorean blast

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? With North Korea appearing set to detonate an atomic device, the U.N. agency that detected two previous tests says it is prepared to confirm an explosion when it takes place. But experts say it might be difficult to establish whether the blast is nuclear in nature.

The best indication of a test will be seismic tremors and gases released into the air, phenomena that the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty identified from previous testing.

The Vienna-based organization's most potent detection tools are more than 150 seismic stations across the globe. Although very small in yield, North Korea's first test in 2006 was picked up by the CTBTO, as was a second test in 2009.

Last week, North Korea warned that it plans a third nuclear test to protest toughened international sanctions meant to punish it for firing a long-range rocket in December. The world sees the launch as a ballistic missile test banned by the U.N., while Pyongyang says it launched a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful space development program.

The U.S., South Korea and their allies have pressed the North to scrap its nuclear test plans, saying it will only worsen the country's decades-old international isolation.

The threats have placed scientists and experts in South Korea on high alert as any test is likely to aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said Tuesday it believes North Korea has nearly completed its nuclear test preparations, confirming satellite analysis last week by the U.S.-Korea Institute, a research group at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed concerns Tuesday about the series of actions the North Korean regime led by new leader Kim Jong Un has taken.

"Let me express my regret, because I think with a new young leader we all expected something different. We expected him to focus on improving the lives of the North Korean people, not just the elite, but everyone to have more education, more openness, more opportunity," she said in a town hall-style meeting in Washington. "And instead, he has engaged in very provocative rhetoric and behavior.

Its satellite images of the Punggye-ri site ? where the previous two tests were conducted ? show that the North Koreans may have been sealing a tunnel into a mountain where a nuclear device would be detonated.

In the event of such an underground nuclear test, both the CTBTO facilities and earthquake monitoring stations in South Korea can detect seismic tremors.

But although this is a strong indication of a test, it is not an absolute confirmation.

An earthquake expert at the state-run Korea Meteorological Administration said his office aims to find out the magnitude of the tremor, the time it started and the exact location on the map within 10 minutes of the explosion. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Experts also note that artificial earthquakes, such as those created by nuclear explosions, rarely trigger the same wave patterns as natural quakes.

North Korea could still try to deceive and give the impression that it exploded a nuclear device by simply exploding sophisticated conventional weapons that would trigger the same seismic waves produced by a nuclear test, said Chi Heoncheol, an earthquake specialist at the government-funded Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.

By raising tensions this way, North Korea may hope to wrest concessions or aid in return for promises to scale back its unproven nuclear capability.

"Even if they bring truckloads of high-powered conventional explosives, put them (into an underground tunnel) and explode them, they will generate the same seismic wave and sound wave," Chi said. The only difference is no radioactivity would be detected from the explosion of conventional weapons, he said.

The best course for scientists would be to collect air samples to look for increased radiation but the process could take days. Even if the wind is favorable ? and assuming North Korea conducts the test at Punggye-ri in the country's northeastern corner ? it will take more than one day for airborne radioactive isotopes like xenon to reach South Korea, according to an official at the government-run Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

The official, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the subject, acknowledged it may be impossible for South Korea to confirm a test if the wind doesn't blow southward or if North Korea plugs the underground tunnel so tightly that no radioactive gas escapes.

Both South Korea and the Vienna-based CTBTO confirmed increased radiation levels following the North's 2006 nuclear test but didn't find anything in 2009.

CTBTO spokeswoman Annika Thunborg says that generally speaking it is hard for those conducting nuclear tests to control the escape of noble gases, which is a clear indication of a nuclear test. With her organization's extensive air sampling network, it is less dependent on wind direction than the South Koreans in identifying such traces.

If North Korea decides to conduct a so-called subcritical test, there would be no release of radioactivity at all ? but that may be beyond the North's expertise.

A sub-critical test only works on the properties of plutonium but stop short of creating a critical mass, the point at which a self-sustaining nuclear reaction occurs. Such an experiment requires a "very difficult technology" that only a few countries like the U.S., Russia and England have acquired, said nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho of Kyung Hee University.

"I believe North Korea's technology has not reached that level," Whang said.

North Korea said its upcoming atomic explosion will be a "high-level" test and many analysts said that refers to a device made from highly enriched uranium, which gives the country a second source for manufacturing bombs in addition to plutonium.

Whether North Korea detonates a uranium- or plutonium-based device, there won't be much difference in how easily scientists can detect the tests. The only difference is that they produce different radioactive gases, Whang said.

He also said a uranium-based test explosion would mean that North Korea's nuclear stockpile can continue to be enlarged at a time when there is no evidence of continued production of plutonium at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex.

North Korea watchers in South Korea are speculating various dates for a possible nuclear test, with some predicting it could happen as early as this week and others choosing days just before the Feb. 16 birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

There is no way to determine when North Korea will conduct a nuclear test, said analyst Shim BeomChul at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul. U.S. spy satellites "can detect objects 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) in size on the ground but they cannot detect what's happening underground," he said.

____

Associated Press writer George Jahn contributed to this report from Vienna.

Online: www.ctbto.org

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-experts-poised-confirm-nkorean-blast-003107584.html

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Is Volkswagen's Super Bowl Ad Racist? - Business Insider

Screengrab from VW's Super Bowl trailer. (Watch ad below.)

Everyone loves a good Super Bowl ad scandal, but Volkswagen is one of the last companies we'd expect to be accused of inappropriate content.

Between a pint-sized Darth Vader and an adorably obese dog, VW and its ad agency, Deutsch LA, have cemented a reputation for making truly great creative work for the Super Bowl.

But eyebrows have been raised over its newly released Super Bowl spot, in which a white Minnesotan man sports a Jamaican accent because he is so happy about his new Volkswagen. He cavorts around the office to the tune of reggae legend Jimmy Cliff's new rendition of the Partridge Family theme song "Get Happy."

Although Soledad O'Brien said that she liked the spot on CNN's "Starting Point," her guest, New York Time's columnist Charles Blow, had a different opinion. "I don't like it at all," he said. "It's like blackface with voices."

Wall Street Journal's Christopher John Farley agreed that the superimposed accent was problematic given that it was "coming out of people who seemingly weren't supposed to be from Jamaica, so it was done as a joke." He even referred to it as the "Jar Jar Binks of 2013."

VW America marketing officer Tim Mahoney told O'Brien, however, that "We actually talked to about 100 Jamaicans in the research, and we had a speech coach on site to make sure it was authentic as possible."

Mahoney also talked about his excitement over signing Cliff on as a collaborator in the piece ? although Cliff doesn't physically appear in the spot, just the 60-second trailer.

We asked Deutsch for comment; we'll update this item when the agency responds.

While "The Force" became a viral success on YouTube, this spot has had mixed reviews on the site. User "MrJJ1030" questioned if the ad was implying that "the power of German engineering is making white Americans turn black?" while Richard Lewis defended the spot, posting: "I am Jamaican and I don't find it racist. As a matter of fact it is quite amusing, most people will tell you that Jamaican and people in the Caribbean are happy people so it demonstrate that happiness of the people can be found in the experience of driving the car."

There's also much discussion over the quality of the accent. While some, claiming to be Jamaican, say the accent is spot on, "Henri Helvetica" commented on Mashable's coverage of the spot that he, a Caribbean, "can tell it's not authentic. This reminds me of the period in advertising where agencies trying to reach a LATINO audience, would make translations word for word - only to not make any sense in the end, or getting any *black* actor to play a Caribbean only to force them to fake the accent (#brutal)."

Helvetica noted that this was a cultural criticism rather than "a racial attack."

USA Today reported that Deutsch LA has one or two other options in case VW decides not to use the ad in the game. "To minimize the risk, we have a backup," Mahoney told USA Today.

Watch the spot below and let us know what you think:

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/is-volkswagens-super-bowl-ad-racist-2013-1

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The Rise of the Financial Downturn: Contributing Factors ...

Guest post from personal injury lawyers.

While most businesses are hit hard by the economic crisis, the claims market actually thrives during a financial downturn. Although many experts grumble about the compensation culture, statistics show that economic booms correlate with fewer personal injury claims. So why are people calling up their lawyers so readily during a recession?

Redundancies

With more than 1.3 million people losing their jobs by 2010, due to the economic downturn, and employment opportunities few and far between, those who?d been made redundant seemed more likely to file a claim. Why?

While under employment, staff can be concerned about losing their job, if they make a personal injury claim. Even though this rarely happens ? and if it did, you could take your employers to court over unfair dismissal ? employees seem to be hesitant about collecting compensation. However, when made redundant, there?s no loyalty left to the business, and people seem to be more comfortable about making a claim.

There?s also a large window of opportunity to contact a solicitor, as you can make your claim up to three years after the incident occurred. With increasing numbers of people fired or made redundant, the personal injury claim figures have likewise grown.

Business Negligence

Homes and corporations alike are suffering from severe expenditure cutbacks. Businesses are having to make-do with spartan levels of staff and resources.

With employees rushed off their feet, quality of service can be jeopardised, such as in the NHS, where nurses are thin on the ground due to ?reforms? ? medical negligence can then occur, purely because the staff-to-patient ratio is inequitable, leading to an increased amount of complaints.

Health and safety, as well as training, can be affected, and stress levels can go through the roof, leading to medical problems.

Rise Of the ?No Win No Fee?

From personal injury claims in Liverpool to medical negligence complaints in London, ?no win no fee? solicitors are making it easier than ever to file a personal injury claim. With court fees being what they are, the claimant now has the security of knowing that they?ll only have to pay-up, if they win their case. Equally, solicitors are likely to give it their all, as the only way that their company makes a profit is if they win!

Poor Financial Situation

Thanks to the recession, most UK citizens are in a worse financial position than before. When your bank balance is in dire straits, making a claim will be more attractive, if that means you can lift your family above the bread line or afford a much-needed holiday. In a pinch, the possibility of money is a compelling incentive to contact a solicitor.

Also, a drop in disposable income will mean that individuals will choose cheaper services, such as home improvements that could go awry. Although low-end contracting doesn?t necessarily mean substandard work, you may find yourself injured after an inexpensive workman does a poor quality job on your house.

Composed by Hughes Carlisle personal injury solicitors in Liverpool who are reflecting on economy changes and the role we as a nation have helping improve the claiming situation.

Personal Injury Claims Blawg is a personal injury law blog. Register today via the get started button above to join us as a guest personal injury law blogger.

No related posts.

Tagged as: Injury claims in the recession, Injury lawyers, No win no fee personal injury claims

Source: http://www.personalinjuryclaimsblawg.com/accident-claims-2/the-rise-of-the-financial-downturn-contributing-factors

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Ashton Kutcher Was Hospitalized After Trying Steve Jobs? Fruitarian Diet

Method actors are known to go to extreme lengths to understand the character they're portraying. Natalie Portman dropped a whopping 20 lbs to play a ballerina in Black Swan. Ashton Kutcher's preparation for playing Steve Jobs in the biopic jOBS was so extreme it left him in the hospital. According to USA Today, he spent two days in the hospital after trying to stick to Steve Jobs' fruitarian diet, which consists of eating fruits, nuts and seeds.

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

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WTF: Amazon Barely Ekes Out Profit On $21B In Sales, Hits Negative P/E, Misses Estimates, Guidance, Yet Stock Jumps 10%

You really have to hand it to Jeff Bezos and Amazon, which seem to continuously defy reality -- and gravity. Amazon just announced its fourth-quarter earnings, and if you listen to the press, you'd think it was another home run. And if you are watching Amazon trade after-hours, you'd think this is the most buyable stock since the last time MG wrote about AAPL. Amazon is up nearly 10 percent since the market closed and, as Reuters points out to wit, the stock hit a record high on January 25th.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dzhG1I4Omqk/

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10 surprising slow cooker holiday dishes - Mother Nature Network

10 surprising slow cooker holiday dishes

Individual desserts, rolls, warm punch, cheese cake and more can be made in your slow cooker this holiday season, freeing up your stove for other dishes ? and think of the time you'll save.

Tue, Dec 04 2012 at 2:14 PM

Most of know that slow cookers are great for soups, stews, chili and roasts, but they can do so much more. Take a look at this list of appetizers, main dishes, desserts and beverages that can all be made in a slow cooker. With the holidays coming up, cooking some foods in the slow cooker will come in handy because it frees up oven and burner space for other items you?ll need to prepare.

?

1. Individual Spiced Pear Bread Puddings ? These serving-sized desserts are built in one-cup mason jars and the mason jars are put into the slow cooker to cook. Bonus ? you can keep them warm in the slow cooker and pull them out hot and ready to serve for dessert.
2. Apple Butter Yeast Rolls ? As one commenter on this recipe said, ?Whoa! You can make rolls in a slow cooker?? Yes, you can.
3. Applesauce ? Cut up apples, peels, core and all, cook down in a slow cooker to make naturally sweet applesauce, or as my boys call it when I made it this way, awesomesauce.
4. Lasagna ? I hear there are some families that serve both turkey and lasagna for Christmas. This recipe could solve the problem of how to manage cooking them both at the same time.
5. Spinach Artichoke Dip ? This dip is easy to throw together a few hours before entertaining and then you can forget about it. It cooks while you?re preparing everything else.
6. Caramelized Onions ? I shared this method for caramelizing a bunch of onions at once in the slow cooker with you last year. My best tip, plug the slow cooker in on an outside porch if possible. It works really well, but it also stinks up the house. Don't know what to do with all those onions? I also did a round up of five holiday appetizers that use caramelized onions.
7. Slow Cooker Sour Cream Cheese Cake ? The steam that stays in the slow cooker the entire baking time creates a creamy, silky cheesecake.
8. Scarlet Wine Punch ? This warm punch both cooks and is served from the slow cooker. The warm setting keeps it just the right temperature and you don?t have to worry about keeping it on the stove unattended.
9. Hot Buttered Rum ? Another warm drink that stays warm in the slow cooker. The rum gets added after everything else cooks so the alcohol doesn?t cook away.
10. Natural Room Scents ? If you need to freshen the air up a bit in your home, try one of these combinations of natural ingredients that are heated in an open slow cooker. There?s one combination that uses pine needles, bay leaves and a few other ingredients that is perfect for the holiday season.

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Do you have a holiday dish that you cook in your slow cooker?

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Other slow cooker recipes on MNN:

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Source: http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/blogs/10-surprising-slow-cooker-holiday-dishes

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Asian shares up, cautious before Fed, U.S. data

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Tuesday after solid U.S. data, but investors remained cautious ahead of more U.S. economic reports and a Federal Reserve policy decision later in the week that may offer clues to the Fed's stimulus plans.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> was up 0.3 percent.

Australian shares <.axjo> rallied 0.8 percent to a fresh 21-month high led by shares in the financials sectors as the U.S. S&P 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time since 2007. Australian markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.

South Korean shares <.ks11> opened up 0.3 percent after touching an 8-week low the day before.

The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> eased slightly on Monday after an eight-day winning run but held above 1,500, after closing above it on Friday for the first time in more than five years.

Risk appetite has been improving overall with U.S. earnings generally solid. A rise in a gauge of planned U.S. business spending in December added to a recent run of positive global economic data, and signs of easing financial stress in the euro zone. Euro zone blue chips touched fresh 18-month peaks on Monday.

More solid U.S. growth indicators would, however, fuel speculation the Fed may mull pulling back on aggressive easing stimulus. The Fed ends a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The first estimate of U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product will be released on Wednesday, followed by non-farm payrolls on Friday.

"Ahead of key events, markets are likely to stay in ranges. But with yields on U.S. Treasury and German government bonds inching higher, one might say investors may be shifting funds to riskier assets from safe-havens," said Yuji Saito, director of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Tokyo.

"That's part of the reason why the euro has stayed firm," he said. Saito said while a rise in U.S. yields underpins the dollar against the yen, they were likely to be capped with end-month selling from exporters and options lined up between 90.50 and 91.50 yen.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year note briefly pierced 2 percent on Monday for the first time since last April.

Japan's Nikkei stock average <.n225> opened down 0.7 percent after striking a fresh 32-month high above 11,000 on Monday. <.t/>

The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 90.53 yen after touching 91.32 on Monday, its highest level since June 2010, while the euro also eased 0.3 percent to 121.75 yen from Monday's high of 122.91, its highest point since April.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-cautious-fed-u-data-021048785--finance.html

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League Against Cancer: Sports Fields | Ads of the World?

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Source: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/league_against_cancer_sports_fields

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&#39;No flexibility yet&#39; in Russia-US relations ? PM Medvedev ? RT

Prior to the US presidential election, Obama promised ?more flexibility? with Russia during his second term in the office. But Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Washington?s position on the missile shield is still driving the two countries apart.

?No ease in relations over missile defense, no flexibility arose. We stand at the same positions?? the position of the United States is one, the position of the Russian Federation is, unfortunately, different. And the convergence of these positions is not happening,? Medvedev told CNN.

Speaking to the ?Fareed Zakaria GPS? program at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the prime minister expressed his concerns over the on-going anti-missile defense program provided by NATO, involving several countries bordering on Russia.

?We clearly understand that if we do not have guarantees such as the pairing of our programs, that means that missile defense could also work against the Russian nuclear arsenal. What does this mean? This means that the parity, which we recorded with President Obama by signing the New START treaty (a very important and very helpful treaty, by the way: I think this is the achievement of the so-called reset), [the parity] is being cracked by that, because the missile defense?? is a direct continuation of nuclear offensive capability, combat nuclear weapons,? emphasized Medvedev.

Assad?s chances of retaining power get ?smaller and smaller?

Discussing the ongoing civil war in Syria, which has seen around 60,000 people killed there during almost two years, Medvedev said that Syrian President Bashar Assad's chances of retaining power are getting "smaller and smaller" every day.

"President Assad made a mistake in carrying out political reforms. He had to do everything much more quickly, attracting to his side part of the moderate opposition, which was ready to sit with him at the same table. This is a considerable mistake, maybe a fatal one," said Medvedev adding that Assad's days could be numbered.

Medvedev reiterated calls for talks between the government and its foes and repeated Moscow's position that Assad must not be pushed out by external forces.

?Therefore, the task of the international community and all countries?? and the United States and the Europeans, and regional powers, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries?? to put parties together at the negotiating table, but not just demand that Assad should leave, and then he is either executed like Gaddafi, or carried on a stretcher at the hearing, as they are carrying now Hosni Mubarak,? concluded the PM.

?US adoption ban is not retaliation? to Magnitsky Act

?Medvedev was also asked about Russia?s recent decision to halt US adoptions of Russian children. The law was motivated by cases of mistreatment of Russian orphans adopted by Americans, and wasn?t retaliation for US actions in the case of Sergey Magnitsky, said the PM.

?A big number of American families, who have adopted Russian children, provide them with proper care, training and education. In this sense, their actions are worthy of the highest praise, it is a highly moral behavior. But, unfortunately, in our country we know a large number of cases, when children adopted by American parents, were killed, tortured, lost their health in the United States. Even one such case would be enough to make a draft for discussion,? said Medvedev.

The so-called Dima Yakovlev law, named after a Russian boy who died of heatstroke after being left in a car by his adoptive American parents, contains ban on US citizens adopting Russian orphans. On more general terms it bans entry to Russia for those Americans, who are somehow involved in violations of human rights or crimes against Russian citizens. President Putin signed it on December 28, 2012. Four days later it came into force. The adoption of the law caused a mixed reaction among Russian politicians and public figures.

The PM said that the adoption ban is not connected with Washington?s Magnitsky Act "neither legally nor factually."?

?This law expresses concerns of the Russian parliament, the Russian State Duma and the Federal Council over destiny of our children? Therefore, despite the fact that many saw it as actions targeting aimed at individual American citizens, who want to adopt Russian children, there?s nothing like that in here,? Medvedev told CNN.

?75 per cent of Russian citizens are against foreign adoptions,? underlined the PM.

Medvedev believes that Russia should do everything to ensure that the country doesn?t have any un-cared for orphans. Russian citizens should be motivated to adopt Russian children who don?t have parents and create right and proper conditions for them, he said.?

?We should take all the necessary decisions so that there are no orphans in Russia, the US does not have such a problem. Many European countries do not have this problem. We have a good society already and we have people who are well off enough, they are able to give food and shelter to our children. This is the reason that stands behind the decisions we have made,? said Medvedev.

?I believe that Congress made a mistake, when, together with the abolition of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, they adopted the Magnitsky Act. Regarding the case itself I?ve already told you what I think of it. Speaking of acts of Congress, I think this?? generally it?s very bad, when a foreign parliament decides on another state,? he added.

The PM has criticized Washington's move to sanction a number of Russian officials for alleged crimes, which no court has found them guilty of.

?Each country has the right to deny any country?s citizen an entry visa to its territory. This is something normal, something that corresponds with international conventions, without having to explain the reasons for it. The United States could and still can prohibit any Russian official?s entrance to America, the same way they can examine their accounts and whatever else they have in America. This is exactly what Russia can do as well. But when it becomes a public campaign, with Congress saying, it will draw up a list of individuals who?ve been involved in a crime, what do you think it is, if not an extrajudicial execution that convicts these individuals without any trial or prosecution,? Medvedev said.

Speaking of Magnitsky?s death, Medvedev said he was ?sincerely sorry? for him and other person, who died in prison. But PM had an "absolutely different evaluation" of the late lawyer?s actions in the capacity of his work, saying that he had never fought corruption and was "just a corporate accountant and a lawyer".

Sergey Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in November 2009. He was remanded in pre-trial detention on charges of aiding a major tax evasion scheme. A number of prison staff were fired and the former deputy chief of the prison doctor Dmitry Kratov, where lawyer Sergey Magnitsky died, faced trial on accusations of negligence. But a Russian court acquitted him on December 28, 2012, as a judge ruled there was not enough evidence.

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Source: http://rt.com/politics/medvedev-obama-russian-us-relations-interview-849/

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Internet freedom and the ghost of Aaron Swartz | iPolitics

Ben Winkler, a long-time friend, speaks during the memorial service for Aaron Swartz, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 in New York. Friends and supporters of Swartz paid tribute Saturday to the free-information activist and online prodigy, who killed himself last week as he faced trial on hacking charges. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Was Internet ?saint? and prodigy Aaron Swartz harried to death by prosecutors? Is the United States planning another scorched-earth campaign against online freedom?

Whatever the answer, this much is obvious to anyone who has been following the ongoing battle between democracies (which are rapidly turning into national security states) and information-hungry citizens clinging to an open Internet: The skirmishing is now a war.

To paraphrase Tennessee Williams, next to Christmas, fear is the biggest business in America. Last Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano?hit the ultimate red button?with Americans, warning that a ?cyber-911? could happen ?imminently?.

Her turn of phrase conjured up images of planes blasting through buildings and every bad disaster movie ever made ? chaos at a keystroke that would affect all critical infrastructure, including water, electricity and gas.

A decade ago, Homeland Security didn?t exist on the U.S. bureaucratic landscape. Now it has 200,000 employees, a budget of $98 billion, and is only exceeded in size by the Defence Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. When its boss wants to make a splash in the media, as Napolitano clearly wanted to with her speech at the Wilson Centre in Washington last week, it is like calling ducks to dinner.

And what a timely warning it turned out to be.

As if by magic, just a couple of days after Napolitano?s dire predictions, the hacker collective known as Anonymous?took control of a U.S. federal government agency website. And not just any agency, but the Federal Sentencing Commission.

Anonymous demanded reform of the American justice system so that ?cyber crimes? like the ones for which their members are prosecuted would not be so harshly punished. It threatened an embarrassing document dump from the internal files of the Department of Justice if its demands were not met. As cyber-Robin Hoods operating out of a bits-and-bytes Sherwood Forest, Anonymous sees the demise of democracy in the steady choking-off of information on the Internet.

But why did they act now, and why did Napolitano issue her warning so presciently? The answer is all tied up with the 26 year-old computer genius who, according to the authorities, hanged himself in his Brooklyn apartment on January 11th ? Aaron Swartz.

To Anonymous and millions of people around the world, Swartz was and is a hero ? a kind of Ghandi of the Internet.

He established his creative brilliance by developing RSS and co-founding Reddit. He made his reputation as a champion of democracy by fearlessly pursuing online freedom and copyright reform. It was not a theoretical crusade. The kid posted his FBI record online.

In 2011, Swartz used the campus network at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to download boatloads of scholarly journals with the aim of making them available without a fee. He was charged with unauthorized entry under the Computer and Abuse Act and indicted by a Grand Jury; he faced a 35-year jail sentence if convicted. Weeks before his court appearance on the government?s charges, he was found dead in his apartment.

Then came the outrage and the theories. Some said that Swartz had been harried to his death by prosecutors who acted as if they were dealing with Bernie Madoff rather than a new-age Milton. This despite the fact that the documents he downloaded were never shared on peer-to-peer networks, would never have benefitted Swartz financially if they had been, and were returned to MIT.

Some entered darker tunnels of speculation, arguing that celebration, not suicide, had been in order for Swartz. Some pointed to the fact that the formal victim in the case, JSTOR,?not only decided not to press charges, but publicly released the papers Swartz had accessed ? and asked who the real victim was here. And with the alleged victim bowing out, why would a brilliant young man end his life with so much ahead of him?

Swartz challenged the idea that a powerful few should own the world?s treasure trove of knowledge. As he himself wrote, ?The world?s entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations.?

Whatever the facts are behind the tragedy of Aaron Swartz, there is no mystery about the intentions of the U.S. government or Secretary Napolitano in the current circumstances. They will try to make the case that they need greater control of the Internet to keep the lights on and the swimming pools heated.

It just might work. The fear dividend after 9/11 was enormous and continues to grow. At the time, citizens were told to keep an eye out for Osama bin Laden at the grocery store in Witchita and Phoenix, while government unburdened them of key civil rights, a divestiture driven by the twin delusions of patriotism and paranoia.

There is every reason to suspect that carefully stoked fears of a ?cyber 9/11? will lead to the same result ? a docile acquiescence on the part of the public in giving up their rights to the last open prairie on the planet, the Internet. The stumbling block so far in the United States has been the First Amendment, which makes it difficult for the government to control the Internet as the ultimate vehicle for freedom of speech.

But that doesn?t mean successive administrations haven?t tried to get around the Constitution by other means. Protecting children is usually a popular goal, so in 2000 the U.S. adopted the?Children?s Internet Protection Act, which gave the government the right to ?filter? the Internet.

It also adopted measures to regulate Internet providers, an indirect way of partly-controlling the technology. Senators like Joe Lieberman insisted that the U.S. president should have a ?kill switch? to disconnect the Internet (insofar as that can be done) during an emergency.

The president himself got in on the act in late 2010 when he told Congress he already had that power under a Second World War law allowing the president to shutter telephone and telegraph networks.

Now Janet Napolitano is demanding that Congress try again to pass a cyber-security bill giving government greater control over the Internet. Last year, a bill dealing with the same issue was defeated after it was rejected by both business and privacy groups on the basis of ?government overreach?.

In other words, people were afraid that the big, sneaky ear of government would use any new regulatory power to eavesdrop on the Internet.

It is worth mentioning that President Obama?s desire to control the Internet, whatever justification may be used, puts him in the company of autocrats in Russia and China who support the same approach for different reasons.

Vladmir Putin has openly declared war on the Internet by giving himself the power to shutter websites, charge bloggers with treason and strip away their online anonymity.

In China, where Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are blocked, it is now legal for the government to delete posts and pages and to force Internet providers to turn over what is risibly referred to as ?illegal information.?

You thought the gun registry was bad? In China, in order to use the microblogging platform Weibo, users have to hand over their real names. An Internet Registry.

Here in Canada, the Harper government has been a galloping horse?s ass in its attempt to sell an Internet surveillance bill as a war against child pornographers.

What the government really wanted in the infamous?Bill C-30?was for Internet Service Providers and cellular phone companies to install equipment that would permit online spying on Canadians and then have that information provided to police or secret agents without warrant. You know, just a little 1984.

There was a time when the Harper government planned to take its legislation directly to a House of Commons committee, bypassing the traditional second reading and doubtless rejecting all amendments. Then the Internet Nation roused itself and the blowback was fierce. As he often does when a real political threat emerges, the prime minister took a step back.

But only to re-group. As?Jim Bronskill of the Canadian Press recently reported, the Harper government has now enlisted the help of the federal privacy commissioner to come up with a palatable version of Bill C-30. As long as the end result is handing over yet more private information to police and spies, and compromising the Internet, this is a dog that won?t hunt.

Not with the Internet Generation ? and not with the ghost of Aaron Swartz hovering over their computers.

Michael Harris is a writer, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He was awarded a Doctor of Laws for his ?unceasing pursuit of justice for the less fortunate among us.? His eight books include Justice Denied, Unholy Orders, Rare ambition, Lament for an Ocean, and Con Game. His work has sparked four commissions of inquiry, and three of his books have been made into movies. He is currently working on a book about the Harper majority government to be published in the autumn of 2014 by Penguin Canada.

Readers can reach the author at michaelharris@ipolitics.ca. Click here to view other columns by Michael Harris.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author?s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

Source: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/01/27/internet-freedom-and-the-ghost-of-aaron-swartz/

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City of the Month: Park City, UT ? Travel Smart Blog

Last week, the acclaimed Sundance Film Festival honored the top independent movies and players. Every year, its host, Park City, Utah, takes the best supporting role for the annual celeb-studded event.

Park City is topping all the travel lists (Forbes, Travel + Leisure, Ski Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler) lately surpassing destinations such as Aspen. Why? Accessibility, creativity, and activity!

Park City is a transformed old mining town with three ski resorts surrounding it. The quaintness of Park City?s Main Street is a thin veil for souvenirs and high-end retail. And don?t be deceived by the quaint fa?ade as the price tag for a vacation in and around this city is never bargain-priced. The four block historic strip is perfect for strolling or you can step into Robert Redford?s restaurant, Zoom, which offers some delicious local fare.

Accessibility

Nobody wants to spend the better part of a day traveling into a destination. Park City is more accessible than many of the top ski resort towns ? located only 45 minutes from The Salt Lake City airport. The international airport serves many airlines; Delta Air Lines has nonstop flights from more than 100 cities. Shuttles are a better choice than renting a car.

Hotels in Park City are numerous; from the big brand hotels to the local lodges.

Creativity

It has become a hub of culinary creativity with more than 100 restaurants and some truly inspired eateries.

If dining among celebrities in a beautiful mountain setting sounds appealing, you?ll want to check-in to the Waldorf-Astoria. Get a table at Slopes, a new restaurant deemed America?s hottest hotel restaurant in 2012 by Travel & Leisure.

The Waldorf-Astoria?s renowned bar and lounge, Powder Ice Lounge, features a 14-foot sculpted ice bar (it?s literally made of ice) and is one of the most popular photo-ops in the city.

Activity

Park City features three world-class resorts ? Deer Valley Resort, Canyons Resort and Park City Mountain Resort ? that offer three seasons of fun for everyone. (I say three because spring is a transitional season when the resorts close, the snow melts, and the preparations for the summer season are taking place.)

In the winter, the powder is abundant. Park City is home to the steep mountains where the US Ski Team trains attracting the world?s top snow sport enthusiasts, and a very chic and sophisticated crowd.

The Utah Olympic Park near Park City was the site of the 2002 Bobsled, Luge and Ski Jumping competitions. Today, visitors are treated to a guided tour of the park, athlete training sessions, 70 mile-per-hour bobsled rides, zipline rides, Quicksilver alpine slide rides, Olympic museum, an interactive museum, freestyle aerial and ski jumping shows on Saturdays at noon and a variety of camps for all ages.

In the summer and fall, the resorts convert their lifts and runs into over 400 miles of trails for biking and hiking and endless activities. Deer Valley?s Mountain Biking School offers lessons for those looking to improve their skills or just a guide for some of the areas best trails.

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Source: http://www.travelsmartblog.com/2013/01/city-of-the-month-park-city-ut/

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Stem cell therapy to repair damaged knee cartilage

Jan. 24, 2013 ? Rush University Medical Center is conducting the nation's first clinical study of an innovative stem cell drug, Cartistem, to repair knee cartilage damaged by aging, trauma or degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis.

Cartistem is manufactured from mesenchymal stem cells derived from allogeneic (donor) umbilical cord blood. Umbilical cord blood is a readily accessible source of high-quality stem cells, is associated with minimal health risks and carries relatively few ethical concerns.

The stem cells are mixed with hyaluronan, a natural polymer that plays a major role in wound healing and is a building block of joint cartilage. Cartistem is surgically administered into the area of cartilage damage following an arthroscopic surgery as an adjunct to microfracture, a commonly used technique used to repair cartilage damage.

The principal investigator on the study is Dr. Brian Cole, a professor in the department of orthopedics and anatomy and cell biology at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Cole is the head of Rush's Cartilage Restoration Center and is also the head team physician for the Chicago Bulls. Cole and his co-researchers will assess the drug's safety as well as its ability to regenerate cartilage repair tissue and reduce pain in patients with localized cartilage loss in the knee.

Treating cartilage damage can be problematic because the tissue does not contain blood vessels or nerves and therefore has a limited ability to re-grow. Various treatments for cartilage degeneration, such as drug therapy, arthroscopy and joint replacement, yield mixed results and are unable to regenerate damaged tissue.

"Finding a biological solution for cartilage regeneration in orthopedics is one of the fastest growing areas of research and development in our specialty, said Cole. "Rush is spearheading this field of research with the ultimate goal of safely improving outcomes and sparing patients from having more complicated surgery at a relatively young age."

The two-year, phase I/IIa study will enroll a total of 12 participants aged 18 years and older, with a body mass index of less than 35. Initially, six individuals with lesions sized 2 to 5 centimeters will be recruited into the study; an additional six volunteers with lesions larger than 5 centimeters will be enrolled sequentially. Each participant will undergo eligibility screening followed by a 12-month observation period to determine the safety and efficacy of the drug with an additional long-term follow-up evaluation at 24 months.

"With a burgeoning aging, yet active population, our patients are looking for effective non-joint replacement solutions to treat their damaged knee cartilage," said Cole. "This research is significant in that it utilizes a commonly performed operation (microfracture) in an effort to improve upon variable outcomes."

"Notably, this is a treatment for patients with localized cartilage damage and not for patients who are diagnosed with diffuse or bone on bone arthritis who have otherwise been told they require a knee replacement." said Cole.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/JQLYRyKO9fM/130124163246.htm

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YouSendIt (for iPhone)

Who among us hasn't felt the sting that comes when an email fails to reach its intended recipient due to a mammoth file attachment? YouSendIt specializes in remedying that problem by allowing users to upload large files to its servers and then share the simple, lightweight generated link with others. The company's revamped iPhone and iPod touch app not only lets you email large files with no worries, but lets you digitally sign documents and store files in the cloud as well. If any of those features sound appealing, the free YouSendIt app is worth a download.

The Basics
You start by creating a free account from within the app or login with your credentials should already have an account. After doing so, you're taken to the YouSendIt home screen where four icons live: My Folders, Send, Sign, and Store.

Tapping Send lets you upload a file from your My Folders, Photo Library, or Camera folders to YouSendIt's servers and then key in an email address. I like that YouSendIt displays how much data has been transferred so that you have a sense of how long the entire process will take. Once the email lands in the recipient's mailbox, YouSendIt sends you a confirmation email stating that the message was delivered. Much better than a bounce-back notification, eh?

In my testing on a relatively clean iPhone 5?YouSendIt for iPhone crashed a few times. The good news is that when I relaunched the app, it picked up where I let off pre-crash.

E-Signatures
YouSendIt now lets you digitally sign documents?an incredibly useful feature if you've ever had to Hancock a digital document. Here's how it works: when you receive a document via email, tap and hold the attachment, select Open in YouSendIt, and choose a destination folder. Tapping "Quick Sign" opens a blank area where you can scribble in a signature, change the font, or enlarge the signature's size.

That said, it's difficult to key in a signature while holding an iPhone vertically, as the screen slides from right to left as you write. Turning the phone horizontally, however, makes the process much easier as it scrolls at the pace that you finger your signature. You can save your e-signature for use at a later time, which is very handy.

YouSendIt also acts as a file storage service. Bringing a finger to "Store" lets you save a file to your allotted YouSendIt storage space.

Pricing and File Management
How you use YouSendIt directly corresponds to your account type. Free account holders can store a maximum of 2GB of data, five e-signatures, and upload files up to 50MB in size. Pro accounts (starting at $9.99 per month) house 5GB of data, hold 10 e-signatures, and let you upload 2GB files at a time. Pro Plus accounts (starting at $14.99 per month) one-up Pro accounts by offering unlimited file storage and e-signatures. There's a plan for nearly every user scenario.

Swiping over a folder or file opens the Open In, Email Link, Copy Link, Rename, and Delete options. I like that a user has to swipe to reveal these options as it keeps the interface uncluttered. My Folders offers additional options when you tap the drop-down arrow: Store, "Add New Folders, Sort Files, and Organize. This option set proves essential to keeping my YouSendIt files and folders organized,

A Highly Useful App
YouSendIt is an app you should have on your iPhone or iPod touch if you frequently find yourself in situations where you need to email large files. The e-signature feature is welcome bonus feature that proves equally useful. The crashes were a bit irritating, but they didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the app. YouSendIt is a highly recommended convenience utility for the iPhone.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/LWPW_rUEA10/0,2817,2414714,00.asp

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Twitter ordered to ID anti-Semitic tweeters

18 hrs.

Brian Love , Reuters

PARIS ???A French court on Thursday ordered Twitter to help identify the authors of anti-Semitic posts or face fines of the?equivalent?of?$1,300?a?day, as the social network firm comes under renewed pressure to combat racist and extremist messages.?

The order, requested by a Jewish student union and rights groups, concerned anti-Semitic material but could open the floodgates to legal pursuit of Twitter users who post a wide range of messages deemed illegal or offensive.?

"This is an excellent decision, which we hope will bring an end to the feeling of impunity that fuels the worst excesses," said Stephane Lilti, lawyer for the groups who sought the ruling.?

The anti-Semitic messages started appearing last October, and have since been deleted.?

The Paris court gave privately?held Twitter, whose general policy is that it does not control content posted on its network, 15 days to hand over data identifying people who have published messages judged anti-Semitic.?

The court also ordered Twitter to set up a system in France that helps people draw attention to illegal content. Under French law, people found guilty of inciting racial hatred can be jailed for a year and fined.?

Twitter's lawyer in France, Alexandra Neri, declined to comment.?

Failure to comply would expose the firm, founded in 2006 and now boasting 140 million monthly active users worldwide, to daily fines of 1,000 euros if the groups who sought the order request it, which Lilti said they would not hesitate to do.?

A rights group involved in the case was quick to point out that the injunction, while limited to a case of anti-Semitic traffic, set a precedent that could also have a wider impact.?

"This marks a decisive step forward in the battle against racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic offences on the Internet," the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) said in a statement.?

"Nobody can ignore French law, not even the giants of the American digital economy."?

For a first time, Twitter deployed a new message-blocker in Germany last October to jam the posting of messages by a neo-Nazi group banned by police.?

A tool Twitter calls "country withheld content" allows it to censor tweets considered illegal in a given country.?

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/twitter-ordered-id-anti-semitic-tweeters-france-1C8103590

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Obama taps Stillwater native Denis McDonough as chief of staff (Star Tribune)

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Catholic Hospital: Fetus not legally a person

DENVER (AP) ? Colorado's Catholic bishops will review a church hospital's legal argument that it should not be liable for the death of unborn twins because a fetus is not a person under state law.

The arguments were made in papers Englewood-based Catholic Health Initiatives filed in 2010 to persuade a judge to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit against St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City. They appeared to contradict the church's centuries-old stance that life begins at conception.

In a statement Thursday evening, the bishops said they would review the litigation to ensure it complied with church doctrine.

The lawsuit was filed after Lori Stodghill and the 7-month-old fetuses she was carrying died in the hospital's emergency room. Attorneys for her husband are urging the Colorado Supreme Court to take the case.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/catholic-hospital-fetus-not-legally-person-172638991.html

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NTSB: Boeing 787 battery shows short-circuiting

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman points to a reporter during a news conference at the NTSB in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery that caught fire earlier this month in Boston shows evidence of short-circuiting and a chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," in which an increase in temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures, federal accident investigators said. -It's not clear to investigators which came first, the short-circuiting or the thermal runaway, Hersman said. Nor is it clear yet what caused either of them, she said. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman points to a reporter during a news conference at the NTSB in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery that caught fire earlier this month in Boston shows evidence of short-circuiting and a chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," in which an increase in temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures, federal accident investigators said. -It's not clear to investigators which came first, the short-circuiting or the thermal runaway, Hersman said. Nor is it clear yet what caused either of them, she said. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman speaks during a news conference at the NTSB in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery that caught fire earlier this month in Boston shows evidence of short-circuiting and a chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," in which an increase in temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures, federal accident investigators said. -It's not clear to investigators which came first, the short-circuiting or the thermal runaway, Hersman said. Nor is it clear yet what caused either of them, she said. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

National Transportation Safety Board's Joseph Kolly, holds an fire-damaged battery casing from the Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner that caught fire at Logan International Airport in Boston, at the NTSB laboratory in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The battery that caught fire in Boston shows evidence of short-circuiting and a chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," in which an increase in temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures, federal accident investigators said. However, it's not clear to investigators which came first, the short-circuiting or the thermal runaway. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In this image released by the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Materials Engineer Matt Fox examines the casing from the battery involved in the Japan Airlines Boeing 787 fire in a plane that had already landed in Boston at NTSB headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/NTSB)

FILE - In this July 8, 2007, file photo, visitors look at and take photos of the first production model of the new Boeing 787 airplane after it was unveiled to an audience of several thousand at Boeing's assembly plant in Everett, Wash. The Boeing 787 was a plane that promised to be lighter and more technologically advanced than any other, but once production started, the gap between vision and reality quickly widened. The jet that was eventually dubbed the Dreamliner became plagued with manufacturing delays, cost overruns and sinking worker morale. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery that caught fire earlier this month in Boston shows evidence of short-circuiting and a chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," in which an increase in temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures, federal accident investigators said Thursday.

It's not clear to investigators which came first, the short-circuiting or the thermal runaway, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said. Nor is it clear yet what caused either of them, she said during a news briefing on the board's investigation.

The fire took place aboard a Japan Airlines 787 shortly after it landed at Logan International Airport on Jan. 7. All the passengers had left the craft, but a cleaning crew noticed smoke in the cabin 26 minutes after the plane arrived at its gate. It took firefighters nearly 40 minutes to put out a battery fire in the aircraft's rear auxiliary power unit.

Investigators are still dissecting the charred insides of the battery at the board's laboratory in Washington in an effort to piece together clues to the root cause of the fire. The focus of their painstaking work is a search for flaws in the battery that may have caused either the short-circuiting or thermal runaway.

The battery monitoring unit that might have provided answers was severely damaged in the blaze, Hersman said.

Investigators also tested the battery charger and another component related to charging. They found minor failures in both, but that would expected given the fire damage, officials said.

"We're still trying to determine the significance of those findings," Hersman said.

The Dreamliner, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced airliner, was designed with safeguards aimed at preventing its two lithium ion batteries from catching fire, and containing a fire should one occur.

A little over a week after the fire in Boston, another 787 battery failure led to an emergency landing in Japan. There were no flames in that incident, but there was smoke in the cabin, Hersman said.

"The expectation in aviation is to never experience a fire on board an aircraft," yet there were two battery failures on the 787 within two weeks, Hersman said. "We have to understand why this battery resulted in a fire when there were so many protections that were to be designed into the system."

After the battery fire in Boston, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a review of the design, manufacture and assembly of the 787. On Jan. 16, after the second battery incident, the agency grounded the six 787s operated by U.S. carriers, all by United Airlines.

Authorities in Europe and elsewhere ? including Chile, Poland, Ethiopia, Qatar and India ? swiftly followed suit. Two Japanese airlines had voluntarily grounded their planes before FAA's order. Overall, 50 Dreamliners have been grounded worldwide.

NTSB investigators are working with the FAA and Boeing in the U.S., as well as with aviation regulators and manufacturers in Japan and France.

"There a tremendous amount of work going on around the world," Hersman said.

Boeing has formed teams consisting of hundreds of engineering and technical experts who are working around the clock with the sole focus of resolving the issue and returning the 787 fleet to flight status, the company said in a statement Thursday.

The groundings have been a nightmare for Boeing, which competes with Airbus for the position of world's largest commercial aircraft maker. At the time of the groundings, Boeing had orders for more than 800 of the planes from airlines around the world attracted by the 787's increased fuel efficiency. The aircraft maker has said it has stopped delivering new planes to customers, although it is continuing to build them.

United received its first six 787s last year, and expects to get two more in the second half of this year, Jeff Smisek, the chairman, president, and CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc., said Thursday in a call with reporters.

"All new aircraft types have issues, and the 787 is no different. We continue to have confidence in the aircraft and in Boeing's ability to fix the issues, just as they have done on every new aircraft they have produced," Smisek said. United is working closely with Boeing and the FAA to return the plane to service, he said.

The 787 is the world's first airliner made mostly from lightweight composite materials. It also relies on electronic systems rather than hydraulic or mechanical systems to a greater degree than any other airliner. And it is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, can hold more energy and are easier to fit into odd-shaped spaces in airplanes than other types of batteries.

The FAA certified the 787 battery system even though lithium ion batteries are more susceptible to catching fire when they overheat or short-circuit than other types of batteries.

Securaplane, an Arizona company that won a contract to design a battery charger unit for the Boeing 787, had a fire in November 2006 that ignited when the battery used by an engineering technician exploded during testing, destroying the firm's labs and production building, according to a summary of findings prepared by an administrative law judge who heard a whistleblower complaint filed by the technician. The technician went to court after he was fired.

Michael Leon, the technician, said he complained to his employer that the battery was damaged and unsafe and that there were discrepancies between the schematics and assembly documents used in building the battery charger. Administrative Law Judge William Dorsey, who heard Leon's complaint at trial, said in his ruling that one possible cause of the fire was Leon's misuse of the battery during testing.

The FAA investigated Leon's complaints in 2008 and 2009, the agency said in a statement. "The investigation determined that the battery charging units in the complaints were prototypes, and none are installed in Boeing 787 aircraft," the statement said. "Securaplane's production of a particular printed circuit board complied with FAA requirements."

___

Associated Press writers Joshua Freed in Minneapolis and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix, Ariz., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Joan Lowy at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-24-Boeing%20787-NTSB/id-8e6aa6aba6e14f21a95cb6cdc88d809f

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