Organizer hopes astonishing growth of Rome March for Life will kick-start public debate

ROME, April 17, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) ? Organizers hope that the 3^rd annual Italian Marcia per la Vita Nazionale (National March for Life), set for May 12^th in Rome, will kick-start a public debate on abortion that has remained tightly locked among the political classes since 1978.?

LifeSiteNews.com spoke Virginia Coda Nunziante, the main organizer for the annual event, in a video interview?conducted by Steve Jalsevac this past January at the time of the Washington March for Life and then again today in Rome. ?Nunziante said that the astonishing success of the March for Life in recent years has come as a pleasant, and encouraging surprise to organizers. Last year, organizers had prepared for maybe five or six thousand attendees, and were shocked when 15,000 showed up.

?We are not a big organization, we don?t have newspapers helping us, we just have websites. So I think that 15,000 people coming to Rome supporting the march, is a clear sign for our politicians,? she said. ?

The march was first organized after many years of legalized abortion in Italy and amidst general acceptance of the legal status quo. Abortion rates remain relatively low in this country, and doctors often refuse to participate. Nevertheless, the deaths by abortion have numbered in the millions since the law was liberalized in 1978.?

?We said we can?t go on like this,? Nunziante said about the motivation to start the march. ?Italians are used to the law, saying nothing against it. We had to do something against it; the law can?t be accepted.?

The momentum for the march came from a small group of pro-life Italians who participated every year in the March for Life in Washington DC. Organizers of the Rome march were also inspired by a speech given in January 2011 to the US bishops by Pope Benedict XVI, who said that Catholics have a duty to make themselves heard again in the public square.?

?We can?t leave the public square to our enemies,? Nunziante said, ?to those who are opposed to Natural Law and natural values.?

Click "like" if you are PRO-LIFE!

?They go out into the streets and the public square, so we have to too. To say a clear word against the current law and for a culture of life.?

To date, said Nunziante, the pro-life movement in Italy has worked to help women in crisis pregnancies, but have not focused on changing the law. ?The problem is there hasn?t been a public debate on abortion since the law was passed in 1978.? ?

?For many years, that has been the main difference [in the pro-life movement] with the US. In the US, they had the March for Life starting in the same year as the law. This is the reason why there can be 500,000 in DC and many young people. There is a culture of life that has been cultivated along the years.??

?In Italy, this has yet to be the case. Of course we have the Movimento per la Vita, that helps women in distress, but we have never had a strong public debate on abortion.??

Nunziante added that this year?s march will likely have an immediate impact on the political life of the country. Two weeks after the march, Gianni Alemanno, Rome?s incumbent mayor, will be facing a campaign against the far left Dr. Ignazio Marino of the Democratic party. Marino supports abortion, embryo research and euthanasia. Nunziante said that Alemanno will be announcing his support of the Marcia per la Vita, placing himself as the pro-life candidate.?

The explosive growth of the Italian Marcia per la Vita has been a surprise, even for organizers. The first was held in Desenzano, a small, out-of-the-way resort town in the Italian lake district.?

Nunziante said they held it there because that was the home location of several of the lay and religious organizations who had been involved in the effort to revive the issue. At the march in Desenzano, she said, ?We hoped that Italians would think it important enough to participate, and in fact they did.??

?For the first march it was quite a success,? she said, with a thousand people participating. It attracted Catholics and non-Catholics as well as atheist, Orthodox, and Protestant groups.?

?We were very encouraged. If people are willing to come to Desenzano, which is not easy to get to, and they were really enthusiastic about the march, we said next time we would like to move to Rome.?

?As in all other countries around the world, it?s always in the capital.??

Asked about the media?s response to the large march last year, she said that unlike the US situation, there was a lot of coverage by the major papers like La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.?

?What we had last year, the first year in Rome, there has been a debate in the newspapers. Of course attacking us, saying it?s only the far right who attended.??

This year, she said that it is likely the Italian media will follow the lead of the English language press and instigate a media blackout. However, the Vatican?s television service, which is widely broadcast and followed in Italy, will be covering the event.?

* See the official website for the Rome March for Life.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LifesitenewscomLatestHeadlines/~3/QEknO2m48VQ/organizer-hopes-astonishing-growth-of-rome-march-for-life-will-kick-start-p

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Weeding out ineffective biocontrol agents

Apr. 18, 2013 ? 'Keep it simple' is a good rule of thumb when designing biocontrol programs to combat weeds and invasive plants, according to a meta-analysis of studies by UBC biodiversity experts.

Biocontrol programs use an invasive plant's natural enemies (insects and pathogens) to reduce its population. Most biocontrol programs combine many different enemies -- typically about three different species, but sometimes as many as 25 -- with the hope that at least one will prove effective.

But more isn't necessarily better. Some combinations of enemy species can actually end up competing or interfering with each other, instead of attacking the weed.

"It's important to get the right combination of biocontrol agents, as testing species is costly and time-consuming, and no amount of testing can eliminate the risk that something unexpected will occur with the introduction of a new species," says Andrea Stephens, lead author on the paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week.

Until now, biocontrol managers have chosen weed enemies to release based on the individual effect of each species in isolation, with little thought to overall combinations.

"Our study suggests that this approach can lead to ineffective biocontrol, because the interactions between the released enemies can reduce the overall effectiveness of biocontrol," says Diane Srivastava, author on the paper and professor in UBC's Biodiversity Research Centre.

Of the 75 combinations the researchers investigated, about a quarter appeared to have a smaller combined impact than expected. The researchers suggest simple species combination rules could improve the effectiveness of biocontrol programs.

The study recommends avoiding combinations of species that attack the same part of the plant at the same time, as well as assessing the impact of species attacking reproductive structures.

"In most cases damage from different species of insects was independent," says Judith Myers, Professor Emerita and author on the paper. "But insect species feeding on the seeds of plants tend to compete and so multiple introductions can be detrimental."

One of the studies researchers analyzed focused on three agents (two species of weevils and a fly) that have been released in western North America to control two species of invasive plants, diffuse and spotted knapweed. The weevils consume the fly larvae, nullifying the effectiveness of the fly.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. E. A. Stephens, D. S. Srivastava, J. H. Myers. Strength in numbers? Effects of multiple natural enemy species on plant performance. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2013; 280 (1760): 20122756 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2756

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/P6bXWhyoU2g/130418154415.htm

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Reboot Restore RX Saves Your PC's State After Every Reboot

Windows: Reboot Restore RX is a free utility that makes restore points and session saves every time you reboot your computer, so if you run into problems, you can restore your system settings to the last time you rebooted and get up and running again quickly.

There's nothing worse than rebooting your computer thinking everything is fine only to find out something's busted and you need to troubleshoot it. It's especially bad if you start having problems after a driver update or a series of Windows updates, and you're stuck trying to figure out which thing caused the problem in the first place. Reboot Restore RX takes the hassle out of it. The app can even restore when Windows won't boot at all.

Our friends at Tekzilla took the app for a spin in the video above, so you can see how it works. The app was originally designed for people who need to manage computers and have to restore to previous sessions every time the machine is rebooted, but it works just as well for personal users who want to keep track of their system changes.

Reboot Restore RX (Free) | Horizon DataSys via Tekzilla Daily

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/hlkUr_2k6Z0/reboot-restore-rx-saves-your-pcs-state-after-every-reb-473203397

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These Sleek Rocking Horses Are As Good an Excuse As Any To Have Kids

There's nothing wrong with being a kid at heart. You just have to get used to people looking at you suspiciously as you wander through toy stores. And while this gorgeous set of curvaceous rocking horses designed by Next of Kin Creatives are far too small for adults, they're the perfect justification for finally starting a family. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ZlXtZbPfNXw/these-sleek-rocking-horses-are-as-good-an-excuse-as-any-to-have-kids

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Most Hated Celebrities In Hollywood 2013

Most Hated Celebrities In Hollywood 2013

The stars of Hollywood probably get a little ego boost from topping the charts as the sexiest, most desirable, and the most bangable. But, the most hated celebrity poll is not one they want to see their names listed on! Let’s check out which stars are considered the “most hated” in 2013. It appears fans ...

Most Hated Celebrities In Hollywood 2013 Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/04/most-hated-celebrities-in-hollywood-2013/

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PFT: Steelers look like match with Georgia's Jones

AP

David Quessenberry is going to be drafted, but he still might enlist.

The San Jose State offensive line prospect said that if his NFL dreams didn?t pan out, he might join the military, as so many in his family have done.

Quessenberry earned notice during the Senior Bowl for playing every position along the line, and figures to be a mid-round prospect. But after growing up listening to his father?s stories about the Navy, he said he?s considering pursuing his own career in the service when he?s finished.

?Yeah, it?s definitely something I have thought about. It?s something I?ve been around my whole life,? Quessenberry told Mike Garafolo of USA Today. ?Playing in the National Football League is a dream of mine, but [military service] is not off the table.?

Of course, he might find in an NFL locker room part of what draws him to the armed forces.

?You see that camaraderie they have, it?s special,? Quessenberry said of his father?s Navy buddies. ?It?s an intense bond that you get from basically that feeling you?re laying it all on the line. You just get that feeling when you?re around them that these guys would literally do anything for each other.

?It?s something you only find in the military and on the football field.?

He?s probably not going to resort to that just yet, as he could go as high as the third round.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/14/steelers-jarvis-jones-starting-to-look-like-a-possible-match/related/

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Marco Rubio: Immigration Bill Doesn't 'Give' Anything Away

Days before a bipartisan immigration bill is scheduled to be presented, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida argued this morning on "This Week" that a key provision of the bill, the so-called "pathway to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants, would not give anything away and said it would in fact be cheaper for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. to become citizens if they left the country first and then applied for legal status.

"All we've done here is create an alternative to that that they can access, and the alternative we've created is going to be longer, more expensive and more difficult to navigate," Rubio said this morning on "This Week." "It will actually be cheaper if they went back home, waited 10 years, and applied for a green card. And so, secondly, we've not awarding anything. All we're giving people the opportunity to eventually do is gain access to the same legal immigration system, the same legal immigration process that will be available to everybody else."

Rubio, who is seen as a key figure holding the bipartisan Senate group known as the "Gang of Eight" together, said that some of the undocumented immigrants currently in the country would not be eligible to seek legal status under the bill.

"I think it's important to understand it does not give anything. It allows people access to the legal immigration system," Rubio said. "Number two, some people won't qualify. They haven't been here long enough; they've committed very serious crimes. They won't be able to stay. Number three is all people will get is an opportunity to apply for things, to apply for a legal status, which isn't awarded on day one? The only thing you are earning here is an opportunity to apply for temporary status, and ultimately, potentially to apply for a green card, the way everybody else does. And that's the process that we are outlining."

But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said on "This Week" that he was "not convinced" that the proposed legislation would not result in amnesty for immigrants who came here illegally, and that it would fail to enforce border security.

"I know Senator Rubio's heart is exactly right. And I really respect the work of the "Gang of Eight," Sessions said. "But they have produced legislation, it appears? that will give amnesty now, legalize everyone that's here effectively today and then there's a promise of enforcement in the future."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Rubio's fellow "Gang of Eight" member, countered that their proposed bill was balanced between border enforcement and creating a process for legalization.

"This is a very balanced bill," Schumer said. "The American people have told us to do two things. One, prevent future flows of illegal immigration and then, come up with a common sense solution for legal immigration. And that's just what our bill does."

Schumer said the group is "very, very close" to a final proposal, which is scheduled to be presented on Tuesday.

"I think you'll see a major agreement that's balanced but fair, that will have the widespread support of the American people on Tuesday," Schumer said. "The eight of us have met in the middle. And I think that's where the American people are."

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl also asked the Florida senator about the Senate vote Thursday that overcame a Republican filibuster to allow debate to proceed on possible gun legislation. Rubio slammed a plan being supported by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania that would expand background checks.

"Criminals don't care about the laws that we pass with regards to guns. They never follow the law. That's why they're criminals," Rubio said. "Look, here is the bottom line. I think everyone is in favor of any law that could effectively keep criminals or dangerous people from getting access to guns. The problem is that all these laws that people are discussing will not effectively deal with that problem, but will infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. And so, what we need to look for is a compromise that actually accomplishes that, that does not infringe or place additional burdens on law-abiding citizens, and in fact is effective at keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people, and that begins by enforcing it."

Rubio went on to say that the country has missed a "golden opportunity" to discuss the problem of violence in our society.

"This debate about guns, we are missing a golden opportunity to have the real debate we should be having, and that is a debate about violence," Rubio said. "Guns are what they're using to commit the violence, but the problem is violence, and no one is focusing on why this society has become so violent, why young people in America are committing these horrifying acts, and we are missing a golden opportunity to discuss that, and not simply just focus on gun laws that only law-abiding people will follow."

Like "This Week" on Facebook here . You can also follow the show on Twitter here .

Go here to find out when "This Week" is on in your area.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marco-rubio-immigration-bill-doesnt-anything-away-160902365--abc-news-politics.html

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Once a serf, Pakistani woman enters election

By Matthew Green

HYDERABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - When Veero Kolhi made the asset declaration required of candidates for Pakistan's May elections, she listed the following items: two beds, five mattresses, cooking pots and a bank account with life savings of 2,800 rupees ($28).

While she may lack the fortune that is the customary entry ticket to Pakistani politics, Kolhi can make a claim that may resonate more powerfully with poor voters than the wearily familiar promises of her rivals.

For Kolhi embodies a new phenomenon on the campaign trail - she is the first contestant to have escaped the thrall of a feudal-style land owner who forced his workers to toil in conditions akin to modern-day slavery.

"The landlords are sucking our blood," Kolhi told Reuters at her one-room home of mud and bamboo on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad.

"Their managers behave like pimps - they take our daughters and give them to the landlords."

To her supporters, Kolhi's stand embodies a wider hope that the elections - Pakistan's first transition between elected civilian governments - will be a step towards a more progressive future for a country plagued by Islamic militancy, frequent political gridlock and the worsening persecution of minorities.

To skeptics, the fact that Kolhi has no realistic chance of victory is merely further evidence that even the landmark May 11 vote will offer only a mirage of change to a millions-strong but largely invisible rural underclass.

Yet there is no doubt that hers is a remarkable journey.

A sturdy matriarch in her mid-50s who has 20 grandchildren, Kolhi -- a member of Pakistan's tiny Hindu minority -- is the ultimate outsider in an electoral landscape dominated by wealthy male candidates fluent in the art of back room deals.

Possessed of a ready, raucous laugh, but unable to write more than her name, Kolhi was once a "bonded laborer," the term used in Pakistan for an illegal but widely prevalent form of contemporary serfdom in which entire families toil for years to pay often spurious debts.

Since making her escape in the mid-1990s, Kolhi has lobbied the police and courts to release thousands of others from the pool of indebted workers in her native Sindh province, the vast majority of whom are fellow Hindus.

On April 5, Kolhi crossed a new threshold in her own odyssey when she stood on the steps of a colonial-era courthouse in Hyderabad and brandished a document officials had just issued, authorizing her to run for the provincial assembly.

With no rival party to back her, Kolhi's independent run may make barely a dent at the ballot box in Sindh, a stronghold of President Asif Ali Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

But her beat-the-odds bravado has lit a flame for those who adore her the most: families she has helped liberate from lives as vassals.

"Once I only drank black tea, but now I am free I can afford tea with milk," said Thakaro Bheel, who escaped from his landlord a decade ago and now lives in Azad Nagar, a community of former bonded laborers on the edge of Hyderabad. "These days I make my own decisions. All that is thanks to Veero."

BAREFOOT IN THE NIGHT

Like millions of the landless, Kolhi's ordeal began a generation ago when drought struck her home in the Thar desert bordering India, forcing her parents to move to a lusher belt of Sindh in search of work harvesting sunflowers or chilies.

Kolhi was married as a teenager but her husband fell into debt and she was forced to work 10-hour days picking cotton, gripped by a fear that their landlord might choose a husband for Ganga, her daughter, who would soon be ten years old.

One night Kolhi crept past armed guards and walked barefoot to a village to seek help. Her husband was beaten as punishment for her escape, Kolhi said, but she managed to contact human rights activists who wrote to police on her behalf.

Officers were reluctant to confront the landlord but they relented after Kolhi staged a three-day hunger strike at their station. More than 40 people were freed.

"I was very scared, but I hoped that I could win freedom for myself and my family," said Kolhi. "That's why I kept on running."

Now Kolhi spends her days careering along dirt roads in a battered Suzuki minivan decorated with stickers of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Latin American revolutionary, on her quest for votes. Her only luxury: Gold Leaf, a brand of cigarette. Her only campaign equipment: an old megaphone.

While Kolhi clearly enjoys meeting supporters - greeting women by placing two palms on their bowed heads in a traditional gesture of protection - she has still only reached a fraction of her constituency's 133,000 voters.

The favorite remains Sharjeel Memon, an influential businessman and PPP stalwart. Memon was not available for comment.

DAUGHTERS FOR SALE

Despite the struggle Kolhi faces, the fact she is able to run at all has emboldened campaigners for workers' rights in Sindh.

Even remote areas of the province have not been immune to the influence of a more assertive media and judiciary that have reshaped national politics during tumultuous years following a 1999 army coup and a transition to democracy in 2008.

"The landlords are afraid of court cases so they do not abuse and torture people as much as before," said Lalee Kolhi, another former bonded laborer turned activist, who is no relation to Veero Kolhi.

Yet in some areas, land owners can still exploit a symbiotic relationship with the bureaucracy, police and courts to deprive workers of rights and attempt to sway their votes.

Although Veero Kolhi works with a local organization that says it has helped rescue some 26,000 indebted workers in the last 12 years, several estimates put the total figure of bonded laborers in Pakistan at roughly eight million.

Not all landlords are tyrants, but the arrival last month of an extended family of 63 share-croppers at Azad Nagar, the village for freed workers, provided a glimpse of the timeworn tricks they use to ensure debts keep on growing.

Lakhi Bheel produced a scrap torn from an exercise book that declared he had accumulated obligations of 99,405 rupees after toiling for three years.

Bheel said he had decided to make a break for freedom after the land owner threatened to sell the family's daughters in return for bride prices.

"I didn't eat meat once in three years," Bheel said, adding that shotgun-toting guards had sometimes roughed up workers. "We had to pay half the salaries of the men who were beating us."

Kolhi's supporters say the only way to end the oppression in Sindh would be to give destitute workers their own plots of land. But as long as the feudal class retains political influence, talk of land reform remains taboo.

Undaunted, Kolhi -- bedecked in a garland of red roses and jasmine -- launched her shot at office with an ultimatum.

"First we will ask the landlords to obey the law, and if they refuse we will take them to court," she said, her voice rising with emotion. "We will continue our struggle until the last bonded laborer is freed."

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-once-landlords-serf-pakistani-woman-enters-election-034349719.html

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Aubrey Plaza Asked To Leave MTV Movie Awards After Will Ferrell Stage-Crash

'Parks and Recreation' star joins Comedic Genius winner onstage — but the moment was anything but scripted.
By Jocelyn Vena

Will Ferrell and Aubrey Plaza at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705649/will-ferrell-aubrey-plaza-acceptance-speech.jhtml

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You can't buy rights to name exoplanet, says astronomy group

IAU/L. Cal?ada

The diversity of exoplanets is large ? more than 800 planets outside the Solar System have been found to date, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed.

By Megan Gannon, SPACE.com

There may not be an alien planet named Heinlein any time soon if the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gets its way. The astronomy group issued a reminder April 12 that it is the only body authorized to give exoplanets their official names, despite recent naming initiatives by companies like Uwingu.

In the statement, IAU?officials said that planet-naming schemes have "no bearing on the official naming process," and stressed the importance of having a unified procedure, even though its members welcome the public's interest. The IAU did not mention the space science funding company Uwingu (whose name means "sky" in Swahili)?by name, referring only to a "recent name-selling campaign." But the young Uwingu did launch an initiative last month calling on the public to name the nearest Alpha Centauri Bb ? an?exoplanet?4.3 light-years from Earth ? as part of a fundraising campaign.

Projects like Uwingu's?Baby Planet Name Book?seek to at least informally replace official planet names like HD 85512b or Gliese 667Cc with more playful nicknames. The initiative by Uwingu ? a company that aims to raise money for space research, exploration and education ? lets you add a nomination to the planet name registry for 99 cents. [Strangest Alien Planets (Photos)]

And for another 99 cents, you can vote for your favorite name on the list. In March, Uwingu started an offshoot contest, which runs through April 15, to?name Alpha Centauri Bb, the newfound Earth-sized planet in the star system closest to our own.?The company will use the money raised by the project to support research efforts like SETI's (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Allen Telescope Array in California, as well as space launches and science outreach.

Uwingu CEO Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who also leads NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's mission to Pluto, said the IAU's claim to naming rights in space is a self-proclaimed one, and likened Uwingu's effort to a People's Choice endeavour.?

"The IAU can't prohibit what it does not control. People's Choice naming contests and the colloquial naming of objects in space are unrelated to the IAU's purview of specifying nomenclature for astronomers," Stern told SPACE.com in an email. "The IAU no more owns the right to control the naming of objects in space for popular purposes than does a county that controls street naming have the right to deny people in the county who the right to ?adopt a mile of highway in someone's honor."

In the Uwingu campaign, the names Ron Paul, Heinlein, Sagan, Asimov and Pele are currently among some of the more popular monikers that have been proposed so far. Official exoplanet names, often made up of a string of letters and numbers, may look dull and unmemorable in comparison, but IAU officials defended their process.

"While?exoplanet?names such as 16 Cygni Bb or HD 41004 Ab may seem boring when considering the names of planets in our own solar system, the vast number of objects in our universe ? galaxies, stars, and planets to name just a few ? means that a clear and systematic system for naming these objects is vital," IAU officials explained. "Any naming system is a scientific issue that must also work across different languages and cultures in order to support collaborative worldwide research and avoid confusion."

Related: Cosmic Log ? Uwingu venture wants to give Alpha Centauri Bb a snappier planet name

To be clear, Uwingu has said the nominations in its Baby Planet Name Book won't be official. But the organization had hoped astronomers might come around and consider using the names on the list to refer to new planets informally.?

"At Uwingu, we're for opening up the naming of celestial bodies to as wide a spectrum of the public as possible, the IAU seems to want to go the opposite way," Stern said. "We think open-source naming it the future, and we're excited that so many in the public agree."

The International Astronomical Union was founded in 1919 to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy through international cooperation. The organization is the same one that officially demoted Pluto from a full-fledged planet to its current dwarf planet status in 2006.

For more information on the planet-naming contest,?visit Uwingu's website here.

This story was updated on April 13 to include new comments from Uwingu CEO Alan Stern.

Follow Megan Gannon on?Twitter?and?Google+.? Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?and?Google+.

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2aaf3f23/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C130C177373720Eyou0Ecant0Ebuy0Erights0Eto0Ename0Eexoplanet0Esays0Eastronomy0Egroup0Dlite/story01.htm

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New California rules for commission compensation contracts ...

A new law for 2013 requires Califor?nia employers that pay regular commissions to provide employees with a written contract detailing the formula for calculating commissions, as well as the method of payment.

Employers that fail to comply face fines of $100 per employee for first-time violators. Fines escalate to $200 per employee for subsequent violations. The fines will be collected under the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA).

Only regularly paid commissions fall under PAGA?s definition. The law specifically excludes:

• Short-term productivity bonuses, such as those paid to retail clerks
• Temporary incentives that increase commissions
• Bonus or profit-sharing plans, unless they are based on a fixed percentage of sales or profits.

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We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

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Sequestration cuts may sink New York?s Fleet Week

Sailors stroll through New York during Fleet Week 2012. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

For the last 29 years, thousands of members of the nation?s armed services have sailed into New York Harbor every May to mark the city?s annual Fleet Week celebration. But this year, due to the federal budget sequestration, much of the party may be off.

The U.S. Navy announced this week it would comply with a Defense Department directive putting a hold on optional armed forces events around the country in order to comply with sequestration?across-the-board federal spending cuts that have slashed billions of dollars from the military?s annual budget.

?No branch of the armed forces may participate in community relations or outreach events that come at additional cost to the government or rely on anything other than local assets,? Beth Baker, a spokeswoman for the Navy?s Mid-Atlantic region, told Yahoo News. ?That includes participation in Fleet Week.?

The announcement was a swift change in policy for the Navy. An official earlier this week said New York City?s Fleet Week celebration, set to kick off on May 23, was still on, in spite of reports that other celebrations around the country?including events in San Diego, Fort Lauderdale and San Francisco?were being dramatically scaled back.

That has left Navy and city officials scrambling to figure out how to salvage the week. According to Baker, the Defense directive means that only local personnel will likely be able to participate in Fleet Week, a dramatic change from celebrations in the past.

Last year, 31 ships sailed into the harbor to mark Fleet Week 2012, bringing upwards of 6,000 members of the armed forces into New York City. The Blue Angels flew over the harbor as ships sailed in?something that had been expected to occur again this year. But on Tuesday, the Navy grounded its flight team for rest of the year because of budget cuts.

According to the Navy, it costs its branch between $7 million and $10 million every year to support Fleet Week in New York City?including the cost of renting dock space.

Baker said the Navy is working ?very closely? with city officials to figure out how to keep Fleet Week going.

?We?d love to go to New York City and be there for this celebration over Memorial Day weekend,? she said. ?Memorial Day is important to the city, and it?s important to us. We want to try and see what we can do.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/sequestration-cuts-threaten-york-fleet-week-165236963--politics.html

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Kate Middleton: Keeping Up With the Kardashians Fan?

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Jonathan Winters, man of many faces, dead at 87

FILE - This undated file image shows comedian and actor Jonathan Winters. Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, April 11, 2013, at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes. He was 87. (AP Photo, file)

FILE - This undated file image shows comedian and actor Jonathan Winters. Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, April 11, 2013, at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes. He was 87. (AP Photo, file)

FILE - This May 6, 1997 file photo shows comedian Jonathan Winters posing at a hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, April 11, 2013, at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes. He was 87. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)

FILE - This July 9, 2012 file photo shows Jonathan Winters at the kick-off of The Last 70mm Film Festival Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, April 11, 2013, at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes. He was 87. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)

FILE - This Sept. 22, 1967 file photo released by ABC shows comedian Jonathan Winters, hosting "Holiday on Ice." Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, April 11, 2013, at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes. He was 87. (AP Photo/ABC-TV, file)

FILE - This March 1967 file photo shows comedian Jonathan Winters in a scene from the film "Eight on the Lam." Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, April 11, 2013, at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes. He was 87. (AP Photo/United Artists)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jonathan Winters was a crowd all by himself, guaranteeing that his multitude of characters, breakneck improvisations and kinetic clownishness kept generations of fans laughing.

Winters, who died Thursday at age 87 at his Montecito, Calif., home, was a pioneer of improvisational standup comedy, with an exceptional gift for mimicry, a grab bag of eccentric personalities and a bottomless reservoir of creative energy. Facial contortions, sound effects, tall tales ? all could be summoned in a matter of seconds to get a laugh.

On Jack Paar's television show in 1964, Winters was handed a foot-long stick and he swiftly became a fisherman, violinist, lion tamer, canoeist, U.N. diplomat, bullfighter, flutist, delusional psychiatric patient, British headmaster and Bing Crosby's golf club.

It was a typically hilarious display, and, as usual, only limited time could call a halt to his inventiveness.

Winters could leap decades in a split second, flashing from a cooing baby to a cranky old codger in the blink of an eye.

Can you picture what a dog is thinking when it spies its master naked in the shower? Winters could, and did for all to see, molding his face into a pooch's naughty, mocking grin.

"As a kid, I always wanted to be lots of things," Winters told U.S. News & World Report in 1988. "I was a Walter Mitty type. I wanted to be in the French Foreign Legion, a detective, a doctor, a test pilot with a scarf, a fisherman who hauled in a tremendous marlin after a 12-hour fight."

The humor most often was based in reality ? his characters Maude Frickert and Elwood P. Suggins, for example, were based on people Winters knew growing up in Ohio.

Robin Williams and Jim Carrey are his best-known followers. But he was a devotee of Groucho Marx and Laurel and Hardy whose free-for-all brand of humor inspired Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Tracey Ullman and Lily Tomlin, among many others.

Carson in particular lifted Winters' Maude Frickert character almost intact for the long-running Aunt Blabby character he portrayed on "The Tonight Show."

It was Williams, meanwhile, who helped introduce Winters to millions of new fans in 1981 as the son of Williams' goofball alien and his earthling wife in the final season of ABC's "Mork and Mindy."

The two often strayed from the script. Said Williams: "The best stuff was before the cameras were on, when he was open and free to create. ... Jonathan would just blow the doors off."

Williams paid tribute to Winters on his Twitter page Friday.

"First he was my idol, then he was my mentor and amazing friend," he wrote. "I'll miss him huge. He was my Comedy Buddha. Long live the Buddha."

Winters' only Emmy was for best-supporting actor for playing Randy Quaid's father in the sitcom "Davis Rules" (1991). He was nominated again in 2003 as outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for an appearance on "Life With Bonnie."

He also won two Grammys: One for his work on "The Little Prince" album in 1975 another for his "Crank Calls" comedy album in 1996. He also won the Kennedy Center's second Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 1999, a year after Richard Pryor.

Winters was sought out in later years for his changeling voice and he contributed to numerous cartoons and animated films. Fittingly, he played three characters in the "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" movie in 2000.

The Internet Movie Database website credits him as the voice of Papa in the forthcoming "The Smurfs 2" film. He continued to work almost to the end of his life, and to influence new generations of comics.

"These voices are always screaming to get out," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that year. "They follow me around pretty much all day and night."

Winters had made television history in 1956, when RCA broadcast the first public demonstration of color videotape on "The Jonathan Winters Show."

The comedian quickly realized the possibilities, author David Hajdu wrote in The New York Times in 2006. He soon used video technology "to appear as two characters, bantering back and forth, seemingly in the studio at the same time. You could say he invented the video stunt."

Winters was born Nov. 11, 1925, in Dayton, Ohio. Growing up during the Depression as an only child whose parents divorced when he was 7, Winters spent a lot of time entertaining himself.

Winters, who himself battled alcoholism in his earlier years, described his father as an alcoholic. But he found a comedic mentor in his mother, radio personality Alice Bahman.

"She was very fast. Whatever humor I've inherited I'd have to give credit to her," Winters told the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2000.

Winters joined the Marines at 17 and served two years in the South Pacific. He returned to study at the Dayton Art Institute, helping him develop keen observational skills. At one point, he won a talent contest (and the first prize of a watch) by doing impressions of movie stars.

After stints as a radio disc jockey and TV host in Ohio from 1950-53, he left for New York, where he found early work doing impressions of John Wayne, Cary Grant, Marx and James Cagney, among others.

One night after a show, an older man sweeping up told him he wasn't breaking any new ground by mimicking the rich or famous.

"He said, 'What's the matter with those characters in Ohio? I'll bet there are some far-out dudes that you grew up with back in Ohio,'" Winters told the Orange County Register in 1997.

Two days later, he cooked up one of his most famous characters: the hard-drinking, dirty old woman Maude Frickert, modeled in part on his own mother and an aunt.

Appearances on Paar's show, Andy Williams' variety show, and others followed, and Winters soon had a following. And before long, he was struggling with depression and his drinking.

"I became a robot," Winters told TV critics in 2000. "I almost lost my sense of humor ... I had a breakdown and I turned myself in (to a mental hospital). It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Winters was hospitalized for eight months in the early 1960s. It's a topic he rarely addressed and never dwelled on.

"If you make a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year and you're talking about to the blue-collar guy who's a farmer 200 miles south of Topeka, he's looking up and saying, 'That bastard makes (all that money) and he's crying about being a manic depressive?'" Winters said.

When he got out, there was a role as a slow-witted character waiting in the 1963 ensemble film "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

"I finally opened up and realized I was in charge," Winters told PBS interviewers for 2000's "Jonathan Winters: On the Loose." ''Improvisation is about taking chances, and I was ready to take chances."

While show business kept Winters busy, the former art school student was also a painter and writer.

"I find painting a much slower process than comedy, where you can go a mile a minute verbally and hope to God that some of the people out there understand you," he told U.S. News and World Report in 1988. "I don't paint every day. I'm not that motivated. I don't do anything the same every day. Discipline is tough for a guy who is a rebel."

Among his books is a collection of short stories called "Winters' Tales" (1987).

"I've done for the most part pretty much what I intended ? I ended up doing comedy, writing and painting," he told U.S. News. "I've had a ball. And as I get older, I just become an older kid."

Winters' wife, Eileen, died in 2009. He is survived by two children, Lucinda Winters and Jay Winters.

___

Associated Press Writers David Zelio and Robert Jablon and Television Writer Frazier Moore contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-13-Obit-Winters/id-e31dabd8bbc0404aa388687c680af036

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5 Ways Obama's New Budget Supports Science

The proposed 2014 budget released by the White House Wednesday (April 10) brings good news for science: Under the budget, civilian research spending would swell by 9 percent from 2012 levels.

President Barack Obama's budget provides a total of $143 billion for research and development (R&D), which includes investments in energy, space exploration, basic research and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, cybersecurity and climate monitoring.

"The state of the R&D budget is quite strong," said John Holdren, assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, during a briefing of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier today.

Although the budget does include funding cuts, these are much more strategic than the sledgehammer approach of the sequester, the across-the-board cuts that took effect March 1. Here are five areas of research that will take center stage under the proposed budget.

1. Energy gets a turbo boost

The proposed 2014 budget provides $5 billion for the Department of Energy's Office of Science ? a 5.7 percent increase over 2012 levels (all numbers refer to 2012 funding, because the complete appropriations bills for 2013 were not enacted when the budget was drafted).

The funding will go toward supporting clean energy and advanced manufacturing, promoting energy independence, dealing with climate change and modernizing nuclear weapons systems. [The 10 Best Alternative Energy Bets]

"No area holds more promise than our investments in American energy," Obama wrote in his budget message to Congress.

2. NASA heads for asteroids and Mars

Despite trying economic times, space exploration remains a priority for the president. NASA would receive $17.7 billion in discretionary funding under the proposed budget. Whereas the total funding is 0.3 percent, or about $50 million, less than 2012 amounts, it heals deep cuts to the agency under sequestration.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is optimistic. "The president's budget ensures that the United States will remain the world's leader in space exploration and scientific discovery for years to come while making critical advances in aeronautics to benefit the American public," Bolden said in the OMB briefing.

With this funding, NASA plans to renew its space exploration efforts, supporting crew transportation to the International Space Station as well as manned missions to an asteroid in 2025 and robotic and manned missions to Mars. Under the new budget, NASA is also on track to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, in 2018.

3. Push for STEM education and brain research

Basic research and education in STEM fields will see their funding continue at current levels or increase under the proposed budget.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), which funds basic research and education in all fields of science and engineering, would receive $7.6 billion, an 8 percent increase from 2012 levels. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's largest supporter of biomedical research, would receive $31 billion in funding, an increase of 1.6 percent over 2012 levels.

Among other things, the funding will support research efforts in massive, complex datasets known as "big data," funding for STEM education (especially for minority students) and the new brain-mapping initiative?announced by Obama last week. Visionaries of BRAIN, which stands for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies and was initially called the Brain Activity Map (BAM) project, outlined their final goals in the journal Science in March. They called for an extended effort to develop tools for monitoring up to a million neurons at a time. The end goal is to understand how brain networks function. [Inside the Brain: A Photo Journey Through Time]

4. Better cybersecurity

Given an increasing reliance on digital data and communication, it's not surprising that the new budget highlights cybersecurity.

The budget proposal calls for $830 million in funding for unclassified cybersecurity research across all networking and IT R&D groups, up $150 million from 2012.

"These increases reflect the high priority cybersecurity has in [the Obama] administration," Patricia Falcone, the associate director of National Security & International Affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said in today's briefing.

These funds will support efforts to address current cybersecurity threats to the nation, businesses and individuals.

5. Weather and climate research heats up

The proposed federal budget would continue to support important efforts in climate monitoring and modeling.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is requesting $5.4 billion, which would include a total R&D budget of $733 million ? $160 million more than the 2012 allotment.

Extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy demonstrate a need for accurate weather tracking and forecasting, and NOAA funding would go toward supporting satellite systems designed to enable this work.

NOAA also plans to expand its climate research and ocean observation programs. Holdren said these efforts were good news, "because we do plan to continue to be well-informed stewards of planet Earth."

Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter?and Google+.?Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/5-ways-obamas-budget-supports-science-121015787.html

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'Glee' school shooting episode upsets some viewers

The newest episode of 'Glee,' which included what was believed to be a school shooting, unsettled many, and one Newtown resident questioned why those in the town weren't warned ahead of time about the content of the episode.

By Molly Driscoll,?Staff Writer / April 12, 2013

'Glee' stars Lea Michele (l.) and Chris Colfer (r.). The newest episode included what was believed to be a school shooting.

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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The Fox musical TV show ?Glee? upset some by focusing their newest episode around what was believed to be a school shooting.

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The gunshots heard by students and teachers inside the school were an accident, but ?Glee? characters hid in classrooms and bathrooms, some crying and recording messages to loved ones. A disclaimer before the episode advised viewer discretion because the episode ?addresses the topic of school violence.?

A resident of Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six faculty members were killed during a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, told the Newtown Bee newspaper that he wished the team behind ?Glee? had warned those in Newtown about what would be coming on the show. Andrew Paley is friends with Michael Slezak of TVLine.com, who saw a screener of the episode and warned him the storyline might be too much for those in the town.?

?I think it?s terrible that the writers and producers of that show didn?t think to contact someone in Newtown to let us know this was coming,? Paley said. ?A lot of people watch that show. They shouldn?t be upset by it.?

The Newtown Action Alliance posted a message on the group?s Facebook page Thursday warning members what would be happening in the episode.

An anonymous Fox source told the New York Daily News that the episode had been planned since before the Newtown tragedy.

?Glee? creator Ryan Murphy tweeted about the episode last week, writing that ?it is the most powerful emotional Glee ever. So proud of the cast & crew.?

However, some on Twitter were unsettled by the episode?s content.

One user named Ximena Covarrubia (@ximena_g_c) tweeted, ?I was crying like a baby while watching shooting star!!?

Amanda (@mandaaxbaby) retweeted a story by an NBC Connecticut affiliate about the reaction of residents of Newtown to the episode and added, ?Exactly why I shut it off? Inconsiderate.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/X3fza9TA_30/Glee-school-shooting-episode-upsets-some-viewers

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Wall Street gains for fourth day, but weak tech hurts Nasdaq ...

(Reuters) ? Stocks rose for a fourth straight day on Thursday, sending the Dow and the S&P 500 to new closing highs as positive data on the labor market and an encouraging retail outlook eased recent concerns about economic growth.

Despite the S&P 500?s gain of 11.7 percent this year, investors have fretted about the pace of recovery, especially after last week?s dramatically weak March payrolls report.

Jobless claims fell far more than expected in the latest week, dropping to the lower end of the range for the year. In another sign that the economy might be in better shape than some recent data had indicated, retail executives and analysts forecast improved same-store sales in April after mixed results in March.

Several of the S&P 500?s top percentage gainers were retailers, with discount chain Ross Stores (ROST.O) up 5.9 percent at $63.80, Victoria?s Secret parent L Brands Inc (LTD.N) up 4.3 percent at $50.25, and J.C. Penney Co (JCP.N) up 5.5 percent at $14.86. The SPDR S&P retail ETF (XRT.P) jumped 2 percent to end at a new closing high of $72.98. The S&P 500 retail index .SPXRT hit a 52-week high at 751.72 and then eased a bit to end up 1.2 percent at 747.34.

?This data is especially welcome on the heels of last week?s jobs report, and it just adds to the tremendous demand that there continues to be for equities,? said Leo Grohowski, chief investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth Management in New York. ?The money that has been waiting for a pullback is running out of patience.?

Still, the Nasdaq?s gains were limited as technology stocks sold off on an industry report showing shipments of personal computers had fallen significantly in the first quarter. The S&P information technology sector index .SPLRCT slipped 0.5 percent.

Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) slid 6.5 percent to $20.88 as the S&P 500?s top percentage loser, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), down 4.5 percent at $28.94. Microsoft was also hit after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to ?sell? from ?neutral,? citing ?worsening PC trends and a lack of traction in tablets and smartphones.?

Both HP and Microsoft are Dow components, but the index saw plenty of strength from other members. Three of the blue-chip average?s five biggest gainers ? Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), Boeing Co (BA.N) and Home Depot Inc (HD.N) ? all hit new 52-week highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 62.90 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 14,865.14. The Standard & Poor?s 500 Index .SPX rose 5.64 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,593.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC edged up 2.90 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 3,300.16.

All three indexes finished higher for the fourth straight day. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new all-time intraday highs in midday trading before ending at new closing highs. The Dow climbed to an intraday record peak at 14,887.51, while the S&P 500 set a record session high at 1,597.35.

?It?s amazing to me that we?re already a few points away from our mid-year target of 1,600, which had seemed somewhat aggressive,? said Grohowski, who oversees about $179 billion in client assets. ?But there?s still skepticism about the market and tons of cash on the sidelines, which encourages me that the market can continue to pull higher.?

The Dow got its biggest boost from Pfizer (PFE.N), up 2.4 percent at $30.64 after JPMorgan raised its target price on the U.S. drugmaker?s stock to $33 from $32.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACAD.O) surged 64.4 percent to $13.10 after the drugmaker said data from an initial late-stage trial would be sufficient to file for approval for its experimental antipsychotic drug for Parkinson?s disease patients. Earlier, Acadia?s stock touched a session high at $13.92, its highest since November 2007.

Other economic data showed import prices slipped 0.5 percent last month, in line with expectations, while export prices fell 0.4 percent, signaling inflation pressure remained tepid and would allow the Federal Reserve to continue with its current monetary policy.

About 59 percent of New York Stock Exchange-listed shares closed higher while slightly more Nasdaq-listed shares fell than rose. About 6.17 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average so far this year of about 6.36 billion shares.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

(VIA. Reuters)

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Source: http://soshitech.com/2013/04/11/wall-street-gains-for-fourth-day-but-weak-tech-hurts-nasdaq/

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Daughter of Obama's former pastor charged with fraud

By Mary Wisniewski

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The daughter of President Barack Obama's controversial former pastor was indicted on Wednesday on charges of money laundering and lying to federal authorities, a Justice Department spokeswoman said.

Jeri L. Wright, 47, the daughter of Jeremiah Wright, was accused of participating in a fraud scheme led by a former suburban police chief and the chief's husband that involved a $1.25 million state grant, according to the Attorney's office for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield.

Wright, of the Chicago suburb of Hazel Crest, was charged with two counts of money laundering, two counts of making false statements to federal officers, and seven counts of giving false testimony to a grand jury.

The state grant was for a not-for-profit work and education program called We Are Our Brother's Keeper, owned by Regina Evans, former police chief of Country Club Hills, and her husband, Ronald W. Evans, Jr.

According to the indictment, Wright, a close friend of the couple, received three checks in 2009 worth about $28,000 that were supposed to be for work related to the grant. About $20,000 of that was allegedly deposited back into accounts controlled by the Evanses.

Jeremiah Wright was the Chicago pastor whose inflammatory church sermons, which often condemned U.S. attitudes on race, poverty, the Iraq War and other issues, became a focus during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama quieted the controversy with a speech putting the quotes in the context of race relations.

The money laundering count Jeri Wright faces carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison, while the other charges carry penalties of up to five years in prison.

Jeri Wright could not be reached for comment. Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Sharon Paul did not know if she had yet retained a lawyer.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/daughter-obamas-former-pastor-charged-fraud-014208386.html

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TransferWise To Pay It Forward With $100M In Free Money Transfers For European Startups

TransferWise, the online currency exchange, has been pitching itself as the preferred method of money transfer for European startups for a while now. And today, born of its co-founder Taavet Hinrikus's own experience, the company is putting its money where its mouth is by launching a campaign to waive the fees for a total of $100 million worth of international money transfers for qualifying European startups using the TransferWise platform.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/pzB-Gy8-WJM/

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Man kills 13 relatives and neighbours in Serb village

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A man in Serbia shot dead 13 people, mainly relatives and neighbors, in a village south of the capital Belgrade on Tuesday, police said.

Twelve people died at the scene and one in hospital. The gunman shot himself and his wife but it was not clear what their condition was.

"They were killed in five houses, mainly relatives and neighbors," Milorad Veljovic, the head of the Serbian Interior Ministry's emergencies department, told Radio B92. "We don't know the motive."

(Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-kills-13-relatives-neighbours-serb-village-072922664.html

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Weight loss surgery tied to colon cancer risk

By Kerry Grens

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity is already linked to a higher risk of colon or rectal cancer, but a new study suggests this risk is even greater for obese people who have undergone weight-loss surgery.

Based on a study of more than 77,000 obese patients, Swedish and English researchers found the risk for colorectal cancer among those who have had obesity surgery is double that of the general population.

Though colorectal cancer risk among obese patients who didn't have the surgery was just 26 percent higher than in the general population, researchers said the results should not discourage people from going under the knife.

"These findings should not be used to guide decisions made by patients or doctors at all until the results are confirmed by other studies," said Dr. Jesper Lagergren, the new study's senior author and a professor at both the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and King's College London.

Each year more than 100,000 people in the U.S. have surgery to treat obesity.

Lagergren and his colleagues point out in their report, published in the Annals of Surgery, that obesity is tied to elevated risks for a number of cancers, including colorectal, breast and prostate (see Reuters Health story of November 3, 2011 here: http://reut.rs/t9sYxO).

Whether surgery to lose weight can affect those risks is uncertain.

Two earlier studies, one from the U.S. and the other from Sweden, found that the chances of obesity-related cancers decline after women have weight-loss surgery.

But an earlier study from Lagergren's group found the risks for breast and prostate cancers were unaffected by obesity surgery, and colorectal cancer risk increased.

To investigate that finding further, Lagergren's team collected 29 years' worth of medical records on more than 77,000 people in Sweden who were diagnosed as obese between 1980 and 2009. About 15,000 of them underwent weight loss surgery.

In the surgery group, 70 people developed colorectal cancer - a rate that was 60 percent greater than what would be expected for the larger Swedish population.

When the researchers looked only at people who had surgery more than 10 years before the end of the study period, the number of cancer cases was 200 percent greater than the expected risk for the general population.

In contrast, 373 people in the no-surgery group developed colorectal cancer, which was 26 percent more than would be expected in the population and that number remained stable over time.

A two-fold increased risk for colorectal cancer is not a "negligible risk increase, but it should not be of any major concern for the individual patient since the absolute risk is still low," Lagergren told Reuters Health in an email.

In the U.S., for instance, 40 out of every 100,000 women and roughly 53 out of every 100,000 men develop colorectal cancer each year.

Doubling that risk would make the annual figures 80 out of every 100,000 women and 106 out of every 100,000 men.

Lagergren said that more studies are needed to confirm his results before they should be included in clinical decision-making about whether patients should undergo weight-loss surgery.

The study results cannot prove that the surgery is the cause of the elevated cancer risk.

And, Lagergren says it's also not clear why the surgery might be tied to an elevated risk of colorectal cancer.

One possibility is that dietary changes after surgery, and increasing protein in particular, could raise cancer risk, he speculated.

Because the gut plays a significant role in the immune system, he added, "Another potential factor is that the bacteria that naturally reside in the intestines may change after surgery and alter future cancer risk."

Lagergren noted that he also couldn't rule out the possibility that residual excess weight and weight gain after surgery might be involved.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/10TcCGy Annals of Surgery, online March 6, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weight-loss-surgery-tied-colon-cancer-risk-160805505.html

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