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Thursday, January 31, 2013
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Husband of wounded lawmaker says Congress must act
Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. two years ago, sits with her husband, Mark Kelly, right, a retired astronaut, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, prior to speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage at that killed 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Ct. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. two years ago, sits with her husband, Mark Kelly, right, a retired astronaut, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, prior to speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage at that killed 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Ct. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The husband of wounded former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords says that while curbing gun violence is a complex problem, it is no excuse for inaction by lawmakers.
Former astronaut Mark Kelly told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he and his wife, former Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, are gun owners who support the right to own guns. But he says Congress must strengthen laws to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from getting guns.
Kelly said he and his wife are "two reasonable Americans" who believe it is time for Congress to act.
Kelly sat at the opposite end of the witness table from Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. LaPierre also was testifying.
Giffords, a 2011 shooting victim, testified briefly to the panel.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Connecticut Task Force On Gun Violence Holds Hearing At Newtown High School
Dave Wheeler, whose son Benjamin died at Sandy Hook Elementary on Dec. 14, quoted a founding father at a public hearing in Newtown, Conn., on Wednesday. "Thomas Jefferson described our inalienable rights as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Wheeler said. "I do no think the order of those important words was haphazard and casual. The liberty of any person to own a military assault weapon and high-capacity magazine and to keep them in their home is second to the right of my son to his life."
Wheeler was one of more than 100 parents, police officers, clergy members and Newtown residents who spoke at the fourth and final public hearing held by the Connecticut legislature's Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence and Children's Safety. While the first three hearings covered school safety, gun violence and mental health, respectively, Wednesday's hearing provided an opportunity to address any of those subjects.
As with the earlier hearing on gun violence, opinions were mixed on whether the legislature should pass stricter gun control measures, like a ban on semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines. None of the speakers whose children died in the shooting opposed such measures, and some vehemently argued in favor of them.
"I tried to think of a reason why we would need guns and weapons like that for hunting, and the only thing I could think of is maybe deer management," said Neil Heslin whose 6-year-old son Jesse was a victim. "I ask that we ban those weapons and I ask that we look more into mental health, education and the people who have those weapons. There should be strict background checks."
"I am a gun owner, Rachel enjoyed shooting as well," said Peter Paradis, whose 29-year-old daughter Rachel died at the school. "We don't need 30-round clips to kill a deer, we don't need AR-style rifles to go target shooting. We need action."
The hearing was held in a crowded auditorium of Newtown High School, where President Barack Obama met with the families of victims days after the attack. John McKinney, a Republican state senator whose district includes Newtown, moderated the remarks. He asked that the audience refrain from applauding -- a request that was ignored.
Some speakers received standing ovations, and even those who spoke against gun control were applauded. "Military weapons and weapons with high-capacity magazines can help in repelling a home assault," said Casey Khan, a Newtown parent and former Marine. "While on its face it may seem ridiculous" to own such weapons in a wealthy place like Newtown, he said, "it is not ridiculous for those who live amidst the dangers of the inner-cities and along the Mexican border."
"I too was a military member," said Eric Paradis, who spoke after Khan. "I know these weapons do not belong in our homes. They do belong in our armories as part of our well-regulated militias.
"We can't let the gun lobbies corporate interests decide our path for us," Paradis added.
The hearing was held on a day when former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), NRA head Wayne LaPierre, and other high-profile figures in the gun debate spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington.
The Newtown hearing, along with parents of Sandy Hook students, featured Brian Chalmers, an emergency medical technician and a first responder, who insisted that "neither the size of the magazine nor the style of the rifle will affect the actions of the evil."
Bill Begg, an emergency room doctor who tended to the bodies of victims, choked up while urging the legislators to ban assault weapons and to refrain from cutting funds for mental health services. "Twenty years in the E.R., I never broke a tear," he said. "But this has affected me."
Halfway through the meeting, scheduled to end at midnight, the legislators turned the microphone over to any members of the community who wanted to speak. By then, the scheduled speakers had already suggested a wide range of measures, from tightening the existing gun-control laws to helping police monitor the activities of people deemed potentially dangerous.
"I just want you to thank you for coming to us," said Richard Marato, whose daughter survived the shooting. "Our society is so saturated with guns and violence I don't think any one thing can help."
The task force is expected to deliver its proposals to the legislature for a vote in February. Recordings of each of the hearings are available on The Connecticut Network's website.
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Preliminary FEMA flood maps add 35,000 NYC buildings
Michael Heiman / Getty Images file
The corner of 34th Street and 1st Street in Manhattan floods during rains from Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 29, 2012 in New York City.
By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News
Some 35,000 buildings and homes have been added to flood zones in parts of New York City, according to preliminary maps released Monday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. More of these maps will be released in late February for Manhattan and other parts of city where the data is still being analyzed.?
The numbers emerged after the release earlier in the day of FEMA?s advisory flood maps for parts of the city, increasing the areas falling into 100-year flood zones or areas with the potential for destructive high speed waves along coastlines, said agency spokesman Dan Watson. More maps will be released for other parts of the city, including Manhattan, in late February, he said.?
The official maps will be released in the summer, but the preliminary ones for hard-hit areas like Staten Island and Queens are intended to give those who are rebuilding a head start. Sandy struck Oct. 29, leaving about 20,000 residential buildings in the city with some damage or disruption to their utilities.
?It can inform building back stronger and smarter with the recovery,? Watson said. ?And honestly it will also help save lives and property in the future ? because we?ve seen areas where folks have elevated or used other forms of mitigation and ? they got wet but there wasn?t as much damage as a result of it.??
The maps reflect base flood elevations and will likely increase insurance rates for those who are newly included in the flood-prone zones. Those who are now in the ?A Zones? -- or 100-year flood zones, where a flooding event has a one percent probability of occurring in any given year -- and who have a federally-backed mortgage will now be required to get flood insurance, Watson said.
Some property owners may also have to elevate their buildings or homes, likely setting ground floors ground floors 3 to 6 feet higher than zoning rules previously required, according to The Associated Press. The maps have to be adopted by communities, which can appeal parts of them, Watson said.
Congress has already passed $9.7 billion in additional borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program to help pay Sandy claims from homeowners in New York and New Jersey.?The Senate on Monday night approved a $50.5 billion emergency spending bill to aid people in New York and New Jersey who are trying to rebuild their homes and businesses.
Hard-hit communities were just beginning to figure out what these initial maps mean for them. In Breezy Point, a private cooperative in the city?s southern Queens Borough heavily damaged by the storm, leaders said they needed to study the maps before offering guidance: ?Keep in mind that the DOB (Department of Buildings) and City still need to make decisions regarding building criteria and if it will change.?
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Senate approves Kerry as secretary of state
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's nomination as President Barack Obama's new secretary of state sailed through the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, as his fellow senators voted overwhelmingly to confirm him to replace Hillary Clinton as the country's top diplomat.
The vote was 94-3 in favor. The two senators from Texas, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, all Republicans, were the only no votes.
Three senators did not vote. Kerry, the senior Democratic senator from Massachusetts, voted "present."
Kerry's easy confirmation had been expected. The Senate agreed to vote quickly after his confirmation hearing last week. The Foreign Relations Committee had voted unanimously by voice vote earlier on Tuesday to back his nomination.
The Senate's approval sets in motion a special election for Kerry's Massachusetts Senate seat. The five-term senator and losing presidential candidate in 2004 is expected to be sworn later this week.
Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, said before the roll call that a heavy vote for Kerry would send a "strong message" to the rest of the world that he had the firm backing of the entire United States.
Senator Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations committee, praised Kerry's testimony on Thursday. "I thought that Senator Kerry acquitted himself exceptionally well in the hearings that we had last week," he said on the Senate floor.
Kerry, beaming, was warmly congratulated by his fellow senators after the vote.
At the hearing of the Foreign Affair Committee, which he has chaired for four years, Kerry was visibly moved by applause and praise from his fellow senators.
"I'm honored beyond words," he said, before making brief remarks about the importance of the committee going forward on issues like Middle East peace.
Kerry, who became a U.S. senator 28 years ago, said he will make a final speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
"What a privilege to work with you and now to work with you in a different way. I thank you very, very much," Kerry said.
(Editing by Jackie Frank, Philip Barbara and Eric Walsh)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-panel-approves-kerry-secretary-state-152124876.html
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UFC on Fox 6?s Three Stars: Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas and T.J. Grant
In the home of the 6-0 Chicago Blackhawks, the UFC had its sixth showing on Fox. In hockey's tradition, here are the Three Stars from the card.
No. 1 star ? Anthony Pettis: Once upon a time, Pettis was the WEC champion and had a shot at the UFC lightweight title. But then Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fought to a draw and required a rematch, and Pettis lost to Clay Guida. But with a nasty liver kick that took out Donald Cerrone, Pettis showed he was still worthy of that title shot.
No. 2 star ? Ricardo Lamas: Speaking of title shots, Lamas made a convincing case on Saturday night for the featherweight belt. He used punishing ground and pound to make Erik Koch's face explode on the way to a TKO. Lamas has four wins in a row, and has earned the shot to be the next fighter with a shot at the featherweight belt after this weekend's fight between Edgar and champion Jose Aldo.
No. 3 star -? T.J. Grant: The lightweight division is stacked, but Grant's showing on Saturday night showed another fighter creeping into the top ranks. He elbowed his way to a win over Matt Wiman.
These are Cagewriter's Three Stars. Who are yours? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Philips Bows Out Of Consumer Electronics Business | TechCrunch
Philips, a brand well known for their televisions and optical media devices, is leaving the consumer electronics market and is now focusing on medical equipment and lighting. The company sold its CE business to the Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric Co. for $201 million.
Like Cisco, Philips found the CE market fraught with peril. The 80-year-old Dutch company originally built radios but backed Betamax in the 1980s and continued selling televisions and optical disk players in a saturated market. With competitors coming from all sides, the most interesting thing Philips could produce was the Ambilight system for splashing color behind a television based on the video on the screen.
That was clearly not enough to survive as a CE maker.
?Since we have online entertainment, people do not buy Blu-ray and DVD players anymore,? said CEO Frans van Houten to the WSJ.
The company saw a loss of $483 million which was double the loss in Q1 2011.
CE is a slow-moving commodity now. Brand loyalty is dead and digital has made nearly every television the same. Philips? decision to close up shop is a brave one and necessary. It will be interesting to see who else is taken up by the whirlwind of change coming to home CE.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/29/philips-bows-out-of-consumer-electronics-business/
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Brazil nightclub fire kills more than 230 people
A woman cries over the coffin of a victim at a gymnasium where bodies were brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)
A woman cries over the coffin of a victim at a gymnasium where bodies were brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)
A man stands around coffins containing the remains of victims after the bodies were identified at a gymnasium in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Relatives and friends mourn on the coffin containing the remains of a fire victim at a gymnasium where bodies were brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Relatives and friends carry the coffin of a victim out of a gymnasium where bodies where brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A man carries an injured man, victim of a fire at the Kiss club in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, early Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Firefighters say that the death toll from a fire that swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil has risen to 180. Officials say the fire broke out while a band was performing. At least 200 people have been injured. (AP Photo/Agencia RBS)
SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) ? The bodies of the young college students were found piled up just inside the entrance of the Kiss nightclub, among more than 230 people who died in a cloud of toxic smoke after a blaze enveloped the crowded locale within seconds and set off a panic.
Hours later, the horrific chaos had transformed into a scene of tragic order, with row upon row of polished caskets of the dead lined up in the community gymnasium in the university city of Santa Maria. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors.
As the city in southern Brazil prepared to bury the 233 people killed in the conflagration caused by a band's pyrotechnic display, an early investigation into the tragedy revealed that security guards briefly prevented partygoers from leaving through the sole exit. And the bodies later heaped inside that doorway slowed firefighters trying to get in.
"It was terrible inside ? it was like one of those films of the Holocaust, bodies piled atop one another," said police inspector Sandro Meinerz. "We had to use trucks to remove them. It took about six hours to take the bodies away."
Survivors and another police inspector, Marcelo Arigony, said security guards briefly tried to block people from exiting the club. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they are allowed to leave.
"It was chaotic and it doesn't seem to have been done in bad faith because several security guards also died," he told The Associated Press.
Later, firefighters responding to the blaze initially had trouble entering the club because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance," Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper.
Police inspectors said they think the source of the blaze was a band's small pyrotechnics show. The fire broke out sometime before 3 a.m. Sunday and the fast-moving fire and toxic smoke created by burning foam sound insulation material on the ceiling engulfed the club within seconds.
Authorities said band members who were on the stage when the fire broke out later talked with police and confirmed they used pyrotechnics during their show.
Meinerz, who coordinated the investigation at the nightclub, said one band member died after escaping because he returned inside the burning building to save his accordion. The other band members escaped alive because they were the first to notice the fire.
The fire spread so fast inside the packed club that firefighters and ambulances could do little to stop it, survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.
"There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," she said.
Most victims died from smoke inhalation rather than burns. Many of the dead, about equally split between young men and women, were also found in the club's two bathrooms, where they fled apparently because the blinding smoke caused them to believe the doors were exits.
There were questions about the club's operating license. Police said it was in the process of being renewed, but it was not clear if it was illegal for the business to be open. A single entrance area about the size of five door spaces was used both as an entrance and an exit.
Family members of those killed walked around the gym in a daze Sunday evening, shuffling between caskets or holding one another and weeping as they identified loved ones and tried to make sense of what had happened.
Elaine Marques Goncalves lost her son Deivis in the fire. Another son who attended the college party at the nightclub, Gustavo, was barely alive after suffering two cardiac arrests caused by smoke inhalation.
She learned of the blaze after the mother of her sons' friends called her early Sunday.
"My boys were not home and I had no news. I turned on the TV ? the tragedy was all over the television," she said at the makeshift morgue. "All I knew was they had gone to a club, I didn't know which one. I kept saying: 'Where do I start? Where do I go?'"
Television images from the city of about 260,000 people showed black smoke billowing out of the nightclub as shirtless young men who attended a university party there joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at the hot-pink exterior walls, trying to reach those trapped inside.
Bodies of the dead and injured were strewn in the street and panicked screams filled the air as medics tried to help. There was little to be done; officials said most of those who died were suffocated by smoke within minutes.
Within hours the community gym was a horror scene, with body after body lined up on the floor, partially covered with black plastic as family members identified kin.
Outside the gym police held up personal objects ? a black purse, a blue high-heeled shoe ? as people seeking information on loved ones crowded around, hoping not to recognize anything being shown them.
The gathering was a party organized by students from several academic departments from the Federal University of Santa Maria. Such organized university parties are common throughout Brazil.
Survivor Michele Pereira told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit some sort of flare.
"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread."
Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning."
"It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it," he said. "When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."
He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely.
Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello said by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim. He said earlier that the death toll was likely made worse because the nightclub appeared to have just one exit through which patrons could exit.
Federal Health Minister Alexandre Padhilha told a news conference that most of the 117 people treated in hospitals had been poisoned by gases they breathed during the fire. Only a few suffered serious burns, he said.
Most of the dead apparently were asphyxiated, according to Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria who went to the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims.
"Large amounts of toxic smoke quickly filled the room, and I would say that at least 90 percent of the victims died of asphyxiation," Beltrame told the AP.
Sunday's fire appeared to be the worst at a nightclub since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309.
Similar circumstances led to a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people in the United States. Pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling of a Rhode Island music venue.
___
Associated Press writers Marco Sibaja in Brasilia and Stan Lehman and Bradley Brooks in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
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Bahrain police, mourners clash after boy's funeral
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) ? Riot police and mourners have clashed in Bahrain following the funeral of an 8-year-old boy whom opposition groups claim died from respiratory problems triggered by heavy tear gas.
Officials did not immediately comment on the cause of the boy's death after he was hospitalized Jan. 19.
Rights groups and others have complained about intense tear gas use by Bahraini forces during nearly two years of unrest.
Hundreds of mourners staged a protest march following Sunday's burial, but were dispersed by riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades. Some protesters hurled firebombs.
Bahrain has been wracked by conflict between the Sunni-led monarchy and majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice.
More than 55 people have died in the unrest in the strategic kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bahrain-police-mourners-clash-boys-funeral-160130827.html
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Monday, January 28, 2013
Hostess picks Little Debbie maker for Drake's
NEW YORK (AP) ? Hostess has picked the maker of Little Debbie as the lead bidder for its Drake's cakes.
According to a filing in U.S. bankruptcy court, McKee Foods has offered $27.5 million in cash for the cake brands, which include Devil Dogs, Funny Bones and Yodels. The fate of Twinkies and other Hostess cakes are still being negotiated with other bidders.
Hostess also said United States Bakery agreed to pay $28.9 million for its remained bread brands, which include Sweetheart, Eddy's, Standish Farms and Grandma Emilie's. That offer includes four bakeries, 14 depots and equipment. Earlier this month, Hostess picked Flowers Foods, which makes Tastykake and Nature's Own and Bunny bread, as the lead bidder for six of its major bread brands, including Wonder.
The "stalking horse" bid by McKee Foods would set the floor for an auction process that lets competitors make better offers. A judge would have to approve the final sale, which Hostess said is scheduled to close no later than May 30.
McKee's bid includes some equipment but not the Drake's bakery in Wayne, N.J. A spokesman for Hostess, Tom Becker, said the company continues "to market all remaining assets."
McKee Foods, based in Collegedale, Tenn., makes a variety of snack cakes under the Little Debbie banner that compete with Hostess cakes at a lower price. For example, its Cloud Cakes resemble Twinkies and its Devil Cremes resemble Devil Dogs. A representative for McKee Foods, Mike Gloekler, said the company didn't plan to scrap any brands as a result of the deal.
"Our intent is to produce like products as they are since they have different packaging and formulae," Gloekler said in a statement. He said McKee hoped to make Drake's products at its plant in Stuarts Draft, Va. since Drake's cakes are best known in the northeast region.
Hostess has said in court previously that it needed to move quickly in selling off its brands to capitalize on the outpouring of nostalgia and media coverage prompted by its demise. The company repeated the sentiment in its court filing Monday, noting that there is no advertising or marketing for Drake's brands, which also include Ring Dings, Sunny Doodles and Yankee Doodles.
"The longer Drake's products stay off the shelves, the more likely it is that consumers will begin to use competitors' products," the filing said.
McKee generates about $1.1 billion in sales a year, with its Little Debbie cake division accounting for $800 million of that, according to the company. In recent years, McKee has seen its sales remain flat or fall as eating habits have changed.
Hostess Brands Inc., based in Irving, Texas, has been plagued by even greater problems. The company announced in November that it was shutting down its business and selling its breads and snack cakes. Its demise came after years of management turmoil and turnover, with workers saying the company failed to invest its brands. Hostess filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a decade this January, citing costs associated with its unionized workforce.
After declaring that it was going out of business, Hostess had solicited bids for its brands by a Dec. 10 deadline. The company said in its filing Monday that it had received one bid for "substantially all" of its assets. But Hostess said the bid was not as valuable as the combined total for of the bids it received for individual brands. In addition, Hostess said the bidder that made the offer for conducted "very limited diligence."
___
Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi
Associated PressJennifer Lawrence Comes Undone And More SAG Awards Highlights
The 'Silver Linings Playbook' actress suffered a wardrobe malfunction on the way to accept her statue.
By Amy Wilkinson
Jennifer Lawrence at the 2013 SAG Awards
Photo: Mark Davis
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700861/jennifer-lawrence-wardrobe-sag-awards-2013.jhtml
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Ohio gas prices still rising
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio motorists will see higher gas prices to start the work week.
The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Ohio was $3.39 in Monday's survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's 9 cents higher than a week ago.
Experts say prices are continuing to rise because of solid economic recovery in China and the U.S. and other factors.
The national average Monday was $3.35 ? about 4 cents higher than a week ago and 6 cents higher than this time last month.
The Ohio average is about the same as a year ago at this time.
The lowest average price in Ohio Monday was about $3.35 in the Toledo and Youngstown areas.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-gas-prices-still-rising-155952924.html
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Peugeot halts Slovak output on weak demand
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - France's carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen
Peugeot, which is cutting some 10,000 jobs and closing a domestic plant in France, is one of the key exporters in the central European country where growth is driven almost solely by the automotive production.
The carmaker, operating an assembly plant in the western Slovak town of Trnava where it makes the Peugeot 207 and Citroen C3 Picasso models, still expects production in Slovakia this year to exceed the 2012 output of almost 215,000 cars.
"Demand for new cars in Europe is continuously falling. Decreasing trends in sales transform into production cuts by several carmakers," PSA Peugeot Citroen Slovakia wrote in an emailed statement.
The Trnava plant has an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.
The euro zone country's automotive industry is centered around assembly plants of Germany's Volkswagen
Any production disruption in the sector could have a significant impact on the economy's performance, expected by the finance ministry to slow its expansion to 2.1 percent in 2013 from 2.5 percent this year on waning demand for its exports.
(Reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/peugeot-halts-slovak-output-weak-demand-111905430--finance.html
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Good Reads: 'purdah' culture in India, born good, finding purpose, a Jedi response
This week's good reads includes a young woman's perspective on India's 'purdah' culture, the morality of babies, on whether a life's purpose brings happiness, and an unusual petition to the White House for building a Death Star.
Female staff members of a luxury hotel exhibit their skills after a 10-day self-defense course initiated by the hotel management and Delhi Police women?s wing in New Delhi, India, Jan. 17, 2013. A brutal rape of a 23-year-old student last month has sparked a national debate about the treatment of women and the inability of Indian law enforcement to protect them.
Altaf Qadri/AP
Enlarge?My first sense as a young girl of sexual menace came from my Indian grandfather. Let me be clear: He never even remotely sexually threatened or molested me. But he made sure I knew that the world in which I, a girl, was growing up was innately perilous to women.?
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So starts an illuminating first-person recollection of an American learning the rules of purdah ? or concealment of women from men ? on visits to relatives back in India. Her grandfather upbraided her for uppity talk and anything but simple dress, to teach her that the more invisible she was, the more safe she would be.
Mira Kamdar, writing on the Asia Society website, connects these lessons to the recent gang rape of a young woman on a bus in Delhi: ?It is clear ... that a purdah mentality still dogs Indian society. A woman who can be seen is seen as a woman available for violation.? But, at the same time, ?[r]apid modernization and urbanization in India have made women, especially young women, visible as never before.?
Babies born good
Parents, it turns out that your bundles of joy could also be described as budding altruists. Writing for the Smithsonian magazine, Abigail Tucker writes on a heartwarming new area of research that?s finding babies showing preferences for ?good guys? over ?bad guys? and a proclivity to help and care for others.
?These findings may seem counterintuitive to anyone who has seen toddlers pull hair in a playground tunnel or pistol-whip one another with a plastic triceratops,? notes Ms. Tucker.
But a series of cleverly designed experiments at Yale and Harvard universities are seeing an orientation toward the good long before parents would seem to have had much chance to shape behavior.
The eureka moment for one researcher came while passing a ball back and forth with a toddler. The ball got away from the scientist, and rather than get it, he faked an inability to reach it. Seeing his struggle, the toddler got up to retrieve it for him. Other experiments involved puppet shows in which one color puppet is shown helping or hindering another. Eye-tracking tests found infants as young as 3 months old preferring the helper.?
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of meaning
Whether we are born with it, or taught it, altruism looks to be key to our well-being as adults.
Emily Esfahani Smith, writing for The Atlantic, highlights a new psychological study that suggests ?a meaningful life and happy life overlap in certain ways, but are ultimately very different.? Researchers interviewing 400 Americans found meaning in life to be tied up with being a ?giver,? while happiness was more linked with being a ?taker.? Meaning is also found in contemplating the future and the past, while happiness is fixated on the present ? and is consequently more fleeting.
From the nation?s foundational documents to the self-help aisles of bookstores, Americans are famously in pursuit of happiness. But that?s something of a mug?s game: ?Research has shown that having purpose and meaning in life increases overall well-being and life satisfaction, improves mental and physical health, enhances resiliency, enhances self-esteem, and decreases the chances of depression. On top of that, the single-minded pursuit of happiness is ironically leaving people less happy, according to recent research,? Ms. Smith writes.
The magazine goes on to cite data that roughly 40 percent of Americans have not found a ?satisfying life purpose.?
There will be no Death Star
A group of Internet pranksters raised the 25,000-plus signatures needed to get a response from the White House on their petition to have the US build a Death Star. The White House, to no one?s surprise, replied that the country would not be building the moon-shaped space station from the ?Star Wars? films that could blast planets into space dust. But the wording of the response, glorious it was.
?Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars? ? $850,000,000,000,000,000, according to one study ? ?on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?? wrote Paul Shawcross, chief of the Science and Space Budget at the White House Office of Management and Budget, and arguably the best communicator to emerge from the intersection of space science, accounting, and the federal government.
This smooth-talking Jedi then went on to highlight the gee-whiz stuff the government and the private sector are doing in space.
?[W]e?ve got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we?re building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun. We are discovering hundreds of new planets in other star systems and building a much more powerful successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that will see back to the early days of the universe.?
In other news, the White House has just upped the signature threshold for a response to 100,000.
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Sunday, January 27, 2013
Playing it safe, Abbott leads at US championships
Jeremy Abbott competes during the senior men's short program at the U.S. figure skating championships, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Jeremy Abbott competes during the senior men's short program at the U.S. figure skating championships, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Jeremy Abbott competes in the senior men's short program at the U.S. figure skating championships in Omaha, Neb., Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Jeremy Abbott competes during the senior men's short program at the U.S. figure skating championships, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Jeremy Abbott competes during the senior men's short program at the U.S. figure skating championships, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Jeremy Abbott competes in the senior men's short program at the U.S. figure skating championships in Omaha, Neb., Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? Patrick Chan and the Japanese can rest easy.
With just about everyone else stumbling, bumbling or worse, Jeremy Abbott's clean but conservative short program was more than enough to give him the lead in the splatfest that was the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night. The three-time champion finished with 84.10 points, and was three points ahead of Ross Miner going into Sunday's free skate.
Joshua Farris, the silver medalist at last year's junior world championships, was third.
"That was a lot of work," Abbott said. "I came into this championships knowing this would be more work than in the past. I got a late start to the season. My focus was just to do the best I could for now and move on to the world championships and make some magic happen there."
There certainly wasn't any magic Friday. Voodoo, maybe. Out of the 20 men, only four managed to get through their program without a major error.
Max Aaron and Farris were the first two skaters, and they got through unscathed. Impressive even, promising youngsters who could be factors in the next Olympic cycle. Farris attacked his program from the opening note, skating with the kind of fearless abandon contenders have to have. NBA players would have approved of the height he got on his jumps, and his triple axel and triple flip were solid. The landing on the first jump in his triple lutz-triple toe loop was shaky, but he managed to hang on.
"I'm a little petrified being up here right now," Farris said. "I'm so happy."
After Aaron and Farris, however, there were almost three hours of splats until Abbott skated.
And the guys they weren't necessarily botching quadruple jumps or other high-risk tricks. Former two-time junior world champ Adam Rippon fell on a triple flip-triple toe combination, jumps he can do in his sleep. Another fell out of a spin, the skating equivalent of tripping off a curb. Yet another looked as if he got lost on the way to the Olympic trials for swimming that were held here a few months back, belly-flopping onto the ice.
No wonder Olympic champion Evan Lysacek is contemplating a comeback.
Lysacek withdrew from nationals last week, saying he hadn't had enough time to train after hernia surgery in November. Even half-trained he probably still would have done better than most of this field.
While Abbott's program was perfectly respectable, he's going to have to crack it up a notch ? or 10 ? if he wants to have any chance at the podium at the world championships in March. He took the quad out of his short program a few weeks ago because of back problems, though he didn't need it Friday with everyone else falling.
He wasn't as mesmerizing as he normally is, either. Abbott has some of the finest skating skills in the world ? he should be certified as a master craftsman for his edgework ? and his step sequences alone are worth the price of admission. But he seemed a little flat, and it seemed to be accentuated by the techno music that was a big departure from the classical pieces that have become something of a trademark.
At least he stood up. When Abbottt landed his last jump, the triple axel, the audience broke into applause.
"For me today, it was about getting the job done and then really enjoying the rest of the performance," Abbott said. "Once I got that triple axel done, now we can start to have fun, the job is done and now it's about the performance."
Miner was third the last two years, and his bronze medal at NHK Trophy showed he was angling for an upgrade here. He had to skate right after Abbott, a spot that can either inspire or unnerve a skater.
For Miner, it was the former. He was clearly enjoying himself, smiling and racing around the rink with more energy than the Energizer Bunny. He doesn't quite have Abbott's polish ? few do ? but he made up for it with his enthusiasm.
His only flaw was a slightly underrotated quadruple salchow. But at least he was willing to risk it.
"Tonight was a little bit tentative for me," Miner said. "But I was happy I went out and skated a solid program."
That's more than most of the men can say.
Earlier Friday, Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the short dance with a career-best 79.02 points.
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Saturday, January 26, 2013
Scientists find cancer-causing virus in the brain, potential connection to epilepsy
Scientists find cancer-causing virus in the brain, potential connection to epilepsy
Friday, January 25, 2013Researchers at Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center at the Temple University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania have evidence linking the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) ? the most common cause of cervical cancer ? to a common form of childhood epilepsy. They have shown for the first time that HPV16 may be present in the human brain, and found that when they added a viral protein to the brains of fetal mice, the mice all demonstrated the same developmental problems in the cerebral cortex associated with this type of epilepsy, called focal cortical dysplasia type IIB (FCDIIB). The findings suggest that the virus could play a role in the development of epilepsy.
The results also mean that doctors may have to re-think their approach to treating this type of epilepsy, and perhaps consider other therapeutic options related to HPV, an infectious disease.
"This is a novel mechanism, and it fills a gap in our understanding about the development of congenital brain malformations," said Peter Crino, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology at Temple University School of Medicine, and a member of Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center, and the senior author of a recent report in the Annals of Neurology.
"If our data are correct, future treatment of cortical dysplasia could include targeted therapy against HPV16 infection, with the goal of halting seizures. Identifying an infectious agent as part of the pathogenesis of brain malformations could open up an array of new therapeutic approaches against various forms of epilepsy."
FCDIIB is a developmental malformation in the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain that plays key roles in thought, perception and memory. It is a common cause of both pediatric and adult epilepsy ? especially difficult-to-treat forms of epilepsy ? and it is thought to occur in the womb during early brain development. The condition is characterized by a disorganized cellular structure and enlarged, "balloon cells." Current treatments include surgery and medication.
Balloon cells contain a signaling cascade called the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTOR1), which is important for cellular growth, proliferation and division, particularly in brain development. Other scientists have recently found the mTOR pathway is activated by the HPV16 E6 oncoprotein.
While there had never been any studies indicating that HPV16 could infect the brain, Dr. Crino saw a potential connection. "This is a sporadic, congenital brain malformation associated with mTOR signaling with no genetic predisposition," he said. "Based on various cellular and cell signaling similarities between cervical dysplasia and focal cortical dysplasia, this led me to a hypothesis that the HPV protein could be detected in FCDIIB."
To find out, the investigators first examined FCDIIB tissue samples from 50 patients for evidence of the HPV16 E6 protein. They found that all of the samples were positive for the protein in the balloon cells, but not in regions without balloon cells or in 36 control samples from healthy individuals.
They next examined the samples' genetic material by several sophisticated molecular techniques to look for evidence of HPV16 E6, and compared the findings to tissue from healthy controls and tissue from patients with different types of brain malformations and epilepsy. Again, every sample of FCDIIB was found to contain HPV16 E6 protein, whereas the control specimens and tissue from other types of dysplasia and conditions did not.
Finally, in a series of experiments, the scientists painstakingly delivered the E6 protein into the brains of fetal mice. "If E6 is the causative element for HPV cervical dysplasia and focal cortical dysplasia, putting the protein into a fetal mouse brain should disrupt the cortical development," Dr. Crino explained. When the scientists did this, they found that the fetal mouse brains did indeed develop brain malformations.
Dr. Crino plans to investigate other forms of cortical dysplasia to see if HPV or related viral proteins can be found. He and his team aren't sure how the virus gets into the brain, but their results suggest that an HPV infection in the placenta could be one possible path. The exact mechanism by which HPV16 might cause a malformation and epilepsy remains to be determined. He acknowledged several potential implications from the findings.
"We are going to have to think about this epidemiologically as an infectious disease, not a genetic disorder. In terms of prevention, with current HPV vaccination, we have a potentially modifiable disease," he said. "In addition, if in fact this type of epilepsy represents a disorder of mTOR signaling, then one strategy could be, rather than treating the patients with anti-epileptic drugs, is to perhaps use mTOR inhibitors.
"The million dollar result would be to show it is possible to induce a brain malformation with an E6 infection, and the animal develops epilepsy," Dr. Crino said. "It would be even better if we showed that it is preventable."
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Temple University Health System: http://www.templehealth.org/
Thanks to Temple University Health System for this article.
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