Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Pelosi's defense of NSA surveillance draws boos

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) ? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has disappointed some of her liberal base with her defense of the Obama administration's classified surveillance of U.S. residents' phone and Internet records.

Some of the activists attending the annual Netroots Nation political conference Saturday booed and interrupted the San Francisco Democrat when she commented on the surveillance programs carried out by the National Security Agency and revealed by a former contactor, Edward Snowden, The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bit.ly/19fB6U4).

The boos came when Pelosi said that Snowden had violated the law and that the government needed to strike a balance between security and privacy.

As she was attempting to argue that Obama's approach to citizen surveillance was an improvement over the policies under President George Bush, an activist, identified by the Mercury News as Mac Perkel of Gilroy, stood up and tried loudly to question her, prompting security guards to escort him out of the convention hall.

"Leave him alone!" audience members shouted. Others yelled "Secrets and lies!," ''No secret courts!" and "Protect the First Amendment!," according to the Mercury News.

Perkel told the newspaper that he thinks Pelosi does not fully understand what the NSA is up to.

Several others in the audience walked out in support of Perkel.

"We're listening to our progressive leaders who are supposed to be on our side of the team saying it's OK for us to get targeted" for online surveillance, Thrift said. "It's crazy. I don't know who Nancy Pelosi really is."

Netroots Nation is an organizing and training convention for progressive political leaders. Pelosi was Saturday's keynote speaker at the event, which opened Thursday at the San Jose Convention Center and was scheduled to conclude Sunday.

Her remarks criticizing the Republican majority in the House and encouraging powerful women brought applause, cheers and laughs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pelosis-defense-nsa-surveillance-draws-boos-183845402.html

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Taliban attack presidential palace in Kabul

Afghan soldiers stand guard as smoke rises from the gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Afghan soldiers stand guard as smoke rises from the gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Smoke rises from the eastern gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan policemen stand guard near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013 following an attack. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Afghan security and intelligence officers stand guard near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The army said the attackers were killed but knew of no other deaths. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Smoke rises from the eastern gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

(AP) ? Taliban militants with false papers and military-style uniforms bluffed their way through two checkpoints on their way to Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday before jumping out of their explosives-packed vehicle and opening fire on security personnel, according to Afghan officials and eyewitness accounts.

Another carload of Taliban fighters got stuck between two checkpoints and detonated their own car bomb.

The Taliban said all eight of its fighters died in the attack. Authorities reported one security guard wounded in the gunfight and had no word on casualties from the vehicle explosion.

The well-planned daylight assault in a highly fortified zone of the capital is a brazen challenge to Kabul's authority only a week after NATO formally handed over security for the entirety of the country to Afghan forces.

The gunbattle was witnessed by a group of journalists who were waiting to enter the palace grounds for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban.

The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces and access is heavily restricted. Some Kabul residents initially thought the gunfire was a coup attempt because the idea of a Taliban attack within the security zone seemed so unlikely.

The attackers were stopped in Ariana Square, at least 500 meters (yards) and several checkpoints away from the palace itself. It was unclear where Karzai was at the time.

The gunbattle started around 6:30 a.m. near the east gate leading to the palace next to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the former Ariana Hotel, which former U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA.

Kabul police chief Gen. Mohamad Ayub Salangi said the gunmen jumped out of their SUV and opened fire after being stopped by security forces while trying to use fake documents to get through a checkpoint. All gunmen were killed, and one palace security guard was wounded, he said.

The car bomb then exploded as it tried to enter the area. About 20 journalists waiting to attend Karzai's press event took cover behind a religious shrine, pulling a schoolboy off the street who had been caught in the open on his way to school, as the gunmen in camouflage uniforms exited their black Land Cruiser.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying in an emailed statement that "eight of our suicide bombers were able to reach the most secure area of Kabul," identifying them by name and saying they were carrying hand grenades, a machinegun and rocket-propelled grenades.

"The brave mujahedeen, with special tactics and help from inside, were able to reach their target with their weapons and cars," he said. He said their targets were the CIA building, the palace and the Defense Ministry and claimed "a number of foreign invaders were killed and wounded in the attack."

Smoke could be seen coming from the area of the hotel, but there was no immediate indication any of the buildings were hit in the attack and Afghanistan's Kabul division army commander Gen. Kadam Shah Shahim said he knew of no deaths among security forces or civilians.

The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan instituted a camp lockdown during the incident and said in a short statement that its forces had been ready to assist but were not called in by Afghan authorities.

The U.S. Embassy cancelled all consular appointments and advised American citizens in Kabul to stay indoors.

Ambassador James Cunningham condemned the attack, and extended U.S. "condolences to all Afghans affected by these senseless acts."

"All of the attackers were killed, without success in achieving their goals ? This again demonstrates the futility of the Taliban's efforts to use violence and terror to achieve their aims," he said in a statement. "We again call on the Taliban to come to the table to talk to the Afghanistan government about peace and reconciliation."

The Taliban have indicated they are willing to open peace talks with the U.S. and the Afghanistan government and just last week opened an office in Qatar for possible negotiations.

But at the same time they have not renounced violence and attacks have continued across Afghanistan.

In the southern province of Kandahar, a minibus hit a bomb buried in the road, killing 11 members of a family, said Kandahar governor's spokesman Ahmad Jawed Faisal. Faisal said the dead included eight women, two children and a man, and two other men were also wounded.

In Oruzgan, the province north of Kandahar, provincial governor's spokesman Abdullah Hemat said Tuesday that six Afghan national police were killed the day before when their patrol was attacked with a roadside bomb.

_____

Amir Shah contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-25-Afghanistan/id-62aff37c17e343fab2141155cab3650e

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Pelosi's defense of NSA surveillance draws boos

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) ? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has disappointed some of her liberal base with her defense of the Obama administration's classified surveillance of U.S. residents' phone and Internet records.

Some of the activists attending the annual Netroots Nation political conference Saturday booed and interrupted the San Francisco Democrat when she commented on the surveillance programs carried out by the National Security Agency and revealed by a former contractor, Edward Snowden, The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bit.ly/19fB6U4).

The boos came when Pelosi said that Snowden had violated the law and that the government needed to strike a balance between security and privacy.

As she was attempting to argue that Obama's approach to citizen surveillance was an improvement over the policies under President George W. Bush, an activist, identified by the Mercury News as Mac Perkel of Gilroy, stood up and tried loudly to question her, prompting security guards to escort him out of the convention hall.

"Leave him alone!" audience members shouted. Others yelled "Secrets and lies!," ''No secret courts!" and "Protect the First Amendment!," according to the Mercury News.

Perkel told the newspaper that he thinks Pelosi does not fully understand what the NSA is up to.

Several others in the audience walked out in support of Perkel.

"We're listening to our progressive leaders who are supposed to be on our side of the team saying it's OK for us to get targeted" for online surveillance, said Jana Thrift of Eugene, Ore. "It's crazy. I don't know who Nancy Pelosi really is."

Netroots Nation is an organizing and training convention for progressive political leaders. Pelosi was Saturday's keynote speaker at the event, which opened Thursday at the San Jose Convention Center and was scheduled to conclude Sunday.

Her remarks criticizing the Republican majority in the House and encouraging powerful women brought applause, cheers and laughs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pelosis-defense-nsa-surveillance-draws-boos-183845402.html

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Funeral plans set for actor James Gandolfini

NEW YORK (AP) ? Funeral services for actor James Gandolfini will be Thursday at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.

An HBO spokeswoman speaking on behalf of the family says the funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m.

The 51-year-old star of "The Sopranos" died Wednesday in Rome. Family spokesman Michael Kobold says Gandolfini died of a heart attack.

The Italian news agency ANSA reports Gandolfini's body departed Rome for the United States on Sunday. Kobold earlier told reporters the "provisional plan" was to repatriate Gandolfini's body Monday.

The actor had been headed to Sicily to appear at the Taormina Film Festival, which paid tribute to him Saturday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/funeral-plans-set-actor-james-gandolfini-233347225.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Ex-Enron CEO gets 10 years cut from sentence

HOUSTON (AP) ? Ex-Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling ? seen by many as exemplifying the worst in corporate fraud and greed in America ? could be released from prison in about four years after a federal judge on Friday shaved off a decade from his original sentence of more than 24 years.

Skilling's resentencing during a packed courtroom hearing brought one of the country's most notorious financial scandals ? the collapse of the once-mighty energy giant ? to a conclusion that upset some former Enron workers.

Ex-Enron worker Diana Peters, the only victim who spoke at the resentencing hearing, said afterward in a phone interview that Skilling should have to serve his entire original sentence.

"Jeffrey Skilling has never taken any responsibility for his actions," said the 63-year-old Peters, who lives in Huntsville, north of Houston. "He has no remorse for the end result of what happened."

Even before Friday's resentencing, which was part of a court-ordered reduction and a separate agreement with prosecutors, Skilling had already been set to have his sentence of about 8? years shortened after an appeals court vacated his original sentence by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake.

The appeals court ruled that a sentencing guideline was improperly applied. However, Skilling's resentencing was delayed for years as he unsuccessfully sought to overturn his convictions, including appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Justice Department said in order to resolve a case that's gone on for more than 10 years, it agreed to an additional reduction of about 20 months as part of a deal to stop Skilling from filing any more appeals. Federal prosecutors say it will allow for $41.8 million of Skilling's assets to be distributed as restitution to victims of Enron's 2001 collapse.

Skilling, 59, who has been in prison since 2006, declined to make a statement during Friday's hearing.

His attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, said he disagrees with claims that his client, who "still maintains his innocence," never expressed remorse for what happened at Enron. He said Skilling wasn't aware of the illegal activities of others but "took complete responsibility for all the actions" at the company.

Petrocelli said the reduction, combined with time off for good behavior and other factors, means Skilling is likely to be released by 2017.

During the hearing, prosecutor Patrick Stokes criticized Skilling for continuing "to cast himself as a victim" and said Skilling "is anything but a victim."

"Mr. Skilling was not only at the pinnacle of Enron, he was at the pinnacle of the fraud schemes," Stokes said.

Once the money from Skilling's assets is added, about $560 million in restitution will have been collected for victims of the Enron scandal, Stokes said.

Former Enron employee George Maddox said he still blames Skilling for his losing $1.3 million in retirement savings when Enron collapsed. Maddox worked for 30 years as a plant manager with the company.

"Long sentences are for no one but poor people," said Maddox, 79, who lives in the East Texas town of Van and is now supporting his 16-year-old grandson and himself mainly on Social Security income.

Even with the reduced sentence, Skilling's prison term is still the longest of those involved in the Enron scandal. He was the highest-ranking executive to be punished. Enron founder Kenneth Lay's similar convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease less than two months after his trial.

Philip Hilder, a Houston attorney who represented several ex-Enron executives who cooperated with prosecutors, called Skilling's new sentence "a fair resolution" to his case.

But Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based attorney who represented 10 people who lost money in Enron's collapse, called the new sentence "a slap in the face" to ex-Enron workers and investors.

Skilling was convicted in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors for his role in the downfall of Houston-based Enron. The company, once the seventh-largest in the U.S., went bankrupt under the weight of years of illicit business deals and accounting tricks.

The U.S. Supreme Court said in 2010 that one of Skilling's convictions was flawed when it sharply curtailed the use of the "honest services" fraud law ? a short addendum to the federal mail and wire fraud statute that makes it illegal to scheme to deprive investors of "the intangible right to honest services."

The high court ruled prosecutors can use the law only in cases where evidence shows the defendant accepted bribes or kickbacks, and because Skilling's misconduct entailed no such things, he did not conspire to commit honest services fraud.

The Supreme Court told a lower court to decide whether he deserved a new trial; the lower court said no.

Enron's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered worthless $60 billion in Enron stock. Its aftershocks were felt across Houston and the U.S. energy industry.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano at http://www.twitter.com/juanlozano70 .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-enron-ceo-gets-10-years-cut-sentence-210206372.html

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Research reveals low exposure of excellent work by female scientists

Research reveals low exposure of excellent work by female scientists [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Amy Stone
a.f.stone@sheffield.ac.uk
01-142-221-046
University of Sheffield

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have found that high quality science by female academics is underrepresented in comparison to that of their male counterparts.

The researchers analysed the genders of invited speakers at the most prestigious gatherings of evolutionary biologists in Europe - six biannual congresses of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) and found that male speakers outnumbered women.

Even in comparison to the numbers of women and men among world class scientists from the world top ranked institutions for life sciences, and authors in the top-tier journals Nature and Science - women were still underrepresented among invited speakers.

The researchers also found that women were underrepresented at the 2011 congress because men accepted invitations more often than women.

Dr Hannah Dugdale from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, explained: "It's important that we understand why this is happening and what we can do to address it high quality science by women has low exposure at international level and this is constraining evolutionary biology from reaching its full potential. We're currently investigating the reasons behind this lower acceptance rate it could relate to childcare requirements, lower perception of scientific ability, being uncomfortable with self-promotion there are many potential contributing factors."

Dr Julia Schroeder, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornitholgoy in Germany said: "The most demanding phase of a career in Biology, when it is important to communicate one's findings, and to build networks with other scientists, coincides with the age at which women's fertility starts to decline, meaning it is their last chance to have a family - unlike men. Thus, women scientists of this career phase may be pregnant, or have children. Stay-at-home-dads are rare, therefore, these women are less flexible about travelling for work, and may be more likely to decline invitations to speak. We have yet to investigate whether this is indeed the cause, but it is a likely factor that starts the downward spiral: lower exposure and fewer networking opportunities are costly to the career. Fewer women in top positions mean fewer female role models for students who aspire to be scientists."

Kirsty Grainger, Head of Skills and Careers at the Natural Environment Research Council said: "Taking action to foster a culture that supports equality and diversity within research and that encourages better representation and support for women at all stages of their career is extremely important. We need to ensure that we attract and retain the brightest and best researchers, regardless of their background, into the UK research base. Understanding and addressing disincentives and indirect obstacles to recruitment, retention and progression in research careers is an essential part of this".

###

Additional information

The research has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology and the full paper can be downloaded here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12198/abstract


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Research reveals low exposure of excellent work by female scientists [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Amy Stone
a.f.stone@sheffield.ac.uk
01-142-221-046
University of Sheffield

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have found that high quality science by female academics is underrepresented in comparison to that of their male counterparts.

The researchers analysed the genders of invited speakers at the most prestigious gatherings of evolutionary biologists in Europe - six biannual congresses of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) and found that male speakers outnumbered women.

Even in comparison to the numbers of women and men among world class scientists from the world top ranked institutions for life sciences, and authors in the top-tier journals Nature and Science - women were still underrepresented among invited speakers.

The researchers also found that women were underrepresented at the 2011 congress because men accepted invitations more often than women.

Dr Hannah Dugdale from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, explained: "It's important that we understand why this is happening and what we can do to address it high quality science by women has low exposure at international level and this is constraining evolutionary biology from reaching its full potential. We're currently investigating the reasons behind this lower acceptance rate it could relate to childcare requirements, lower perception of scientific ability, being uncomfortable with self-promotion there are many potential contributing factors."

Dr Julia Schroeder, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornitholgoy in Germany said: "The most demanding phase of a career in Biology, when it is important to communicate one's findings, and to build networks with other scientists, coincides with the age at which women's fertility starts to decline, meaning it is their last chance to have a family - unlike men. Thus, women scientists of this career phase may be pregnant, or have children. Stay-at-home-dads are rare, therefore, these women are less flexible about travelling for work, and may be more likely to decline invitations to speak. We have yet to investigate whether this is indeed the cause, but it is a likely factor that starts the downward spiral: lower exposure and fewer networking opportunities are costly to the career. Fewer women in top positions mean fewer female role models for students who aspire to be scientists."

Kirsty Grainger, Head of Skills and Careers at the Natural Environment Research Council said: "Taking action to foster a culture that supports equality and diversity within research and that encourages better representation and support for women at all stages of their career is extremely important. We need to ensure that we attract and retain the brightest and best researchers, regardless of their background, into the UK research base. Understanding and addressing disincentives and indirect obstacles to recruitment, retention and progression in research careers is an essential part of this".

###

Additional information

The research has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology and the full paper can be downloaded here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12198/abstract


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/uos-rrl062113.php

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Massive protests hit Brazil's cities

Protesters gesture to riot police as they stand in front of a burning barricade during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, June 20, 2013. More than half a million ... more?Protesters gesture to riot police as they stand in front of a burning barricade during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, June 20, 2013. More than half a million Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 80 Brazilian cities Thursday in demonstrations that saw violent clashes and renewed calls for an end to government corruption and demands for better public services. Riot police battled protesters in at least five cities, with some of the most intense clashes happening in Rio de Janeiro, where an estimated 300,000 demonstrators swarmed into the seaside city's central area. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) less?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/massive-protests-hit-brazil-s-cities-slideshow/

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Friday, June 21, 2013

The City of Hillcrest

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The New Titans

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Homes evacuated as new Colo. wildfire erupts

DENVER (AP) ? A new wildfire in the foothills southwest of Denver forced the evacuation of dozens of homes Wednesday as hot and windy conditions in much of Colorado and elsewhere in the West made it easy for fires to start and spread.

The Lime Gulch Fire in Pike National Forest was small but devouring trees about 30 miles southwest of Denver in southern Jefferson County. Evacuation calls went out to more than 400 telephone numbers in the area, and residents within 3 miles of the fire were ordered to leave, said Jefferson County sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley. That order was later extended to the unincorporated township of Buffalo Creek.

The immediate fire zone is steep mountain terrain, heavily forested and several miles south of where last year's Lower North Fork Fire damaged and destroyed 23 homes and killed three people. That fire was triggered by a prescribed burn that escaped containment lines.

The cause of Wednesday's blaze was unknown, and it came as up to 600 Arizona firefighters battled a nearly 8-square-mile wildfire in Prescott National Forest. It was zero percent contained since erupting Tuesday afternoon and residents of 460 homes had been told to evacuate.

A large blaze in New Mexico charring through southern New Mexico's Gila National Forest grew to 47 square miles, and could expand to another nine if wind gust reach 35 miles per hour as expected.

In Colorado, two U.S. Air Force Reserve C-130s arrived quickly to drop slurry around the fire. The specially-equipped cargo planes, attached to the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, were operating out of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in suburban Denver, said Airlift Wing spokeswoman Ann Skarban at Peterson.

The C-130s had just finished duty on Sunday fighting a 22-square-mile wildfire near Colorado Springs that destroyed 509 homes and killed two people. More than 960 fire personnel at the Black Forest Fire contended with wind gusts Wednesday as they tried to contain the fire and find and extinguish hot spots.

In Black Forest, northeast of Colorado Springs, authorities said Marc and Robin Herklotz were killed as the fire erupted June 11. Their bodies were found in their garage by a car, as if they were trying to flee, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa has said.

Marc Herklotz, 52, and Robin Herklotz, 50, worked at Air Force Space Command, which operates military satellites, and were based at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, the Air Force said. Marc Herklotz entered the Air Force in 1983 but most recently was working as a civilian employee. Robin Herklotz was an Air Force contractor.

Their home was about 4 miles northeast of where the fire was first reported.

A neighbor, Bob Schmidt, said he received an evacuation call that day but that the Herklotzes had said they did not get a call. Their homes lay just outside a mandatory evacuation boundary announced on Twitter by El Paso County at 3:34 p.m. that day. The zone was expanded to include their Jicarilla Drive home two hours later.

Schmidt said the Herklotzes were fixtures in the area, walking their dog every night and coming by to get eggs from Schmidts' chickens.

"They loved the forest," Schmidt.

The Black Forest Fire was 85 percent contained. Investigators say they believe it was human-caused but have yet to determine what triggered it.

In California, officials said an unattended campfire near a main route into Yosemite National Park grew into a blaze that led to the evacuations of 1,500 people. As many as 500 remained evacuated Wednesday. The fire was 40 percent contained.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colo-wildfire-prompts-evacuations-homes-202606869.html

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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

'Gene signature' test diagnoses benign thyroid growths

June 17, 2013 ? A new genetic test accurately and consistently diagnoses benign growths, or nodules, on the thyroid gland, according to a study from Chile. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

"We have developed a 'gene signature' that effectively identifies benign thyroid nodules," said Hernan Gonzalez, MD, PhD, associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago. "This test is potentially useful to identify patients who do not require surgery."

The thyroid gland, located in the front of the neck, secretes thyroid hormone. This hormone is involved in many bodily processes, including turning food into energy. For unknown reasons, the thyroid gland sometimes develops small nodules. Although these nodules are extremely common and usually benign, a small number are cancerous, which makes screening tests essential.

In the United States this year, slightly more than 60,000 cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed and about 1,850 related deaths will occur, according to estimates from the American Cancer Society. Of these diagnosed cases, more than 45,000 will occur in women, who develop the disease more often than men.

Fortunately, thyroid cancer usually is curable. Screening for thyroid cancer involves using a thin needle to take a biopsy of the growth, called a fine needle aspirate biopsy, which is then analyzed for cancer cells.

The problem with the currently available screening test is that it often yields inconclusive results. In one-fifth to one-fourth of these tests, the results are unclear. In addition to causing anxiety among patients, inconclusive tests lead to repeated tests to rule out cancer, or even to surgery, given that cancer is present in about 25 percent of inconclusive cases. As a result, three out of four patients have unnecessary surgery, leading to rising treatment costs and the risk of possible complications related to unnecessary medical procedures.

The genetic test developed by the current study accurately identified benign nodules in nearly all samples analyzed. Specifically, the test differentiated between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue in 96 percent of thyroid samples.

"For the general public, this is important since it will offer a diagnostic tool that will avoid thousands of surgeries, with a major impact in health costs, eliminating potential surgical complications and the need for permanent thyroid hormone supplementation," Gonzalez said. "In addition, it should be widely available to local labs and hospitals and at a reasonable cost for the health system."

To develop the "gene signature" test, investigators conducted a literature search to identify 18 genes associated with thyroid cancer. They then selected 10 of these genes to develop a computer program that detects the presence of cancer in thyroid nodules. Using a sensitive DNA-amplifying test called polymerase chain reaction, they tested samples of thyroid nodules from 300 patients.

A biomedical research consortium in Santiago funded the study.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/hAI0dkVFSMI/130617110943.htm

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Longtime gov't lawyer to lead Gitmo closure effort

(AP) ? President Barack Obama has chosen a high-powered Washington lawyer with extensive experience in all three branches of the government to be the State Department's special envoy for closing down the military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

Clifford Sloan is the pick to reopen the State Department's Office of Guantanamo Closure, shuttered since January and folded into the department's legal adviser's office when the administration, in the face of congressional obstacles, effectively gave up its attempt to close the prison.

A formal announcement of Sloan's appointment was expected Monday, according to officials briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the appointment publicly before the formal announcement.

Sloan has served in senior government positions in both Democratic and Republican administrations and is now a partner in the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP law firm. For the past several years, he has been an informal adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, who recommended him for the post, the officials said.

"I appreciate his willingness to take on this challenge," Kerry said in a statement. "Cliff and I share the president's conviction that Guantanamo's continued operation isn't in our security interests."

The move fulfills part of Obama's pledge last month to renew efforts to close the military-run detention center at Guantanamo. That was a major promise in his 2008 presidential campaign, but it ran aground due to opposition from congressional Republicans.

In late May, Obama lifted a self-imposed ban on transferring Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, in what was a step toward closing a prison that he said "has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law." He said he would name envoys at both the State Department and Pentagon to try to unblock the closure process. The Pentagon envoy position has yet to be filled.

Word of Sloan's appointment follows the Republican-controlled House's overwhelming passage Friday of a $638 billion defense bill that would block Obama from closing the detention facility. The House of Representatives acted despite a White House veto threat.

The administration cited Guantanamo's prohibitive costs and role as a recruiting tool for extremists. A hunger strike by more than 100 of the 166 prisoners protesting their conditions and indefinite confinement has prompted the fresh calls for the prison's closure. Obama is pushing to transfer 86 approved detainees to their home countries. Fifty-six of the 86 are from Yemen.

Officials said Sloan, whose diverse government experience includes clerking for liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and conservative prosecutor Kenneth Starr, would focus primarily on navigating between the administration and Congress to overcome the deep, largely partisan divide over closing Guantanamo.

"It will not be easy, but if anyone can effectively navigate the space between agencies and branches of government, it's Cliff," Kerry said. "He's someone respected by people as ideologically different as Kenneth Starr and Justice Stevens, and that's the kind of bridge-builder we need to finish this job."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-17-US-US-Guantanamo-Closure/id-466e8a787efc4893827f153d721401bb

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EU, U.S. leaders launch free-trade talks

By William Schomberg and Roberta Rampton

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union launched negotiations for the world's most ambitious free-trade deal on Monday, promising thousands of new jobs and accelerated growth on both sides of the Atlantic.

Trade between Europe and the United States is worth almost $3 billion a day and a pact could boost both the EU and U.S. economies by more than $100 billion a year each - an attractive prospect after the devastating impact of Europe's debt crisis.

"This is a once in a generation prize and we are determined to seize it," said British Prime Minister David Cameron, flanked by U.S. President Barack Obama and the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.

The first round of negotiations will take place in Washington in July, Obama said, speaking at the Group of Eight summit near the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen.

First considered three decades ago but knocked down by France in the 1990s, the idea of an EU-U.S. free-trade deal has gathered momentum as Brussels and Washington look to generate growth and China's rise prompts deeper Western integration.

The United States and the European Commission, the executive body of the 27-country European Union, hope for a free-trade deal by the end of 2014 - a tight deadline in complex international trade talks that usually take many years.

The European Union and the United States already account for about half the world's economic output and nearly a third of world trade, and bringing down the final barriers to trade could unleash billions of dollars in transatlantic business.

But France threatened to block the start of talks until the other 26 EU governments accepted on Friday its demand to shield movies and online entertainment from the might of Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

That kept Paris on board, but EU and U.S. officials have said that excluding any sector from the talks threatens the scope of comprehensive deal and could limit the economic gains.

Obama hinted at that in his remarks. "It is important that we get it right and that means resisting the temptation to downsize our ambitions or avoid tough issues just for the sake of getting a deal," he said.

The London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research estimates a pact - to be known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - could boost the EU economy by 119 billion euros ($159 billion) a year, and the U.S. economy by 95 billion euros.

However, a report commissioned by Germany's non-profit Bertelsmann Foundation and published on Monday, said the United States may benefit more than Europe. A deal could increase GDP per capita in the United States by 13 percent over the long term but by only 5 percent on average for the European Union, the study found.

Businesses on both sides would like an agreement in which a car tested for safety in the United States would not have to be tested again in Europe, and a drug deemed safe by Brussels would not have to be approved as well by the U.S. government.

Following the collapse of global trade talks in 2008, both the United States and Europe have sought to strike as many free-trade agreements as possible, and Brussels alone is negotiating with more than 80 countries.

(Writing by Robin Emmott; editing by Rex Merrifield)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-u-leaders-launch-free-trade-talks-151207175.html

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Biffle holds on to win again at Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) ? Greg Biffle gave Ford a milestone victory ? right down the road from company headquarters.

Biffle raced to his second straight Sprint Cup win at Michigan International Speedway, easily holding off Kevin Harvick after points leader Jimmie Johnson smacked the wall in the final laps Sunday. It was the 1,000th victory for Ford Motor Company across NASCAR's three national series ? Cup, Nationwide and Truck.

"What a great moment this is," said Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing. "We couldn't be prouder to have this moment come here today at Michigan in front of so many of our Ford friends. What a great race and a great day for Ford."

It was Biffle's first win since he overtook Johnson to win at MIS in August. Johnson's engine faltered with six laps left in that race. This time, he was about a second behind Biffle with three laps to go ? but a tire give way, and he dropped all the way to 28th.

"I don't want to see anybody wreck," Biffle said. "It makes you feel good when you push the guy over the edge. He made a mistake, and that's what makes you feel good. You outsmarted him, or you beat him at his game."

Harvick was second, 3 seconds behind Biffle. Martin Truex Jr. was next, followed by Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart.

Johnson wasn't the only big name who ran into trouble. Jeff Gordon was out of contention almost immediately when he hit a spinning Bobby Labonte less than 10 laps into the 200-lap, 400-mile race. Gordon finished 39th, one spot behind Kasey Kahne, who led at the halfway point but appeared to blow a tire and went sliding into the wall.

Kahne's car caught fire, but he was able to climb out quickly.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won at MIS last June, finished 37th Sunday. He led for 34 laps, but his engine acted up about two-thirds of the way through the race.

There were eight cautions for 38 laps.

Biffle cruised to the finish in his No. 16 Ford. He finished second to Johnson the previous weekend at Pocono, but this time there was nobody left to challenge him at the end.

It was Ford's third Cup victory of the year ? Carl Edwards and David Ragan won at Phoenix and Talladega. Sunday was Ford Motor Company's 110th birthday.

"There have been a lot of great teams and a lot of great drivers, a lot of great engine builders that have contributed to Ford's success," Roush Fenway Racing owner Jack Roush said. "I'm just proud and honored to be part of that."

This was the second Cup win of the year for Roush Fenway.

It's been an emotional week for the racing community after the death of driver Jason Leffler on Wednesday at a dirt-track race in New Jersey. Biffle was quick to acknowledge Leffler while he celebrated his Father's Day victory.

"We are thinking about little Charlie Leffler that doesn't have a father today," he said.

Biffle earned his 19th career victory and boosted his chances to reach the Chase for the Sprint Cup, moving from 10th to eighth in the standings. Biffle finished in the top 10 for the 13th time in 21 races at MIS, which is about 60 miles from Ford headquarters in Dearborn.

Edwards finished eighth. Kurt Busch qualified second but went into an early spin and finished 35th.

Johnson still has a comfortable lead in standings, although Edwards closed the gap at the top from 51 points to 31. Johnson had a chance at his fourth victory of the year before scraping the wall late.

Johnson has still never won a Cup race at MIS.

"I thought this would be the year," he said. "Most of the time we're leading and something happens, but I thought, 'OK, maybe coming from behind would be the difference.' But something happened."

Johnson's late mishap in his No. 48 Chevrolet did not result in a caution, so Biffle maintained his comfortable lead over Harvick.

"I wasn't catching the 16 and didn't really feel it necessary to have a tire failure or an issue at that particular point," Harvick said. "So our best bet at that point was the 48 catches the 16 and something happening as those two guys were racing. But we just maintained and managed our gap between us and (Truex) to just hold that track position and not have anything silly happen."

Harvick moved up one spot to fourth in the standings. Earnhardt fell from fourth to seventh.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biffle-holds-win-again-michigan-202832238.html

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Monday, June 17, 2013

'Chemical architects' build materials with potential applications in drug delivery and gas storage

'Chemical architects' build materials with potential applications in drug delivery and gas storage [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 17-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: B. Rose Huber
rhuber@pitt.edu
412-624-4356
University of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGHHome remodelers understand the concept of improving original foundations with more modern elements. Using this same approachbut with chemistryresearchers in the University of Pittsburgh's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences have designed a family of materials that could make drug delivery, gas storage, and gas transport more efficient and at a lower cost. The findings were reported in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

The recent work builds upon Pitt Associate Professor of Chemistry Nathaniel Rosi's earlier research published last year in Nature Communications detailing a new class of metal-organic frameworkscrystalline compounds consisting of metal vertices and organic linkers that form porous structures. Last year, Rosi and his team created one of the most porous materials known at the time by changing the size of the vertex (the metal cluster) rather than the length of the organic linkers. Now, in JACS, he and his team have extended those linkers, demonstrating a family of materials even more porousa property necessary for more efficient gas storage.

"We like to think of ourselves as chemical architects," said Rosi, principal investigator of the project. "Our approach always starts with thinking about structure and, in particular, how we can design and manipulate structure. Here, we demonstrate one of the most porous families of metal-organic frameworks known."

Rosi likens his work to that of a builder remodeling a child's chair. As the child grows taller, the legs of the chair become too short. Because the owner likes the structure and integrity of the chair, the owner decides to lengthen its legs instead of purchasing a new one. This is what Rosi and his team have done with their frameworks: they have used one material as a structural blueprint and replaced another element (the organic linkers) to prepare more porous materials.

In addition to their utility for gas storage, these porous materials could be critical for low-cost industrial separationswhen one molecule is separated from another batch of molecules for purification purposes. The petrochemical industry has numerous high-value (and high-cost) separations used to isolate important chemicals involved with oil refining. Some of these separations could benefit from the use of porous materials as filters, said Rosi. Likewise, he notes that the pore size for his class of materials would be particularly useful for separating nanoparticles. Porosity also can affect the efficiency of pharmaceutical delivery into the human body.

An important metric for evaluating the porosity of a material is its pore volume. In Rosi's demonstration, three of these materials have pore volumes exceeding 4 cubic centimeters per gram (cc/g). For perspective, only one other metal-organic framework has a pore volume above this amount, with most others having volumes below 3 cc/g.

"Pore volume is a measure of how empty or vacant a material ishow much space in the material isn't filled," said Rosi. "When the pore openings are large, and the pore volume is large, it opens up the possibility of using the material as a scaffold to precisely organize and position biomolecules or nanoparticles in space."

Rosi and his team are currently investigating high-porous and low-density materials to be used as scaffolds for organizing large molecules and nanoparticles into functional materials.

###

Rosi's team members include Tao Li, a Pitt graduate student studying chemistry and the lead researcher on the project, along with Pitt undergraduate chemistry students Mark T. Kozlowski and Evan A. Doud, and Chatham University chemistry undergraduate student Maike N. Blakely.

The paper, "Stepwise Ligand Exchange for the Preparation of a Family of Mesoporous MOFs," was first published online May 20 in JACS. A portion of the work was performed with funding from the National Energy Technology Laboratory's Regional University Alliance (NETL-RUA), a collaborative initiative of NETL. The authors also credit Pitt's Petersen Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering and the Swanson School of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science for the use of their instruments.

6/17/13/amm/cjhm


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


'Chemical architects' build materials with potential applications in drug delivery and gas storage [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 17-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: B. Rose Huber
rhuber@pitt.edu
412-624-4356
University of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGHHome remodelers understand the concept of improving original foundations with more modern elements. Using this same approachbut with chemistryresearchers in the University of Pittsburgh's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences have designed a family of materials that could make drug delivery, gas storage, and gas transport more efficient and at a lower cost. The findings were reported in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

The recent work builds upon Pitt Associate Professor of Chemistry Nathaniel Rosi's earlier research published last year in Nature Communications detailing a new class of metal-organic frameworkscrystalline compounds consisting of metal vertices and organic linkers that form porous structures. Last year, Rosi and his team created one of the most porous materials known at the time by changing the size of the vertex (the metal cluster) rather than the length of the organic linkers. Now, in JACS, he and his team have extended those linkers, demonstrating a family of materials even more porousa property necessary for more efficient gas storage.

"We like to think of ourselves as chemical architects," said Rosi, principal investigator of the project. "Our approach always starts with thinking about structure and, in particular, how we can design and manipulate structure. Here, we demonstrate one of the most porous families of metal-organic frameworks known."

Rosi likens his work to that of a builder remodeling a child's chair. As the child grows taller, the legs of the chair become too short. Because the owner likes the structure and integrity of the chair, the owner decides to lengthen its legs instead of purchasing a new one. This is what Rosi and his team have done with their frameworks: they have used one material as a structural blueprint and replaced another element (the organic linkers) to prepare more porous materials.

In addition to their utility for gas storage, these porous materials could be critical for low-cost industrial separationswhen one molecule is separated from another batch of molecules for purification purposes. The petrochemical industry has numerous high-value (and high-cost) separations used to isolate important chemicals involved with oil refining. Some of these separations could benefit from the use of porous materials as filters, said Rosi. Likewise, he notes that the pore size for his class of materials would be particularly useful for separating nanoparticles. Porosity also can affect the efficiency of pharmaceutical delivery into the human body.

An important metric for evaluating the porosity of a material is its pore volume. In Rosi's demonstration, three of these materials have pore volumes exceeding 4 cubic centimeters per gram (cc/g). For perspective, only one other metal-organic framework has a pore volume above this amount, with most others having volumes below 3 cc/g.

"Pore volume is a measure of how empty or vacant a material ishow much space in the material isn't filled," said Rosi. "When the pore openings are large, and the pore volume is large, it opens up the possibility of using the material as a scaffold to precisely organize and position biomolecules or nanoparticles in space."

Rosi and his team are currently investigating high-porous and low-density materials to be used as scaffolds for organizing large molecules and nanoparticles into functional materials.

###

Rosi's team members include Tao Li, a Pitt graduate student studying chemistry and the lead researcher on the project, along with Pitt undergraduate chemistry students Mark T. Kozlowski and Evan A. Doud, and Chatham University chemistry undergraduate student Maike N. Blakely.

The paper, "Stepwise Ligand Exchange for the Preparation of a Family of Mesoporous MOFs," was first published online May 20 in JACS. A portion of the work was performed with funding from the National Energy Technology Laboratory's Regional University Alliance (NETL-RUA), a collaborative initiative of NETL. The authors also credit Pitt's Petersen Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering and the Swanson School of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science for the use of their instruments.

6/17/13/amm/cjhm


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/uop-ab061713.php

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