JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win a new mandate to lead his right-wing Likud party Tuesday in a primary vote which may signal he favors an early parliamentary election to strengthen his hand with Washington.
National elections are not due until late 2013, and Netanyahu's decision to hold the Likud primaries now has raised speculation that he intends to call a national vote closer to the time of the U.S. presidential election late this year.
Political commentators say a Likud victory in a parliamentary poll held before or shortly after the U.S. vote in November would leave Netanyahu better placed to deal with Barack Obama, with whom he has had a frosty relationship, if the Democrat is re-elected.
Many Israelis worry that Obama, in a second term, may exert greater pressure on Israel to yield land for peace with the Palestinians, which could upset Netanyahu's clout in his pro-settler party and its core conservative electorate.
His coalition government of right-wing and religious parties has shown few cracks and opinion polls show that Likud would emerge on top if a parliamentary election were held now.
In the Likud leadership poll, Netanyahu's only challenger is a far-right settler who has no chance of unseating him.
"It's a done deal," Danny Danon, one of the Likud's most prominent legislators, said about the primaries.
"There is no tension or competition. Our main battle is with Kadima," he said, referring to the centrist, main opposition party led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
Danon said he saw a possibility of Israel holding the general election later this year. While Netanyahu has not said he wanted an early poll, "he prefers to lead and not be dragged there," Danon told Reuters.
LIKUD CHALLENGER
Netanyahu's opponent in the Likud race is Moshe Feiglin, 49, who lost a party contest to him in 2007 but hopes to win more than the 24 percent of the vote he polled then.
Results of Tuesday's poll are expected to be announced by early Wednesday.
"I want to return the Likud to its real path," Feiglin told Reuters. Feiglin opposes Netanyahu's embrace of a Western goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
U.S.-sponsored peace talks stalled shortly after they began in 2010 in a dispute over settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
Feiglin applauded U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich for recently calling the Palestinians an "invented people" and thought Israel should pay Palestinians living in West Bank land they seek for a state to leave.
"They don't deserve a state, certainly not in land that God promised the Jews," Feiglin said.
Though Feiglin's views mirror those of many pro-settler lawmakers in Likud, he is supported by few in the party's mainstream.
But political analyst Jonathan Rhynold of Bar-Ilan University said Netanyahu had reason to be wary of Feiglin.
"The Israeli public is not where Feiglin is. Any rise in Feiglin's influence in the party can hurt Netanyahu," he said.
The Likud poll will be followed by a Kadima primary election on March 27. Both Kadima and the left-of-center Labor party have been actively recruiting popular figures, and some influential wild cards, such as former journalist Yair Lapid, have thrown their hats into the electoral ring as well.
(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Editing by Jeffrey Heller and David Stamp)
Improving medical treatment requires risk-based approach to regulate clinical trialsPublic release date: 30-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Elizabeth de Bony elizabeth.debony@bm.com 32-274-36652 European Science Foundation
Strasbourg/Brussels -- Current EU legislation represents a major hurdle to improving medical treatment due to the straight-jacket of EU legislation that the 2001 Clinical Trials Directive imposes, a group of leading European medical scientists charged today in a position paper1 issued in Brussels and Strasbourg.
The paper issued by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and its European Medical Research Councils (EMRC) welcomes the planned revision of the 2001 Clinical Trials Directive expected later this year, but urges the Commission to take the opportunity to introduce a series of improvements to the Directive. These improvements include streamlining procedures, introducing a risk-based approach to authorising clinical trials and crucially ensuring greater harmonisation in the implementation of EU rules at national level so that clinical trials can take place across national borders.
"Balancing these aims with the imperative of maintaining a high level of patient safety is the major challenge facing the revision," said Professor Liselotte Hjgaard, Chair of the EMRC.
Finding that balance, however, is the key to preserving Europe's position as an innovative and competitive research area.
The 2001 Directive was a landmark in the pursuit of quality medicine in Europe. It aimed to facilitate clinical research across the EU, while at the same time maintaining a high level of protection for public health. It established specific provisions regarding the conduct of clinical trials on humans involving medicinal products in particular relating to the implementation of good clinical practice defined as a set of internationally recognised ethical and scientific quality requirements which must be observed for designing, conducting, recording and reporting clinical trials.
1 The position paper "Proposal for a revision of the 'Clinical Trials Directive (2001/20/EC) and other recommendations to facilitate clinical trials" is available on the ESF website: www.ESF.org
It is widely recognised that the 2001 Directive radically enhanced the quality of Europe's clinical trials on which patient safety resides, and the ESF, EMRC and many other European organisations want the revision to preserve that high standard. But in line with Europe's 2020 objectives it must also be designed to boost innovation and improve medical treatments.
Since its implementation in 2003 the Directive has been under a lot of criticism for adding to rather than reducing red tape. No one argues the benefits of the strict regulations for high risk trials involving experimental medicines for humans, but the EMRC argues in favour of a sliding scale of requirements depending precisely on the risk involved. In this way low-risk trials or comparative trials could benefit from a less restrictive framework than high risk trials. Clinical researchers wanting to verify the effectiveness of one already licensed medication over another aspirin versus paracetamol for example would not have to fulfil the full gamut of rules. "It is time now to align requirements with the risk involved," stressed Prof Hjgaard.
Another key objective for research is to harmonise national implementation of the clinical trials directive. Currently the 27 member states have each translated the Directive into national law with different definitions and varying restrictions so every pan-European trial has to deal with that complexity. This is a non-starter for academic research groups with a low research budget. The EMRC therefore welcomes indications from the Commission that improved harmonisation and cooperation in clinical trials will be part of the revised legislative.
"Excellence in clinical research requires a truly functioning harmonisation," emphasised Professor Hjgaard. "We urge the Commission, European Parliament and the member states to enact a law that unifies clinical trials in Europe."
###
For further information please contact:
At the European Science Foundation
Prof Liselotte Hjgaard, EMRC Chair
University of Copenhagen and Danish Technical University, Denmark
45-3545-4215 or 45-3545-1792 / lottepet@rh.dk
Dr. Kirsten Steinhausen, Science Officer
Biomedical Sciences Unit
33-3-88-76-2184 / KSteinhausen@esf.org
Shira Tabachnikoff, Head of Communications
33-3-88-76-71-32 / stabachnikoff@esf.org
At Burson-Marsteller in Brussels
Elizabeth de Bony, Director
32-2-743-66-52 /elizabeth.debony@bm.com
Notes to editors
The European Science Foundation (ESF) The European Science Foundation (ESF) was established in 1974 to provide a common platform for its Member Organisations to advance European research collaboration and explore new directions for research. It is an independent organisation, owned by 78 Member Organisations which are research funding organisations and research performing organisations, academies and learned societies from 30 countries. ESF promotes collaboration in research itself, in funding of research and in science policy activities at the European level. www.esf.org
The European Medical Research Councils (EMRC) is the membership organisation for all the Medical Research Councils in Europe under the ESF. The EMRC's is to promote innovative medical research and its clinical application towards improved human health. EMRC offers authoritative strategic advice for policy making, research management, ethics, and better health services. In its activities, EMRC serves as a voice of its Member Organisations and the European scientific community. EMRC disseminates knowledge and promotes the socio-economic value of medical research to the general public and the decision makers.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Improving medical treatment requires risk-based approach to regulate clinical trialsPublic release date: 30-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Elizabeth de Bony elizabeth.debony@bm.com 32-274-36652 European Science Foundation
Strasbourg/Brussels -- Current EU legislation represents a major hurdle to improving medical treatment due to the straight-jacket of EU legislation that the 2001 Clinical Trials Directive imposes, a group of leading European medical scientists charged today in a position paper1 issued in Brussels and Strasbourg.
The paper issued by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and its European Medical Research Councils (EMRC) welcomes the planned revision of the 2001 Clinical Trials Directive expected later this year, but urges the Commission to take the opportunity to introduce a series of improvements to the Directive. These improvements include streamlining procedures, introducing a risk-based approach to authorising clinical trials and crucially ensuring greater harmonisation in the implementation of EU rules at national level so that clinical trials can take place across national borders.
"Balancing these aims with the imperative of maintaining a high level of patient safety is the major challenge facing the revision," said Professor Liselotte Hjgaard, Chair of the EMRC.
Finding that balance, however, is the key to preserving Europe's position as an innovative and competitive research area.
The 2001 Directive was a landmark in the pursuit of quality medicine in Europe. It aimed to facilitate clinical research across the EU, while at the same time maintaining a high level of protection for public health. It established specific provisions regarding the conduct of clinical trials on humans involving medicinal products in particular relating to the implementation of good clinical practice defined as a set of internationally recognised ethical and scientific quality requirements which must be observed for designing, conducting, recording and reporting clinical trials.
1 The position paper "Proposal for a revision of the 'Clinical Trials Directive (2001/20/EC) and other recommendations to facilitate clinical trials" is available on the ESF website: www.ESF.org
It is widely recognised that the 2001 Directive radically enhanced the quality of Europe's clinical trials on which patient safety resides, and the ESF, EMRC and many other European organisations want the revision to preserve that high standard. But in line with Europe's 2020 objectives it must also be designed to boost innovation and improve medical treatments.
Since its implementation in 2003 the Directive has been under a lot of criticism for adding to rather than reducing red tape. No one argues the benefits of the strict regulations for high risk trials involving experimental medicines for humans, but the EMRC argues in favour of a sliding scale of requirements depending precisely on the risk involved. In this way low-risk trials or comparative trials could benefit from a less restrictive framework than high risk trials. Clinical researchers wanting to verify the effectiveness of one already licensed medication over another aspirin versus paracetamol for example would not have to fulfil the full gamut of rules. "It is time now to align requirements with the risk involved," stressed Prof Hjgaard.
Another key objective for research is to harmonise national implementation of the clinical trials directive. Currently the 27 member states have each translated the Directive into national law with different definitions and varying restrictions so every pan-European trial has to deal with that complexity. This is a non-starter for academic research groups with a low research budget. The EMRC therefore welcomes indications from the Commission that improved harmonisation and cooperation in clinical trials will be part of the revised legislative.
"Excellence in clinical research requires a truly functioning harmonisation," emphasised Professor Hjgaard. "We urge the Commission, European Parliament and the member states to enact a law that unifies clinical trials in Europe."
###
For further information please contact:
At the European Science Foundation
Prof Liselotte Hjgaard, EMRC Chair
University of Copenhagen and Danish Technical University, Denmark
45-3545-4215 or 45-3545-1792 / lottepet@rh.dk
Dr. Kirsten Steinhausen, Science Officer
Biomedical Sciences Unit
33-3-88-76-2184 / KSteinhausen@esf.org
Shira Tabachnikoff, Head of Communications
33-3-88-76-71-32 / stabachnikoff@esf.org
At Burson-Marsteller in Brussels
Elizabeth de Bony, Director
32-2-743-66-52 /elizabeth.debony@bm.com
Notes to editors
The European Science Foundation (ESF) The European Science Foundation (ESF) was established in 1974 to provide a common platform for its Member Organisations to advance European research collaboration and explore new directions for research. It is an independent organisation, owned by 78 Member Organisations which are research funding organisations and research performing organisations, academies and learned societies from 30 countries. ESF promotes collaboration in research itself, in funding of research and in science policy activities at the European level. www.esf.org
The European Medical Research Councils (EMRC) is the membership organisation for all the Medical Research Councils in Europe under the ESF. The EMRC's is to promote innovative medical research and its clinical application towards improved human health. EMRC offers authoritative strategic advice for policy making, research management, ethics, and better health services. In its activities, EMRC serves as a voice of its Member Organisations and the European scientific community. EMRC disseminates knowledge and promotes the socio-economic value of medical research to the general public and the decision makers.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
While checking out the showroom floor at Macworld 2012, we encountered this cute little game called Bag It! The goal is to efficiently bag your groceries while optimizing space
BC-FBN--Colts-Manning,128Manning, Irsay insist they are on same pageAP Photo NY166, INMC106Eds: APNewsNow. With AP Photos.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Peyton Manning and Colts owner Jim Irsay say there are no hard feelings between them.
The two issued a joint statement, saying they've had a great relationship based on respect and trust since 1998. They said they had a long talk Friday after a week of comments that suggested a rift had developed.
Manning went public this week with his frustration over the firings of coach Jim Caldwell and others after the Colts' 2-14 season. And Irsay on Thursday called Manning a "politician" who shouldn't have aired the dirty laundry.
The two say they are committed to maintaining their close relationship and working through any challenges. The Colts must decide by March 8 whether to pay Manning a $28 million bonus or risk losing him to free agency.
Cue the drama music, listen to the serious voiceover and get the tissues ready, folks: the fairy tale is about to end for Kim Kardashian.
On this Sunday's finale of Kourtney & Kim Take New York, Kim will finally face the harsh truth about her two-month marriage to Kris Humphries.
"It's hard for me. He's a good heart, he's a Christian - everything on paper I want in someone, but for some reason, my heart isn't connecting," she tells Kourtney. "I feel sad, I feel bad for the guy. He fell in love with me and I fell in love with him and now all my feelings have changed."
It's truly emotional stuff, but at least there's positive news for fans of Kim Kardashian: she won't be off the air for long. Look for the reality star to appear on multiple episodes of Drop Dead Diva this summer, for some reason.
FILE - In this July 14, 2011 file photo released by U.S. Air Force, a 33rd Fighter Wing aircraft maintainer moves by the Department of Defense's newest aircraft, the U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF), before giving the pilot an order to taxi the aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Detractors say the F-35 stealth fighter, the costliest military plane ever, is destined to go down as one of the biggest follies in aviation history. But it may have found a savior: deep-pocketed U.S. allies hungry to add its super high-tech capabilities to their arsenal. The program marked a major success last month when Japan chose it as a replacement for 42 aircraft. It was the F-35's first victory in an open-bidding competition, though countries from Britain to Israel previously made commitments. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Samuel King Jr., File)
FILE - In this July 14, 2011 file photo released by U.S. Air Force, a 33rd Fighter Wing aircraft maintainer moves by the Department of Defense's newest aircraft, the U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF), before giving the pilot an order to taxi the aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Detractors say the F-35 stealth fighter, the costliest military plane ever, is destined to go down as one of the biggest follies in aviation history. But it may have found a savior: deep-pocketed U.S. allies hungry to add its super high-tech capabilities to their arsenal. The program marked a major success last month when Japan chose it as a replacement for 42 aircraft. It was the F-35's first victory in an open-bidding competition, though countries from Britain to Israel previously made commitments. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Samuel King Jr., File)
TOKYO (AP) ? Detractors say the F-35 stealth fighter, the costliest military plane ever, is destined to go down as one of the biggest follies in aviation history. But it may have found a savior: deep-pocketed U.S. allies hungry to add its super high-tech capabilities to their arsenal.
The program marked a major success last month when Japan chose it over the Boeing F/A-18 and the Eurofighter Typhoon as a replacement for 42 aircraft in its aging air force. It was the F-35's first victory in an open-bidding competition, though countries from Britain to Israel previously made commitments and others are expected to follow.
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin also is looking to bring F-35s to South Korea in a deal that could be Seoul's biggest single defense outlay ever ? 60 top-of-the-line fighters worth more than $7 billion. A decision could come as soon as October.
In the U.S., however, the stealth jet has been called a boondoggle. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, has slammed the F-35 as a "scandal and a tragedy," a "train wreck" and "incredibly expensive."
With U.S. defense budget cuts looming and many critics of the program still unconvinced, foreign support is a make-or-break issue for the program, which has been described as too big to fail. It could become the cornerstone of global air strategy for the next few decades, or a trillion-dollar bust.
"The U.S. fighter jet industry has all of its eggs in this one basket," said Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. So many countries have bought into the program, he said, there is now no realistic choice but to forge ahead with it.
"It would be almost impossible for the U.S. to cancel the F-35, since the repercussions would be global," he said.
The F-35 is the world's only "fifth generation" fighter jet, combining state-of-the art stealth technology with highly advanced avionics and maneuverability. The first F-35 flew in 2006, and 42 have been produced so far. China and Russia are working on rival ? and some experts say superior ? aircraft.
About 130,000 people in 47 states and Puerto Rico have jobs related to the project. The only states without F-35 work are Hawaii, North Dakota and Wyoming.
"Simply put, there is no alternative to the F-35 program. It must succeed," Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley said in September.
The Pentagon envisions buying 2,443 F-35s for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, but some members of Congress and Department of Defense officials are balking at the price tag, which has jumped from $233 billion to $385 billion. Some estimates suggest it could top out at $1 trillion over 50 years, making it the most expensive program in military history.
In frustration over cost overruns, Congress added a requirement that Lockheed Martin cover extra costs on future F-35 purchases to the defense bill it passed last month.
"The delays and cost increases that F-35 has suffered have put it under substantial political pressure in Washington, so a win like the Japan program is a major boost," said James Hardy, Asia Pacific specialist with IHS Jane's in London.
Success rides heavily on foreign investment because the more F-35s are produced, the cheaper each jet is to build and maintain.
Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems, has been careful to bring in international partners. The fighter is being developed with support from Britain, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Canada.
Among the leading international partners, the U.K. is planning to buy 138 F-35s, Italy 131 and Canada 65. Australia has ordered 14 and has plans to buy as many as 100 for 16 billion Australian dollars ($17 billion).
The Israeli government selected the F-35A as its air force's next generation aircraft in 2010 ? making it the first country to receive the F-35 through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Sales process.
Singapore also has said it will buy F-35, although it hasn't set numbers yet, and there may be longer-term interest from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and India, said Hardy, of IHS Jane's.
The wide range of buyers is in contrast to Lockheed Martin's last stealth fighter, the now discontinued F-22 "Raptor." It was hailed as a wonder of technology but failed in large part because Congress deemed it too sensitive to sell even to Washington's closest allies.
Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies who has advised the Japanese government on defense issues, said he thinks the F-35 is Japan's best option.
"If this was about a Cold War-type competition, then the F-22 would have been better. But if this is a long-term peacetime competition, you need numbers and presence, and close coordination among allies," Michishita said.
But defense analyst Carlo Kopp of the private Air Power Australia think tank said he thinks it was a mistake for his country and others to buy in. He said the F-35 program should have been canceled years ago and that the policy of pushing forward with it at any cost only threatens to create a budgetary sinkhole that would weaken the defenses of the U.S. and its allies.
"It will never become a viable combat aircraft due to cumulative poor choices made early in the design, and later Band-Aid fixes," Kopp said.
Further cost increases could prompt foreign buyers to cut their orders, which would put even more pressure on Lockheed Martin. Other problems also continue to trouble its international partners:
? Concerns about whether Lockheed will be able to deliver on time prompted Australia to caution that it won't decide until later this year whether to buy any more than the 14 ordered so far.
? Structural glitches have emerged that compromise the F-35's ability to land on aircraft carriers. That's a big issue for Britain, where the plane is slated to replace its carrier-friendly Harrier jets by 2020. British media have also reported that the F-35 can't fire British air-to-air missiles.
? Canada and Norway may have difficulty operating the F-35 on icy runways. The plane's single-engine design ? unlike the twin-engine F-22 or F-15 ? could also be an issue. If the engine goes out, planes and pilots in the Arctic could be lost.
The last time we heard about the inexpensive and student-friendly ThinkPad X130e, it was being snatched up by the eager school districts. That move ultimately pushed back the rig's planned ship date, but fortunately Lenovo seems to have caught up with the demand for its rugged miniature. In case you need a mind refresh, the X130e is sporting an 11.6-inch HD LED display, 250GB for all your storage needs, four gigs of RAM and your choice of an AMD Fusion or i3 processor at its Core (see what we did there?), just to mention a few goodies. Those of you who've been counting the days to get your hands on the $429 entry-level ThinkPad can finally do so at the source link below.
Pallbearers including sons Jay Paterno, foreground right, and Scott Paterno, foreground center, carry the casket with the remains of former Penn State coach Joe Paterno after funeral services at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning, Jan. 22. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Pallbearers including sons Jay Paterno, foreground right, and Scott Paterno, foreground center, carry the casket with the remains of former Penn State coach Joe Paterno after funeral services at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning, Jan. 22. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
People pay their respects as the hearse carrying the casket of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passes through State College, Pa., Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012. Paterno died Sunday at the age of 85. (AP Photo/John Beale)
Penn State Hazleton, students, alumni, friends and faculty members in Hazleton Pa., gather at the Lion Shrine Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, to participate in a candlelight vigil in memory of Joe Paterno who died on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hazleton Standard-Speaker, Eric Conover)
Meghan James, 14, left, and her grandmother Joan Wanat, both from Huntington, N.Y., comfort each other after going through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Mourners arrive at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for memorial services for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? A simple two-word message flashed this week on the electronic signboard outside Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
"Thanks JoePa."
On Thursday, a capacity crowd of more than 12,000 is expected to pack the arena for one more tribute to Joe Paterno, the Hall of Fame football coach who died Sunday from lung cancer.
His death at age 85 came less than three months after his stunning ouster as head coach in the wake of child sex-abuse charges against a retired assistant. But this week, thousands of alumni, fans, students and former players in Happy Valley are remembering Paterno for his record-setting career, his love for the school and his generosity.
Small clusters of mourners continued to visit Paterno's statue outside the school's football stadium hours before the memorial.
Sharon Winter, a 1963 graduate and long-time season ticket holder from Wernersville, dabbed tears from her eyes as she looked at the hundreds of items that well-wishers since Paterno's death.
"If you haven't lived it, you can't explain it," said Winter, who, with her husband Carl, keeps an apartment in State College. "We never knew the place without Joe. He's always been a part of our lives and who we are."
Many Penn Staters found themselves reflecting on Paterno's impact and the road ahead.
"What's Joe's legacy? The answer, is his legacy is us," former NFL and Nittany Lions receiver Jimmy Cefalo said Wednesday before Paterno's funeral. Cefalo is scheduled to be one of the speakers at the tribute called "A Memorial for Joe" at the arena across the street from Beaver Stadium ? the place Paterno helped turned into a college football landmark.
Paterno's son, former Nittany Lions quarterback coach Jay Paterno, also is expected to speak at the memorial, which will cap three days of public mourning for Paterno. Viewings were held Tuesday and Wednesday morning, before the funeral and burial service for Paterno on Wednesday afternoon at the campus interfaith center where family members attended church services.
Cefalo, who played for Penn State in the '70s, said it will be the most difficult speech of his life. But he offered a hint of what he might say.
"Generations of these young people from coal mines and steel towns who he gave a foundation to," Cefalo said. "It's not (the Division I record) 409 wins, it's not two national championships, and it's not five-time coach of the year (awards). It's us."
The memorial Thursday is expected to feature a speaker for each decade of Paterno's coaching career, according to Charles V. Pittman, a former player who said he will represent the 1960s.
Pittman said he was in Paterno's first class and was the coach's first All-America running back. Pittman's son later played for the Nittany Lions as well, making them the first father-son pair to play for Paterno, Pittman said. They wrote a book about their experiences called "Playing for Paterno."
Pittman said he spoke with Paterno two or three times a year. In 2002, the coach chided Pittman for moving to South Bend, Ind. ? home of rival Notre Dame ? to take a job as a newspaper executive.
"He called me a traitor," said Pittman, senior vice president for publishing at Schurz Communications Inc., an Indiana-based company that owns television and radio stations and newspapers, and a member of the Board of Directors of The Associated Press.
Pittman attended Wednesday's funeral, which also drew other notable guests including former NFL players Franco Harris and Matt Millen; and former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. Nike founder Phil Knight and actor William Baldwin were there, too.
A procession wound through the Penn State campus and the surrounding State College community. Quiet mourners lined the route, watching with grief and reverence as the electric-blue hearse carrying Paterno's casket slowly drove by.
Some took pictures with their cellphones, or waved to his widow. Others craned their necks hoping for a better glimpse through the crowd sometimes four or more deep.
A family spokesman, Dan McGinn, said Paterno's grandchildren escorted the casket down the aisle during the opening procession, and again at the end of the service. Jay Paterno and his brother, Scott, were among the pallbearers.
___
Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama used his last State of the Union speech before the November election to paint himself as the champion of the middle class, by demanding higher taxes for millionaires and tight reins on Wall Street.
Taking advantage of a huge national platform to make the case for his re-election, Obama on Tuesday defiantly defended his record after three years in office and laid blame for many of the country's woes at the feet of banks and what he called an out-of-touch Congress.
He proposed sweeping changes in the tax code and new remedies for the U.S. housing crisis, setting as a central campaign theme a populist call for greater economic fairness.
He mentioned taxes 34 times and jobs 32 times during his hour-long speech, emphasizing the two issues at the heart of this year's presidential campaign.
While the biggest proposals in Obama's speech are considered unlikely to gain traction in a deeply divided Congress, the White House believes the president can tap into voters' resentment over the financial industry's abuses and Washington's dysfunction.
But even as he called for a "return to American values of fair play and shared responsibility," Obama seemed to put no blame on himself for a still-fragile economic recovery and high unemployment that could trip up his re-election bid.
With polls showing most Americans disapprove of his economic leadership, he still faces the stiff challenge of convincing them that the candidate who was swept into the White House in 2008 promising hope and change now deserves another term.
Standing before a joint session of Congress, Obama unleashed a partisan attack over taxes and vowed no return to "the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules."
"Washington should stop subsiding millionaires," Obama declared as he proposed a minimum 30 percent effective tax rate on those who earn a million dollars or more.
Obama said he would ask his attorney general to establish a special financial crimes unit to prosecute those parties charged with breaking the law, and whose fraud contributed to the 2007-2009 financial crisis that plunged the United States into recession.
Obama's message could resonate in the 2012 campaign following the release of tax records by Mitt Romney, a potential Republican rival and one of the wealthiest men ever to run for the White House. He pays a lower effective tax rate than many top wage-earners.
A new proposal outlined by Obama to ease the way for more American homeowners to get mortgage relief - and to pay for the plan with a fee on banks blamed for helping create the housing crisis - also struck a populist note.
Democrats have hammered Republicans in Congress for supporting tax breaks that favor the wealthy. Republicans staunchly oppose tax hikes, even on the richest Americans, arguing they would hurt a fragile economic recovery.
"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said in the Republican response to Obama.
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top congressional Republican, insisted the election would be a referendum on the president's "failed" policies.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in December. No president in the modern era has won re-election with the rate that high.
CHEERS AND SILENCE
Obama's rhetoric and his audience's response was more overtly partisan than last year when both sides sought a tone of
civility in the aftermath of an assassination attempt on Democratic Arizona lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords.
In the most emotional moment of the evening, Obama warmly embraced Giffords as he made his way to the podium. The congresswoman, who has made a remarkable recovery after being shot in the head, announced on Sunday she was retiring from Congress.
The response to Giffords was one of the few moments of bipartisan enthusiasm in a Congress riven by antagonism.
Democrats rose en mass to cheer, and Republicans stayed seated in stony silence, when Obama vowed to "oppose obstruction with action." But both sides applauded when Obama called for developing all domestic energy sources.
Obama used the speech to revive his call to rewrite the tax code to adopt the so-called "Buffett rule," named after the billionaire Warren Buffett, who says it is unfair that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.
Those making more than $1 million a year would pay an effective tax rate of at least 30 percent and their tax deductions would be eliminated.
To underscore his point, Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, was seated in the first lady's box in the House of Representatives for Obama's address.
Obama will shift into full campaign mode on a three-day tour starting on Wednesday to Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan, all election battleground states.
In his speech, Obama also rolled out proposed corporate tax reforms, including a minimum rate on companies' overseas profits and a tax credit for moving jobs back home.
Taking aim at China - an election-year target of Republicans and Democrats alike over its currency and trade practices - Obama proposed creation of a new trade enforcement unit within the federal government.
Promising what amounts to a peace dividend, Obama also proposed using half of the "savings" from ending the war in Iraq and winding down in Afghanistan to pay down U.S. debt, with the other half going to fixing decaying roads and railways.
Addressing the housing crisis, Obama said he would send to Congress a proposal to allow more Americans to take out new and cheaper mortgages as long as they are current on their payments, savings that would amount to $3,000 per household each year. The depressed housing market continues to drag on the economy.
(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis, Alister Bull, Samson Reiny, Margaret Chadbourn, Editing by Ross Colvin and Eric Beech)
Pvt. Danny Chen, left, with his mother, Su Zhen Chen, at his graduation from basic training.
By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com
The first soldier to face legal proceedings in the death of a Chinese-American GI believed to have committed suicide in Afghanistan after allegedly being hazed by his fellow troops may not face the toughest charge the Army had sought of involuntary manslaughter.
The Article 32 hearing for Spc. Ryan Offutt, a 32-year old infantryman from Greenville, Penn., into the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, finished Sunday, Sgt. 1st Class Alan G. Davis, an Army spokesman, said in an email.
The investigating officer recommended forwarding all charges to court-martial, except for the manslaughter charge, Davis said, later noting that the charge was not dropped but the officer "recommended not moving forward" on it "because he believed that insufficient evidence was presented at the hearing to justify" proceeding with it.
Eight soldiers, including Offutt, have been charged in connection with the death of Chen, 19, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Oct. 3. Five of them were charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, thought to be the first time such charges have been brought in this type of case,?according to?experts on hazing and on?the military legal system.
The Article 32 hearings, which will determine whether?there was enough evidence for a court-martial against the men, will run through about Feb. 20?at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. The charges against Offutt that the investigating officer recommended be forwarded to court-martial include maltreatment, assault consummated by battery, reckless endangerment and negligent homicide.
The maximum punishment for involuntary manslaughter is 10 years and a dishonorable discharge, while negligent homicide is a dishonorable discharge and three years.
Grover Baxley, a former member of the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, noted that the investigating officer's recommendation was "just that - a recommendation."
"The Convening Authority can follow or ignore that advice, in whole or in part, as he or she decides. As a result, you may still see the government refer all the charges, including the manslaughter charge, to a court-martial," Baxley wrote in an e-mail. "Alternatively, even though the Investigating Officer recommended going forward on the majority of the charges, the Convening Authority could still drop all the charges at this point, though I don't think that's likely."
Asian-American?advocates and the family told Army officials during a meeting in early January that they did not want the proceedings to take place overseas, citing the need for transparency and access, and have said the toughest charges should not be dropped.
?While the negligent homicide charge is recommended, we are extremely disappointed that the manslaughter charge is not," Elizabeth OuYang, New York branch president of OCA, a national civil rights organization serving Asian Pacific Americans, said in a statement. "The family and the community are not able to see what is happening in these hearings taking place in Afghanistan - the Army has the ability to and should televise these hearings."
The commander of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division will consider the recommendations of the investigating officer in determining whether to forward the charges against Offutt to the Army's Regional Command-South commander for final disposition, Davis said.
Chen was found dead at a guard tower with his rifle lying next to him at Combat Outpost Palace in the Panjwa'i district of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.
According to?investigators from the Regional Command-South, OuYang said,?almost immediately after he arrived in mid-August, Chen, the?only Chinese-American in his platoon, was required to do exercises that?within a few days crossed over to alleged abuse. Some of it was inflicted by one soldier and some by a group of them, the investigators said.
Investigators found evidence that the platoon sergeant and the platoon leader -- the platoon's top two leaders -- were aware of an attack on Chen on Sept. 27 and chose not to report it, OuYang said.
The Army's Criminal Investigation Command said Monday that its investigation into Chen's death was not complete.
For almost every big free agent deal there are (a) the financial implications; and (b) the baseball implications. Often a deal is good on the baseball side of things but not so good on the financial side of things. ?In the case of Prince Fielder going to the Tigers for nine years and $214 million, it makes very little sense on either side of the ledger.
This is not to say that signing Prince Fielder makes the Tigers a worse baseball team in 2012 than they were in 2011. Far from it. ?With Victor Martinez out all year following knee surgery and the Tigers? lineup already looking suspect beyond MVP-caliber first basemen Miguel Cabrera, Fielder?s bat is going to pay immediate dividends and should make the Tigers the favorites to repeat in the AL Central.
But what helps the lineup in 2012 creates both roster problems and financial problems going forward.
Victor Martinez will be back in 2013 and will be owed $13 million. And he?s still under contract for 2014 to the tune of $12 million. Thanks to the presence of Alex Avila and his own balky knees, Martinez?s?days at catcher are basically over. That means that in Fielder, Cabrera and Martinez, the Tigers will have three expensive men for two positions for at least two years after this one. And to be honest, come 2014, all three of them should probably be playing DH anyway, as both Cabrera and Fielder are among the worst defensive first basemen in baseball.
But the roster problems extend beyond next year, and they become combined roster/payroll problems. ?The $214 million owed Fielder, as well as the money owed Cabrera and Martinez, already represent a lot of cash owed to very few players. ?Then you figure that Justin Verlander is going to need a pretty massive extension before the end of the 2014 season and you have a very top-heavy payroll.
And finally, there?s the contract for its own sake. Prince Fielder turns 28 early this season, so he is younger than your average big-splash free agent and thus nine years for him isn?t as bad as nine years for a 30 or 31-year-old. But it?s hard to envision a world in which paying him $40 million for 2019 and 2020 is going to pay off for the Tigers. ?Such contracts have rarely if ever paid off for anyone.
But that?s the future. For the present, this deal does make the Tigers better. ?Not perfect. The Tigers still have many holes in their lineup. ?The team?s strength is still its pitching. Justin Verlander is the best in the AL, but it?s not like he can get better than he was in 2011. Jose Valverde was fantastic in 2011, but he?s actually, you know, gonna blow some saves at some point. Maybe Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer improve. Maybe they don?t. The point is that there are way more moving parts on a team than the well-appointed third and fourth slots in the 2012 Tigers? lineup.
Signing Fielder likely ensures another AL Central crown. So, if you?re a Tigers fan, yes, you should be happy. But it doesn?t guarantee anything more than that and may hinder the Tigers??competitiveness?in the future.?So try to keep your excitement under control.
Here's a bit of bad news for those who actually enjoy receiving Nokia's regular tips via SMS: Reuters reports that the Australian Communications and Media Authority has slapped the Finnish company a hefty A$55,000 ($58,000) fine, with the reason being that there was no way to unsubscribe from said messages. This kind of flaw sure is a surprise at this day and age, but Nokia's already taken action by simply axing this spammy service entirely in Australia, while at the same time "ramping it down elsewhere" just to be safe, according to Reuters. If Pope Benedict is still going about his texting business over there, we sure hope he won't be next on the Aussie naughty list.
Nobody wants to be told that their business model is obsolete. Ask Kodak. Or Hollywood. And the publishing industry is slower on its feet than most. Bookstores don't want to believe that they'll ultimately lose 75% of their pre-e-book business to that scourge plus Amazon delivery. (I'm assuming e-book market share will eventually plateau somewhere north of 50%.) Meanwhile, publishers cling to the model wherein readers purchase books individually, usually before they've been read: a model so entrenched that many seem to find it literally impossible to believe that alternatives might exist. I've been lamenting that paucity of imagination in my columns here for some time now. It's why publishers have lashed out so ineptly at any suggestion of a subscription model. But I've also been saying for five years that publishing's business model will ultimately become even less restrictive than that. In the end, lo these many decades from now, most books--and all novels--will be free to read, and their readers will decide whether and how much to pay for them after reading them. I know, big talk, no action, right? So:
FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Rapid growth during the first three months of life is associated with an increased risk of asthma symptoms in preschool children, a new study indicates.
The findings suggest that early infancy might be a critical period for the development of asthma, said the researchers at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.
They examined data collected from 5,125 children who were followed from the fetal stage until they were 4 years old.
The researchers found no link between fetal growth and asthma symptoms. But in children with normal fetal growth, accelerated weight gain from birth to 3 months of age was associated with increased risk of asthma symptoms, such as wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm.
The study appears online ahead of print in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Previous research has shown an association between low birth weight and increased risk of asthma symptoms in children. This is the first study to examine specific fetal and infant growth patterns on asthma risk.
"Our results suggest that the relationship between infant weight gain and asthma symptoms is not due to the accelerated growth of fetal growth-restricted infants only," researcher Dr. Liesbeth Duijts said in a journal news release. "While the mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear, accelerated weight growth in early life might adversely affect lung growth and might be associated with adverse changes in the immune system."
She added: "Further research is needed to replicate our findings and explore the mechanisms that contribute to the effects of growth acceleration in infancy on respiratory health. The effects of infant growth patterns on asthma phenotypes [observable characteristics] in later life should also be examined."
More information
The American Lung Association has more about children and asthma.
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) ? At least six people were killed in a string of bomb blasts on Friday in Nigeria's second city Kano and the authorities imposed a curfew across the city, which has been plagued by an insurgency led by the Islamist sect Boko Haram.
Smoke billowed from the police headquarters for the north in Kano after one blast blew out its windows, collapsed its roof and triggered a blaze that firefighters struggled to control.
A Reuters reporter counted three bodies at the scene and three more at the local passport office, which was surrounded by flaming debris.
Some residents ran around shouting and screaming following the attacks. There were at least four other explosions across the city in quick succession.
"I was on the roadside and I just heard a 'Boom!'. As I came back, I saw the building of the police zonal headquarters crashing down and I ran for my life," said local man Andrew Samuel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the apparently coordinated attacks, which prompted the government to announce a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
Kano, like other northern cities in Nigeria, has been plagued by an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram, blamed for scores of bombings and shootings against mostly government targets that are growing in scale and sophistication.
Boko Haram became active around 2003 and is concentrated in the northern states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna.
Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria means "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
The group considers all who do not follow its strict ideology as infidels, whether they be Christian or Muslim. It demands the adoption of sharia, Islamic law, in all of Nigeria.
FLAMES AND SMOKE
Witnesses said the bomber of the police headquarters, which covers most of northern Nigeria, pulled up at the building on a motorbike then got off and ran at it holding a bag.
"We tried to stop him but he ran in forcefully with his bag. All of a sudden there was a blast. You can see for yourself the building is damaged," said a policeman at the scene.
Police said a second blast had hit Kano's passport office and another hit Zaria Road police station in the city.
"The ground was shaking with the explosion. We saw flames and smoke at the police station," said witness Umaru Ibrahim.
A source at the State Security Service said another bomber had tried to attack there but was gunned down before he could detonate his bomb.
Police and military roadblocks were erected in the city within minutes.
"We are trying to reach the scenes of these heavy blasts. Many of the roads are blocked now by security agents," said Abubaker Jibril, head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for Kano, told Reuters.
A bomb attack on a Catholic church just outside the capital Abuja on Christmas Day, claimed by Boko Haram, killed 37 people and wounded 57.
The main suspect in that attack escaped from police custody within 24 hours of his arrest, and police have offered a 50 million naira ($309,600) reward for information leading to his recapture.
Police arrested Kabiru Sokoto on Tuesday and while they were taking him from police headquarters to his house in Abaji, just outside Abuja, to conduct a search there, their vehicle came under fire.
Last August a suicide bomber blew up the U.N. Nigeria headquarters in Abuja, killing at least 24 people.
(Additional reporting by Tim Cocks in Lagos; writing by Tim Cocks and James Jukwey; Editing by Jon Boyle)
McLEAN, Va. ? One of the world's most popular file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content.
A federal indictment accused Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to make it easier for authorities to go after sites with pirated material, especially those with overseas headquarters and servers.
The news of the shutdown seemed to bring retaliation from hackers who claimed credit for attacking the Justice Department's website. Federal officials confirmed it was down Thursday evening and that the disruption was being "treated as a malicious act."
A loose affiliation of hackers known as "Anonymous" claimed credit for the attack. Also hacked was the site for the Motion Picture Association of America and perhaps others.
Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, but some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va., which gave federal authorities jurisdiction, the indictment said.
The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Three other defendants are at large.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that, "This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?"
Before Megaupload was taken down, it posted a statement saying allegations that it facilitated massive breaches of copyright laws were "grotesquely overblown."
"The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch," the statement said.
Meanwhile, the DOJ said its web server for justice.gov was "experiencing a significant increase in activity, resulting in a degradation in service." It was working to fix it and "investigate the origins of this activity, which is being treated as a malicious act until we can fully identify the root cause of the disruption," the agency's statement said.
A spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America said in an emailed statement that the group's site had been hacked, although it appeared to be working later in the evening.
"The motion picture and television industry has always been a strong supporter of free speech," the spokesman said. "We strongly condemn any attempts to silence any groups or individuals."
Megaupload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.
The company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO. He was not named in the indictment and declined to comment through a representative.
According to the indictment, Megaupload was estimated at one point to be the 13th most frequently visited website on the Internet. Current estimates by companies that monitor Web traffic place it in the top 100.
The five-count indictment, which alleges copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering, described a site designed specifically to reward users who uploaded pirated content for sharing, and turned a blind eye to requests from copyright holders to remove copyright-protected files.
For instance, users received cash bonuses if they uploaded content popular enough to generate massive numbers of downloads, according to the indictment. Such content was almost always copyright protected.
The site boasted 150 million registered users and about 50 million hits daily. The Justice Department said it was illegal for anyone to download pirated content, but their investigation focused on the leaders of the company, not end users who may have downloaded a few movies for personal viewing.
A lawyer who represented the company in a lawsuit last year declined comment Thursday. Efforts to reach an attorney representing Dotcom were unsuccessful.
Megaupload is considered a "cyberlocker," in which users can upload and transfer files that are too large to send by email. Such sites can have perfectly legitimate uses. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which has campaigned for a crackdown on piracy, estimated that the vast majority of content being shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.
The website allowed users to download some content for free, but made money by charging subscriptions to people who wanted access to faster download speeds or extra content. The website also sold advertising.
The indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va. Prosecutors there have pursued multiple piracy investigations.
Steven T. Shelton, a copyright lawyer at the Cozen O'Connor firm in New York, said opponents of the legislation are worried the proposals lessen the burden for the government to target a wide variety of websites. Shelton said he expects to see the government engage in more enforcement in the future, as technology makes it easier to catch and target suspected pirates.
"I think we'll be seeing more of this," he said. "This is just the beginning."
Dotcom, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany, made more than $42 million from the site in 2010 alone, according to the indictment.
Dotcom had his name legally changed. He was previously known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor. He is founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.
Officials estimated it could be a year or more before Dotcom and the others arrested in New Zealand are formally extradited.
The others arrested were Finn Batato, 38, a citizen and resident of Germany, the company's chief marketing officer; Mathias Ortmann, 40, a citizen of Germany and resident of both Germany and Hong Kong, who is the chief technical officer, co-founder and director; and Bram van der Kolk, aka Bramos, 29, a Dutch citizen and resident of both the Netherlands and New Zealand, who oversees programming.
Still at large are Julius Bencko, 35, a citizen and resident of Slovakia, the site's graphic designer; Sven Echternach, 39, a citizen and resident of Germany, head of business development; and Andrus Nomm, 32, a citizen of Estonia and resident of both Turkey and Estonia, head of the development software division.
Several sister sites were also shut down, including one dedicated to sharing pornography files.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
Share ] 
Nobody wants to be told that their business model is obsolete. Ask 