Mexico detects stolen fuel at gas station

MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexican officials said Monday they have found a new distribution point for thousands of gallons of gasoline stolen from state-owned pipelines: a seemingly normal gas station with official logos.

Thieves in Mexico had long been thought to unload stolen oil products on shadowy black markets. But it now appears the thefts have taken on a new sophistication, using a gas station that until 2010 had a concession from the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos company, known as Pemex, to legally sell gas.

A Pemex official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Monday that it was the first time that stolen fuel has been detected being sold through a gas station. In the past, primitive illicit fueling stations with improvised tanks had been discovered in fields, vacant lots and industrial buildings, presumably to supply fuel to private fleets.

But in a raid over the weekend in the northern city of Monterrey, the federal Attorney General's Office said it found about 12,690 gallons (48,000 liters) of stolen gasoline at the station, worth about $77,000. The station came under suspicion because it had not had a legitimate delivery of gas in some time.

Photos of the station showed that it had the normal green, red and white signs borne by all Pemex gas stations throughout Mexico. Pemex licenses the stations to be run by private concessionaires, who must buy fuel from the company. The Attorney General's Office said the Monterrey station's concession had been canceled in 2010.

The company is taking the threat seriously enough that it is starting a nationwide, random audit of stations throughout the country, in part because the volume of oil products being stolen appears to be too large to move through primitive, improvised outlets.

The company says it lost about 2.99 million barrels, or about 125 million gallons, of oil products in the first 11 months of 2011, the latest figures available. That represented about a full day's worth of total production for the company, and marked a 52-percent increase over the 1.96 million barrels stolen in the same period of 2010.

According to a U.S. court case, Mexican gangs trafficked some stolen crude over the border to U.S. refineries, and in June 2011, Pemex filed a lawsuit against nine U.S. companies and two individuals for alleged involvement in buying or processing Mexican oil products stolen by gangs.

Thieves have also sold unrefined fuels to bulk users such as brick kilns and factories, but the amount of gasoline being stolen would be inappropriate for such uses, or even private truck fleets.

Pemex said the task force will use mobile labs to test stations' gasoline to detect whether it was illicitly mixed or transported. It will also review tax and commercial records to detect whether any station is selling more gas than it has ordered.

But the 1,324 illegal taps and break-ins at Pemex pipelines discovered in 2011 are only part of the complex series of attacks on the company.

A Mexican legislator said Monday that an oil spill in early January in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz was intentionally caused to create a pollution emergency, in order to generate income and contracts for clean-up work.

Federal Congressman Antonio Benitez Lucho toured the Pemex plant where the spill originated and said a primitive cut had been made in a valve head, a hole knocked in a containment wall and a thick hose laid to the edge of the Coatzacoalcos river, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

In early January, about 63,400 gallons (240,000 liters) of crude spilled from the valve plant, blackening the river's shores and threatening wildlife.

"There was no doubt that it was deliberate," Benitez Lucho said.

"I think they spilled the crude so that the companies that do clean-up and remediation work ... could get quick, fast-track contracts," he said. "They are million-dollar companies that charge huge amounts for clean-up and remediation, and I think that is the motive."

The office of the Federal Attorney General for Environmental Protection said the case was still under investigation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-30-LT-Mexico-Oil-Theft/id-fb497627d90747c48c31a8b1ea183dc1

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Neeson's 'The Grey' tops box office with $20M (AP)

NEW YORK ? Beware the Liam in Winter.

Liam Neeson's "The Grey" topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, continuing the actor's success as an action star in the winter months.

The Alaskan survivalist thriller opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown." Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.

But the R-rated "The Grey," which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. It's an unlikely turn for the 59-year-old Neeson, previously better known for his dramatic performances, like those in "Schindler's List" and "Kinsey."

"Liam is a true movie star, period," said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It's the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal.

"My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year."

January is often a dumping ground for less-stellar releases, a tradition held up by two badly reviewed new wide releases: "Man on a Ledge," with Sam Worthington, and "One for the Money" with Katherine Heigl.

"One for the Money" fared better, earning $11.8 million, while "Man on a Ledge" opened with $8.3 million.

Those were reasonably solid returns, and, in an unusual twist, were both ultimately for Lions Gate Entertainment. Its film studio, Lionsgate, released the romantic comedy "One for the Money." The action thriller "Man on a Ledge" was released by Summit Entertainment, which Lions Gate bought for $412.5 million earlier this month.

"One for the Money" was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for "The Lincoln Lawyer." David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of "One for the Money."

Groupon email blasts, he said, had a significant promotional effect.

Last week's box-office leader, "Underworld: Awakenings," Sony's Screen Gem's latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.

The unexpectedly large haul for "The Grey," strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film "Red Tails," which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar contending films following Tuesday's nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.

So far, every weekend this year has been an "up" weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.

"`Mission: Impossible,' I think, really helped reinvigorate the marketplace, and that's carried over into the first part of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's good news for Hollywood after the down-trending box office of 2011."

Oscar favorites "The Descendants," "Hugo" and "The Artist" sought to capitalize on their recent Academy Awards nominations. Each expanded to more theaters and saw an uptick in business.

Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants," which is nominated for five Oscars including best picture, added 1,441 screens in its 11th week of release. It added $6.6 million and has now made $58.8 million, making it one of Fox Searchlight's most successful releases.

Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said the film's nominations and its recent Golden Globes wins (for best drama and best actor, George Clooney) "played a big role" in its weekend box office.

Paramount's "Hugo," which led Oscar nominations with 11 including best picture, saw a 143 percent jump in business over its last weekend. In its tenth week of release, it earned $2.3 million, bringing its total to $58.7 million.

The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," with 10 Oscar nominations including best picture, expanded a modest 235 screens to bring it to a total of 897 screens in its 10th week of release. It earned $3.3 million, with a total of $16.7 million.

The Weinstein Co. is being careful with the black-and-white, largely silent film. Thus far, it has appealed particularly to older audiences.

"It's not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace," said Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "Now that the nominations are out, we're going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. ... We're being very, very meticulous with it. We're not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we'll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Grey," $20 million.

2. "Underworld: Awakening," $12.5 million.

3. "One for the Money," $11.8 million.

4. "Red Tails," $10.4 million.

5. "Man on a Ledge," $8.3 million.

6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $7.1 million.

7. "The Descendants," $6.6 million.

8. "Contraband," $6.5 million.

9. "Beauty and the Beast," $5.3 million.

10. "Haywire," $4 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_en_ot/us_box_office

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Syrian troops storm areas near capital of Damascus (AP)

BEIRUT ? In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops stormed rebellious areas near the capital Sunday, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The widescale offensive near the capital suggested the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities descended into chaos after the uprising began in March.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

The violence has gradually approached the capital. In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing clashes in the nearby suburbs, particularly at night, shattering the city's calm.

"The current battles taking place in and around Damascus may not yet lead to the unraveling of the regime, but the illusion of normalcy that the Assads have sought hard to maintain in the capital since the beginning of the revolution has surely unraveled," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident.

"Once illusions unravel, reality soon follows," he wrote in his blog Sunday.

Soldiers riding some 50 tanks and dozens of armored vehicles stormed a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta Sunday, a predominantly Sunni Muslim agricultural area where large anti-regime protests have been held.

Some of the fighting on Sunday was less than three miles (four kilometers) from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital.

"There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. "Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others."

The fighting using mortars and machine guns sent entire families fleeing, some of them on foot carrying bags of belongings, to the capital.

"The shelling and bullets have not stopped since yesterday," said a man who left his home in Ein Tarma with his family Sunday. "It's terrifying, there's no electricity or water, it's a real war," he said by telephone on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital's outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters Sunday in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia.

"I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.

Because of the escalating violence, the Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria at least until the League's council can meet. Arab foreign ministers were to meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis in light of the suspension of the observers' work and Damascus' refusal to agree to the transition timetable, the League said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed." He spoke Sunday at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

While the international community scrambles to find a resolution to the crisis, the violence on the ground in Syria has continued unabated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday in Syria, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib.

The Local Coordination Committees' activist network said 50 people were killed Sunday, including 13 who were killed in the suburbs of the capital and two defectors. That count excluded soldiers killed Sunday.

The differing counts could not be reconciled, and the reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

Syria's state-run news agency said "terrorists" detonated a roadside bomb by remote control near a bus carrying soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers and wounding six others. Among those killed in the attack some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital were two first lieutenants, SANA said.

In Irbil, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq, about 200 members of Syria's Kurdish parties were holding two days of meetings to explore ways of supporting efforts to topple Assad.

Abdul-Baqi Youssef, a member of the Syrian Kurdish Union Party, said representatives of 11 Kurdish parties formed the Syrian Kurdish National Council that will coordinate anti-government activities with Syria's opposition.

Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria's 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo; Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq; and Luc van Kemenade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Iran official says oil will reach $150 per barrel

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's official news agency reports that the head of the state oil company is claiming that the price of crude will go up to $150 per barrel.

Head of the National Iranian Oil Company Ahmad Qalehban did not give a time frame for the prediction, nor any other details in the Sunday report by IRNA.

The price of benchmark U.S. crude on Friday was around $99.56 per barrel.

Qalehban's statement comes as Iranian officials prepare to debate a ban on crude sales to European Union countries, in response to a planned EU embargo on Iran's oil by summer because of that country's nuclear program.

The United States and its allies argue that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons technology, while Tehran says the program is for purely peaceful purposes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Iran-Oil/id-70d28ab461ac4f26a9837dc0f748ecf4

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Ship strikes Kentucky bridge, portion collapses

BENTON, Ky.?? State officials are inspecting what's left of a southwestern Kentucky bridge that collapsed after a cargo ship carrying aviation parts struck it.

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Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Chuck Wolfe says inspectors began the in-depth review of the Eggner Ferry Bridge at U.S. Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 80 at daylight Friday.

The Delta Mariner struck the main span Thursday evening. No injuries were reported.

"At this point, we don't believe there was any loss of life," said Keith Todd, spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

He said there also were no injuries on board the boat. He was unable to say where the ship was traveling when it struck the bridge.

Officials said the collapse meant vehicles needing to cross the Kentucky Lake reservoir and the Tennessee River had to be detoured for dozens of miles. The Coast Guard blocked access to boat traffic at the bridge site.

'The road's gone'
Robert Parker, 51, of Cadiz, Ky., said he and his wife were traveling northbound on the highway after leaving his stepson's house in Murray, Ky. They were driving in the rain along the darkened bridge around 8 p.m. when they suddenly noticed a missing 20-foot piece of the bridge, which at that section stands at least 20 feet above the water.

"All of a sudden I see the road's gone and I hit the brakes," he said. "It got close."

Parker said he stopped his pickup within five feet of the missing section. Two cars behind him stopped on his bumper and he saw another car on the other side of the missing section stopped.

He said he didn't feel the vessel strike the bridge but "felt the bridge was kind of weak." They had to detour about 50 miles to return home to Cadiz.

Officials say about 2,800 vehicles travel daily on the bridge, which was due to be replaced.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46164194/ns/us_news-life/

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Can Too Much Information Harm Patients? [Excerpt]

Features | Health

In his new book, cardiologist Eric Topol explores the ways in which the digital age is transforming medicine

By Eric Topol ?| January 27, 2012?|

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care (Basic Books, 2012), by Eric Topol, a professor of innovative medicine and the director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute.

Nearly 7 Billion people on the planet

Over 3 million doctors

Tens of thousands of hospitals

6000 prescription medicines, 4000 procedures and operations

Countless supplements, herbs, alternative treatments

Who gets what, when, where, why and how?

When a 58 year old, active, lean, intelligent financier from Florida came to see me for a second opinion, I should not have been surprised. For Valentine's Day the prior year, his wife's present was a computed tomography (CT) scan for his heart. She heard about it on the radio and also saw heart scan billboards on the highway. There was even a special deal of $100 off for Valentine's.

But her husband didn't have any symptoms of heart disease, didn't take any medications, and played at least two rounds of golf a week. On the other days, he worked out on an elliptical machine for 30 to 40 minutes. Until he got the heart scan.

My patient was told that he had a score of 710?a high calcium score?and his physician had told him that he would need to undergo a coronary angiogram, a roadmap movie of the coronary anatomy, as soon as possible. He did that and was found to have several blockages in two of the three arteries serving his heart. His cardiologists in Florida immediately put in five stents (even though no stress-test or other symptoms had suggested they were necessary), and put him on a regimen of Lipitor, a beta-blocker, aspirin and Plavix.

Now, in my office four months later, this patient is not doing well at all. He is worried that he might have a heart attack if one of the stents becomes clotted. He feels profoundly tired and has muscle aches that are so disturbing he can neither play golf nor do his usual exercise. He complains of marked depression and an inability to have or sustain an erection. A fit individual, who had taken good care of himself and was enjoying his life, was now debilitated and depressed. The cardiology trainee who saw this patient with me asked, "How could this have happened?"

Unfortunately, this individual's story is not so uncommon. Think predator and prey: the physicians and hospital advertise, leading to a high volume of heart scans, billed directly to the patients at some $500 each. Then, should an abnormal score come up, the patient may be quickly referred for first a diagnostic procedure, and then one to implant metal stents in the arteries on the surface of the heart. Naturally the cardiologist who put in multiple stents feels gratified to have saved the patient's life with unsuspected, advanced coronary disease. Overall, however these cases are like riding a train to the last stop, regardless of the most logical destination. All procedures are performed, as likely as not, the outcome is not a saved life but a "cardiac cripple."

I didn't enjoy telling the patient that he should probably not have ever had the stents. I could see the cholesterol buildup in the two arteries on an angiogram he brought with him, but the case was not severe. Of course, it was too late to do anything about the stents, which can't be removed, except to reassure him that he was not in any imminent or real danger, but I could get him off some of his medications, which would help his current symptoms and get him back to golf and exercise.

Mark Twain said, "To a man with a hammer, a lot of things looks like nails that need pounding." Surgeons are notorious for a similar bias: "When it doubt, cut it out." My patient was the victim of the same tendency. As badly as he got pounded, it could have been worse: in 2010 the "Olympic record" of stenting was published. One patient had sixty-seven stents placed throughout his coronary arteries and bypass grafts, in the course of twenty-eight coronary angiograms over a ten-year period.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=82900df7612edac6a69381c4a806a9a2

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Android tablets closing in on iPad: researcher (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Tablet computers using Google's Android software narrowed the lead of Apple's iPad on the global market in the fourth quarter, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Thursday.

Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in the fourth quarter, growing 2-1/2 fold from 10.7 million a year earlier, the research firm said.

"Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes," analyst Neil Mawston said in a statement.

Android's market share rose to 39 percent from 29 percent a year earlier, while Apple's share slipped to 58 percent from 68 percent a year before.

The tablet computer market grew 260 percent last year to 66.9 million units as consumers are increasingly buying tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops.

Strategy Analytics said Microsoft had a 1 percent share of the global tablet market last quarter.

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wr_nm/us_tablets_research

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Samsung Earnings Beat Expectations Even As Legal Battle With ...

Steven Kovach, Business Insider

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Samsung Electronics Co. reported a 17 percent jump in fourth quarter profit on the strength of sales in flat panels and smartphones even as the company battled claims it had copied Apple's iPhone.

Samsung said Friday in a regulatory filing that its net profit reached 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in the three months that ended in December. The company earned 3.4 trillion won in the same quarter a year earlier.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company said its operating profit jumped 75.8 percent to 5.3 trillion won in the fourth quarter. The figure was closely in line with the company's estimate earlier this month of a 73 percent rise.

Samsung, the world's biggest manufacturer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays, said demand for semiconductors in mobile products and servers remained solid despite weakness in personal computers, which face stiff competition from the rising popularity of tablets.

Samsung has over the decades grown into a key global manufacturer of components that let PCs, digital music players and handsets store data and display it on flat, high-resolution screens. The company has recently been stepping up its challenge against Apple Inc. in the global smartphone business, releasing models such as the Galaxy S II.

Cupertino, California-based Apple, which spurred the smartphone boom with the launch of its iPhone in 2007, has accused Samsung of "slavishly" copying its smartphone and iPad in design, user interface and packaging. Apple sued Samsung in April last year in the United States.

The legal battle has now spilled into 10 countries, according to Samsung officials. Court rulings so far have tended to side with Apple.

The quarterly profit brought the 2011 net profit to 13.7 trillion won, down 15 percent from the previous year, Samsung said.

"If profit in handsets continues to stream in, this year will also likely be a solid one for Samsung," said Jae Lee, an analyst at Daiwa Securities in Seoul. "The biggest threat would be if the global economy worsens."

Lee said legal battles with Apple would start weighing less on Samsung this year as the South Korean company is expected to release models with new designs.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-earnings-q4-2012-1

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Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? If you were a blind, cannibalistic sea slug, living among others just like you, nearly every encounter with another creature would require a simple cost/benefit calculation: Should I eat that, do nothing or flee?

In a new study, researchers report that these responses are linked to a simple circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea. A heightened state of excitation in the neurons that control the animal's attack and feeding behavior means it is hungry and will go for nearly anything that smells like food, the researchers found. Lower activity in the same neurons means the animal is satiated and will do nothing, or will turn away from the smell of other creatures, most likely to avoid becoming food.

"The question was, how does this animal, a predatory forager, make a decision?" said Rhanor Gillette, a University of Illinois molecular and integrative physiology professor who conducted the study with graduate student Keiko Hirayama. "And after some work it became clear that they do it pretty much like you and I. They make decisions not so much on the basis of information, per se, but on the basis of how information makes them feel."

Like most animals, sea slugs must integrate their internal state -- how hungry they are -- with information from their senses (Does this thing smell good? Is it bigger than me?) and memory (What happened last time I encountered something like this?), Gillette said.

Sea slugs have a very primitive nervous system, but they quickly figure out what not to eat, he said. For evidence of this, he has a video of an encounter between an inexperienced Pleurobranchaea and another sea slug species, Flabellina iodinea, which produces a noxious chemical in its tissues to ward off predators. Thirty minutes after this encounter, the researchers put the two together again and Pleurobranchaea steered clear of F. iodinea.

"This is an example of one-trial learning," Gillette said. "This is the one trick it's really good at: learning what to eat or not. Pleurobranchaea is evaluating the odor and estimating risk."

Only "an insanely hungry" animal will attack an unpleasant or painful stimulus, such as an electric shock or the learned, unpleasant taste of F. iodinea, Gillette said.

The researchers focused on the sea slug's approach/avoidance behavior when it catches a whiff of another sea creature (in the lab, the researchers use the amino acids glycine and trimethylglycine, "the essence of seafood," Gillette said). A hungry animal turns toward the stimulus; a satiated animal turns away or does nothing. By turning away, it avoids possible attack by another predator, Gillette said. No response "means that the estimated value of the stimulus is not worth the effort of an attack," he said.

Hirayama found that the sea slug's central nervous system (CNS), even when removed from the animal and placed in a dish, responds to a sensory stimulus as it had in the intact animal. If the brain of a hungry animal detects the odor of food, the neurons that control movement will fire as if turning the animal towards the stimulus. The CNS of a satiated animal will "turn away" from the side of the stimulated nerve.

"Then Hirayama found that nervous systems from very hungry animals had higher levels of spontaneous activity than those that were not hungry," Gillette said. The neurons involved in biting or extending the proboscis -- the sea slug's feeding apparatus -- appeared to be ready for action. And if the researcher artificially enhanced activity in the neural circuit that controls feeding, "she could change an avoidance turn to an orienting turn," Gillette said.

Hirayama and Gillette think that they have identified a very simple and general type of circuit for cost/benefit decisions, one that is at the core of the more complicated valuations and decisions that are made by the social, higher vertebrates like ourselves. More research into this circuitry could lead to the development of better digital personal assistants and Internet avatars, Gillette said. These findings also may help those studying various kinds of addictions or other extreme, reward-seeking behaviors.

"What we're talking about is a fundamental economic decision of resource acquisition or avoidance," he said. "This basic type of decision is subverted in substance abuse, in illogical gambling and in badly managed shopping, for example. This is why I think that studying the basis of this type of decision in a very simple animal, where we can work it out, is important."

The National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health supported this research. The study appears in the journal Current Biology.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The original article was written by Diana Yates.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Keiko Hirayama, Rhanor Gillette. A Neuronal Network Switch for Approach/Avoidance Toggled by Appetitive State. Current Biology, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.10.055

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/~3/9dpGshNVMu8/120125132810.htm

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Measure Requiring Condoms In Porn Films Signed Into Law By LA Mayor

LOS ANGELES ? Actors in adult movies filmed in Los Angeles will be required to use condoms under an ordinance signed into law by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and porn industry leaders say the regulation could lead them to abandon the nation's porn capital.

The law, signed Monday, will take effect 41 days after it is posted by the city clerk, something that could happen as early as this week.

Officials with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which lobbied for years for such a law, expressed jubilation Tuesday and said they would now turn their attention to getting a similar condom requirement adopted elsewhere.

"The city of Los Angeles has done the right thing. They've done the right thing for the performers," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which had pushed the measure for six years.

He said its adoption is crucial in protecting adult film actors from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Weinstein said his group's next move will be to get Los Angeles County to adopt a similar measure for its unincorporated areas.

The group is in the midst of a petition drive to put the issue on the ballot, but Weinstein said he hopes the county's Board of Supervisors will react as the Los Angeles City Council did and pass such an ordinance itself. The council gave its final approval last week.

Industry officials estimate as many as 90 percent of the porn films produced in the United States are made in Los Angeles. Most are filmed quietly in the city's suburban San Fernando Valley.

After the council's action, several of the industry's biggest filmmakers said they might consider moving just outside the county. That prompted Simi Valley Mayor Bob Huber to announce last week that he would ask the city attorney for his community, located just across the county line from the San Fernando Valley, to write a similar ordinance.

Weinstein said Tuesday his group would also be vigilant in keeping track of where porn producers might go.

Exactly how the law will be enforced is still to be determined.

It calls for makers of porn films to pay a fee, the amount still to be determined, that would be used to pay for spot checks at filming locations.

The City Council is creating a committee to determine the amount of the fee and who would make the spot checks.

Weinstein said he envisions enforcement would fall on nurses or other public health providers.

"It is not anticipated, based on what we desire or what has been discussed, that it would be uniformed police officers," he said.

Weinstein said he would be open to working with industry leaders to enforce the law.

He noted the ordinance does not require condoms when oral sex is involved because his group, which originally crafted it, agreed with the filmmakers that infection through oral sex was not as great as through other sex acts.

The industry already requires that actors be tested for HIV every 30 days, and filmmakers say they believe that is sufficient.

"It's not that I don't doubt the sincerity of their desire to protect the talent. And believe it or not, we have the same ambition," Christian Mann, general manager of Evil Angel Productions, said last week after the council's vote.

"We just don't believe their way is the best way," added Mann, who is also on the board of directors of the industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/condoms-in-porn_n_1229859.html

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Gene Mutations May Boost Ovarian Cancer Survival: Study (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Genetic mutations known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 raise the risk of getting ovarian cancer, but new research shows that those same mutations may boost a woman's odds of surviving the deadly disease.

Women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer who carry the mutations have a better prognosis than women without the genetic variations, according to an analysis of 26 previous studies. The BRCA2 carriers, in particular, had a better five-year survival rate.

"Our paper provides definitive evidence that BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers have improvement in survival [compared to ovarian cancer patients without the mutations]," said Kelly L. Bolton, lead author of the new analysis and a medical student at the University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine.

The study, which confirms previous findings, is published Jan. 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Nearly 23,000 women will get a diagnosis of ovarian cancer this year in the United States, and about 15,500 will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society. Epithelial ovarian cancer, the type Bolton focused on, occurs in the cells on the surface of the ovary.

Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are found in up to 15 percent of women with this type of cancer. A germline mutation is a gene change in a reproductive cell that can be passed on to offspring.

Data from more than 1,213 ovarian cancer patients was included in the studies reviewed. Of these, 909 had BRCA1 mutations; 304 had BRCA2 variations.

The studies also included 2,666 women who did not have the genetic mutations.

At the five-year mark, 44 percent of the BRCA1 carriers and 52 percent of the BRCA2 carriers were alive, compared to 36 percent of those without the mutation.

Bolton said the survival differences remained after the researchers took into account such factors as the stage of the cancer and age, although it was less significant among women with a family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer.

Exactly how the mutations may improve survival is not known. However, Bolton and others speculate the BRCA1 or BRCA2 status may modify the response to platinum-based chemotherapy, a common treatment.

The new analysis will have important implications for future research and treatment of ovarian cancer, the authors said. Routine genetic screening of women with high-grade cancer might be warranted, they added.

Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, suggested the findings can help health care providers tailor treatment and more accurately counsel them regarding expected survival.

While not new, the information is valuable, Poynor said. "For a long time, we've known that individuals with BRCA1 or 2 actually have a better prognosis," she said. "This is not new information, it's expanded information. It's reinforcing what we already know."

More research is needed, the authors said, acknowledging some study limitations. For instance, the analysis lacked complete information on types of chemotherapy used, which might also have influenced survival.

Some co-authors reported consultancy fees from Complete Genomics Inc., a company engaged in gene sequencing, and from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, Schering-Plough, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical firms.

More information

Learn how ovarian cancer is diagnosed at the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120124/hl_hsn/genemutationsmayboostovariancancersurvivalstudy

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War of words over Greek debt heats up (AP)

ZURICH ? The war of words between Europe and private investors heated up Tuesday as talks to reduce Greece's massive debt burden hit an impasse.

While the finance ministers of the countries that use the euro as their currency adopted a tough stance on how much rescue money they would pump into the Greek economy, the head of the group that represents the country's private creditors ? banks and other investment firms ? warned that the future of Europe was being threatened if a voluntary debt reduction deal over Greece was not agreed.

Charles Dallara, the managing director of the Institute of International Finance, warned that Europe is putting decades of progress at risk over the management of Greek debt-reduction talks, which stalled over the weekend.

"European stability is at stake as well," Dallara said at a news conference in Zurich.

On the front line of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, Athens is trying to get its private creditors to swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with half their face value, thereby slicing some euro100 billion ($130 billion) off its debt. The new bonds would also push the repayment deadlines 20 to 30 years into the future.

However, the main stumbling block over the past few weeks to securing this deal has been the interest rate these new bonds would carry. A high interest rate could buffer losses for investors, but would also require the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to put up more than the euro130 billion ($169 billion) in rescue loans they promised in October.

Dallara said the private creditors, which include banks, insurance companies and hedge funds, are acting in good faith and that the proposal made last week was in the spirit of October's agreement. At that time, Europe's leaders said Greece should look to reduce the value of its private sector debts by 50 percent, or euro100 billion ($130 billion).

In the early hours of Tuesday, eurozone politicians drew a firm line on the Greek debt restructuring.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who chaired a meeting of finance ministers on efforts to fight the crisis, said the average interest rate over the lifetime of the new Greek bonds must be "clearly below 4 percent," with an average rate of less than 3.5 percent for the period until 2020. That is below the more than 4 percent average demanded by the Institute of International Finance, which has been leading negotiations for the private bondholders.

The European ministers' tough stance on the interest rates underlines that the eurozone and the IMF are unwilling to increase new rescue loans above the promised euro130 billion, even though Greece's economic situation has deteriorated. After already granting Greece a euro110 billion bailout in May 2010, the eurozone and the IMF are threatening to withhold further funding for the country, which has repeatedly failed to hit budget and reform targets required in return for the financial aid.

The interest rate caps will also seriously test the willingness of private bondholders to agree to a debt deal voluntarily.

Dallara said talks would continue over the coming days, adding that he is confident there will be "large-scale" participation by the private sector if a "voluntary" deal is clinched.

However, he refused to put a deadline on the discussions.

Given the complexity of the negotiations and the legal consequences that would ensue, a deal has to be agreed very soon if Greece is to meet a vital bond repayment deadline in March. A Greek government official said Monday that Athens wants to submit a formal swap offer to investors by Feb. 13, and the EU's Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn stressed Tuesday it would be better to have a final agreement with bondholders this month.

If it can't pay its bond, Greece would be in default of its debts, a scenario that could lead to renewed panic in financial markets and potentially derail a feeble global economic recovery.

Dallara said Europe must keep the support of the private sector, given the massive amounts of debt that have to be refinanced from France to Portugal.

He added that there isn't a country that doesn't need investment from the private sector.

"Investors need to feel confident in their investments ... in sovereign debt," he said.

Before Dallara's latest comments, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the current impasse is a normal part of difficult negotiations.

"We continue the negotiations (with investors) as happily, but also as little susceptible to blackmail as possible," he told reporters in Brussels. "That exists in every bazaar ? a final offer ? one shouldn't let oneself be overly impressed by that."

The alternative to a voluntary deal would be to force losses on to investors ? a move that the eurozone has so far been unwilling to make. Some officials fear that a forced default could trigger panic on financial markets and hurt bigger countries such as Italy, Spain or even France.

But several ministers indicated that they might be willing to accept a forced default if it puts Athens in a position where it can eventually repay its remaining debt ? including the rescue loans from the eurozone and the IMF. The eurozone has said that Greece's debt is sustainable, if it falls to some 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. Without a restructuring it would reach close to 200 percent by the end of the year.

Rehn, who represents the European Commission, which has been very reluctant to have any kind of private creditor involvement in aiding Greece, said that forcing some holdouts to accept a restructuring that has the support of the majority of bondholders would be acceptable.

"That is possible within the framework of achieving a voluntary agreement on private sector involvement," Rehn said, referring to so-called collective action clauses that Greece could write into its old bond contracts to allow majority decision making.

But ministers also put the pressure on Greece to reach a manageable debt level by bolstering its reform and austerity measures.

"Greece and the banks have to do more in order to reach a sustainable debt level," Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager told reporters as he arrived for a second day of meetings with his European counterparts. "We have to await the discussions about that because a sustainable debt level is absolutely a precondition for the next (rescue) program."

Schaeuble also insisted that firm support for new austerity measures from all major Greek parties ? including after elections expected in April ? is a precondition for a new bailout.

__

Steinhauser reported from Brussels. Nicholas Paphitis in Athens, Greece, and Toby Sterling in Brussels contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Soldier may not face manslaughter in GI's death

Courtesy of the Chen family

Pvt. Danny Chen, left, with his mother, Su Zhen Chen, at his graduation from basic training.

By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

The first soldier to face legal proceedings in the death of a Chinese-American GI believed to have committed suicide in Afghanistan after allegedly being hazed by his fellow troops may not face the toughest charge the Army had sought of involuntary manslaughter.

The Article 32 hearing for Spc. Ryan Offutt, a 32-year old infantryman from Greenville, Penn., into the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, finished Sunday, Sgt. 1^st Class Alan G. Davis, an Army spokesman, said in an email.

The investigating officer recommended forwarding all charges to court-martial, except for the manslaughter charge, Davis said, later noting that the charge was not dropped but the officer "recommended not moving forward" on it "because he believed that insufficient evidence was presented at the hearing to justify" proceeding with it.

---

Eight soldiers, including Offutt, have been charged in connection with the death of Chen, 19, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Oct. 3. Five of them were charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, thought to be the first time such charges have been brought in this type of case,?according to?experts on hazing and on?the military legal system.

The Article 32 hearings, which will determine whether?there was enough evidence for a court-martial against the men, will run through about Feb. 20?at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. The charges against Offutt that the investigating officer recommended be forwarded to court-martial include maltreatment, assault consummated by battery, reckless endangerment and negligent homicide.

The maximum punishment for involuntary manslaughter is 10 years and a dishonorable discharge, while negligent homicide is a dishonorable discharge and three years.

Grover Baxley, a former member of the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, noted that the investigating officer's recommendation was "just that - a recommendation."

"The Convening Authority can follow or ignore that advice, in whole or in part, as he or she decides. As a result, you may still see the government refer all the charges, including the manslaughter charge, to a court-martial," Baxley wrote in an e-mail. "Alternatively, even though the Investigating Officer recommended going forward on the majority of the charges, the Convening Authority could still drop all the charges at this point, though I don't think that's likely."

Asian-American?advocates and the family told Army officials during a meeting in early January that they did not want the proceedings to take place overseas, citing the need for transparency and access, and have said the toughest charges should not be dropped.

?While the negligent homicide charge is recommended, we are extremely disappointed that the manslaughter charge is not," Elizabeth OuYang, New York branch president of OCA, a national civil rights organization serving Asian Pacific Americans, said in a statement. "The family and the community are not able to see what is happening in these hearings taking place in Afghanistan - the Army has the ability to and should televise these hearings."

The commander of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division will consider the recommendations of the investigating officer in determining whether to forward the charges against Offutt to the Army's Regional Command-South commander for final disposition, Davis said.

Chen was found dead at a guard tower with his rifle lying next to him at Combat Outpost Palace in the Panjwa'i district of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.

According to?investigators from the Regional Command-South, OuYang said,?almost immediately after he arrived in mid-August, Chen, the?only Chinese-American in his platoon, was required to do exercises that?within a few days crossed over to alleged abuse. Some of it was inflicted by one soldier and some by a group of them, the investigators said.

Investigators found evidence that the platoon sergeant and the platoon leader -- the platoon's top two leaders -- were aware of an attack on Chen on Sept. 27 and chose not to report it, OuYang said.

The Army's Criminal Investigation Command said Monday that its investigation into Chen's death was not complete.

---

Related stories on msnbc.com:

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10215903-soldier-may-not-face-manslaughter-charge-in-gis-alleged-hazing-death

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Romney: Gingrich activity 'potentially wrongful'

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a discussion on housing and foreclosure, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a discussion on housing and foreclosure, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after a discussion on housing and foreclosure, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, sits with Mary Pinion of Tampa, Fla., as he holds a discussion on housing and foreclosure, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Mitt Romney launched a multipronged attack Monday on rival Newt Gingrich, including a scathing TV ad and personally accusing the former House speaker of engaging in "potentially wrongful activity" in his consulting work over the past decade.

Romney called on Gingrich to release his client list for that period. He offered no proof that Gingrich had engaged in wrongful behavior when, after leaving Congress, he worked with former colleagues to push for a prescription drug benefit for Medicare. Gingrich has never been a registered lobbyist.

"Was he working or were his entities working with any health care companies that could've benefited from that? That could represent not just evidence of lobbying but potentially wrongful activity of some kind," Romney told reporters after a campaign appearance.

When asked if he was suggesting that Gingrich committed a crime, Romney said: "We just need to understand what his activity's been over the last 15 years, and make sure that it's conformed with all the regulations that might exist."

The attacks, combined with the campaign's first negative ad and a conference call in which top surrogates criticized Gingrich, showed a newfound aggressiveness for Romney and set the stage for a presidential debate later Monday. Romney lost big to Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary and has adopted a newly aggressive tone in an effort to try to regain the momentum from Gingrich.

"While Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in," the TV ad says, noting that the former speaker made more than $1.6 million working for Freddie Mac. "Gingrich resigned from Congress in disgrace and then cashed in as a D.C. insider."

Gingrich has said he was a consultant for Freddie Mac, the federally backed mortgage company that played a significant role in the housing crisis.

Romney said Gingrich should return the more than $1.6 million he made from the company.

While Romney criticized Gingrich, Romney also profited from investments in Freddie Mac.

His most recent financial disclosure forms show he had a direct investment in Freddie Mac worth between $100,000 and $250,000. He made between $5,000 and $15,000 in interest income on it between February 2010 and February 2011.

Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom noted that, even though the former Massachusetts governor profited from the investment, he did not work for Freddie Mac as Gingrich did.

"Newt Gingrich said anybody who profited from Freddie Mac while defending their failed model ought to give the money back," Fehrnstrom said.

While Romney's allies have been attacking Gingrich in television commercials for weeks, the Romney campaign's new commercial marked the first time it has directly attacked any of his opponents.

Romney answered questions from the media after an event Monday that made clear he intends to focus on housing in a state particularly hard hit by home foreclosures and the struggling economy.

But Romney didn't suggest he intends to change his own prescription for fixing the housing crisis. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal's editorial board last year that the housing market should be allowed to hit bottom.

Still, the attacks set the stage for Monday's debate, a forum in which Gingrich has thrived.

To improve his own performance, Romney was spending much of the day preparing for the two-hour debate with Brett O'Donnell, who advised President George W. Bush and 2008 nominee John McCain.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-23-Romney/id-ae453f0e9fdf470b886e483804366a8d

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John Kerry Debuts A Broken Face (The Atlantic Wire)

Senator John Kerry apparently showed up to an event at the White House honoring the Stanley Cup winning Boston Bruins Monday in?costume. Ouch!?The 68-year-old Senator has two black eyes and a broken nose, the results of a hockey injury. We bet the Bruins felt his pain. Have a quick recovery, Senator!?

RELATED: Who's Bankrolling the Super Committee: Senate Democrats

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/20120123/pl_atlantic/johnkerrydebutedbrokenface47742

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Paterno's death met with grief in State College (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? Joe Paterno's death from lung cancer Sunday just two months after his firing left many Penn State students, alumni and community members numb with grief and a sense that the legendary coach deserved better from the university after such a distinguished career.

"His legacy is without question as far as I'm concerned," said 65-year-old Ed Hill of Altoona, a football season ticket-holder for 35 years. "The Board of Trustees threw him to the wolves. I think Joe was a scapegoat nationally. ... I'm heartbroken."

In death, Paterno received the praise that under normal circumstances might have been reserved for the retirement dinner he never received.

Gov. Tom Corbett said he had secured his place in Pennsylvania history and noted that "as both man and coach," Paterno had "confronted adversities, both past and present, with grace and forbearance."

Similar tributes were issued by politicians, university officials, former players and alumni. Some expressed hope that Paterno would be remembered more for his accomplishments than for his downfall. And some wondered whether his heartbreaking firing somehow hastened his death.

Paterno, who died at 85, was fired Nov. 9 by the Penn State trustees after he was criticized for not going to the police in 2002 when he was told that former assistant Jerry Sandusky had been seen molesting a boy in the showers at the football complex.

Paterno reported the allegations to university higher-ups, but it would be nearly a decade before Sandusky was arrested, and Paterno said he regretted having not done more. Pennsylvania's state police commissioner said the football coach may have met his legal duty but not his moral one.

On Sunday, Sandusky expressed sympathy to Paterno's family in a statement released by his lawyer as he awaits trial on charges of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period.

Sandusky said that no one did more for the university's academic reputation than Paterno, and that his former boss "had the courage to practice what he preached" about toughness, hard work and clean competition.

At an Iowa-Penn State wrestling match Sunday afternoon, a crowd of some 6,500 people gave a 30-second standing ovation as an image of Paterno appeared on two video boards. The screen flashed the words "Joseph Vincent Paterno 1926-2012" and a picture of a smiling Paterno in a blue tie and blue sweater vest.

At the university's Berkey Creamery, Ginger Colon, of Fairfax, Va., was picking up two half-gallons of Peachy Paterno ice cream when she heard the news. Colon, whose daughter attends Penn State, said it was sad that the scandal would be part of Paterno's legacy.

"But from a personal note, it makes you re-think when things are reported to you by employees: Have I taken enough steps?" Colon said.

Andrea Mastro, an immunology professor who lives in the same neighborhood where Paterno lived and raised a family ? with his address and number, famously, listed in the phone book ? said the rapid spread of the cancer and the shadow of the Sandusky investigation made "the whole situation very sad."

"I can't help but thinking that his death is somehow related" to the stress of the scandal, she said after Mass on Sunday at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, where Paterno sometimes attended services. "I think everybody is going to be extremely sad, and they're going to be sad in particular because he didn't get his say."

Mickey Shuler, who played for Penn State under Paterno in the mid-'70s, said the coach had been a father figure and expressed his disappointment about how he was fired.

"It's just sad, because I think he died from other things than lung cancer," Shuler said. "I don't think that the Penn State that he helped us to become and all the principles and values and things that he taught were carried out in the handling of his situation."

The trustees and school President Rodney Erickson issued a statement saying the university plans to honor Paterno but is still working on what form that will take, and when it will happen.

In recent weeks, the board has come under withering criticism for how it handled Paterno's dismissal, and there is a movement by alumni to change the board's composition.

At a women's basketball game Sunday, Penn State players wore a black strap on their shoulders in memory of Paterno.

"It's been the first time I've ever seen a man guilty and have to be proven innocent," said Jamie Bloom, a 1992 graduate from Williamsport. "I think they caved to the media pressure to do something."

Ed Peetz, 87, a Class of '49 alumnus whose daughter-in-law Karen Peetz was just elected president of the trustees, said the board had to dismiss Paterno.

"But then, and now, is a very sad day," Peetz said. "What does Paterno mean to me? He means Penn State. But I think he was too powerful."

Steve Wrath, a 1984 graduate, became emotional as he spoke outside the football stadium, in front of Paterno's statue, which was adorned with lit candles, flowers, T-shirts and blue-and-white pom-poms.

"The Sandusky situation is obviously horrible for the victims, and I don't want to little that situation, but Joe Paterno's legacy will overcome all of that," Wrath said.

___

AP writer Genaro Armas and freelancer Emily Kaplan in State College, and AP college football writer Ralph Russo in New York, contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_paterno_state_college

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Possible plea deal in works for accused Haditha ringleader (Reuters)

CAMP PENDLETON, California (Reuters) ? The court-martial of a Marine sergeant accused of leading a 2005 massacre of civilians in Haditha, Iraq, has been halted as prosecutors and defense attorneys apparently tried to negotiate a possible plea deal.

The trial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 31, was first halted on Wednesday afternoon by the judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, who instructed defense lawyers and the government to negotiate with one another.

The trial was scheduled to resume on Thursday morning, but Jones again postponed the proceedings.

Prosecutors and defense did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment, and a U.S. Marine spokesman at Camp Pendleton said he had no information about a possible plea deal.

Wuterich, 31, is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty stemming from the November 19, 2005, death of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then an insurgent hotbed.

That incident was portrayed by Iraqi witnesses as a "massacre" of unarmed civilians, and brought international condemnation on U.S. troops.

Local witnesses claimed angry Marines killed two dozen men, women and children after a popular comrade, Lance Cpl. Miguel "TJ" Terrazas, was killed by a roadside bomb.

Wuterich pleaded not guilty when the trial began in early January.

"Everyone visualizes me as a monster, a baby killer, cold blooded," Wuterich told CBS' 60 Minutes in a 2008 interview. "That's not accurate and neither is the story that most of them know about this incident."

Wuterich initially faced murder charges.

Six out of the eight Marines originally charged in the case had their charges dismissed by military judges, and another was cleared.

Wuterich, the accused ring-leader, is the last of the group to face court proceedings.

(Additional reporting and writing by Mary Slosson, Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Dan Burns)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/us_nm/us_crime_haditha_trial

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Teen ends globe-circling voyage in St. Maarten

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker throws a rope as she docks her boat in Simpson Bay Marina in St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker throws a rope as she docks her boat in Simpson Bay Marina in St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Teen sailor Laura Dekker embraces her mother Babs Muller, left, sister Kim Dekker, right, and father Dick Dekker, behind, as she arrives to Simpson Bay, St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker, 16, ended a yearlong voyage on Saturday that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe. Dekker said she was born to parents living on a boat near the coast of New Zealand and said she first sailed solo at 6 years old. At 10, she said, she began dreaming about crossing the globe. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Sailing under a New Zealand flag, teen sailor Laura Dekker steers her sailboat "Guppy" as she approaches the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker, 16, ended a yearlong voyage on Saturday that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe. Dekker said she was born to parents living on a boat near the coast of New Zealand and said she first sailed solo at 6 years old. At 10, she said, she began dreaming about crossing the globe. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, center left, is hugged by her father Dick Dekker, right, sister Kim Dekker, center right, and mother Babs Muller, left, after arriving to Simpson Bay, St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, center, hugs her sister Kim Dekker, right, and mother Babs Muller after arriving to Simpson Bay, St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) ? Laura Dekker set a steady foot aboard a dock in St. Maarten on Saturday, ending a yearlong voyage aboard a sailboat named "Guppy" that apparently made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, though her trip was interrupted at several points.

Dozens of people jumped and cheered as Dekker waved, wept and then walked across the dock accompanied by her mother, father, sister and grandparents, who had greeted her at sea earlier.

Dekker arrived in St. Maarten after struggling against high seas and heavy winds on a final, 41-day leg from Cape Town, South Africa.

"There were moments where I was like, 'What the hell am I doing out here?,' but I never wanted to stop," she told reporters. "It's a dream, and I wanted to do it."

Dekker claims she is the youngest sailor to complete a round-the-world voyage, but Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the claim, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts.

Dutch authorities tried to block Dekker's trip, arguing she was too young to risk her life, while school officials complained she should be in a classroom.

Dekker said she was born to parents living on a boat near the coast of New Zealand and said she first sailed solo at 6 years old. At 10, she said, she began dreaming about crossing the globe. She celebrated her 16th birthday during the trip, eating doughnuts for breakfast after spending time at port with her father and friends the night before in Darwin, Australia.

The teenager covered more than 27,000 nautical miles on a trip with stops that sound like a skim through a travel magazine: the Canary Islands, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora, Australia, South Africa and now, St. Maarten, from which she set out on Jan. 20, 2011.

"Her story is just amazing," said one of Dekker's fans, 10-year-old Jody Bell of Connecticut. "I can't imagine someone her age going out on sea all by herself."

Bell was in St. Maarten on a work trip with her mother, Deena Merlen, an attorney in Manhattan, who wanted to see Dekker complete her journey. The two wore T-shirts that read: "Guppy rocks my world."

"My daughter and I have been following Laura's story, and we think it's amazing and inspiring," Merlen said.

Unlike other young sailors who recently crossed the globe, Dekker repeatedly anchored at ports along the way to sleep, study and repair her 38-foot (11.5-meter) sailboat.

During her trip, she went surfing, scuba diving, cliff diving and discovered a new hobby: playing the flute, which she said in her weblog was easier to play than a guitar in bad weather.

Dekker also complained about custom clearings, boat inspections, ripped sails, heavy squalls, a wet and salty bed, a near-collision with two cargo ships and the presence of some persistent stowaways: cockroaches.

"I became good friends with my boat," she said. "I learned a lot about myself."

Highlights of her trip include 47 days of sailing the Indian Ocean, which left her with unsteady legs when she docked in Durban, South Africa, where she walked up and down the pier several times for practice.

While in South Africa, she also saw her first whale.

"It dove right in front of my boat and got all this water on my boat, and that wasn't really nice," she said.

Dekker launched her trip two months after Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old U.S. sailor, was rescued in the middle of the Indian Ocean during a similar attempt. Jessica Watson of Australia completed a 210-day solo voyage at age 16, a few months older than Dekker.

Dekker had said she planned to move to New Zealand after her voyage, but she said Saturday that she wants to finish school first. If she goes to New Zealand, she said, she'd like to sail there.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-21-CB-St-Maarten-Young-Sailor/id-a9436a59be294aa1ada4f507bb312852

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