Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/179474351?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Nigerian leaders rapped after Islamists attack churches (Reuters)
ABUJA (Reuters) ? Nigeria's main opposition leader accused the government of incompetence on Monday after Islamist militants killed more than two dozen people in Christmas Day attacks on churches and other targets.
Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and former military ruler who lost a presidential election in April to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian southerner, told a Nigerian daily that the government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings.
The attacks, described by the country's top broadsheet daily Thisday as "Nigeria's blackest Christmas ever," risk reopening old wounds and reviving tit-for-tat sectarian violence between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south, which has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade.
The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose sharia, Islamic law, across Africa's most populous country, claimed responsibility for three church bombings, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage at Christian houses of worship.
The most deadly attack killed at least 27 people in the St Theresa Catholic church in Madalla, a town on the edge of the capital, and devastated surrounding buildings and cars.
Security forces also blamed the sect for two explosions in the north targeting their facilities. Officials have confirmed 32 people died in the wave of attacks across Nigeria, though local media have put the number higher.
But the church bombs are more worrying because they raise fears that Boko Haram is trying to ignite a sectarian civil war in a country split evenly between Christians and Muslims, who for the most part co-exist in peace.
"How on earth would the Vatican and the British authorities speak before the Nigerian government on attacks within Nigeria that have led to the deaths of our citizens?" Buhari said in the statement published by Punch newspaper on Monday.
"This is clearly a failure of leadership at a time the government needs to assure the people of the capacity to guarantee the safety of lives and property."
At a church service in the St Theresa church to mourn the dead there less than a day earlier, a priest in white and red robes conducted a prayers while around 200 mourners sighed, chanted and sang solemnly. Some wept.
The burnt out cars that had littered the scene the day before had been removed and replaced by half a dozen military jeeps. Ten 10 armed soldiers dismounted from each of them to cloak the church in a heavy security presence.
"I've never cried before, but yesterday, I cried," St. Theresa's priest, Father Isaac Achi, said. "This morning, I cried, but with all of you around today, I'll not cry again. Yesterday more than 40 army men protected me while I slept."
Buhari said the government needed to do more than spend more on security to deal with the problem, echoing concerns by analysts that more needs to be done to address the sense of alienation in the poorer north of Nigeria that breeds militancy.
Jonathan called the attacks "unfortunate" but said Boko Haram would "not be (around) for ever. It will end one day," a response that some Nigerians found short-sighted.
He often declines to comment on Boko Haram attacks at all, or when he does describes it as a "temporary" problem that will blow over in time.
COORDINATED ATTACKS
A few hours after Sunday's bomb in Madalla, blasts were reported at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in the central, ethnically and religiously mixed town of Jos, and at a church in Gadaka in the northern state of Yobe. Residents said many were wounded in Gadaka.
A suicide bomber killed four officials at the State Security Service in one of the other attacks in the northeastern town of Damaturu, police said. Residents heard two loud explosions and gunfire in the town.
The attacks, which came a few days after clashes between security forces and Boko Haram killed at least 68 people, and the surge in violence suggested increasing evidence of coordination and strategy by the group.
National Security Adviser General Owoye Azazi said in the church attacks were premeditated but urged Nigerians to go about their business as usual, while remaining vigilant.
"This is not a fight between security forces and some dissident elements. It is a conflict between some misguided extremists in our midst and the rest of society," he said.
Benedict condemned the attacks as an "absurd gesture" and prayed that "the hands of the violent be stopped."
The pope, speaking from his window overlooking St Peter's Square in Rome, said such violence brought only pain, destruction and death.
The United Nations, the European Union and the United States condemned the bombings which they described as terrorist attacks, pledging to help Nigerian authorities in the fight against extremists.
(Additional reporting by Tim Cocks in Lagos, Tife Owolabi and Buhari Bello in Jos, Mike Oboh in Kano, a correspondent in Maiduguri and Philip Pullella in Vatican City; Writing by Tim Cocks and Bate Felix; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Durant helps Thunder beat Magic in opener
Orlando Magic forward Dwight Howard, left, goes up for a basket over Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins (5) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Orlando Magic forward Dwight Howard, left, goes up for a basket over Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins (5) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Orlando Magic forward Dwight Howard, left, drives to the basket around Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins, right, during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Orlando Magic guard Jason Richardson (23) goes up for a shot as Oklahoma City Thunder's Serge Ibaka defends during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Orlando Magic forward Dwight Howard (12) goes up for a basket over Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins (5) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
NBA Commissioner David Stern speaks to reporters before the start of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? The Oklahoma City Thunder come into the new season with lofty goals. They looked very much like a contender in their opener.
Kevin Durant scored 30 points to help the Thunder win their opener with a 97-89 victory Sunday night over Orlando, a team that has been dealing with Dwight Howard's trade demands since training camp opened.
While Durant shined, Howard struggled, held to just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
"We know that are outside expectations," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "But there aren't absolutes or guarantees. Our guys just work. I know it gets boring at times, but we like that. We're not going to change. We're all in the same boat on that. You can never become complacent. It has to be about the team."
Durant led the league in scoring the past two seasons, including averaging 27.7 last season. On Sunday, he was 11-of-19 from the field and added five rebounds and six assists.
James Harden added 19 points and the Thunder duo of Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammed limited Howard.
The Thunder lost to Dallas last year in the Western Conference finals but are expected to one of the top teams this season. They led throughout, including by 18 at the end of the third quarter and really were never in danger of losing.
"It's something we can't control," Durant said of expectations. "We have to keep getting better every day and see what happens."
The Magic looked like a team that was still dealing with the distraction of Howard and his trade demands, which dominated headlines in Orlando since the lockout ended. The All-Star center has softened his stance lately.
"I didn't like the pace of our offense," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I thought we were moving slowly. I thought the ball didn't move."
NBA commissioner David Stern weighed in on the Howard situation Sunday, saying before the game, "That's the beauty of the soap opera. How it plays out, we'll wait and see."
Howard, the Magic's star center averaged more than 22 points per game last year, shooting 59 percent for the season.
He did have 15 rebounds.
A 13-2 run in the second quarter, after Durant and Russell Westbrook checked back in, helped the Thunder get out to a 17-point lead. They led 55-41 at the break. Durant had 14 points in the first half.
Ryan Anderson scored 25 points and Jameer Nelson added 18 for the Magic, who shot just 37 percent from the field and had 18 turnovers.
"It was a good game for us," Brooks said. "Everybody chipped in. We had a lot of good plays tonight."
Notes: Durant missed five free throws. He is a career 88 percent free throw shooter ... The Thunder outscored the Magic in the paint, 32-30 but were outrebounded 45-43.
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Mark Cavendish hails British cycling after winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year
23 Dec 2011
Mark Cavendish hailed a landmark night for British cycling after winning the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award at a star-studded ceremony in Salford.
The Isle of Man rider, who pipped golfer Darren Clarke and athlete Mo Farah, achieved the two huge goals he set for himself in 2011, becoming the first Briton to win the green jersey in the Tour de France and then clinching gold in the road race at the World Championships.
Cavendish joined Tommy Simpson, the previous Briton to win the road world title in 1965, and triple Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy as the only cyclists to pick up the award, which is voted for by the public.
And it was what his victory said about the huge growth in interest in cycling in recent years that most pleased Cavendish.
The 26-year-old fought back tears on stage as he said: "This is a landmark in cycling, and I take this on behalf of cycling. For cycling to be recognised in a non-Olympic year, a few years ago would be unheard of, yet it's happened."
Cavendish, who took his record to 20 stage wins from four Tour de Frances in the summer, added later: "That's what makes this special.
"With cycling, as with any sport, what you put in is what you get out. It's down to you. I can't control how people react to what I've achieved and that makes it the biggest honour possible for me.
"There are more people riding bikes now who can actually appreciate what it is. It's not just the Tour de France, we're racing 100 days a year and people know what it is to ride such distances in such times now and what it takes.
"It makes me smile every time I see a family out on their bikes, every time I see a child wanting to ride."
British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford told www.britishcycling.org.uk: "This has been a fantastic evening for the sport of cycling and it's great that Mark's success has been recognised by the British public and the national media.
"The BBC SPOTY award rounds off the perfect year for Mark, who's cycling achievements have made history."
Meanwhile, the Isle of Man's Chief Minister Allan Bell said: "Everyone on the Isle of Man is delighted with Mark's success. He is proving to be a great ambassador for us, promoting the Isle of Man worldwide to investors and tourists alike and his achievements are a tribute to the hard work and passion that he has shown."
Cavendish went into the evening as the favourite to lift the award and it was no surprise his closest rival was Clarke, an emotional Open Championship winner in July five years after the death of his wife Heather from breast cancer.
Farah completed a strong trio in the year in which he became the first British athlete to win the 5,000 metres title at the World Athletics Championships and also took silver in the 10,000m.
Cavendish received 169,152 votes, with Clarke getting 42,188 and Farah 29,780.
There was a double for English cricket as the Test side were named Team of the Year after winning the Ashes in Australia and climbing to the top of the world rankings, while Andy Flower won the Coach of the Year award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave by former Sports Personality winner Princess Anne.
Redgrave took the opportunity to "right a wrong" from when he won the main award following his fifth gold in 2000, saying: "The one person I forgot to mention 11 years ago was my wife.
"My wife was an Olympic athlete in her own right and has been the team doctor on and off for 15 years and is now helping team in preparation for next year. Without the support from my family I would never have been able to achieve everything I did."
The headlines before the event were dominated by the absence of any sportswomen from the final list, but a female winner was guaranteed in the Young Sports Personality category and golfer Lauren Taylor took the honours in the year in which she became the youngest winner of the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship.
Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic won the Overseas category, former Grand National winner Bob Champion was the recipient of the Helen Rollason Award and Janice Eaglesham and Ian Mirfin were the Unsung Heroes for their work with disabled people in Glasgow.
Golf world number one Luke Donald was fourth in the voting with 23,854 votes, tennis player Andy Murray fifth with 18,754, England cricketers Andrew Strauss and Alastair sixth and seventh respectively with 17,994 and 13,038, golf's US Open champion Rory McIlroy eighth with 11,915, world 400 metres hurdles champion Greene ninth with 9,022 and boxer Amir khan 10th with 6,262.
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Sea Shepherd says drones find, photograph Japan's whaling fleet
SYDNEY |
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hardline whaling opponents attempting to stop Japan's annual whale hunt in the Antarctic said Sunday they had intercepted and photographed its whaling fleet using pilotless drone aircraft.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it located the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru off Australia's western coast Saturday using the drones, the first time this season it has made contact with the whalers.
However, other Japanese ships shielded the vessel "to allow it to escape," Sea Shepherd said in a statement.
"We caught them due west of Perth," founder Paul Watson told Reuters by satellite phone from the ship Steve Irwin. "For the next few days we will be chasing them. We are heading south."
The two drones are equipped with cameras and detection equipment and allow Sea Shepherd to monitor the whaling fleet from a distance, he said.
Watson said Sea Shepherd's three ships were well outside Antarctic waters when the Japanese vessel was seen. The Sea Shepherd waited for the Nisshin Maru after hearing from fishermen it had sailed through the Lombok Strait in Indonesia on its voyage to Antarctic waters.
The Sea Shepherd society's annual attempts to stop the Japanese whale hunt by "direct action" have been widely criticised by other environmentalists and governments, particularly Japan. However, it also has influential supporters.
Watson said sympathisers in New Jersey in the United States contributed to the cost of the two drones.
An international moratorium on whaling has been in place since 1986, but Japan exploits a loophole allowing whaling for scientific purposes to justify its annual hunt.
(Reporting by Chris McCall; Editing by Paul Tait)
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Boehner: House leaders accept Senate tax terms (AP)
WASHINGTON ? House Speaker John Boehner says he has reached agreement with the Senate to renew the payroll tax cut before it expires Dec. 31.
The Ohio Republican said in a statement Thursday that he expects to pass a new bill by Christmas that would renew the tax break for two months while congressional negotiators work out a longer-term measure that would also extend jobless benefits for millions of Americans and prevent doctors from absorbing a big cut in Medicare payments.
The GOP retreat ends a tense standoff in which Boehner's House Republicans came under intense pressure to agree to the short-term extension.
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6,000 nurses strike in California
Striking nurses rally Thursday near a hospital in Long Beach, California.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- About 6,000 California nurses staged a one-day strike at several hospitals
- 2,000 nurses strike at two Long Beach hospitals
- 4,000 more strike at nine San Francisco Bay area hospitals
- Hospital officials say they are disappointed the strikes occur during holidays
Long Beach, California (CNN) -- About 6,000 California nurses staged a one-day strike at several hospitals Thursday, protesting what they called an "erosion of quality of care and cuts to patient protections," National Nurses United said.
In Long Beach, about 2,000 nurses staged a one-day strike at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children's Hospital, but nurses were later told that they will be locked out of their jobs for four days because replacements had to be hired in a five-day block, nurses told CNN.
The Long Beach registered nurses are in a dispute with management over RN-to-patient staffing levels and safe patient lift policies to prevent accidents and injuries, the union said.
The nurses are also objecting to hospital demands for increases in health care premiums, which they claimed would cost the nurses about $3,000 more in out-of-pocket premiums -- which the hospitals disputed.
Officials with Memorial Care Health System, which owns both Long Beach facilities, said that more than 30% of the 2,000 nurses decided not to participate in the strike.
"Over 30% of the nurses chose to cross the picket line," said Dr. Susan Melvin, associate chief medical officer of the Long Beach Memorial. "Every unit is open and fully functioning. From a physician perspective, they feel their patient care needs are being well met," Melvin told CNN.
Myra Gregorian, vice president of human resources at both hospitals, said the facilities were meeting state requirements on nurse-to-patient staffing.
"We comply with the law and compensate appropriately and it rarely happens," Gregorian said. "As a California hospital, we have state-mandated ratios, and we comply with state levels."
The two Long Beach hospitals offered the California Nurses Association a three-year contract that included at least 3% raises over each year, and Gregorian told CNN the union's claims about $3,000 premium increases were "not true."
The average premium increase is $4.76 per paycheck, which occurs every two weeks, and the maximum premium increase is $18.28 per paycheck, Gregorian told CNN.
The last contract expired September 30, Gregorian said.
"We have been negotiating with the union since July. We had 16 bargaining sessions. We were disappointed that they chose to do a strike over the holidays," Gregorian said. "We're looking forward to having our RNs return to work next week and despite these differences, we'll be able to ratify a contract soon."
Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay area, about 4,000 nurses were striking at nine facilities that are part of the Sutter Health corporation, the union said. The nurses are protesting what they described as "some 150 demands for major contract concessions in patient protections and health coverage for the RNs and their families," according to the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United.
"We are dealing with hospital corporations that are part of the 1% and behave just as abusively as Goldman Sachs or Lehman Brothers, and it is very sad that they show such disrespect for their communities, for the patients and for the nurses who take care of the patients who make money for these hospitals," said Charles Idelson, spokesperson for the California Nurses Association.
The "1%" remark refers to a slogan by the Occupy movement that contends the richest 1% of people write the rules of an unfair global economy.
Karen Garner, spokeswoman for Sutter Health, said the health facilities were committed to "providing our nurses competitive wages and benefits, while also doing our part to make health care more affordable for our patients."
"But the union demands new, costly benefits -- such as health care for life -- that will increase costs at our hospitals by tens of millions of dollars each year," Garner said in a statement.
"A nurse who chooses to work full-time at one (of) our hospitals with an open labor contract earns an average of $136,000 a year plus receives other generous benefits such as an employer-paid pension plan worth $84,000 per year on average for life and up to 40 days off per year," Garner said. "Most nurses also have the option of 100% employer-paid health benefits or a low-cost option."
CNN's Sara Weisfeldt reported from Long Beach and Michael Martinez from Los Angeles.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/us/california-nurses-strike/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Someone Has Purchased Vatican.xxx, And It Isn?t The Vatican (Update: Possibly Not)
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican's spokesman, said today that an unknown party had purchased Vatican.xxx. This mystery person has not stepped forward, and the site itself is a placeholder stating simply that it has been "reserved from registration." It's a warning to all those companies and institutions that may have opted not to purchase this domain variation, and although it's not the only time this will happen, it might be the funniest.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/euCccjDHOKU/
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'Anderson': Jane Fonda Brings A Fitness Flash Mob To The Set (VIDEO)
Jane Fonda started a fitness revolution throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Now, at 73 years old, she's back to it, this time focusing on fitness among seniors. On "Anderson" (Weekdays, syndicated), Fonda started showing one of the exercises she focuses on in her new workout videos, emphasizing the importance of balance for older people.
But a few minutes into it, she decided it was too hard, and she really wasn't dressed appropriately for exercise anyway. "I have some friends here that might show you what to do. Okay?"
With those words, a flash mob erupted on the set, with people running in from all around, and even large portions of the audience getting up and getting involved in the choreographed exercise routine. It was certainly a hip and modern way to bring a sense of fun to fitness, proving that Jane Fonda is just as current today as she was decades ago.
She's keeping busy with more than just exercise as well. Fonda has signed on for a recurring role on Aaron Sorkin's untitled HBO drama series set at a cable news network. Reports have Fonda playing the CEO of the network.
Catch "Anderson" syndicated weekdays. Check local listings for times and channels.
TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
The London Day School Adding Full-Day Kindergarten
FLORHAM PARK, NJ ? The London Day School, known throughout the area for its outstanding pre-school program, is adding a full-day kindergarten beginning the first of the year.
?Everything in life that is built to withstand the test of time must encompass a strong framework and footing, and a child?s education is no different,? said Danielle Lindner, director of The London Day School.
The school?s program was developed to provide the best and the brightest students with the opportunity to continue and foster a love of learning in an intimate and student-focused, enrichment-filled environment. ??
The LDS program is a great option for students who miss the public school Kindergarten cut-off of October 1st.? Many students miss the deadline to enroll in the public school Kindergarten and are more than ready to start a formal school program.? Student who turn age 5 by December 31st can enroll in the London Day School Program and begin the process of becoming strong in the areas of reading, writing, and math right away.
?As educators, we know the importance of a full-day academic, enrichment-based program that provides the solid academic foundation young students need to become strong, proficient, life-long learners who excel as they advance through their educational career,? Lindner said.
The London Day School?s award-winning curriculum in combination with the school?s Enrichment and Student Engagement philosophy provides students with an unprecedented learning experience. The school?s curriculum is designed to meet and exceed all common core state standards. With class size limited to 12, each student receives individualized attention and an academic foundation that prepares them for advancement and success.
?Students receive the tools they need to be life-long learners,? Lindner said.
Along with the school?s award-winning reading, writing, math, handwriting science and social studies curriculum, kindergarten students have weekly instruction in Spanish, Creative Arts, Drama/Presentation Skills, Technology, Leadership/Character Education, Yoga/Physical Education, and Music.
?Our program is customized to each student?s academic strengths rather than a one-size-fits-all approach that many other programs embrace,? Lindner said. ?Our specialized focus engages and excites students about school.?
The London Day School is now accepting applications for the kindergarten program through Jan. 15. The school also will host two open houses during January: Thursday, Jan. 5 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and Friday, Jan. 6, from 9:30-11:30 a.m.
For more information, call 973-377-0311 or visit www.londondayschool.com.
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Editor's Note: The London Day School is an advertiser on TheAlternativePress.com? For advertising information, please call 908-279-0303 or email advertising@thealternativepress.com.
Source: http://thealternativepress.com/articles/the-london-day-school-adding-full-day-kindergarte
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Gene discovered for Weaver syndrome
Friday, December 16, 2011
Scientists have found a gene that causes Weaver syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that typically causes large size at birth, tall stature, developmental delay during childhood, and intellectual disability. Published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the discovery means that testing the EZH2 gene for mutations could help families who are seeking a diagnosis for their child.
"For the families among whom we identified the gene, this discovery definitively brings the diagnostic odyssey to a close ? it's DNA confirmation that their children have Weaver syndrome," says Dr. William Gibson, the study's lead investigator. Dr. Gibson is a clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
"Our discovery enables DNA-based diagnostic testing for this particular disease," says Dr. Gibson. "For physicians who suspect Weaver syndrome in one of their patients, we can now confirm it if we find mutations in EZH2. There may still be other Weaver syndrome genes, and we need to study more families to be sure."
Presently, doctors diagnose Weaver syndrome by assessing a child's face, growth, skeleton and other clinical features. People with Weaver syndrome have an oversized head, typical facial features, problems with muscle tone and joints, and differences in the way their skeleton matures. Mutations in the NSD1 gene, which normally causes a rare disease called Sotos syndrome, are also known to cause Weaver syndrome in some cases. There may be other genes involved in Weaver syndrome that are yet to be discovered.
"Now we have an answer for these families and we are also in a position to provide answers to other families affected by this rare and difficult disease," says Dr. Gibson. He is available to see new patients clinically for diagnosis of Weaver syndrome. As a result of this discovery, Dr. Gibson's team now offers sequencing of the EZH2 gene on a research basis in partnership with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Gibson's team can be contacted by email at wtgibson@cfri.ubc.ca.
Traditionally, hunting for a disease-causing gene has relied on tracking a gene throughout a family's history. However, Weaver syndrome usually occurs only once in a family, as it is thought to be caused by a new genetic mutation in the sperm or egg that conceived the child. For this study, the investigators sought patients with Weaver syndrome from Canada and the United States. They approached Dr. David Weaver, who discovered the syndrome in 1974 and is professor emeritus of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. In two families that Dr. Weaver had examined, the Canadian team looked for brand new genetic mutations by comparing the DNA of affected children to DNA from their unaffected parents. Once the investigators identified EZH2 as a candidate gene, they sequenced it in DNA samples from a third Canadian family. They confirmed that an EZH2 mutation was in this third family's child but not in either of her healthy parents.
EZH2 is a cancer gene that is known to be mutated in leukemia, B-cell lymphomas and some other blood cancers. The gene helps control how DNA is packaged around specific proteins, which in turn helps to regulate which groups of genes are turned off and on.
"Our finding illuminates an emerging area of biology that links developmental syndromes and cancer," says Dr. Gibson. "It appears that some mutations in EZH2, if these occur early in life, produce developmental syndromes such as Weaver syndrome, whereas mutations in the same gene that occur later in life can produce cancer."
Dr. Steven Jones is the study's senior author who led the DNA sequencing and bioinformatics. He is head of bioinformatics and associate director of the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer Agency, professor in the UBC Department of Medical Genetics, and professor, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University (SFU).
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Child & Family Research Institute: http://www.cfri.ca/
Thanks to Child & Family Research Institute for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116102/Gene_discovered_for_Weaver_syndrome
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Targeted Radiation for Breast Cancer May Be Overused: Study (HealthDay)
FRIDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The number of women with breast cancer who receive targeted radiation to the breast after a lumpectomy has jumped dramatically over the last decade.
However, only about a third of these women were considered "suitable" for the treatment, according to criteria used in a new study published in the Dec. 16 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
But guidelines on which women should or should not receive this type of radiation treatment, known as brachytherapy, are only newly published and it's unclear what the findings might mean to current breast cancer patients.
Use of "accelerated partial breast irradiation using brachytherapy" has risen steadily since about 2002, said study author Dr. Jona Hattangadi, a radiation oncologist with Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston.
Although brachytherapy is vastly more convenient (taking place over the course of a week rather than six weeks), the worry is that directed radiation isn't comprehensive enough to find and kill all cancer cells lingering in the breast as compared with the current standard, whole breast radiation (WBI).
So, in 2009, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) issued the first guidelines for the use of brachytherapy, which identified patients as either "suitable," "cautionary" (suitability unclear) or "unsuitable" for the treatment, depending on a number of factors including age as well as various tumor characteristics.
These authors rounded up data on 138,815 U.S. women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer from 2000 to 2007 and who had either undergone brachytherapy or whole breast irradiation after a lumpectomy.
Some 2.6 percent of women underwent brachytherapy, two thirds of whom were either deemed "cautionary" (29.6 percent) or "unsuitable" (36.2 percent) according to ASTRO criteria.
Only about a third (32 percent) of patients would have been considered suitable under ASTRO's recommendations, the study authors said.
Use of brachytherapy rose from less than 1 percent in 2000 to almost 7 percent in 2007, but this varied greatly between geographical regions, the researchers noted.
For instance, women in urban areas were more likely to get brachytherapy than women in rural areas, which is surprising given that rural women would have the most to benefit from the convenience.
And white women were more likely to get brachytherapy than black women if they were considered "cautionary" or "unsuitable."
It's unclear what accounts for the variation or for the rise in numbers, although the authors did postulate that reimbursement patterns may play a role. Medicare started reimbursing for brachytherapy in 2004.
The main drawback of this study, the authors acknowledged, is that the data was gathered before the ASTRO guidelines were published.
Dr. Eric Horwitz, M.D., chair of radiation oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, agreed that brachytherapy is "not for everybody" but that "it's an excellent technique if used on the right patients."
But who is the right patient? Generally people with smaller, localized tumors, he said.
Still, in the absence of long-term data, Hattangadi recommends that women getting treatment for early-stage breast cancer have a "thorough discussion with their physicians on the pros and cons of the approach."
The findings come just a week after presenters at a national conference found that women who had brachytherapy had double the rate of mastectomy later on compared with women who got whole breast irradiation. That study was led by Dr. Benjamin Smith of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on radiation therapy for cancer.
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Netflix rolls out version 2.0 of its iPad app with upgraded interface (Appolicious)
Streaming video service Netflix has just rolled out a big update to its iOS apps, adding new features for different markets and sporting a revamped interface for its iPad version.
The big user interface change requires Apple?s latest version of its iOS platform, iOS 5, to work correctly, but once you update Netflix (and provided it updates correctly ? some users are reporting a few issues upgrading), the new app should be very much altered to take advantage of the iPad?s larger screen. It also contains a new ?Continue Watching? section that has shows or movies that you?ve already started ready to go wherever you left off, no matter what device you were using. So you can start a show on your TV with, say, your Xbox 360, and finish it on your iPad within seconds, just by tapping into the right video.
The new update focuses on making navigation through Netflix?s massive online library of streaming movies and TV shows easier. It looks a lot like a big update that Netflix just kicked through for another platform, Xbox LIVE. Now you can see a lot more movies on your queue or search results a lot more quickly, which minimizes the time needed for navigation and gets you watching content faster. The update also addresses some stability issues, Netflix said in its blog.
There are other new changes for the free app, as well. Netflix recently expanded to Latin America, opening up a whole new market for its streaming service, but those countries it started offering service in were without compatible iPhone and iPad apps. That changes with Netflix 2.0, which rolls out the apps in Latin America, along with the UI changes that U.S. and Canadian customers are getting with the update.
Lastly, Netflix has added new functionality to its app for Apple TV. It now supports what?s called ?Just For Kids,? a section on the interface that provides content specifically geared toward kids 12-years-old and younger. The service is also opened up to Latin America on Apple TV as well. Of course, while all Netflix?s apps are free, you still need a subscription to watch streaming video.
Netflix has suffered from some missteps lately, but it has always been a big supporter of Apple?s iOS devices. Users are reporting some issues getting the Netflix 2.0 update to work, but it seems like once it does, it brings more functionality and ease of use to iPad owners, and it still makes it easy and convenient to watch movies and TV shows on your iOS devices.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Gingrich assailed by debate rivals, fights back (AP)
SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich clashed sharply with one rival, took pains to compliment another and said it was laughable for any of them to challenge his conservative credentials Thursday night in the last campaign debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses kick off the 2012 primary season.
In a forceful attack, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said Gingrich "had his hand out and received $1.6 million to influence senior Republicans and keep the scam going in Washington, D.C.," for Freddie Mac, a government-backed housing entity.
"Just not true," Gingrich shot back. "I never lobbied under any circumstances," he added, denying an allegation she had not made.
The clash underscored the state of the race, with Gingrich, the former House speaker, atop the polls in Iowa and nationally, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his other pursuers work in television ads and elsewhere to overtake him in the final days before the caucuses.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has staked his campaign on Iowa, was quick to challenge Gingrich as a conservative leader. He recalled that Gingrich had to contend with a "conservative revolution' from the ranks of Republican lawmakers when he was House speaker in the 1990s.
Romney, who runs second in the polls in Iowa, largely refrained from criticizing Gingrich, despite increasingly barbed attacks in day-to-day campaigning. Instead, he firmly rejected suggestions that he had once favored gay marriage only to switch his position. "I have been a champion of protecting traditional marriage," he said.
Given the stakes, Gingrich, Bachmann and Santorum weren't the only contenders eager to impress Iowa voters and a nationwide television audience with their conservative grit.
"I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry, referring to the Denver Broncos quarterback whose passing ability draws ridicule but who has led his team to a remarkable seven wins in eight weeks.
"We're getting screwed as Americans," said former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, insisting that he, in fact, was a steadier conservative than any of the others on stage.
"Anybody up here could beat Obama," said Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, whose views verge on libertarianism and who has struggled to expand his appeal.
And Bachmann, who was quicker than any other candidate to criticize a rival, bristled when challenged repeatedly on the accuracy of her facts. "I am a serious candidate for president of the United States, and my facts are accurate," she said.
Indeed, the big question in the opening moments of a fast-paced two-hour debate went to the heart of a dilemma that could eventually settle the race ? do conservative Republican caucus and primary voters pick a candidate with their hearts, or do they look elsewhere if they judge their favored candidate might not be able to defeat the president.
Those voters begin making that choice on Jan. 3, and if experience is any guide, one or more of the presidential hopefuls on the debate stage will not make it out of the state to compete in the New Hampshire primary a week later.
Gingrich, who seemed an also-ran in the earliest stages of the race, has emerged as a leader heading into the final stretch of the pre-primary campaign.
His decades in Washington and his post-congressional career as a consultant have been the subjects of tough critiques from Romney's campaign in the past week.
But the former speaker passed up an offer to criticize his rival on the issue of Medicare, saying, "I'm not in the business of blaming Gov. Romney." In fact, he said, Romney has made constructive suggestions for preserving the program that tens of millions of Americans rely on for health care yet faces deep financial woes.
Gingrich drew criticism earlier in the year for calling a GOP Medicare proposal "right-wing engineering." Romney refrained from criticizing that plan but did not embrace it in full.
Bachmann, who has long-since faded to the back of the pack in the polls, showed no such reluctance.
When he labeled her charges inaccurate, she shot back that when she made similar contentions in the previous debate, she was judged factually accurate by an independent arbiter. She said Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac was in furtherance of a "grandiose scam" to keep alive an entity at the heart of the housing crisis.
"I will state unequivocally for every person watching tonight: I have never once changed my positions because of any payment," Gingrich said, adding that in fact, he favored breaking up both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, his benefactor.
Moments later, Bachmann challenged Paul even more aggressively, saying his refusal to consider pre-emptive action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon was dangerous.
"The problem would be the greatest under-reaction in world history if we have an avowed madman who uses that nuclear weapon to wipe nations off the face of the earth," she said, referring to an International Atomic Energy Agency report that said Iran was "within just months of being able to obtain that weapon."
Paul questioned the report. "They have no evidence; there has been no enrichment," he said.
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Nokia Lumia 710 for T-Mobile hands-on (video)
Continue reading Nokia Lumia 710 for T-Mobile hands-on (video)
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Friday, December 16, 2011
Video: Braun test shows there is no 'steroid type'
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stav: In A's !baseball news: Dallas Braden, Landon Powell, Daric Barton and Adam Rosales all agreed to one-year contracts.
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Exclusive: Shell strikes shale gas in China (Reuters)
DOHA (Reuters) ? Royal Dutch Shell Plc has found shale gas in China, a development that could cap imports in a market natural gas producers are hoping will drive demand.
An official with Shell's partner, PetroChina (601857.SS), a unit of the country's top energy group, state-owned CNPC, said drilling results from two wells Shell drilled had been positive.
"Shell has two vertical wells and they got very good primary production," Professor Yuzhang Liu, Vice president of Petrochina's Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), said in an interview at the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Doha.
"It's good news for shale gas," Liu, who regularly represents PetroChina at industry events around the world, told Reuters late on Monday.
China currently has no commercial shale gas production.
Some industry executives doubt the explosion of shale gas in the U.S. that has revolutionized the market there could be replicated elsewhere due to difficult geology, the lack of water availability or land access issues.
Liu accepted the rock formations in China were "different" from those in the United States but denied this meant they were more challenging or less bountiful.
In less than decade, shale gas has transformed the United States from gas shortage to a point where companies are planning to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), fundamentally altering the dynamics of the international gas market.
LNG projects freeze and squeeze natural gas into liquid for export in tankers. Many producers who were targeting the United States were forced to rethink their plans, and China, with its booming energy demand, was seen as the answer to their need for a market.
A Chinese 'shale gale' as the revolution was termed in America, could jeopardize that market too.
Shell declined to confirm the find but said in a statement;
"Shell will complete drilling activities by the year end... as planned."
Chief Executive Peter Voser has previously said he has "great expectations" for Chinese shale but was cautious in his comments to the WPC on Tuesday.
"We are going through the exploration phase there and are exactly now analyzing what potential is available now in China," he told a news conference.
In November 2009, PetroChina and Royal Dutch Shell agreed to jointly evaluate shale gas reserves of the Fushun-Yongchuan block in Sichuan basin.
Earlier this year, industry sources said Shell had started drilling two shale gas exploration wells in Fushun.
A U.S. Energy Information Administration report in April said China had 1,275 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources -- by far the largest in the world, followed by the United States with 862 trillion cubic feet and Argentina with 774.
(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Andrew Callus)
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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Recess and PE policies mean more activity for kids (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? According to a new nationwide survey of elementary school principals, kids are more likely to get the recommended amount of recess and physical education if they live in states or districts with policies that call for more of those types of activity.
However, more than half of states and districts didn't require regular PE classes, and few made daily recess mandatory or even suggested it.
And schools that did meet national recommendations for either recess or PE tended to skimp on the other -- suggesting that policy makers need to recognize the value of both activities for physical health and learning, researchers said.
"There are a lot of competing demands right now," said lead author Sandy Slater, from the University of Illinois at Chicago. "There's a lot to address during the school day. It's also obviously important to try to address physical activity in some way, shape or form."
The findings, Slater told Reuters Health, suggest that even in states that don't have specific regulations on PE and recess, individual districts can make a difference by prioritizing those activities.
She and her colleagues surveyed principals at close to 1,800 elementary schools in 47 states during the 2006 through 2009 school years. Principals were asked how often the average third grader at their school had PE class, and for how long, as well as the amount of time normally allocated for recess.
Slater and her colleagues then compared those survey responses with state laws and district policies requiring or suggesting PE and recess in accordance with recommendations endorsed by the American Heart Association -- which call for two and a half hours of PE per week and 20 minutes of recess every day.
Only eight states suggested or required third graders get daily recess. Twenty-three, or just under half, had any laws on PE classes, and only six of those required at least two and a half hours a week.
Other states required less PE time, or suggested schools give kids the full two and a half hours but didn't make it mandatory.
About 70 percent of schools did offer third graders recess every day, and 18 percent of principals said kids had the recommended amount of weekly PE.
Schools were more than twice as likely to meet PE recommendations if they were in states or districts that required it.
Being in a state that encouraged recess also increased the chance that kids would get enough of it.
However, schools that offered the recommended amount of recess were less likely to fulfill weekly PE recommendations -- and vice versa.
What's more, schools with mostly minority and poorer kids were less likely to have daily recess, the researchers reported Monday in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
More physical activity time has been linked to better thinking and memory skills and better concentration in the classroom, Slater said.
Doctors are also pushing exercise as a way to slow growing rates of childhood obesity.
Amy Eyler, a physical activity and policy researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, agreed that it makes sense that having time to run around and getting fresh air is good for kids.
But until there's definitive evidence showing that getting enough PE and recess raises test scores and grades, a lot of school districts won't set aside the facilities and the staff to make it happen, she added.
"It's not seen as something that's a priority," Eyler, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.
She said the new research suggests that when states and districts do take action on physical activity recommendations, kids see the benefits.
"The message is that policies at the state level trickle down all the way to the classroom. It really does make a difference," Eyler said.
"Teaching kids PE skills or an enjoyment of physical activity is really important and I don't think that can be overlooked," she added.
Slater said there are ways for schools to get creative with physical activity and work it into the classroom schedule in brief spurts here and there, even if a full PE session isn't always possible. "All those minutes add up over the course of the day."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/tDZkLz Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, online December 5, 2011.
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Monday, December 5, 2011
Pivotal week for Europe's leaders and fate of euro
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2011 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy say goodbye after their meeting in Strasbourg, France. Sarkozy and Merkel are scheduled to meet in Paris on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, to unveil a proposal for closer political and economic ties between the 17 countries that use the euro. While the leaders differ on some of the details, their cooperation has been so tight they have come to be known by a single name: "Merkozy." (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2011 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy say goodbye after their meeting in Strasbourg, France. Sarkozy and Merkel are scheduled to meet in Paris on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, to unveil a proposal for closer political and economic ties between the 17 countries that use the euro. While the leaders differ on some of the details, their cooperation has been so tight they have come to be known by a single name: "Merkozy." (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2011 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy leave the building after their meeting in Strasbourg, France. Sarkozy and Merkel meet in Paris on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, to unveil a proposal for closer political and economic ties between the 17 countries that use the euro. While the leaders differ on some of the details, their cooperation has been so tight they have come to be known by a single name: "Merkozy." (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? Europe's sovereign-debt crisis, which has dragged on for more than two years, is entering a pivotal week, as leaders across the continent converge to prevent a collapse of the euro and a financial panic from spreading.
Expectations are rising that Friday's summit of 27 EU leaders will yield a breakthrough. An agreement on tighter integration of the 17 countries that use the single currency ? especially on budget matters ? would be seen as a crucial first step. That could trigger further emergency aid from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund or some combination, analysts say.
The coming days "will decide if the euro will survive or not," Emma Marcegaglia, the head of Italy's industrial lobby, Confindustria, said Sunday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank Chief Draghi, and even U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will star in a 5-day financial drama leading up to the summit.
If the summit is a failure, Sarkozy warned last week, "the world will not wait for Europe."
Sarkozy and Merkel meet in Paris on Monday to unveil a proposal for closer political and economic ties between eurozone countries. While the leaders differ on some of the details, their cooperation has been so tight they have come to be known by a single name ? "Merkozy."
The two agree overall on the need for tougher rules that would prevent governments from spending or borrowing too much ? and on certain penalties for persistent violators.
"Where we today have agreements, we need in the future to have legally binding regulations," Merkel said Friday.
Merkel wants to change the basic European Union treaty to reflect the tougher rules on eurozone countries and make them enforceable. Even if there is general agreement on Friday, actually putting new rules in place through treaty changes could take more than a year. And many economists fear the new rules alone would not be enough to halt the rise in Europe's borrowing costs.
The hope is that a firm expression of intent, however, would reassure the ECB, so that it can make stronger efforts in the short term. That would give governments time to get their finances under better control and make economic reforms that would improve growth.
The urgency has been heightened in recent weeks as Italy and Spain, the continent's third- and fourth-largest economies, face unsustainably high costs to finance their debts. For example, the yield on 10-year Italian bonds is around 7 percent. Yields above that level forced Ireland, Portugal and Greece to seek bailouts. By comparison, bond yields in Germany, Europe's largest and most stable economy, are roughly 2 percent.
The eurozone is threatened to face an existential situation if it becomes clear over the next few weeks that several member states cannot cover their refinancing needs, or can only do so at suicidal conditions," former German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told the Sunday edition of German tabloid Bild.
"Everything must be done to hinder the Eurozone from breaking up," he said.
Italy, whose sovereign debt is equivalent to 120 percent of the country's annual economic output, needs to refinance ?200 billion ($270 billion) of its ?1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion)of outstanding debt by the end of April.
The size of the problems facing Italy and Spain are considered too large for the existing funds available to the European Financial Stability Facility ($590 billion) and the IMF ($389 billion.) To boost the firepower of the IMF, several economists have proposed that the ECB lend to it.
"We are now entering the critical period," the EU's financial chief, Olli Rehn, said last Wednesday.
That same day, the U.S. Federal Reserve, in coordination with the ECB and four other central banks, sought to give stressed-out European banks some relief. The Fed announced a plan to make it cheaper for banks to borrow American dollars, which is the dominant currency of trade. It was the most extraordinary coordinated effort since October 2008, and it prompted a nearly 500 point rally in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Still, that help did not address the fundamental problem in Europe: unsustainable levels of government debt.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will have that on his mind, when he unveils new austerity measures at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. The measures will likely include reforms to require Italians to work longer before drawing pensions, a return of a property tax that Silvio Berlusconi's government abolished in 2008 and a "wealth" tax.
"The first move to save the euro is in Italian hands," Marcegaglia said.
In a sign of how all 17 eurozone nations see their fates as intricately linked, Dutch Premier Mark Rutte will be visiting Monti in Rome.
"It is really important that the markets see that Europe is prepared to help the countries in trouble, so long as those countries commit to very tough reforms and austerity programs," Rutte said.
Indeed, the debt loads of countries like Italy and Greece are everyone else's problem.
Germany's economy depends heavily on exports, and if economic output in the rest of Europe collapses, the people of smaller countries couldn't buy as many German goods. Across the Atlantic Ocean, the United States depends on Europe for 20 percent of its own exports. And investors in American banks have worried about their holdings of European debt.
The United States is ratcheting up its involvement.
Geithner will meet Tuesday in Germany with Draghi and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble. On Wednesday he travels to France for talks with Sarkozy and the prime minister-elect of Spain, Mariano Rajoy Brey. And Geithner will meet Monti in Milan just before the new Italian leader heads for the EU summit in Brussels.
On Wednesday, many of Europe's most important leaders will be in Marseille, France, for a meeting of the conservative-leaning European People's Party. Merkel, Sarkozy and Spain's new conservative prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, will all be there.
On Thursday, the ECB holds its monthly policy meeting. Many analysts expect one or more actions by the bank aimed at boosting growth and steadying the financial system.
One step would be to cut its key short-term interest rate from the current 1.25 percent. It made a surprise quarter-point cut at November's meeting. Another would be to extend loans to banks for up to two or three years, instead of the current limit of 13 months.
Even more significantly, ECB President Mario Draghi hinted last week that the bank could be willing to take a more direct and aggressive role in solving Europe's sovereign-debt crisis, so long as EU leaders agree to the coordinated belt-tightening being pushed by Merkel, Sarkozy and others.
"Other elements might follow, but the sequencing matters," he said in a speech Thursday.
The ECB extends unlimited short-term loans to banks. It cannot lend directly to governments, including by buying their national bonds. It can, however, buy national bonds on the secondary market, lowering borrowing costs for governments.
Many economists have urged the bank to sharply increase its purchases to help the most heavily indebted countries lower their borrowing costs and avoid potentially calamitous defaults.
The ECB has so far resisted expanding its support because it believes that would take the pressure off politicians to cut spending and reform government finances, a concern known as moral hazard. The ECB has also worried that injecting too much money into the European economy would trigger inflation.
Sarkozy and others say the stakes couldn't be higher.
"What will remain of Europe if the euro disappears?" Sarkozy asked. He then provided an answer: "Nothing."
___
Don Melvin from Brussels, Dave McHugh from Frankfurt, Sara DiLorenzo from Paris, Frances D'Emilio from Rome and Mike Corder from Amsterdam contributed
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
PFT: Martz blames his players ... again
Getty ImagesI was so excited by the fact that Rosenthal and I disagree on six games ? and that I feel very good about my position in each of them ? that I posted the weekly PFT picks without the perfunctorily pithy opening comments.
Yes, we disagreed on five games last week.? Yes, even though I picked the Packers when Rosenthal picked the Lions and the Broncos when he picked the Chargers, he got me on the other three and extended his season-to-date lead by a game.
It doesn?t matter.? This week, his 12-game lead gets cut in half.
For the week, he was 11-5 and I was 10-6.? For the season, he?s 120-56.? I?m 108-68.
Eagles at Seahawks
Florio?s take:?? Vince Young gets another crack at Pete Carroll, nearly six years after Young stole from Carroll an NCAA title that the NCAA would have stolen from Carroll last year.? The last time the Eagles faced a short week amid so many challenges and distractions, they blew out the Cardinals on Thanksgiving night, 2008.? Though this one won?t be a blowout, it?ll be enough to prolong for another week or two the ultimate demise of the Dream Team.
Florio?s pick:? Eagles 27, Seahawks 19.
Rosenthal?s take: The Seahawks quietly have a strong defense, the fourth quarter of last week?s game notwithstanding. The Eagles don?t do anything quietly. Just when you think their season has bottomed out, they find a way to go lower. Losing a third game to an NFC West team is the new rock bottom.
Rosenthal?s pick: Seahawks 20, Eagles 17.
Titans at Bills
Florio?s take:? The Bills are disintegrating and the Titans still see an opportunity to steal a playoff spot.? With Chris Johnson waking up and the rest of the team doing enough to get more wins than losses, look for the Titans to extend Buffalo?s misery, without having to resort to any Music City Miracles.
Florio?s pick:? Titans 24, Bills 16.
Rosenthal?s take: Buffalo?s meltdown has mostly been on the road. Things might look different at home against a mediocre opponent. Chris Johnson showed renewed quickness last week, but the Titans passing game remains limited. The receivers either can?t get separation or are in the wrong place. Matt Hasselbeck has worked wonders to get this team to 6-5.
Rosenthal?s pick: Bills 24, Titans 21.
Chiefs at Bears
Florio?s take:? Kyle Orton wanted to return to Chicago.? He gets his wish, in a roundabout way.? But he won?t be starting and he may not be playing.? Which is good news for the team for which he wanted to return.
Florio?s pick:? Bears 27, Chiefs 17.
Rosenthal?s take: Todd Haley may not start Kyle Orton, which would be a shame. Orton?s revenge tour starts Sunday in Chicago and ends in Denver on January 1. Don?t discount the Chiefs no matter who starts at quarterback. Caleb Hanie?s pocket presence was Gabbert-like last week. He?s no better than Tyler Palko.
Rosenthal?s pick: Bears 17, Chiefs 14.
Falcons at Texans
Florio?s take:? Coach Gary Kubiak?s decision to entrust the offense to a rookie quarterback gets its toughest test against a team with an offense that has the firepower to test the Texans? much-improved defense.? Though Atlanta could still swipe a playoff berth in the NFC, the home team in this one has the horses to grind the clock, limit Matt Ryan?s chances, and ultimately outscore the Falcons.
Florio?s pick:? Texans 23, Falcons 20.
Rosenthal?s take: The Texans will have to throw more to win this week. The Falcons rush defense can slow down Arian Foster, especially if Houston stays ultra-conservative. I?m hoping for the sake of Texans fans that T.J. Yates shows promise, but it?s hard to see a fifth-round rookie beating many playoff-caliber teams.
Rosenthal?s pick: Falcons 22, Texans 17.
Raiders at Dolphins
Florio?s take:? The Dolphins played well enough to beat the Cowboys in Dallas.? The Dolphins will play well enough to beat the Raiders in Miami.? And the Raiders, still banged up, are due for a stumble.? Tony Sparano may not save his job, but he?ll definitely throw a wrench into the franchise?s plans to draft a quarterback in the top ten.
Florio?s pick:? Dolphins 24, Raiders 21.
Rosenthal?s take: Miami is favored by three partly because Oakland misses its big play threats. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Chaz Schilens, and Louis Murphy make too many mistakes. Michael Bush is playing well, but he?s no Darren McFadden. It?s a credit to Hue Jackson and Carson Palmer this team keeps winning. (And will keep winning.)
Rosenthal?s pick: Raiders 28, Dolphins 24.
Broncos at Vikings
Florio?s take:? Tebowmania invades the Twin Cities, along with a Minnesota native who has become one of the best young receivers in the NFL.? The only way to beat the Broncos is to build a big lead against them, something that the Vikings were able to do back in September, when they were blowing big leads.? Look for this one to remain close and for Tebow to generate a Vick-in-2002 highlight for the winning touchdown run, possibly in overtime.
Florio?s pick:? Broncos 23, Vikings 17.
Rosenthal?s take: Florio?s record would be a lot better if he didn?t go with the Vikings so often early in the year. This week, I?ll return the favor. The Vikings aren?t as bad as their record indicates. The Broncos aren?t as good as their winning streak indicates. Tim Tebow can?t exploit Minnesota?s big weakness in the secondary.
Rosenthal?s pick: Vikings 24, Broncos 21.
Colts at Patriots
Florio?s take:? Once the greatest non-division rivalry in the NFL, the absence of Peyton Manning has made this one a stinker.? The fact that the Colts haven?t won a game this year doesn?t help matters.
Florio?s pick:? Patriots 42, Colts 13.
Rosenthal?s take: Dan Orlovsky has awful luck, becoming the Colts starter just in time to face back-to-back AFC powerhouses on the road. (The Colts head to Baltimore next week.) I think Orlovsky will avoid going down in 0-16 infamy again, but in a week where the Colts can compete. Bill Belichick is going to enjoy this one.
Rosenthal?s pick: Patriots 38, Colts 17.
Bengals at Steelers
Florio?s take:? The Bengals get another chance to prove that they?re for real.? Though they have managed to keep it interesting against the Steelers and Ravens, at some point the Bengals need to win one of these games.? It?ll eventually happen, but the Steelers have been tougher than usual to beat at home this season, and they know they need to keep pace with Baltimore.? Injuries to the Cincinnati secondary coupled with an improving corps of young wideouts could be the difference.
Florio?s pick:? Steelers 28, Bengals 24.
Rosenthal?s take: This is the Bengals? last stand in the AFC North. Andy Dalton did some good things against Pittsburgh last time out should be more prepared for the rematch. The bigger concern is the Bengals secondary. They don?t have enough bodies ? especially at safety ? to deal with the Steelers.
Rosenthal?s pick: Steelers 27, Bengals 21.
Panthers at Buccaneers
Florio?s take:? The Bucs finally get a break from their crippling schedule, which now features three of four games against three-win teams.? If Tampa blows this one, Raheem Morris should go ahead and leave now.
Florio?s pick:? Buccaneers 30, Panthers 20.
Rosenthal?s take: It?s a scary thought for the Bucs that they could be in the NFC South cellar with a loss Sunday.? Another scary thought: Carolina has the diverse running game to pound the Bucs? soft defense for four quarters.
Rosenthal?s pick: Panthers 29, Buccaneers 28.
Jets at Redskins
Florio?s take:? Once an intriguing rivalry given the pipeline of players between the two cities, this one has lost a lot of its pop.? In large part because the Redskins aren?t very competitive.? The Jets need this one badly, but perhaps not as badly as a head coach who hosts the Patriots next weekend.? Perhaps Mark Sanchez will get some extra motivation once he realizes that his inconsistency could put him on the Rex Grossman career arc.
Florio?s pick:? Jets 20, Redskins 14.
Rosenthal?s take: Rex Ryan seasons have a formula. First comes the early overconfidence. Then the humbling midseason swoon.? We?ve hit the portion of the schedule where the Jets go on a winning streak against bad teams with improbable fourth-quarter plays. It all wraps up with the Jets peaking in January.
Rosenthal?s pick: Jets 24, Redskins 21.
Ravens at Browns
Florio?s take:? The Ravens chased three big wins against good teams with deflating losses against bad ones.? Baltimore gets a chance to reverse the trend in Cleveland, where the team that used to be in Cleveland has won four out of five times.? And coach John Harbaugh never has lost there.? The Ravens can see the bye and the home playoff game(s) waiting for them the season?s finish line.
Florio?s pick:? Ravens 30, Browns 17.
Rosenthal?s take: Peyton Hillis returned to the starting lineup just in time to face the Ravens and Steelers four times in five weeks.? Hillis ran hard against the Bengals, but the Browns are too limited offensively to move the ball on Baltimore. This closing stretch will make Colt McCoy?s dreadful numbers even worse.
Rosenthal?s pick: Ravens 22, Browns 13.
Cowboys at Cardinals
Florio?s take:? An old NFC East rivalry renews, with the Cardinals having beaten the Cowboys two times in a row.? This year, the Cowboys have found a way to consistently outscore inferior teams, and that?s simply what the Cardinals are in relation to the current kings of the division these franchises once shared.? As long as the Cowboys don?t kick to Patrick Peterson.
Florio?s pick:? Cowboys 31, Cardinals 21.
Rosenthal?s take: All John Skelton does is win. That?s more proof that judging a quarterback by wins and losses is overrated. Kevin Kolb should be back, and he?ll upgrade the team?s passing game. That doesn?t mean they can beat Dallas. Arizona lost all four games they?ve played this year against teams that currently have a winning record.
Rosenthal?s pick: Cowboys 27, Cardinals 20.
Packers at Giants
Florio?s take:? The possibility that the Giants could upset the Packers will prompt at least one prominent commentator to say, ?That?s why they play the games.?? After this one ends, there?s a chance Giants fans will be saying, ?Why did they play this game??
Florio?s pick:? Packers 35, Giants 20.
Rosenthal?s take: Eli Manning should keep the Giants competitive, but the rest of the team has fallen apart. I?ve been waiting for weeks to pick the Giants in this game, but it makes no sense after New York?s implosion in the Superdome. Justin Tuck isn?t the same guy this year and Osi Umenyiora is hurt. The Giants don?t have much if they don?t have a pass rush.
Rosenthal?s pick: Packers 33, Giants 24.
Rams at 49ers
Florio?s take:? The firing of Jack Del Rio possibly has primed the pump for other coaches to be prematurely punted.? If (when) the Rams get blown out in San Fran, Steve Spagnuolo could the next one to go.
Florio?s pick:? 49ers 30, Rams 7.
Rosenthal?s take: The Rams offense scored three touchdowns combined in their last four games. Brandon Lloyd scored all of them. That slump came against mediocre competition. They?ll be lucky to score one touchdown in San Francisco.
Rosenthal?s pick: 49ers 24, Rams 9.
Lions at Saints
Florio?s take:? With or without Ndamukong Suh, who has in many respects been ordinary this season, the Lions won?t be able to stop an offense that is largely unstoppable in the Superdome.? Unfortunately for the Saints, even running the table likely won?t prevent them from having to travel to San Francisco or Green Bay in the playoffs.
Florio?s pick:? Saints 38, Lions 24.
Rosenthal?s take: The Lions have lost four straight games to winning teams. The Saints haven?t lost at home all year, with three of those wins coming against winning teams. That doesn?t bode well for the Lions. Detroit will make this more interesting than New Orleans? last primetime game, but the result will be the same.
Rosenthal?s pick: Saints 34, Lions 28.
Chargers at Jaguars
Florio?s take:? This could be the most uninteresting Monday Night Football game since Raiders-Seahawks in 2006.? Or perhaps ever.
Florio?s pick:? Jaguars 17, Chargers 10.
Rosenthal?s take: It?s painful to pick a winner of this game. It may be even more painful to watch it. The Chargers defense versus Blaine Gabbert is the ultimate matchup of weakness against weakness. The difference here: Maurice Jones-Drew. He should go to the Pro Bowl for overcoming Gabbert.
Rosenthal?s pick: Jaguars 20, Chargers 17.
Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/30/martz-blames-players-for-execution-issues/related/
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