Suit: 185K spyware images sent to rental computers

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Spyware installed on computers leased from furniture renter Aaron's Inc. secretly sent 185,000 emails containing sensitive information ? including pictures of nude children and people having sex ? back to the company's corporate computers, according to court documents filed Wednesday in a class-action lawsuit.

According to the filings, some of the spyware emails contained pictures secretly taken by the rental computers' webcams or other sensitive information including Social Security numbers, social media and email passwords, and customer keystrokes, the Federal Trade Commission determined last year.

The attorneys also claimed Atlanta-based Aaron's hasn't properly notified at least 800 customers allegedly targeted by spyware made by DesignerWare, a company located in North East, Pa.

"Because Aaron's has been so uncooperative in agreeing to give proper notice and assistance to its customers, we've had to ask the court to intervene and order them to do it, so that people can protect their most private kinds of rights and property," said Maury Herman, a New Orleans attorney who was one of several to file the documents.

Aaron's officials have previously said the company never installed the spyware on computers rented out of company-operated stores and blamed individual franchisees for installing it. But the new filings claim Aaron's nonetheless received the secretly recorded data.

Aaron's said in a statement that it disagrees with the claims in the lawsuit and will defend the case vigorously. The company reiterated its assertion that some of its 700 franchise stores used the spyware, not the 1300-plus company-owned stores.

Attorneys for DesignerWare didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The new allegations grew out of a Federal Trade Commission settlement last year and are contained in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Erie. That's where a Casper, Wyo., couple, Brian and Crystal Byrd, have sued DesignerWare, Aaron's, the local franchise from which they rented a computer in 2010, and 45 other unidentified franchises they believed were using the spyware.

The filings seek court permission to file a new complaint adding 54 franchisees based on the 185,000 emails since traced to Aaron's computer servers.

"Aaron's, like the proverbial ostrich, has buried its head in the sand, hoping this litigation would just go away without having to do anything to protect its customers," the Byrds' attorneys wrote.

The couple's May 2011 lawsuit claimed the manager of the Casper store showed Brian Byrd a webcam picture of himself operating a rental computer after the manager activated the spyware in the process of trying to repossess the computer, which the manager mistakenly believed the Byrds hadn't paid off under their rent-to-own agreement.

Attorneys for DesignerWare have since said in court documents its PC Rental Agent software is benign and simply helps rental companies track computer use and shut down the devices if customers don't pay.

But the FTC found, in a settlement publicized in September, the software could do much more when "Detective Mode" was activated: Capturing screenshots, taking webcam images, logging keystrokes and forwarding that information to Aaron's by email.

The FTC settlement bars DesignerWare, the Aaron's franchise that operated the Wyoming store, and six other businesses that operated rental stores from using any location-tracking software without customer consent and from deceptively collecting information.

On Wednesday, attorneys for the Byrds also filed a new lawsuit in Fulton County, Ga. ? where Atlanta is located ? on behalf of a customer who claims an Oregon Aaron's franchise tracked her physical location by having Detective Mode trace her WiFi use of the computer.

That lawsuit, and the new documents filed in the Byrd's federal lawsuit, contends Aaron's corporate officials condoned the widespread use of the spyware on franchise rental computers.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suit-185k-spyware-images-sent-rental-computers-235100144.html

the rock vs john cena acm awards 2012 january jones ncaa final game reba mcentire acm awards the killing

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to be buried at West Point

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) ? Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the no-nonsense Desert Storm commander famously nicknamed "Stormin' Norman," will be buried at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

A memorial service for Schwarzkopf will be held at the academy's chapel Thursday afternoon and his remains will be buried afterward at the cemetery on the grounds of the storied military institution.

Schwarzkopf commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991. He was 78 when he died in Tampa on Dec. 27 of complications from pneumonia.

Schwarzkopf graduated from West Point in 1956 and later served two tours in Vietnam, first as an adviser to South Vietnamese paratroops and later as a battalion commander in the U.S. Army's Americal Division. While many disillusioned career officers left the military after the war, Schwarzkopf stayed to helped usher in institutional reforms. He was named commander in chief of U.S. Central Command at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base in 1988.

The general's "Stormin' Norman" nickname became popular in the lead-up to Operation Desert Storm, the six-week aerial campaign that climaxed with a massive ground offensive Feb. 24-28, 1991. Iraqis were routed from Kuwait in 100 hours before U.S. officials called a halt.

Schwarzkopf spent his retirement years in Tampa. While he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000, Schwarzkopf maintained a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq.

Schwarzkopf will be buried near his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police. The academy cemetery also holds the remains of such notable military figures as Gen. William Westmoreland, Lt. Col. George Custer and 1st Lt. Laura Walker, who became the first female graduate killed in action when she died in 2005 in Afghanistan.

Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, had three children: Cynthia, Jessica and Christian.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gen-norman-schwarzkopf-buried-west-point-073537256.html

phil mickelson 10 year old gives birth c. difficile carmelo anthony nurse jackie nurse jackie peeps

Indiana Senate backs requiring ultrasound for "abortion pill" use

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The Indiana state Senate on Tuesday approved Republican-backed legislation to require women seeking to end pregnancies through use of the so-called abortion pill to have an ultrasound examination.

If it becomes law, the proposal would make Indiana the ninth state to require an ultrasound prior to an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Senators voted 33 to 16 to approve the measure, advancing it for consideration by the state House of Representatives, which like the Senate is controlled by a Republican super-majority.

Republican Governor Mike Pence, a former U.S. congressman who strongly opposes abortion and championed federal attempts to cut off funding for abortion provider Planned Parenthood, is expected to sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.

The bill, as first introduced by Republican state Senator Travis Holdman, would have required two ultrasounds before a woman could obtain a prescription for the abortion pill, officially known as RU486. It was amended to allow the doctor providing the drug to decide if a second exam was needed.

"It is a matter of the mother's health," said Holdman. It is dangerous to administer RU486 in some cases, such as if the fertilized egg implants outside the womb of the woman.

The bill as passed also would require clinics where RU486 medication is dispensed to meet the same standards as a facility that performs surgical abortions, a provision opponents said could force an Indiana clinic to close.

The two-pill abortion medication called RU486 has been legally available in the United States since 2000. By 2008 it accounted for about one-fourth of U.S. abortions performed before nine weeks of gestation, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

As approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the two drugs - mifepristone and misoprostol - are dispensed by prescription directly from a physician. They are not available in pharmacies. The medication is generally prescribed for ending pregnancies of less than eight weeks.

Opponents of the bill said it would effectively require women seeking an RU486 prescription to undergo an invasive transvaginal ultrasound probe, because that is the only exam capable of providing the information mandated by the bill during early stages of pregnancy.

The bill language does not specify the type of ultrasound required, and Holdman said a normal ultrasound would suffice.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana President Betty Cockrum said the new licensing requirements could force a Lafayette, Indiana, clinic that provides non-surgical abortion services to close.

"It's politics, pure and simple," Cockrum said, adding that requiring the clinic to meet surgical standards would not improve patient safety.

(Reporting by Susan Guyett; Editing by Steve Gorman, David Bailey, Greg McCune and Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indiana-senate-backs-requiring-ultrasound-abortion-pill-220238798.html

dancing with the stars cast charlize theron barbra streisand barbra streisand hugh jackman renee zellweger catherine zeta jones

Donkey, buffalo found in South African meat products

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Donkey, water buffalo and other unconventional ingredients have been found in almost two thirds of hamburgers and sausages tested in South Africa, a study released on Tuesday showed.

The tests by the University of Stellenbosch were planned before a scandal broke out in Europe over horsemeat labelled as beef that raised concerns worldwide over the risks to human health from a complex and nebulous meat supply chain.

"Our study confirms that the mislabelling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labelling regulations, but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts," co-author Louw Hoffman of the university's Department of Animal Sciences, said in a statement.

Soya, donkey, goat, water buffalo and plant material were found in up to 68 percent of the 139 minced meats, burger patties, delicatessen meats, sausages and dried meats tested by the university. The items were not listed as ingredients.

Pork and chicken were the most common fillers found in products that were not supposed to contain them, according to the study that used DNA testing techniques and was published in the journal Food Control.

No similar discoveries had been made over the past two years, when DNA testing became more widely used in South Africa.

Stricter food labelling laws came into effect in the continent's largest economy in March last year, with mandatory information required on content, country of origin and allergens.

But there is no mandatory government testing of food sold in South Africa.

"It is a wake-up call for the industry to abide with the new labelling regulations," Hoffman, a noted game meat researcher, told Reuters.

He said extensive tests over two weeks of more than 100 samples had found no trace of horse meat.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/donkey-buffalo-found-south-african-meat-products-140125978.html

bo jackson bo jackson hanukkah justin tv justin tv Sarah Savage Jaimie Alexander

Researchers say Stuxnet was deployed against Iran in 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Researchers at Symantec Corp have uncovered a version of the Stuxnet computer virus that was used to attack Iran's nuclear program in November 2007, two years earlier than previously thought.

Stuxnet, which is widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered in 2010 after it was used to attack a uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Iran. It was the first publicly known example of a virus being used to attack industrial machinery.

Symantec researchers said on Tuesday they have uncovered a piece of code, which they called "Stuxnet 0.5," among the thousands of versions of the virus they recovered from infected machines.

They found evidence Stuxnet 0.5 was in development as early as 2005, when Iran was still setting up its uranium enrichment facility, and the virus was deployed in 2007, the same year the Natanz facility went online.

"It is really mind blowing that they were thinking about creating a project like that in 2005," Symantec researcher Liam O'Murchu told Reuters.

Security experts who reviewed Symantec's 18-page report on Stuxnet 0.5 said it showed the cyber weapon was already powerful enough to cripple output at Natanz as far back as six years ago.

"This attack could have damaged many centrifuges without destroying so many that the plant operator would have become suspicious," said a report by the Institute for Science and International Security, which is led by former United Nations weapons inspector David Albright and closely monitors Iran's nuclear program.

ALTERNATE APPROACH

Although it is unclear what damage Stuxnet 0.5 might have caused, Symantec said it was designed to attack the Natanz facility by opening and closing valves that feed uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges, without the knowledge of the operators of the facility.

Previously dissected versions of Stuxnet are all believed to have been used to sabotage the enrichment process by changing the speeds of those gas-spinning centrifuges without the knowledge of their operators.

"The report provides even more concrete evidence that the United States has been activity trying to derail the Iranian nuclear program since it was restarted under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reign," said John Bumgarner, an expert on cyber weapons who works as chief technology officer with the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit.

The Natanz facility has been the subject of intense scrutiny by the United States, Israel and allies, who charge that Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.

The United States began building a complex cyber weapon during the George W. Bush administration to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, U.S. officials familiar with the program have told Reuters. The government has declined to comment on the reports and has launched investigations into leaks on its cyber programs.

Since Stuxnet's discovery in 2010, security researchers have uncovered a handful of other sophisticated pieces of computer code they believe were developed in tandem to engage in espionage and warfare. These include Flame, Duqu and Gauss.

Stuxnet 0.5 was written using much of the same code as Flame, according to Symantec's report, which was published at the RSA security conference in San Francisco, an event attended by more than 20,000 security professionals.

Symantec said it has now uncovered four versions of Stuxnet and there are likely others that have not been discovered yet. Researchers at Symantec and elsewhere are still trying to understand the full extent of the virus's capabilities.

"This fills in some of the gaps," said O'Murchu.

He said the researchers found no evidence to prove who was behind Stuxnet.

Later versions of Stuxnet, which manipulates industrial control software known as Step 7 from Siemens AG, used more sophisticated methods to infect computer systems, he said.

Siemens previously said it plugged the security holes that allowed Stuxnet to breach its software. A company spokesman had no immediate comment on Symantec's latest research.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle in San Francisco. Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington. Editing by Andre Grenon; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/researchers-stuxnet-deployed-against-iran-2007-175155040--sector.html

NICOLAUS COPERNICUS kurt cobain Las Vegas shooting Jerry Buss Chris Bosh wife josh duhamel josh smith

Wary of crises, Americans tune out budget cut talk

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio wraps up a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, where he and GOP leaders challenged President Obama and the Senate to avoid the automatic spending cuts set to take effect in four days. Boehner complained that the House, with Republicans in the majority, has twice passed bills that would replace the across-the-board cuts known as the "sequester" with more targeted reductions, while the Senate, controlled by the Democrats, has not acted. He is followed by Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas is at left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio wraps up a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, where he and GOP leaders challenged President Obama and the Senate to avoid the automatic spending cuts set to take effect in four days. Boehner complained that the House, with Republicans in the majority, has twice passed bills that would replace the across-the-board cuts known as the "sequester" with more targeted reductions, while the Senate, controlled by the Democrats, has not acted. He is followed by Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas is at left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., and the Senate GOP leadership, face reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, to answer questions on the looming automatic spending cuts, following the weekly Republican strategy session. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. answers questions on the looming automatic spending cuts following a Democratic strategy session, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Reid also responded to House Speaker John Boehner who used salty language earlier in the day to prod the Senate to act on legislation to replace the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is pulling out all the stops to warn just what could happen if automatic budget cuts kick in. Americans are reacting with a collective yawn.

They know the shtick: Obama raises the alarm, Democrats and Republicans accuse each other of holding a deal hostage, there's a lot of yelling on cable news, and then finally, when everyone has made their points, a deal is struck and the day is saved.

Maybe not this time. Two days before $85 billion in cuts are set to hit federal programs with all the precision of a wrecking ball, there are no signs that the White House and Republicans in Congress are even negotiating. Both sides appear quietly resigned to the prospect that this is one bullet we just may not dodge.

Still, for all the grim predictions, Americans seem to be flipping the channel to something a little less, well, boring. They wonder, haven't we been here before?

It's like deja vu, says Patrick Naylon, who runs an audiovisual firm in San Francisco: "The same stuff, over and over again."

Texas native Corby Biddle, 53, isn't losing sleep over the cuts. No way the government will let vital services collapse, he said as he visited tourist attractions this week in downtown Atlanta.

"It will get resolved. They will kick the can down the road," Biddle said.

Usually, that's exactly what happens. Even the cuts behind the current panic were originally supposed to kick in on Jan. 1 ? part of the fiscal-cliff combo of spending cuts and tax hikes that economists warned could nudge the nation back into recession. For all the high drama, lawmakers finally acted on New Year's Day, compromising on taxes and punting the spending cuts to March 1.

And the blunt instrument known as the "sequester" that's set to deliver the cuts? That too was the progeny of another moment of government-by-brinksmanship, a concession that in 2011 made possible the grand bargain that saved the U.S. from a first-ever default on its debt.

Even if the current cuts go through, the impact won't be immediate. Federal workers would be notified next week that they will have to take up to a day every week off without pay, but the furloughs won't start for a month due to notification requirements. That will give negotiators some breathing room to keep working on a deal.

But you can only cry wolf so many times before people just stop paying attention.

"I know you guys must get tired of it," Obama told a crowd in Virginia on Tuesday. "Didn't we just solve this thing? Now we've got another thing coming up?"

Three out of 4 Americans say they aren't following the spending cuts issue very closely, according to a Pew Research Center poll released this week. It's a significant drop from the nearly 4 in 10 who in December said they were closely following the fiscal-cliff debate.

Public data from Google's search engine shows that at its peak in December, the search term "fiscal cliff" was about 10 times as popular as "sequestration" has been in recent days. Even "debt ceiling," not a huge thriller for the web-surfing crowd, maxed out in July 2011 at about three times the searches the sequester is now getting.

"We're now approaching the next alleged deadline of doom. And voters, having been told previously that the world might end, found it did not in the past and are becoming more skeptical that it will in the future," said Peter Brown of the nonpartisan Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

And let's face it: When it comes to policy issues that can really put an audience to sleep, "sequestration" is right up there with filibuster reform, chained CPI and carried interest.

For all the angst about layoffs, furloughs and slashes to government contracts, the markets don't seem to be rattled, either. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after falling below 13,000 at the height of the fiscal cliff debacle, has been buoyant ever since, spending the last month hovering just below 14,000.

"I shrug my shoulders because I don't believe any of those severe cuts will go through," said Karen Jensen, a retired hospital administrator who stopped to talk in New York's Times Square. "Life goes on as it has before."

But if the Obama administration hasn't managed to convince Americans these spending cuts could be the real deal, it's not for lack of trying.

Each day the cuts grow nearer sees a new dire warning from the White House about another government function that will take a hit if they go into effect ? what White House chief of staff Denis McDonough has called a "devastating list of horribles." Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned Monday that her agency will be forced to furlough 5,000 border patrol agents. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said 70,000 preschool kids could be removed from Head Start. Fewer air traffic controllers could mean 90-minute delays or longer in major cities, and visiting hours at all 398 national parks are likely to be cut, the administration has said.

The White House has circulated 51 reports ? one for each state, plus the District of Columbia ? localizing the effects of the cuts. On Tuesday, Obama took his cautionary tale to a shipbuilding site in Newport News, Va., calling attention to how the cuts could impede the military. The White House says in Virginia alone, about 90,000 civilians working for the Defense Department would be furloughed, for a nearly $650 million reduction in gross pay.

"The president needs to stop campaigning, stop trying to scare the American people, stop trying to scare the states," Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said Monday after governors from both parties met with Obama behind closed doors. "Now's the time to cut spending. It can be done without jeopardizing the economy. It can be done without jeopardizing critical services."

The age-old Republican desire for a scaled-back federal government makes it clear why, on the one hand, the GOP isn't scrambling to avert the cuts ? especially when Obama insists on more tax revenues in any deal to turn them off. On the other hand, Obama is banking on polls that show if the cuts go through, Republicans are likely to bear most of the blame.

Both parties agree that if you're going to cut spending, an indiscriminate mechanism like the sequester is the wrong way to do it. After all, the whole point of the endeavor was to set in motion ramifications so unbearable that lawmakers would be forced to come together and hash out a better plan before the deadline.

Count James Ford of Louisville, Ky., among those still holding out hope.

"They'll come up with something to keep the thing going," he said. "They always do."

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta, Jake Pearson in New York and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-27-US-Budget-Battle-Crisis-Fatigue/id-6f49e5b15f2341808dfb6b99bd6f0468

frozen planet creighton new smyrna beach st. joseph puerto rico primary manning peyton

EADS, ThyssenKrupp attacked by Chinese hackers: report

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Airbus parent EADS and German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp recorded major attacks by Chinese hackers in 2012, German magazine Der Spiegel reported, citing unidentified people within the two companies.

That is a trend seen throughout the German economy, where companies are increasingly being attacked by Chinese hackers, the magazine said, citing information from the German government.

A spokesman for EADS told Reuters the attacks were "standard attacks" and the company was working closely with government authorities on the issue of cyber security.

ThyssenKrupp also confirmed an attack, saying it took place in the United States from a Chinese internet address and that it had no information as to what data the attackers obtained, according to Der Spiegel.

ThyssenKrupp was not immediately available for comment when tried by Reuters. The Chinese embassy in Berlin and the German economy ministry were also not immediately available to comment.

When confronted with similar accusations in the past, China's Defence Ministry has issued a flat denial and said hacking is a global problem and that China is one of world's biggest victims of cyber assaults.

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution recorded almost 1,100 digital attacks from foreign secret services in 2012, mostly targeted on politicians involved with energy and finance, Der Spiegel said.

Chinese hackers tend to take aim at the largest corporations and most innovative technology companies, using trick emails that appear to come from trusted colleagues but bear attachments tainted with viruses, spyware and other malicious software, according to Western cyber investigators.

(Reporting by Peter Dinkloh, Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eads-thyssenkrupp-attacked-chinese-hackers-report-141459952--sector.html

tracy morgan Chase.com Talk Like a Pirate Day raiders Demi Lovato iOS 6 Features big brother

Barnes & Noble looking to scale back on hardware efforts

Barnes & Noble may be aiming to lower the investment it puts into its Nook hardware efforts, sources of the New York Times report. Following less than stellar results in its Nook division -- which encompasses e-readers, tablets and e-book sales -- B&N executives are looking into the amount of money they spend on devices that aren't directly profitable. The Nook tablets, which are well known for being cheap for their hardware and relatively easy to hack, are simply too low margin for the nation's largest book chain to be focusing on.

“They are not completely getting out of the hardware business, but they are going to lean a lot more on the comprehensive digital catalog of content,” reports the unnamed source.

The hope going forward, it seems, will be for B&N to focus on licensing its software and content to other manufacturers to take advantage of. This is a complete turn-around from last year, when the book giant expressed that Nook was to be the future of its business. It's also interesting to look at in comparison to Amazon, which seems quite content selling hardware at break-even (or even loss) prices to push sales of digital content. Companies can only take initiatives so far before they need to consider the bottom line, though.

Source: New York Times

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/kLtdBLhEDtU/story01.htm

colt mccoy arbor day mike adams janoris jenkins john edwards trial brandon weeden felicia day

Video: Pope Benedict makes final Sunday blessing

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50933219/

nor easter veep los angeles kings earth day timothy leary jonathan frid pujols

Safety on everyone's mind at Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Raymond Gober parked his motorcycle outside Daytona International Speedway, climbed off and briefly considered bringing his helmet into the track.

"I was about to wear it in, but I knew everyone would be laughing at me," said Gober, a pastor from outside Atlanta.

Maybe not.

Safety was on everyone's mind before and during the Daytona 500 on Sunday, a day after a horrific wreck in a second-tier NASCAR series race hurled chunks of debris, including a heavy tire, into the stands and injured nearly 30 people.

With small spots of blood still soaked into the concrete seating area, the accident raised questions about the safety of fans at race tracks. Should fences be higher and sturdier? Should grandstands be farther from the track?

NASCAR has long been a big draw because of its thrilling speeds, tight-knit racing, frantic finishes and the ability to get so close to the action.

That proximity comes with some risk.

And after Saturday's 12-car melee on the final lap of the Nationwide Series opener, some questioned whether that risk outweighed the reward.

"These are the best seats in the house, but they're also dangerous," Gober said.

Gober was one of thousands of fans who returned to Daytona less than 24 hours after Kyle Larson's car flew into the fence, crumbled into pieces and sprayed parts at spectators.

Early in the 500-mile "Great American Race," a nine-car wreck took out several top contenders.

Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart and 2007 race winner Kevin Harvick were knocked out.

The wreck started when Kasey Kahne let off the gas to slow as they neared the first turn at Daytona International Speedway ? not too far from Saturday's near-disaster. Kyle Busch tried to do the same, but couldn't avoid contact.

Busch sent Kahne spinning across the track. Juan Pablo Montoya, 2010 race winner Jamie McMurray and defending series champion Brad Keselowski also were involved.

Thankfully, the wrecking cars stayed on the track. Things would be considerably different had they done the same Saturday.

"You don't have time to react, but I just remember thinking, 'This is gonna hurt,'" said Steve Bradford, of Dade City. "We were showered with debris."

Gober picked up a bolt that landed next to his left foot and plans to take it home as a souvenir from a crash that could have considerably worse.

He and Bradford have been coming to races at Daytona for years, always seeking out scalped tickets so they can get ultra-close to the cars zooming by at 200 mph.

Now, though?

"Needless to say, we won't be here next year," Bradford said ? meaning the seats, not the race.

He pointed at the upper level.

"Next year, we'll be up there," he said.

Not everyone felt the same way.

John and Andrea Crawford, of Streetsboro, Ohio, love sitting a few rows up. They were there Saturday and back again Sunday, just like so many in that seating section.

The area had rubber marks on seats hit by the tire. Several fans pointed out a chair bent backward, the spot one man was sitting when he got pummeled by the 60-pound tire and wheel.

"I'm not nervous," Andrea Crawford said. "It doesn't happen that much."

When Rick Barasso arrived at his seats, he noticed a few reporters and some tire marks. He asked what was going on and then couldn't stop smiling as he waved his friends over and shared details with them.

"These should be good seats," he said. "I mean, what are the chances?"

Maybe small, but there's little doubt the latest fallout could prompt NASCAR and track officials to consider changes ? at Daytona and elsewhere.

Daytona has plans to remodel the grandstands. Track President Joie Chitwood said Saturday's wreck could prompt sturdier fences or stands farther from the action.

"It's tough to connect the two right now in terms of a potential redevelopment and what occurred," Chitwood said. "We were prepared yesterday, had emergency medical respond. As we learn from this, you bet: If there are things that we can incorporate into the future, whether it's the current property now or any other redevelopment, we will.

"The key is sitting down with NASCAR, finding out the things that happened and how we deal with them."

Daytona reexamined its fencing and ended up replacing the entire thing following Carl Edwards' scary crash at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama in 2009. Edwards' car sailed into the fence and spewed debris into the stands.

"We've made improvements since then," Chitwood said. "I think that's the key: that we learn from this and figure out what else we need to do."

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford said Sunday that things should be done across auto racing. It was just 16 months ago that IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon was killed when his car crashed into a fence at Las Vegas.

"Maybe we need a double fence, one behind the other, with maybe a space in between to do something to stop this," Rutherford said. "There's a lot of things. I'm sure NASCAR and the IndyCar series are looking at everything to make it safer. What happened yesterday was a terrible thing.

"The drivers, we accept that. That's part of the game. We have to roll the dice and move on. But you don't want to involve the fans."

Chitwood said any fans who felt uncomfortable with their up-close seating for the Daytona 500 could exchange their tickets for spots elsewhere.

"If fans are unhappy with their seating location or if they have any incidents, we would relocate them," Chitwood said. "So we'll treat that area like we do every other area of the grandstand. If a fan is not comfortable where they're sitting, we make every accommodation we can."

Few fans seemed willing to relocate.

"Real NASCAR fans ain't scared," said Zeb Daniels, who was attending his fifth Daytona 500 with his daughter. "If we see anything coming to the fence, we'll hit the floor and pray."

So why take a chance?

"We come for the thrill, the excitement," Daniels said. "We can feel the heat, the tire rubber in our eyes."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/safety-everyones-mind-daytona-500-194639656--spt.html

veep los angeles kings earth day timothy leary jonathan frid pujols watchmen

Facebook to keep our old memories in 'cold storage' at new data centre

Facebook is building a vast new data centre in order to archive all of the content its members rarely access.

A brand new 16,000 square-foot facility is under construction in Prineville, Oregon in the United States, where Facebook plans to keep all of those old photos, wall posts and status updates from bygone eras.

The social network claims that 8 per cent of the images uploaded account for around 85 per cent of the traffic generated by photos at any one time.

So, the idea behind the new slow-running 'cold storage' centre is to cut Facebook's energy costs by making the rarely-accessed content less immediately available.

Won't impact experience

However, this doesn't mean you're going to have to wait in line to take a stroll down memory lane and bring up your photo album from 'Kavos '08'.

"The principle will be so that it doesn't impact the user experience ? so think about a matter of seconds, or milliseconds," a Facebook spokesperson said.

The new facility, which joins two others in Prineville, will allow for the storage of an Exabyte of data, which is the equivalent of 250 million DVDs.

Via Telegraph

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/all-blogs/~3/EkA0Cs6540k/story01.htm

the grey review demi moore 911 call ipo jim rome ufc on fox 2 weigh ins convulsions john tyler

Binghamton U. gives mall shoppers a college sampler

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20130223/NEWS01/302230047/1112/

mad cow disease rampart jimmy fallon jimmy fallon nick collins dave matthews ambien

Sixth grade girl takes on Philadelphia archdiocese for right to play football

Caroline Pla, 11, is fighting for the right to continue playing football in Philadelphia's Catholic Youth Organization league. She has been in the league for a year already, but now the Philadelphia archdiocese is threatening to enforce the league's boys-only rule.

By Mary Claire Dale,?Associated Press / February 23, 2013

Caroline Pla, 11, accompanied by her mother Marycecelia "Seal" Pla, listens to a question during an interview Thursday, in Doylestown, Pa. The Plas are fighting the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for the right to continue playing church sponsored youth football.

Matt Rourke/AP

Enlarge

The Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia doesn't need another public relations headache after years of priest-abuse and school-closure headlines, but it's got one in the form of a pony-tailed 11-year-old athlete.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

Sixth-grader Caroline Pla is fighting the archdiocese for the right to keep playing church-sponsored youth football.

The soft-spoken twin has been battling boys on the gridiron since she was 5. She's played the last two seasons in a Catholic Youth Organization league, where the 5-foot-3, 110-pound offensive tackle and defensive end made the all-star team.

But the archdiocese may put the kibosh on her Catholic youth league career. While at least a few US dioceses let girls play football, and about 1,600 girls play on US high school teams, the Philadelphia league is open only to boys.

"First they said it was a boys sport. Then they said it was a safety issue. Then they said it was inappropriate touching. I think they are just constantly looking for excuses to not change it," Caroline said Thursday at her home in Buckingham Township, Bucks County.

She first played in a public Pop Warner league, then moved along with her teammates to the Catholic Youth Organization league in fifth grade. After one season without a hitch, she learned last fall that an overlooked boys-only rule would be enforced. The archdiocese, though, agreed to let her finish the season.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is now reviewing the ban, with a decision expected next month after a panel of coaches, parents and doctors weigh in.

"Traditionally, football is a boys-only sport due to its full contact nature," the church said in a statement. "Most parents and players have preferred this; some now disagree."

Caroline sent Chaput an email in January, explaining that her Catholic youth league team had been the best chapter in her burgeoning, three-season sports career.

By then, she and her parents, George and Marycecelia Pla, had taken to the airwaves to lobby for a rule change. An online petition has attracted more than 100,000 signatures, and Caroline recently appeared on Ellen DeGeneris' show as well as newscasts.

"I'm perplexed that you would contact me last, after publicizing your situation in both the national and regional media," Chaput wrote in a January email shared by the family. "That kind of approach has no effect on my decision-making. CYO rules exist for good reason."

The Women's Sports Foundation believes there are instead good reasons to reverse the rule ? and not just for the sake of girls.

"What the diocese is missing is all the wonderful things that come out of co-ed sports. The mutual respect that lasts a lifetime between girls and boys," said lawyer Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist in swimming who now is senior director of advocacy for the Women's Sports Foundation.

From a safety perspective, pre-pubescent girls and boys are often the same size. And legally, private or religious groups that receive any type of federal funding ? through low-income lunch programs or other aid ? must abide by Title IX, the 1972 law that guarantees girls equal access to sports, she said. There are exceptions for contact sports, but they cannot be invoked once girls have been allowed to play in a program, she said.

Hogshead-Makar advises colleges to make sports activities co-ed whenever possible ? in the weight room, on the team bus, on the court. She believes the mutual contact fosters respect and reduces rates of violence against women.

No matter how Chaput rules, Caroline could still play football next season for Pop Warner or her school team. And she has no plans to play in high school because she doesn't think she'll be big enough to play her position at that level.

Her brother plays on the high school freshman team, while her twin sister and an older sister have been cheerleaders.

"Right now, I'm one of the biggest because I've hit my growth spurt and a lot of them haven't," said Caroline, who scored her first touchdown this past season on a 15-yard run. "It's just really fun."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6vcksbq8qtM/Sixth-grade-girl-takes-on-Philadelphia-archdiocese-for-right-to-play-football

new york giants hot wings recipe 7 layer dip recipe chris carter superbowl 2012 kickoff time what time is the super bowl 2012 nfl mvp

'Sequester' standoff need not be win-lose

Americans, not just politicians, are torn by so many choices in the budget standoff, now called the 'sequester.' One way for President Obama and Congress to avoid the consequences of sequestration is to adopt the concept of 'settling,' as put forth by one political theorist.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board / February 24, 2013

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer speaks to a reporter before a meeting of the National Governors Association Feb. 23. Washington's budget stalemate could seriously undermine the US economy, the exasperated governors said.

AP Photo

Enlarge

Americans identify with people who are strivers. It is a trait anchored in ?the pursuit of happiness.? But personal striving can often lead to public strife. Take the ?sequester? and its March 1 deadline for Congress to avoid big budget cuts.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

The sequestration battle is a prime example of a government failure to sort out the conflicting demands on the public purse from so many strivers. A new Pew survey, for instance, finds Americans can?t agree on what to cut in federal spending ? health, military, education, etc. How then can President Obama and the 535 voting members of Congress ever compromise?

But the excessive demands of strivers don?t usually have the same effect on local government. How is it that most cities, towns, and counties are able to settle their differences and balance their budgets? Why this difference between the federal and the local?

One answer lies in that word ? settle.

In a recent book entitled ?Settling,? political theorist Robert E. Goodin explores when and how we should settle in order to free ourselves to better discern and focus on our strivings. He suggests we ?prune our decision tree? as a way to achieve reconciliation and to strive better.

At the local level, voters and their representatives are less boggled by complexity and more familiar with issues. Local officials aren?t as paralyzed by choices, as many consumers are in a food store when they face a hundred brands of breakfast cereal.

Mr. Goodin, an American and philosophy professor at the University of Essex, in England, seeks to elevate settling to a virtue, in part to reduce the fear of making a wrong choice in a complex world.

Settling, he says, is not in opposition to striving but necessary for it. It is not resignation or agreeing to an unwanted prospect. It is a let-it-be-for-now ideal ? with an emphasis on the ?for now.? It is humility based on patience and an improved perception of goals.

Excessive striving can lead to disaster, such as that of the doomed Antarctic expedition of explorer Robert Scott. But striving tempered by settling can lead to victory, such as Mao Zedong?s Long March (a tactical and temporary retreat).

Modern technologies, such as the Internet and smart phones, have enhanced the tendency for restless desire and extreme behavior ? or ?chasing rabbits,? as Goodin says. People are in need of a more coherent life with fixed constants that can create trust and allow agreement, he says.

Mr. Obama, he points out, has evolved from the candidate of 2008 with lofty rhetoric and many goals to the president of 2013 who has learned to focus on fewer goals and knows when to settle.

The same sort of settling must happen with members of Congress if Washington is to end its fiscal crisis. Too many of them, both Democrats and Republican, are striving to an extreme, often to please narrow interests, and too often in many directions at once. The closest that the nation came recently to a fiscal settling was the 2010 deficit reduction panel known as Simpson-Bowles, a bipartisan letting-go of set positions ? for now.

Settling is not making a habit of making do ? of being only ?good enough? ? forever. It is interim deprivation on purpose. It is a prudent art that can be used in public debates about government. It is a value to be cherished and perfected as much as striving.

In order to strive, Goodin advises, we must settle. That common quality need not be an uncommon virtue.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/xvR0KUa23PE/Sequester-standoff-need-not-be-win-lose

demi moore 911 call ipo jim rome ufc on fox 2 weigh ins convulsions john tyler chuck

Syria opposition spurns US, Russia invitations

Muzaffar Salman / REUTERS

Demonstrators hold a giant opposition flag during a protest against Syria's President Bashar Assad in Bustan al-Qasr district in Aleppo, Feb. 22, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman

By Reuters

The main Syrian opposition grouping has said it turned down invitations to visit Washington and Moscow to protest what it described as international silence over destruction of the ancient city of Aleppo by Syrian missile strikes.

A statement late on Friday by the Syrian National Coalition, an umbrella group of opposition political forces, said it also had suspended participation in a Friends of Syria conference of international powers due in Rome next month to protest the attacks it said have caused many civilian casualties.

"Hundreds or civilians have been killed by Scud missile strikes. Aleppo, the city and the civilization, is being destroyed systematically," the statement said.

---

"The Russian leadership especially bears moral and political responsibility for supplying the regime with weapons," it added, referring to Moscow's status as a leading ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"In protest of this shameful international stand, the coalition has decided to suspend its participation in the Rome conference for the Friends of Syria and decline the invitations to visit Russia and the United States."

The invitations had been extended to opposition coalition leader Mouaz Alkhatib after he met the Russian and U.S. foreign ministers in Munich this month.

The invitations were made shortly after Alkhatib offered to negotiate Assad's departure with members of the Syrian government who were not tainted by having participated in the crackdown on the 23-month-long revolt.

Rocket attacks on eastern districts of Aleppo, Syria's industrial and commercial hub, killed at least 29 people on Friday and trapped a family of 10 in the ruins of their home, opposition activists in the city said.

On Tuesday activists said at least 20 people were killed when a large missile hit the rebel-held district of Jabal Badro, also in the east of the contested city.

Reuters

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/23/17071508-syria-opposition-spurns-us-russia-invitations?lite

babe ruth new jersey nets nba playoff schedule rondo morris claiborne mothers day gifts clippers

Cuba's Raul Castro raises possibility of retiring

HAVANA (AP) ? Cuban President Raul Castro has unexpectedly raised the possibility of leaving his post, saying Friday that he is old and has a right to retire. But he did not say when he might do so or if such a move was imminent.

The Cuban leader is scheduled to be named by parliament to a new five-year term Sunday, and Castro urged reporters to listen to his speech that day.

"I am going to resign," Castro said at a joint appearance with visiting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, an enigmatic smile on his face. It was not clear whether he was joking.

"I am going to be 82 years old," Castro added. "I have the right to retire, don't you think?"

When reporters continued to shout questions about his plans for the next five years, Castro replied: "Why are you so incredulous?"

He said to listen carefully on Sunday.

"It will be an interesting speech," he said. "Pay attention."

Castro's tone was light and his comments came in informal remarks at a mausoleum dedicated to soldiers from the former Soviet Union who have died around the world.

The Cuban leader has spoken before of his desire to implement a two-term limit for all Cuban government positions, including the presidency. He has also alluded to the limited time he has left to overhaul the island's weak Marxist economy.

That has led many to speculate that this upcoming term would be his last, though term limits have never been codified into Cuban law.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland had no comment on Castro's remarks.

Most Havana residents had not heard about the comments, which were not shown on Cuban television, although other footage from his appearance with Medvedev was shown. Many reacted with skepticism.

"Who would they put in?" asked Marta Alvarez, a 45-year-old housewife walking through Old Havana. "But I don't think it would be now. It would happen in five years."

Castro will be 86 when his next term ends in 2018. Up until now, all eyes had been on who would emerge as Castro's first and second vice presidents during Sunday's proceedings. The positions are currently occupied by two loyal octogenarians who fought in the 1959 revolution.

Putting someone younger in one of those roles would be the first sign that Castro was settling on a potential next-generation successor, something he and his brother Fidel have never done, even as many comrades have succumbed to old age.

As far back as December 2010, Castro began to reflect on his responsibility, and that of his aging generation, to right Cuba's economy, noting that the actuarial tables leave them few remaining years.

"The time we have left is short, the task is enormous," he told lawmakers in his year-end speech that year. "I think we have an obligation ... to set (the country) on the right course."

When Raul Castro does leave the political stage, it would end more than a half century of unbroken rule by the two brothers, who came to power in 1959 at the head of a revolution against U.S.-backed strongman Fulgencio Batista.

Armando Gutierrez, a 78-year-old Cuban-American lawyer in Florida and veteran of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, said he hoped Castro wasn't joking about retiring, but doubted that whoever follows would bring true political change.

"Can you imagine 54 years?" Gutierrez said. "Not even the Roman emperors lasted that long."

Relations with the United States have been sour since shortly after the revolution. One of the key provisions of the 51-year U.S. economic embargo on Cuba stipulates that it cannot be lifted while either of the Castros is in power.

Castro has implemented a series of economic and social reforms since taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, but the island is still ruled by one party. Fidel Castro is 86 and retired, and has seemed increasingly frail in recent appearances.

The elder Castro was also visited by Medvedev, Cuban state-run media reported. Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that the two countries signed an agreement on restructuring more than $20 billion in Soviet-era debt Cuba owes.

The terms of the restructuring weren't announced. The debt has been a point of contention between Cuba and Russia for years. It was originally built up in rubles to pay the Soviet Union for services provided in the 1980s, and Cuba has questioned how much it should be worth today.

___

Associated Press journalists Camilo Losada and Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana and Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Paul Haven on Twitter: www.twitter.com/paulhaven

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cubas-raul-castro-raises-possibility-retiring-235006986.html

target jason wu gi joe jason wu for target collection nick diaz vs carlos condit the patriot hall of fame occupy dc

Video: At 50, Michael Jordan is still going strong

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50847889/

safety not guaranteed lifehouse al gore la dodgers lawrence o donnell magic johnson jetblue pilot

French leader Hollande's approval rating dips: poll

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's approval rating slipped to 37 percent in February as pessimism about the economy overtook satisfaction with his military intervention against Islamist rebels in Mali, a poll showed on Sunday.

The IFOP survey published in weekly paper JDD showed that Hollande's backing had dropped by one percentage point since the previous month, giving him the same popularity rate as that of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Dissatisfaction with the Socialist president was strongest among small business owners, 73 percent of whom were unhappy; blue-collar workers, with 70 percent; and private sector workers, with 66 percent, the pollster said.

The findings show negative views on Hollande's economic policies overshadowing feelings that he displayed strong leadership last month in sending French troops to Mali to help its government push back an offensive by Islamist rebels.

Grim economic news has dogged him since the start of 2013 as factory closures kept up pace, unemployment hovered near 15 percent and the national auditor, La Cour des Comptes, published a report highlighting lax management of state funds.

Meanwhile, the government has yet to find a buyer for the Petit-Couronne oil refinery in Normandy, which is set to close in April, and strife has worsened at Peugeot PSA's Aulnay plant, which is set to close in 2014.

The government also said for the first time that it was unlikely to bring the public deficit down to 3 percent of GDP by the end of 2013 in line with European targets, acknowledging doubts expressed by independent economists.

Cour des Comptes chief Didier Migaud said politicians' unwillingness to strip popular programs and attack niches in government was feeding "addiction" to public spending - which is higher in France as a percentage of GDP than any Western country aside from Denmark.

However, Migaud said the European Commission should allow for cyclical variations in the way it measures how countries have performed with regard to deficit targets, as EU-wide austerity policies had crimped activity.

"It's clear that we cannot think without taking the economic context into consideration," he told Europe 1 radio. "You see that growth is weak. Should we be taking that into consideration? Probably."

(Reporting by Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-leader-hollandes-approval-rating-dips-poll-135521421--business.html

santorum drops out bby zimmerman website miami marlins marlins marlins facebook buys instagram

Fort Myers readies for Edison Festival of Light Parade

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.nbc-2.com/video?clipId=8403112&clipFormat=&topVideoCatNo=97711

alex o loughlin the godfather cape breton bowling green marysville tornados dr. seuss

EU launches wider horsemeat tests

15 February 2013 Last updated at 12:50 ET

EU member states plan to start testing immediately for horse DNA in processed beef foods and to detect an illegal medicinal drug in horsemeat.

The decision came at a meeting of the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain, focused on the horsemeat scandal involving 12 European states.

Horse DNA has been found in numerous processed beef frozen meals.

Dutch officials have raided a meat processing plant suspected of mislabelling beef, prosecutors say.

The unnamed plant in the southern province of North Brabant is being checked as part of an investigation into an estimated 100 firms by the prosecutor's office and the government's food and consumer watchdog, the NVWA.

Norway and Austria are the latest two European countries to find horsemeat being sold as beef, discovering it in ready-to-eat meals.

Previously, the mislabelled meat was discovered in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany. Suspicious products have also been withdrawn in the Netherlands as tests are conducted there.

French supplier Spanghero has apologised to UK consumers over the horsemeat, but denied selling it deliberately.

Month of tests

The widening scandal has highlighted the complexity of the food industry's supply chains across Europe.

Continue reading the main story

Meat scandal

• In mid-January, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by UK supermarket chains
• Subsequently, up to 100% horsemeat found in several ranges of prepared frozen food in Britain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Norway
• Concerns that a drug used to treat horses, and which may be harmful to humans, could be in food chain
• Meat traced from France through Cyprus and the Netherlands to Romanian abattoirs
• Investigation suggests adulteration was not accidental but the work of a criminal conspiracy

Under the EU plan announced on Friday, 2,250 processed beef samples will be tested across the EU, ranging from 10 to 150 per member state. The samples will come from foods on sale in retail outlets and marketed as containing beef.

Separately, tests will be conducted for possible residues in horsemeat of phenylbutazone, also known as "bute".

The testing regime will be one sample per 50 tonnes of horsemeat, and each country will carry out a minimum of five tests. Phenylbutazone is a veterinary medicine whose use in livestock, including horses, is illegal.

On Thursday the FSA said eight horses killed in the UK had tested positive for bute, and meat from six of them may have entered the food chain in France.

But England's chief medical officer said the highest level detected posed "very little risk to human health".

The EU test results will be fed into the 27-nation bloc's rapid alert system for food safety. The tests will be carried out over one month, but that may be extended for another two months.

EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg welcomed the swift approval of the plan by EU member states.

"I call on them to keep up the pressure in their efforts to identify a clear picture and a sequence of events," he said in a statement.

"Consumers expect the EU, national authorities and all those involved in the food chain to give them all the reassurance needed as regards what they have on their plates."

'Innocent victims'

The French government has suspended Spanghero's licence, saying it "knowingly" sold horsemeat as beef.

"We are innocent, we are victims, but I want to tell British consumers we are really sorry, we never sold them horsemeat deliberately," Spanghero's sales director Christophe Giry told the BBC.

Continue reading the main story

European press reaction

An editorial in the French left-wing daily Liberation says there is "collective cowardice" in the horsemeat scandal.

"Everybody is passing on the hot lasagne to their neighbour. In the realm of unhealthy eating, everybody is irresponsible."

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung describes the fraud as "criminal, huge and tasteless". But it says the behaviour of German consumers is "in fact hugely tasteless too".

In the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a commentary says "a whole nation shudders as if waste oils had been mixed into its muesli".

Romania's English-language daily Nine O'Clock attacks reporting of the scandal in the UK press, saying "the Brits are far from getting rid of stereotypes... the horsemeat scandal only worsens the fear and aversion towards Romanians".

Source: BBC Monitoring

"The French government put us to death," he added. Veterinary inspectors are visiting Spanghero's premises in southern France.

In the UK three people were arrested for suspected fraud in meat sales on Thursday.

And on Friday catering giant Compass Group and Whitbread, one of Britain's largest hotel chains, said it had found horse DNA in products sold as beef.

Some of the affected burgers and lasagne had been supplied to pubs and schools in the UK and Ireland.

Meanwhile, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said that after 2,501 fresh tests no new products had been identified as containing more than 1% horsemeat. It said the 29 positive results were on seven previously withdrawn products.

'Conspiracy'

In France, ministers said they believed the sale of horsemeat labelled as beef went on for six months and involved about 750 tonnes of meat.

Spanghero imported meat from Romania and sold it on to another company, Comigel, which made frozen ready meals at its factory in Luxembourg for further distribution.

Millions of processed meat products have been withdrawn from supermarket shelves across the EU.

The UK has asked the European investigative agency Europol to co-ordinate a continent-wide investigation into an alleged international conspiracy to pass horsemeat off as beef.

CLICKABLE

French food producer makes order

Comigel HQ in Metz, north-east France, asks its subsidiary, Tavola in Luxembourg, to make food products - including beef lasagne for Findus.

Factory orders meat

The Tavola factory orders the meat from Spanghero in the south of France.

Subcontractor used

Spanghero contacts a subcontractor in Cyprus to source the meat.

Subcontractor enlists trader

The Cypriot subcontractor in turn contacts a trader in the Netherlands.

Trader orders from Romania

The trader in the Netherlands places an order for meat with abattoirs in Romania.

Abattoirs send meat to France

The meat from the abattoirs travels to Spanghero in France. However, Romania rejects claims that it was responsible for wrongly describing the horsemeat from its abattoirs as beef. Horsemeat is always labelled as such, they say. The Romanian authorities claim records show orders had been for horse carcass - easily distinguishable from beef.

Meat used to make products

Spanghero sends the meat to the Comigel subsidiary?s factory in Luxembourg before the finished products are supplied to Findus and retailers across Europe, including the UK. The president of Comigel says the company was unaware the meat was coming from abroad.

Horsemeat found in Ireland and UK

Tests by Irish authorities have found equine DNA in beefburgers made by firms in the Irish Republic and the UK. Traces of horsemeat have also been found in stored meat at another plant in Ireland and one in Northern Ireland. In mainland Britain, police and officials probing alleged horsemeat mislabelling have carried out raids at a slaughterhouse in West Yorkshire and a meat firm near Aberystwyth. Three men were later arrested on suspicion of offences under the Fraud Act..

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21467989#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

tony parker the five year engagement chris kreider correspondents dinner 2012

Lucky Dogs Get Shot at Diabetes Cure - Health News and Views ...

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) ? In news that might one day help humans who struggle with type 1 diabetes every day, Spanish researchers report that a single session of gene therapy injections cured five beagle puppies who had the blood sugar disease.

Even four years later, the dogs showed no signs of diabetes.

?Our data represent the first demonstration of long-term correction of diabetes in a large animal model using gene transfer,? the scientists wrote in the Feb. 7 online issue of Diabetes.

However, the dogs all had a chemically induced version of diabetes that?s meant to model human type 1 diabetes.

In humans, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, which means the body?s own immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells as though they were bacteria or viruses.

In the case of type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the insulin-producing beta cells located in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that?s needed to transport glucose into the body?s cells to be used as fuel. Glucose is sugar that comes from the carbohydrates you consume. Carbohydrates are nutrients found in a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, breads and sweets.

Once the beta cells are destroyed, the body no longer makes insulin (or makes very little of the hormone), and anyone with type 1 diabetes needs insulin injections or an insulin pump for the rest of their lives.

However, insulin needs change constantly, depending on the type and amount of food eaten and level of physical activity. Even emotions can affect insulin levels. Too little insulin can cause high blood sugar levels, while too much insulin can cause low blood sugar levels. Neither condition is healthy and, if severe enough, either can cause death.

In the current study, the researchers developed a gene therapy that served two purposes: one was to sense the amount of glucose in skeletal muscles and the other was to release insulin. This research group had already tested this therapy in mice, where it was found to be successful in controlling blood sugar levels.

To test the therapy, the researchers needed dogs with diabetes. However, the types of diabetes that occur naturally in dogs aren?t the same as type 1 diabetes. So, the researchers induced diabetes in a group of beagle puppies between 6 and 12 months old. The dogs were then given daily insulin injections.

The gene therapy involved a single session of numerous injections in the dog?s rear legs. The needles used are like those used in human cosmetic procedures.

The dogs quickly got better and maintained normal blood sugar levels without insulin. The researchers continued to measure blood sugar control and the animals? health for more than four years. The dogs stayed healthy, and seem to have no long-term problems from the gene therapy.

Lead researcher Fatima Bosch, director of the Center of Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain, said the next step in their research is to test the gene therapy on dogs with naturally occurring diabetes. The dogs will also be pets, so their living conditions and glucose levels will be varied, more closely mimicking what a person with type 1 diabetes would encounter.

Dr. Camillo Ricordi, director of the Diabetes Research Institute and the cell transplant center at the University of Miami, called the new research ?an important study, and a remarkable initial finding. But, this is not a type 1 model of diabetes. This is a model where you induce diabetes chemically and you may have residual [beta] cell function.?

Ricordi explained that because it?s not naturally occurring type 1 diabetes, there?s no worry of the immune system destroying the insulin-releasing cells in the muscle. But, in a person with type 1 diabetes, the immune system could still attack and destroy these new cells.

Dr. Massimo Trucco, chief of the division of immunogenics at Children?s Hospital of Pittsburgh, said the issue of autoimmunity is an important one. But, of greater concern to him is that while this therapy worked in very controlled conditions ? the dogs? diets and exercise sessions were controlled ? in real-life conditions, this therapy might not work as well.

?Dogs get the food you want them to have. They probably spent most of their time in a cage. But, kids eat what they want and play when they want, meaning their [blood sugar level] varies dramatically. If you inject this therapy into the muscles, the muscle cells don?t have the same apparatus to control the insulin levels that beta cells do. This would release insulin too well to give good control, and could cause [low blood sugar levels] when it does release,? he said.

Trucco said he doesn?t believe this therapy could translate to humans.

?Human beings are not clones of dogs. Beta cells are more complicated than muscle cells. Muscles just can?t secrete insulin quickly and efficiently like beta cells do,? he said.

But, he added that this was a very well-done gene therapy study that showed that the particular form of gene therapy used in this research appears to be safe for long-term use.

More information

Learn more about gene therapy from the Human Genome Project.

Source: http://news.health.com/2013/02/14/lucky-dogs-get-shot-at-diabetes-cure/

wrestlemania results womens final four josh hutcherson google april fools office space shell houston open mega millions winners