Monday, April 29, 2013

CA-BUSINESS Summary

Still stuck on central-bank life support

LONDON (Reuters) - Five years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy is in such a chronic condition that the European Central Bank might cut interest rates this week and the Federal Reserve is likely to indicate no let-up in the stimulus it is providing the U.S. economy. With the euro zone economy in recession, momentum is building for the ECB to lower interest rates for the first time since July 2012, according to senior sources involved in the deliberations.

Deutsche Bank has "zero tolerance" for tax evaders: CEO

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank has "zero tolerance" for customers seeking to evade taxes by holding assets in foreign accounts managed by the lender, Co-Chief Executive Juergen Fitschen told German radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. "Tax evasion is a crime," Fitschen said in an interview. "It's unacceptable."

Japan's ANA takes its first 787 back into the air since grounding

TOKYO (Reuters) - All Nippon Airways , the Japanese launch customer for Boeing Co's 787, flew its first Dreamliner in more than three months on Sunday to test reinforced batteries installed by the U.S. aircraft maker. The ANA flight was the second by an airline since aviation regulators on Friday gave permission for 787 operations to restart after batteries on two of them overheated in mid January. One was on an ANA plane in Japan and another on a Japan Airlines jet parked at Boston's Logan airport.

Zames' star ascends in latest JPMorgan shakeup

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Sunday Matt Zames will fully assume the role of chief operating officer as his former partner in the job leaves, which was part of the latest management shakeup at the biggest U.S. bank. Zames, who has been seen as a strong candidate to succeed the bank's Chief Executive and Chairman Jamie Dimon, had been co-chief operating officer with Frank Bisignano, the New York-based bank said in a statement.

U.S. Steel locks out workers at Lake Erie in Canada: union

TORONTO (Reuters) - United States Steel Corp has locked out all unionized employees at its Lake Erie works in Canada, the United Steelworkers union said on Sunday. The move, part of a contract dispute, affects nearly 1,000 workers at the Nanticoke, Ontario plant, which produced about 10 percent of U.S. Steel's raw steel output in 2012.

Earnings beating forecasts but jury's out on rest of season

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies have easily beaten expectations for first-quarter earnings so far in the reporting season, but nearly half of the members of the S&P 500 are yet to announce results and they are unlikely to be as robust. With results in from 271 of the S&P 500 companies, year-over-year earnings growth is projected at 3.9 percent, compared with a forecast for 1.5 percent growth at the start of the earnings season, Thomson Reuters data shows. That figure includes those that have reported and analyst estimates for those who have not.

Abu Dhabi plans financial free zone, may resemble Dubai

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi is putting finishing touches to plans to establish a financial free zone that could resemble, and therefore compete with, the Dubai International Financial Centre, sources familiar with the matter said. A federal decree was passed by the United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan in February to create the area, known as the Abu Dhabi World Financial Market, on Al Maryah island, the sources told Reuters.

Dell investors may still gain after Blackstone pullout: Barron's

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell shareholders could still stand to profit even after Blackstone Group LP withdrew its bid to buy the world's No. 3 personal computer maker more than a week ago, Barron's said on Sunday. On April 19, Blackstone's move knocked Dell shares to a two-month low and narrowed the fight for Dell between activist investor Carl Icahn and the company's founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners, the newspaper said.

Analysis: China's 4G bonanza to shake up mobile gear vendor market

STOCKHOLM/PARIS (Reuters) - Chinese telecom operators will start awarding contracts for super-fast mobile networks this year, kicking off the third wave of a global investment cycle that is reshaping the competitive landscape among telecom equipment makers. China, the world's biggest mobile market with 1.1 billion subscribers, is likely to further alter the picture at the expense of European suppliers by giving a huge boost to Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE .

Italian court rejects Nomura seizure order: sources

SIENA, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge has rejected an order to seize around 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of assets from Nomura as part of a probe into suspected fraud involving troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena , legal sources said on Saturday. Assets worth 140 million euros that were already seized from the Japanese bank have been released under the judge's ruling, which was made on Friday, the judicial source said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-022057839.html

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Residents concerned about health effects of hydrofracking

Apr. 28, 2013 ? s living in areas near natural gas operations, also known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are concerned their illnesses may be a result of nearby drilling operations. Twenty-two percent of the participants in a small pilot study surmise that hydrofracking may be the cause of such health concerns as sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems.

The findings will be presented at the American Occupational Health Conference on April 28 in Orlando, Florida.

Scientists collected responses from 72 adults visiting a primary care physician's office in the hydrofracking-heavy area of Bradford County, Pa., who volunteered to complete an investigator-faciliated survey.

"Almost a quarter of participants consider natural gas operations to be a contributor to their health issues, indicating that there is clearly a concern among residents that should be addressed," says Poun? Saberi, MD, MPH, the study's principal investigator with the department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She is also an investigator with the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at Penn.

Within these 22 percent of responders, 13 percent viewed drilling to be the cause of their current health complaints and 9 percent were concerned that future health problems can be caused by natural gas operations. The previous health complaints by participants were thought to be anecdotal in nature as they were individual cases reported publicly only by popular media.

"What is significant about this study is that the prevalence of impressions about medical symptoms attributed to natural gas operations had not been previously solicited in Pennsylvania. This survey indicates that there is a larger group of people with health concerns than originally assumed," explains Saberi.

The survey included questions about 29 health symptoms, including those previously anecdotally reported by other residents and workers in other areas where drilling occurs. Some patient medical records were also reviewed to compare reported symptoms with those that had been previously documented. "Sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems were the most common symptoms reported on the Bradford survey," notes Saberi. "Of the few studied charts, there were no one-to-one correlations between the participants' reported symptoms on the survey and the presenting symptom to the medical provider in the records. This raises the possibility of communication gaps between residents with concerns and the medical community and needs further exploration. An opportunity exists to educate shale region communities and workers to report, as well as health care providers to document, the attributed symptoms as precisely as possible."

The CEET team also mapped the addresses of patients who agreed to provide them in relation to drilling to determine if proximity to drilling operations may relate to health problems.

"We hope this pilot study will guide the development of future epidemiological studies to determine whether health effects in communities in which natural gas operations are occurring is associated with air, water, and food-shed exposures and will provide a basis for health care provider education," says CEET director Trevor Penning, PhD. "The goal of science should be to protect the public and the environment before harm occurs; not simply to treat it after the damage has been done."

The Bradford County health concerns pilot study is one of three hydrofracking studies currently underway at CEET, one of 20 Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHSCC) in the US, funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

CEET is also partnering with Columbia University's EHSCC to measure water quality and billable health outcomes in areas with and without hydrofracking on the Pennsylvania-New York border. Using a new mapping tool developed by Harvard University, CEET and Harvard researchers are creating maps of drilling sites, air quality, water quality, and health effects to locate possible associations. Initial studies will focus on Pennsylvania. Results of both studies are expected in early 2014. These collaborative studies are funded by pilot project funds from the respective EHSCCs, which in turn obtain their financial support from NIEHS.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/IVvBTUbZKJQ/130428230423.htm

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More bombing victims leave Boston hospitals

BOSTON (AP) ? Boston hospitals say the number of patients being treated for injuries sustained in the marathon bombing continues to drop, two weeks after the attack that killed three and hurt more than 260.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said Sunday morning that it has six patients with bombing injuries, down from more than 20 immediately following the April 15 attack.

All six are in good or fair condition.

Beth Israel also treated bombing suspect Dzhohkar Tsarnaev (joh-KHAR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) for injuries authorities say he suffered during an attempt to elude police. Tsarnaev was moved Friday to a federal prison medical center.

Nine victims are still at Brigham and Women's Hospital, down from 36 after the bombing. Seven are in good condition.

In all, 26 hospitals have treated people injured in the bombing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/more-bombing-victims-leave-boston-hospitals-150709620.html

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Maxwell Johnson Celebrates Her First Birthday

Jessica Simpson threw her daughter a fair-themed party Sunday to mark Maxwell Drew's first birthday.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/LnHLwSpfUZE/

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Welcome to the New Gizmodo

Hello, friends! Don't be startled. This is, in fact, Gizmodo. It just looks a little different now. And works so much better.

Some of the changes you're seeing here are obvious, and are already familiar if you?ve been to one of our sister sites lately. What you?re looking at is what we call Kinja, a layout that harkens back to our bloggish beginnings, with an infinitely scrolling stream of stories to more effectively waste your day away. There?s no more sidebar, no more single post anchoring the page. It?s just a never-ending well of wonderful.

But Kinja's not just skin-deep. It's a platform, an entirely new way of writing and reading and interacting on the internet. It's going to be as good as you make it. Which means it's going to be great.

Your Own Personal Internet Web Log

Are you a current Gizmodo commenter? Congrats! You have a Kinja blog all set up and waiting for you where your profile page used to be. Don?t have an account yet? No worries; just ease your mouse on over to the upper right-hand corner, where yourhilariouspun.kinja.com is just a few clicks away. You, too, can Kinja.

Once you?re up and running, you?ll have access to the exact same set of tools we work with on a daily basis, up to and including some fancypants new image annotation. You can write about whatever you want on your Kinja blog, as often as you want, with as many cusses as you want. Your comments on other Kinja blogs will show up there, too. But the most important thing to know about Kinja is that it?s yours to do with as you please. There are already Kinja blogs for Lego and Kinja blogs for space and Kinja blogs for food. Want to write a Kinja about ninjas? That's still available (for now).

In addition to publishing your own posts, you can also share posts from any other Kinja blog (including Gizmodo!) on yours, follow other users to see what they're up to, and be followed by them. The same goes for us; if you write something particularly insightful, or dig up a compelling image, or make the best Steve Ballmer joke, we can put it on Gizmodo?with your byline fully intact.

A Better Breed of Comments

Oh, and if you just want to comment? That?s fine, too. You can still follow and be followed, you can still annotate images, you can still deploy well-timed GIFs. We?ve tidied up the formatting so that good conversations float to the top, while trolls get banished to limbo. And we?re finally clearing out the spam.

How does it work? You can read more about it in our FAQ entry on the subject, but the short version is that comments need to be approved by editors?or trusted users?before they can become part of the general discussion. That way we end up with all wheat, no chaff, just right.

If any questions pop up along the way, you can check out our full FAQ page. Run into an error or a bug? Ping help@gawker.com, or take it up with the help desk. They're at your beck and call.

Back to Basics

We?re treating Kinja as more than just a fancy new set of pajamas. We?re using this as an opportunity to return Gizmodo to its roots.

Gizmodo has always, at its core, been about just one thing: Finding?and sharing?the beautiful, inventive, awe-inspiring objects and ideas that shape the world around us. We?ve drifted from that lately; as so much hardware has become commoditized (read: dull) we?ve filled that void with fits and spurts of increasingly tangential noise. That?s going to change.

There are still powerful stories to tell in technology, and we?ll continue to tell them. But we?re going to focus in on what?s truly transformative, on what we see and feel and how we interact with it. We?re increasingly going to view the world through the lens of design, and how it impacts everything from the nanoscale, to wearables, to individual buildings, to the city at large. We?re not just going to show you objects. We?re going to explain how they got to be the way they are?and maybe what they should have been, instead.

That rejuvenation only starts with us. Being a commenter here used to mean being part of a thriving community. We've lost some of that, and we'd like your help getting it back. To that end, we're rekindling White Noise, a long-time gathering place for the Gizmodo faithful that?s been too dormant for too long. Get in there, make friends, tell jokes. A few of our most cherished commenters are posting there actively already, and we'll be inviting more over the next several days. Eventually, it will be run entirely by you. As it should be.

And don?t worry. For all the changes around here, we?ll doggedly continue to stress-test keyboards by eating giant Cheetos and help David Pogue find his iPhone. This is still Gizmodo, after all.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/welcome-to-the-new-gizmodo-481330297

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Hundreds of tiny untethered surgical tools deployed in first animal biopsies

Apr. 23, 2013 ? By using swarms of untethered grippers, each as small as a speck of dust, Johns Hopkins engineers and physicians say they have devised a new way to perform biopsies that could provide a more effective way to access narrow conduits in the body as well as find early signs of cancer or other diseases.

In two recent peer-reviewed journal articles, the team reported successful animal testing of the tiny tools, which require no batteries, wires or tethers as they seize internal tissue samples. The devices are called "mu-grippers," incorporating the Greek letter that represents the term for "micro." Instead of relying on electric or pneumatic power, these star-shaped tools are autonomously activated by the body's heat, which causes their tiny "fingers" to close on clusters of cells. Because the tools also contain a magnetic material, they can be retrieved through an existing body opening via a magnetic catheter.

This image depicts an mu-gripper near the opening of an endoscopic catheter. Image credit: Evin Gultepe, Gracias Lab, Johns Hopkins University.

In the April print edition of Gastroenterology, the researchers described their use of the mu-grippers to collect cells from the colon and esophagus of a pig, which was selected because its intestinal tract is similar to that of humans. Earlier this year, the team members reported in the journal Advanced Materials that they had successfully inserted the mu-grippers through the mouth and stomach of a live animal and released them in a hard-to-access place, the bile duct, from which they obtained tissue samples.

"This is the first time that anyone has used a sub-millimeter-sized device -- the size of a dust particle -- to conduct a biopsy in a live animal," said David Gracias, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering whose lab team developed the microgrippers. "That's a significant accomplishment. And because we can send the grippers in through natural orifices, it is an important advance in minimally invasive treatment and a step toward the ultimate goal of making surgical procedures noninvasive."

Another member of the research team, physician Florin M. Selaru of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the mu-grippers could lead to an entirely new approach to conducting biopsies, which are considered the "gold standard" test for diagnosing cancer and other diseases.

This photo shows dozens of dust-sized surgical grippers in a vial. Image credit: Evin Gultepe, Gracias Lab, Johns Hopkins University

The advantage of the mu-grippers, he said, is that they could collect far more samples from many more locations. He pointed out that the much larger forceps used during a typical colonoscopy may remove 30 to 40 pieces of tissue to be studied for signs of cancer. But despite a doctor's best intentions, the small number of specimens makes it easy to miss diseased lesions.

"What's the likelihood of finding the needle in the haystack?" said Selaru, an assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. "Based on a small sample, you can't always draw accurate inferences. We need to be able to do a larger statistical sampling of the tissue. That's what would give us enough statistical power to draw a conclusion, which, in essence, is what we're trying to do with the microgrippers. We could deploy hundreds or even thousands of these grippers to get more samples and a better idea of what kind of or whether a disease is present."

Although each mu-gripper can grab a much smaller tissue sample than larger biopsy tools, the researchers said each gripper can retrieve enough cells for effective microscopic inspection and genetic analysis. Armed with this information, they said, the patient's physician could be better prepared to diagnose and treat the patient.

This approach would be possible through the latest application of the Gracias lab's self-assembling tiny surgical tools, which can be activated by heat or chemicals, without relying on electrical wires, tubes, batteries or tethers. The low-cost devices are fabricated through photolithography, the same process used to make computer chips. Their fingerlike projections are made of materials that would normally curl inward, but the team adds a polymer resin to give the joints rigidity and to keep the digits from closing.

Prior to a biopsy, the grippers are kept on ice, so that the fingers remain in this extended position. An endoscopy tool then is used to insert hundreds of grippers into the area targeted for a biopsy. Within about five minutes, the warmth of the body causes the polymer coating to soften, and the fingers curl inward to grasp some tissue. A magnetic tool is then inserted to retrieve them.

Although the animal testing results are promising, the researchers said the process will require further refinement before human testing can begin. "The next step is improving how we deploy the grippers," Selaru said. "The concept is sound, but we still need to address some of the details. The other thing we need to do is thorough safety studies."

Further development can be costly, however. The team has applied for grants to fund advances in the project, which is protected by provisional patents obtained through the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer Office. Biotechnology investors might also help move the project forward. "It is more a question of money than time as to how long it will take before we could use this in human patients," Selaru said

Along with Gracias and Selaru, the Johns Hopkins researchers who contributed significantly to the two journal articles were Evin Gultepe, Sumitaka Yamanaka, Eun Shin and Anthony Kalloo. Additional contributors were Kate E. Laflin, Sachin Kadam, Yoosun Shim, Alexandru V. Olaru, Berkeley Limketkai, Mouen A. Khashab and Jatinder S. Randhawa. The researchers are affiliated with the School of Medicine, the Whiting School of Engineering and the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology.

Funding for this research has come from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute and the Broad Medical Research Institute.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins University.

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


Journal References:

  1. Evin Gultepe, Sumitaka Yamanaka, Kate E. Laflin, Sachin Kadam, YooSun Shim, Alexandru V. Olaru, Berkeley Limketkai, Mouen A. Khashab, Anthony N. Kalloo, David H. Gracias, Florin M. Selaru. Biologic Tissue Sampling With Untethered Microgrippers. Gastroenterology, 2013; 144 (4): 691 DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.01.066
  2. Evin Gultepe, Jatinder S. Randhawa, Sachin Kadam, Sumitaka Yamanaka, Florin M. Selaru, Eun J. Shin, Anthony N. Kalloo, David H. Gracias. Biopsy with Thermally-Responsive Untethered Microtools. Advanced Materials, 2013; 25 (4): 514 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203348

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/gvhbrYrLy98/130423135845.htm

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Report: Richest 7% got richer during recovery

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The richest Americans got richer during the first two years of the economic recovery while average net worth declined for the other 93 percent of U.S. households, says a report released Tuesday.

The upper 7 percent of households owned 63 percent of the nation's total household wealth in 2011, up from 56 percent in 2009, said the report from the Pew Research Center, which analyzed new Census Bureau data released last month.

The main reason for the widening wealth gap is that affluent households typically own stocks and other financial holdings that increased in value, while the less wealthy tend to have more of their assets in their homes, which haven't rebounded from the plunge in home values, the report said.

Tuesday's report is the latest to point up financial inequality that has been growing among Americans for decades, a development that helped fuel the Occupy Wall Street protests.

A September Census Bureau report on income found that the highest-earning 20 percent of households earned more than half of all income the previous year, the biggest share in records kept since 1967. A 2011 Congressional Budget Office report said incomes for the richest 1 percent soared 275 percent between 1979 and 2007 while increasing just under 40 percent for the middle 60 percent of Americans.

Other details of Tuesday's new report:

?Overall, the wealth of American households rose by $5 trillion, or 14 percent, during the period to $40.2 trillion in 2011 from $35.2 trillion in 2009. Household wealth is the sum of all assets such as a home, car and stocks, minus the sum of all debts.

?The average net worth of households in the upper 7 percent of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28 percent, while that of households in the lower 93 percent dropped by 4 percent. That is, the mean wealth of the 8 million households in the more affluent group rose to an estimated $3.2 million from an estimated $2.5 million while that of the 111 million households in the less affluent group fell to roughly $134,000 from $140,000.

?The upper 7 percent were the households with a net worth above $836,033 and the 93 percent represented households whose worth was at or below that. Not all households among the 93 percent saw a decline in net worth, but the average amount declined for that group.

?On an individual household basis, the average wealth of households in the more affluent group was almost 24 times that of those in the less affluent group in 2011. At the start of the recovery in 2009, that ratio was less than 18 to 1.

?During the study period, Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose by 34 percent, while the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index for home prices fell by 5 percent.

___

Online:

Pew Research Center: www.pewresearch.org

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-richest-7-got-richer-during-recovery-160138767--finance.html

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Did a foreign hand guide Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

US investigators are interested in a trip that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother suspected in the Boston bombing, took to the North Caucasus region of Russia in 2012. They want to know whether he had contact with foreign extremist groups.

By Howard LaFranchi,?Staff writer / April 22, 2013

In this Feb. 17, 2010, photo, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police on April 19, smiles after accepting the trophy for winning the 2010 New England Golden Gloves Championship in Lowell, Mass. Federal investigators want to know whether a 2012 trip to the North Caucasus region of Russia turned him to hatred of US policy and to terrorism.

Julia Malakie/The Lowell Sun/AP/File

Enlarge

As more information emerges on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of two Chechen immigrant brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings, the clearer the picture becomes of a radicalized Muslim whose shallow-rooted ideology was fed by a deepening hatred of US counterterrorist policy in Muslim countries.

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Less clear is where that radicalization ? and the germination of the bombing plot ? occurred. Federal investigators want to know if Mr. Tsarnaev, killed early Friday in a shootout with police, was essentially a home-grown terrorist, or if the 26-year-old received any training and direction from foreign extremist groups ? in particular during a six-month trip to his native North Caucasus region of Russia last year.

Russia seems likely to cooperate with US authorities on the Tsarnaev investigation, some regional experts say, especially because the threat of Islamist extremism and terrorism is a concern the Russians have long emphasized in their dealings with the US and on a variety of issues ? from human rights abuses to the war in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent President Obama his condolences over the Boston bombings even before the Tsarnaev brothers emerged as suspects.

Still, some analysts wonder if a recent row between the two countries over human rights abuses and what Russia interpreted as US interference in Russia?s domestic affairs suggest that lingering suspicions could hamper cooperation on the bombing case.

The FBI declined to discuss any plans to investigate with Russian authorities Tamerlan?s 2012 trip to Russia or other places he visited. But one US official noted that the FBI has a legal attach? in Moscow and one in Kiev, Ukraine, and that one could ?safely assume? the investigation is already under way. ? ??

The younger Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar, was formally charged Monday with use of a "weapon of mass destruction," specifically an improvised explosive device, resulting in death.

As the 19-year-old recovers in a Boston hospital from throat and leg wounds he sustained in the same shootout, investigators are combing through seized computers, questioning contacts, and revisiting a closed file the FBI had opened on Tamerlan Tsarnaev after Russia asked the US in 2011 to investigate the ethnic Chechen as an adherent of radical Islam and for links to extremist groups.

The FBI closed the file after questioning Tamerlan and family members but finding no evidence of contacts with terrorist organizations.

But evidence is surfacing of a radicalization that began at least as early as 2009, when the cars-and-clothes-loving Tamerlan informed an uncle he was giving all that up ?to do God?s business.?

And what did the community-college dropout do in Chechnya and Dagestan ? the latter being the focal point of a jihadist anti-Russia insurgency ? when he visited the two North Caucasus regions for six months last year? One obvious question US investigators will ask their Russian counterparts is: Given that you were already worried about Tamerlan in 2011, did you keep tabs on him when he returned last year? If so, what did you learn?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/PWTBxiTdZN4/Did-a-foreign-hand-guide-Boston-bombing-suspect-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Witherspoon 'deeply embarrassed' after arrest

This combination of undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows Reese Witherspoon, left, her husband James Toth. The Oscar-winning actress was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

This combination of undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows Reese Witherspoon, left, her husband James Toth. The Oscar-winning actress was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

This undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows Reese Witherspoon. The Oscar-winning actress was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, James Toth, was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

This undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows James Joseph Toth. Oscar-winning Actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth, her husband, was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

FILE - In this Friday, March 8, 2013 file photo, actress Reese Witherspoon and her husband, Jim Toth, watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. Police in Georgia say that Witherspoon has been arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a traffic stop involving her husband in Atlanta. A Georgia State Police incident report says that Witherspoon was arrested early Friday, April 19, 2013, and charged with disorderly conduct. The report says a state trooper observed that a car driven by Toth was failing to stay in its lane. The officer writes that Witherspoon disobeyed multiple orders to stay in the car while he performed a field sobriety test on Toth. After she refused to return to the car, she was handcuffed and arrested. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

(AP) ? Reese Witherspoon is "deeply embarrassed" about what she said to police officers after she and her husband were arrested during a traffic stop in Atlanta.

The Oscar-winning actress released a statement late Sunday apologizing for her behavior to police that began when her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was arrested early Friday for driving under the influence of alcohol.

"Do you know my name?" Witherspoon is quoted as saying in a state trooper's report. She also said: "You're about to find out who I am" and "You're about to be on national news," according to the report.

"I clearly had one drink too many and I am deeply embarrassed about the things I said," Witherspoon said. "It was definitely a scary situation and I was frightened for my husband, but that is no excuse. I was disrespectful to the officer who was just doing his job. The words I used that night definitely do not reflect who I am. I have nothing but respect for the police and I'm very sorry for my behavior."

Witherspoon said she can't comment further "out of respect" for the pending case, and her publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, offered no other details.

The 37-year-old actress was arrested on a municipal charge of disorderly conduct early Friday after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth was given a field sobriety test. She was released from jail after the Friday morning arrest and was in New York on Sunday night for the premiere of her new film, "Mud." She posed for cameras on the red carpet but did not stop to talk to reporters.

The trooper noticed the car driven by her husband wasn't staying in its lane early Friday morning, so he initiated a traffic stop. He reported that Toth had droopy eyelids, watery, bloodshot eyes, and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol.

Toth told the trooper he'd had a drink, which Witherspoon said was consumed at a restaurant two hours before the traffic stop, the trooper writes.

Before the field sobriety test began, Witherspoon got out of the car, was told to get back in and obeyed, the report said. After the "Walk the Line" star got out a second time, the trooper said he warned her that she would be arrested if she left the car again.

As the test continued, "Mrs. Witherspoon began to hang out the window and say that she did not believe that I was a real police officer. I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet," Trooper First Class J. Pyland writes.

Toth, 42, was then placed under arrest. He was charged with driving under the influence and failure to maintain the lane.

At that point, the report says, Witherspoon got out and asked the trooper what was going on. After being told to return to the car, she "stated that she was a 'US Citizen' and that she was allowed to 'stand on American ground,'" the report states.

The trooper then began to arrest Witherspoon. The report says Witherspoon was resistant at first but was calmed down by her husband.

Toth and Witherspoon were then taken to jail.

News of the arrest broke shortly before Witherspoon arrived on the "Mud" red carpet.

"I can't say anything because I don't know," said director Jeff Nichols. "I literally ? the first guy on the press line to say something was the first time I heard about it so I gotta go figure it out."

Matthew McConaughey, who plays the lead role in "Mud" and is represented by Toth, said "I'm not going to comment on that because it's too fresh."

__

AP writers Sandy Cohen in Los Angeles and Lauri Neff in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-22-Reese%20Witherspoon%20Arrest/id-1db0dac801354f658227311d0a837b16

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Self Improvement | Rewrite Your Story | The Self Improvement Blog

journalBy Mark Tewart ?

A friend of mine has a saying: ?The only thing keeping you from your goals is the bullcrap story you keep telling yourself.? As hard as those words are, I find them to be very true. My question for you is, what is the bullcrap story you are telling yourself about you and your business? It?s time to rewrite your story.

Everyone has built-in limitations in their brain. Everyone is conditioned through the teachings and messages we receive from parents, teachers, preachers, family, co-workers, bosses, the news and society in general. Your brain is bombarded daily with messages, and the majority of those messages are wrapped in negativity or limitations.

Not every message you see or hear is negative or bad, or the people delivering them are not always badly intentioned, but nonetheless they can wire your brain in a way that will limit your success, happiness and your overall life.

You must first be aware of this and accept this. It?s a fact, and denying it only will make you a victim with a victim mentality. You are responsible - period and end of story. It is solely up to you. Even if you believe there are many factors that influence your success outside of your control, if you allow that thought, you will allow a million of those thoughts and you will create an internal story built upon excuses, limitations and lack.

Take a moment and think about your internal story. Think about what you tell yourself as a reason as to why you are not where you want to be, or why you cannot even try. Think about every excuse or limitation you have allowed in, or even heaped upon yourself. Be brutally honest and write them down. Think back to your childhood and look for patterns of where you started to make these recurring excuses and how your story started and then evolved.

Next, ask yourself this simple question: ?What if this is not true?? Begin to write down all the reasons why this is not true. Write down what the opposite of the story, excuse or limitation would be. Write down your new story as if those limitations and excuses were magically gone. Write your story as you want it to be and not what others believe it to be. Just let your ?bullcrap? story go.

There are many reasons why you accept and then allow these stories to stay. You might be afraid of failure, so you have an excuse not to try or give it your all. You might be afraid of success, because you will now have to admit that you are capable and can give the necessary effort. You are afraid to succeed because, deep down, you don?t feel worthy. Deep down you just don?t think you are smart enough, talented enough or special enough. It?s okay to give yourself permission to succeed. It?s okay to allow yourself to succeed.

Stop fighting your success. You are capable of doing, having and being so much more, but you have to stop playing your current story over and over and living your day based upon that bullcrap story. Stop it. You can easily fool others, but deep down you are really not fooling yourself. You are simply allowing the story to be true.

For a free Special Report, e-mail me at info@tewart.com with the word ?Story? in the subject line.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Tewart
http://EzineArticles.com/?Rewrite-Your-Story&id=7642483

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Source: http://theselfimprovementblog.com/self-improvement/self-improvement-tips/rewrite-your-story/

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Jude Law writes to WTO against seal trade

LONDON (AP) ? Actor Jude Law has written to the World Trade Organization to urge it to uphold a European Union ban on seal fur.

The British actor was writing on behalf of animal protection group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which released the letter on Saturday.

The EU banned commercial trade in all seal products in its member states in 2010 amid concerns about the animal welfare aspects of hunting seals.

The ban is being challenged by the Canadian government, and the WTO is holding a hearing later this month to settle the dispute.

PETA has also enlisted actress Pamela Anderson in its publicity campaign against the seal trade.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jude-law-writes-wto-against-seal-trade-114512268.html

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Ukrainian government survives no-confidence vote

KIEV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian government survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Friday, an outcome that reaffirmed President Viktor Yanukovich's grip on power in the former Soviet republic.

Even with support from some communists, traditional allies of the ruling Party of the Regions, the opposition could muster only 190 votes out of 450 for dismissing Prime Minister Mykola Azarov's government, well short of the required 226 votes.

Azarov is a long-time ally of Yanukovich, who named him prime minister shortly after winning the February 2010 presidential election and re-appointed him last December.

Yanukovich's party, together with the communists and most non-affiliated deputies, has a majority in parliament, although its foes, revitalized by gains in the October 2012 election, have been able to disrupt proceedings for weeks on end.

This month, however, the Regions reasserted their control over the legislature, ending the opposition's blockade by holding a session in a different building.

They have also defeated an opposition move to call a mayoral election in the capital city of Kiev - which the opposition had hoped to win - and allowed a non-elected appointee of Yanukovich to continue running the city. Retaining control over parliament is important for Yanukovich, 62, as he prepares to run for a second five-year term in 2015.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Richard Balmforth/Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-government-survives-no-confidence-vote-parliament-115300615.html

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Friday, April 19, 2013

Coaching carousel starts to spin in NBA

FILE - I(n this Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins, left and Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott talk before the start of their NBA preseason basketball game in Philadelphia. The Cavaliers have fired Scott after three losing seasons. Collins has resigned after three seasons. (AP Photo H. Rumph Jr., File)

FILE - I(n this Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins, left and Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott talk before the start of their NBA preseason basketball game in Philadelphia. The Cavaliers have fired Scott after three losing seasons. Collins has resigned after three seasons. (AP Photo H. Rumph Jr., File)

Detroit Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank watches from the sidelines during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., Monday, April 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

FILe - In this March 4, 2013 file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott reacts in the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks in Cleveland. The Cavaliers have fired coach Byron Scott after three losing seasons. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, FIle)

The first time Byron Scott was fired, Lawrence Frank took his job. Now they're both looking for work, and the NBA's coaching carousel is already spinning in three cities.

Scott was fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Frank was ousted by the Detroit Pistons and Doug Collins resigned as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, all three Thursday, a day after the end of the regular season.

And now the wait continues to see what happens in other cities, such as Sacramento, Toronto and maybe even Atlanta.

"There's a lot of things I want to enjoy," Collins said. "I think it's every man's dream to be able to live that life that you've worked so hard to try and live. That's what I want to do."

All three of the coaches who were packing their offices Thursday missed the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, after leading teams that combined for records of 87-159.

Collins essentially chose his own fate, though he could have stayed on the 76ers' sideline if he was so inclined with one year and $4.5 million left on his contract. He will remain with Philadelphia as an adviser and will surely play a role in what the team decides to do with its roster this summer.

Scott and Frank weren't as fortunate.

Scott was hired by the Cavaliers about a week before LeBron James decided that he wanted to leave Cleveland and join the Miami Heat. James' Heat team won 66 games this season alone; Scott's three Cavaliers teams combined to win 64 in three seasons, and owner Dan Gilbert said the team's lack of significant growth on the defensive end played a big part in the coach's downfall.

"I feel like a piece of me is missing now," Cavs guard Kyrie Irving said, not long after the news of Scott's dismissal broke. "The relationship I have developed with him was very special. I'm just hurt. I'm trying to get over the loss of my basketball father."

Plenty of big names may try to return to the sideline this offseason, with speculation surely going to revolve around the likes of Phil Jackson, Stan Van Gundy and Mike Brown. Some top assistants also might get their chance, like Miami's David Fizdale, who is a close confidant to Erik Spoelstra with the reigning champion Heat.

One of the things Scott, Frank and Collins had in common this season was that their teams all have young, promising guards, with Irving in Cleveland, Jrue Holiday in Philadelphia and Brandon Knight in Detroit.

None of those three probably had the years they wanted. Irving missed 23 games, Holiday shot just 38 percent after March 1 and Knight's season will be best remembered for him getting leveled on a dunk by the Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan.

"He did what he felt he had to do," Holiday said about Collins' decision, which he indicated caught him off-guard. "But it is sad to see him go. ... I know I've grown so much with him as the coach."

Scott and Frank were probably the two coaches most likely to face firings in this offseason, though others likely remain on the proverbial hot seat. Sacramento's ownership situation could affect Keith Smart's future, Dwane Casey in Toronto might be in trouble and some coaches of playoff teams might not be safe either. Atlanta, for example, might continue its roster revamping, and that might lead to a change for coach Larry Drew.

Frank was a Nets' assistant when the then-New Jersey franchise fired Scott in 2004. Frank took over for his former boss, in what became his first stint leading an NBA club. He won his first 13 games with the Nets ? who ultimately fired Frank after he went 0-16 to open the 2009-10 season.

The Pistons brought Frank on before the start of the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. He went 54-94 with Detroit, and the franchise ? which has some free-agent money to spend this summer ? clearly felt he didn't figure into the long-term plan.

"Yes, you can tell the world: We're ready to spend," Pistons owner Tom Gores said.

His spending will now include some dollars on a new coach as well.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-18-BKN-NBA-Coaches/id-06da4ace46654d1fa06f58d2470fbd49

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Financial hub Luxembourg under increased scrutiny

(AP) ? As the European Union's wealthiest country, Luxembourg could have been forgiven for thinking that it would never find itself on the bloc's financial risk list.

With just half a million people living on a tiny patch of lush land nestled between Belgium, France and Germany, Luxembourg is as tranquil as a buzzing financial center gets. Still, some of Europe's regulators and politicians have started wondering aloud whether its banks might be holding the 17-nation eurozone's next ticking bomb.

Following the chaotic bailout for Cyprus last week, European officials have been drawing worrying comparisons between the two countries' oversized financial industries.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, cautioned on Thursday that "the recent experience shows that countries where the banking sector is several times bigger than the economy are countries that, on average, have more vulnerabilities."

"Financial shocks hit these countries stronger, simply because of the size of their banking sector."

The increased scrutiny has taken Luxembourg's government by surprise and put it on the defensive. It has rejected calls to shrink its country's main source of wealth to a more manageable size, claiming that its banking industry is much more secure than Cyprus's and any crackdown would not only harm its own economy but that of the wider eurozone.

Cyprus was forced to seek a bailout from its eurozone partners after its once-thriving banking industry collapsed. The country couldn't afford to bail out its financial sector which, thanks to massive deposits of foreigners, had grown to eight times the size of its economy. The 10 billion euro ($13 billion) rescue loan package comes with tough austerity measures attached, as well as a brutal shrinking of the banking industry and significant losses for savers with deposits larger than 100,000 euros.

In comparison, the balance sheets of the banks in Luxembourg have swollen to about 22 times the country's annual economic output of 44 billion euros ? making it Europe's richest country per capita. The country is also the world's second-largest center for investment funds, with about 3,800 funds holding assets worth ?2.5 trillion ($3.2 trillion) ? about 55 times the country's gross domestic product. It has 141 banks based there, with five of them domestic institutions and the remainder being mainly divisions of foreign banks.

"There are no parallels between Cyprus and Luxembourg, and we don't allow any parallels to be forced on us," Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said last week. "Cyprus is a special case; other financial hubs in Europe don't have these problems."

Luxembourg also has relatively little debt, so it could afford to borrow to bail out the odd bank. But if it faced a widespread problem, it might not be able to cope.

"One does not want to imagine what would happen if the whole banking sector were to derail," said lawmaker Joachim Poss, the deputy caucus leader of Germany's Social Democrats, the country's main opposition party.

If things in Luxembourg's financial sector were to go wrong, the country might not get help from its eurozone partners so easily. For one thing, it won't be able to say it wasn't warned.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the plain-spoken chairman of the bloc's 17 finance ministers, warned other countries with outsized banking sectors to "deal with it before you get in trouble."

"Strengthen your banks, fix your balance sheets, and realize that if a bank gets in trouble the response will no longer automatically be we'll come and take away your problems."

Stung by the comparison with Cyprus and concerned for the future of its banking industry, Luxembourg's leaders have begun to fight back. They have accused EU officials, and Germany in particular, of bullying smaller countries and seeking to "strangulate" its financial industry ? which represents 27 percent of the country's annual economic output, a third of the tax revenues and employs 20 percent of the workforce.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, representing Europe's biggest economy, openly wondered last month whether a business model relying too heavily on banks can still be seen as viable after the Cyprus debacle. That immediately prompted an outcry in Luxembourg.

"Germany does not have the right to define the business models for other countries in the EU," said Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

Luxembourg's government says its financial sector "acts as an important gateway for the euro area by attracting investments, thus enhancing the eurozone's competitiveness as a whole while being effectively supervised".

The government rejects the idea of looking at the size of its financial sector only in relation to its GDP.

"What matters are primarily two aspects: while the first aspect touches on the quality and solidity of the financial sector, the second element relates the size of the financial sector not to a national economy but to the euro area or single market as a whole," it said.

Until January, Luxembourg was mostly shielded from criticism and wielded much greater influence in the EU as its tiny size would normally allow, because long-time Prime Minister Juncker chaired the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

Overall, the International Monetary Fund reported last year that Luxembourg's banks were healthy and well-capitalized. The banks registered in the country are mostly subsidiaries of foreign banks. This means that the danger associated with domestic banks making risky bets abroad ? which caused havoc in Cyprus ? is avoided.

Still, the IMF urged Luxembourg to strengthen financial sector oversight and develop bank resolution plans.

"The banking sector's main risk is its exposure to foreign parent banks," according to the IMF's most recent country report, which added that "further efforts are needed to clarify the roles of its supervisory authority and central bank".

But Luxembourg's Finance Minister Luc Frieden said its financial sector is not in danger, because it would be up to the foreign banks or their governments to bail out their subsidiaries in the country.

"In a case of emergency, it is first of all up to the parent companies and their governments to help, that reduces the burden for Luxembourg," he was quoted as telling German Sunday paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

The success of Luxembourg's financial sector was initially fueled by lax regulation, secrecy and low taxes. This made it a popular tax haven and money-laundering spot. The country later changed many of its laws following pressure by its European partners. But critics say the financial industry still lacks the necessary transparency.

"The name Luxembourg always comes up when companies try to move profits across borders, through the so-called aggressive tax planning, to avoid paying taxes," said the president of the German tax inspectors' association, Thomas Eigenthaler. "It lacks transparency and quite often there's nothing we can do about it."

Luxembourg rejects those charges and says it complies with all relevant laws. But on that front too, the pressure is increasing.

In the wake of the publication of details on wealthy people's offshore bank accounts by several international media this week, some of which included references to shell companies based in Luxembourg, Frieden is now signaling the country's willingness to agree for the first time to automated information exchanges with other countries' tax authorities.

"Unlike in the past, we no longer strictly reject that idea. We want a strengthened cooperation with the foreign tax authorities," he was quoted as telling Germany's FAS newspaper.

The heat could come off Luxembourg once the EU's banking union is up and running. Under that plan, the European Central Bank will have central oversight of all European banks, accompanied by a common bank resolution mechanism and a joint bailout fund. That would reduce the risk on a single country of propping up an outsized banking sector. But the plan won't take effect before next year at the earliest, with many details have yet to be hammered out.

Until then, Luxembourg will have to resign itself to increased scrutiny ? as made clear again in the warning issued by ECB chief Draghi.

"I think countries ought to learn from the present experience and should follow this advice, namely run both, the country and the banking system much more conservatively," he said.

"In fact, you realize that a country has a wrong business model only when a crisis arises," Draghi said.

___

Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-07-EU-Luxembourg-Under-Scrutiny/id-5443f584df574b0199ce0cde133a54b2

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Car safety ratings planned for seniors, pedestrians

Federal safety regulators have continued to tighten automotive crash standards in recent years ? but now are considering a new rating system that would make it easier for motorists to judge not only how a vehicle performs overall but how well it might protect older drivers, passengers and even pedestrians.

Evidence shows that older motorists have unique problems that can result in more serious injuries during a crash, whether driving or sitting in a back seat, something that may lead to the creation of a new ?silver? rating, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced in a posting in the Federal Register.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said the agency also is considering new rear seat crash ratings. And a separate system could be initiated for pedestrians, as well. Europe already has set extensive mandates for pedestrian safety which have resulted in such innovations as a new Volvo airbag system that pops open on the base of the windshield if someone is struck by the vehicle.

The Detroit Bureau: Mercedes Moving to all 4WD on Performance AMG Cars

Crash data show that older drivers and passengers are more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash, something several automakers have already tried to address. Ford, for example, has introduced a new rear-seat seatbelt system that has a built-in airbag. It is offered on such models as the Explorer, the maker explains, noting that both younger and older passengers who often sit in rear seats are likely to suffer more serious chest injuries from conventional seatbelts.

NHTSA is reportedly also considering a new ratings system for young children.

During a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., NHTSA Administrator Strickland said there may be some push-back from manufacturers over the proposed silver rating system since the industry routinely prefers to pitch products to younger buyers ? even though aging Baby Boomers still make up the majority of the new vehicle market.

The Detroit Bureau: Stop Daydreaming, Warns Distracted Driving Study

"They're saying nobody wants to be the car for seniors, but the baby boom is the largest generation in the history of this country," Strickland said. "And they're buying cars."

The proposals received at least an initial thumbs up, however, from the industry trade group, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Spokesman Wade Newton told the Bloomberg news service, ?Safety is critical to automakers and we welcome this notice.?

The group plans to offer ?constructive comments? during the mandated discussion period. It is unclear how long it might take to actually implement the proposed ratings changes, if approved, but Stickland noted that revisions to the current federal crash test system that went into effect for the 2011 model-year took three years to lock down.

The Detroit Bureau: Battery Cars Suddenly Sparking Consumer Interest

NHTSA?s proposed changes reflect the general push to both improve vehicle safety and provide more accurate guidance to consumers. And the agency is feeling pressure from outside to make such changes.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducts its own, well-publicized series of crash tests, recently added a new measure designed to simulate common offset crashes not currently conducted by the feds.

Meanwhile, European regulators have their own standards and test procedures and, on a Continent with densely crowded cities, they have put a premium on pedestrian safety. That, in turn, has led to a number of changes designed to reduce deaths and injuries, whether through modifications of hood and bumper design or through the use of advanced technologies.

The Detroit Bureau: Ford Reveals Secret Concepts Behind Next F-Series Pickup

Along with the new Volvo exterior airbag system, the maker has taken a lead with its City Safety technology that can automatically brake if a pedestrian or ? with the newest update, a bicyclist ? moves into the vehicle?s path.

Pedestrian safety is gaining more attention in the U.S., in part, due to a recent and unexpected increase in fatalities. But it is unclear if NHTSA will also move to adopt some of the crash protection rules now mandated in Europe or simply develop a pedestrian safety rating system.

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a62027c/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ccar0Esafety0Eratings0Eplanned0Eseniors0Epedestrians0E1B9236898/story01.htm

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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Motherhood and women with intellectual disability?.by ...

kler1

Claire Azzopardi Lane:

Reading the article ?I didn?t know I was pregnant? by Claudia Calleja, surely elicited an array of different opinion and emotions in the Maltese readers, as I confirmed from the comments beneath the online article.

Talking about sexually related issues always opens a can of worms?and if sexually related issues are set in the same sentence with disability, it might open even two !

I respect the Grech family for bringing their story out in the public, I am confident that their intentions are those of bringing awareness to the lack of social justice and support in our country.? As for the way the story has been reported, I have in the past also commented about the way journalists in the media refer to people with disability both in terminology and attitude.? I find that journalists lack contemporary terminology and use dated terms when reporting, such as ?mental disability?. The attitudes are also very negative and reflecting a medical model of disability, with ?suffering? at the pinnacle of the storyline.

This might have been the first local report of a woman with intellectual disability becoming a mother, and please note she is a woman before anything else. On an international level she is not the first and will? not? be the last woman with intellectual disability to become a parent. It is no great surprise to me that this woman fell in love and had a child. Don?t we woman all fall in love at some point in our lives? Haven?t women had children (marriage or not), irrelevant of having an intellectual disability? The issue with women with intellectual disability, and with people with intellectual disability in general, is that they are perceived as asexual by society. The sexuality of people with intellectual disability has been ignored and feared, from the beginning of time, and not just in our country.? Yet in many developed countries this stigma of asexuality has been challenged and progress has been made in developing strategies that empower people with disability to live an equally fulfilling life where they have opportunities like anybody else.

So much so that European and International entities have set their agendas in place so as to protect the rights of people with disability to have such opportunities. The European Manifesto on Basic Standards of Health Care for People with Intellectual Disabilities (2003, pg.13) outlines that; ?people with intellectual disabilities have the same human rights as other citizens?.? Furthermore the United Nations Economic and Social Council (Rule No.9) declares that ?persons with disabilities must not be denied the opportunity to experience their sexuality, have sexual relationships and experience parenthood?.? While the Human Rights Act (Article 8) reconfirms the ?right to respect for private and family life? for people with disability.

Once the fact that people with intellectual disability have a right to a sexual identity, to procreate and to have a family, has been asserted we can now move on to the measures that need to be set in place in order to protect and empower this minority group.?? Such ?measures are all set in a framework of support and support has as many tentacles as an octopus. ?The initial support is to determine whether the person with intellectual disability is in a position to consent to having a sexual relationship.? Matters of capacity to consent have been engrained in British Law for decades now, while Malta is only just starting to bring the dust out from under the carpet as the KNPD works towards the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ?For those unfamiliar to capacity to consent situations related to sexual activity, these are determined by the persons? ability to make informed choices, given that he or she is given the information in an accessible way, and is able to process it and retain it, thus using it when faced with the circumstance. Therefore support in the form of sex education is required from a young age and throughout the person?s life. Accessible and ongoing sex education for people with intellectual disability has been a requirement stated in the policies within services providing for people with intellectual disability as well as in National Sexuality Policies in various countries. Such education would in turn empower the person with disability to make informed choices, on whether to engage in a sexual activity or not, as well as on the use of contraception and ?family planning.

To remain on the theme of support and social justice, we have to look at the social support given to people with intellectual disability at different levels of their adult life.? We are not as yet a society giving people with intellectual disability the opportunity of deciding where they want to live as adults and with whom. We are not giving adults with intellectual disability the opportunity to be autonomous, which takes them further from being independent.? ?We are not supporting adults with disability to be part of our communities and truly be able to live up to their rights.? Furthermore rather than shouldering the responsibilities, our country lets the respective families to do so ? case in point the Grech family.? It is lack of resources in this country,? that initially drove the Grech family to move back to Malta to support this family member, given that the other option for? her was institutionalisation.? There not being support for the mother of this child to bring up her daughter,? is also a result of lack of resources, which we might have not yet even considered in this country.? Assuming that the respective families of persons with disability will? take on all the required support is far from social justice. ?In this case Ms.Grech was blessed with a supportive family, who were ready to assume responsibility of all the needs of the mother and her child without separating the two from each other. There have been other circumstances where women with disability, and not necessarily intellectual disability, have been denied their right of motherhood, their child put in the care of a foster family, because they did not have neither social nor family support and could not raise a child on their own. Employment for Ms. Corinne Grech would certainly be a step forward towards her financial stability and independence. ??Yet such an opportunity needs to be backed up by other forms of social support such as personal care assistance and public childcare that also caters for the needs of children with disability.

Finally I must address the issue of people with disability and procreation in terms of medical issues.? It is reported in the article that the baby born to Ms. Corinne Grech ?was also disabled?.? At this point, not withstanding the unconstructive tone that sentence carried, it is worth making clear that children with disability, even genetic ones, are also born to non-disabled people. At the same time people with disability, even genetic ones, give birth to children who do not have a disability. It is a medical fact, that there is a risk, but there is a risk in any case.? Moreover life is valued, whether having a disability or not, and the baby born with a disability is still a very valuable baby, as I am sure it is for the Grech family.

With a Permanent Secretary devoting his energy to the disability sector,? we should be seeing measures being taken to fill in those gaps that had been left open for too long. Yet if we remain within the proposals of PL?s election campaign?s manifesto, will truly progressive emancipation of people with disability, such as sex education, sexual health and family planning, which were not on PL?s agenda, be contemplated?

Dr. Claire L. Azzopardi Lane is Alternattiva Demokratika?s spokesperson for Disability Issues and Sports. She is a specialist in the field of intellectual disability and sexuality and a Senior lecturer at the University of Malta.

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Source: http://andrewazzopardi.org/2013/04/05/motherhood-and-women-with-intellectual-disability-by-consequence-or-by-choice-dr-claire-l-azzopardi-lane/

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