Winter cold snap kills 36 in eastern Europe (AP)

BELGRADE, Serbia ? A severe and snowy cold snap across central and eastern Europe has left at least 36 people dead, cut off power to towns, and snarled traffic. Officials are responding with measures ranging from opening shelters to dispensing hot tea, with particular concern for the homeless and elderly.

This part of Europe is not unused to cold, but the current freeze, which spread to most of the region last week, came after a period of relatively mild weather. Many were shocked when temperatures in some parts plunged Monday to minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).

"Just as we thought we could get away with a spring-like winter ..." lamented Jelena Savic, 43, from the Serbian capital of Belgrade, her head wrapped in a shawl with only eyes uncovered. "I'm freezing. It's hard to get used to it so suddenly."

Officials have appealed to people to stay indoors and be careful. Police searched for the homeless to make sure they didn't freeze to death. In some places, heaters will be set up at bus stations.

Still, 18 people, most of them homeless, died in Ukraine from hypothermia and nearly 500 people sought medical help for frostbite and hypothermia in just three days last week, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Temperatures in parts of Ukraine fell to minus 16 C (3 F) during the day and minus 23 C (minus 10 F) in the night. Authorities opened 1,500 shelters to provide food and heat and closed schools and nurseries. More than 17,000 people have sought help in such shelters in the past three days, authorities said.

In Poland, at least 10 people froze to death as the cold reached minus 26 C (minus 15 F) on Monday.

Malgorzata Wozniak, a spokeswoman for Poland's Interior Ministry, told The Associated Press that elderly people and the homeless were among the dead. Police were checking unheated empty buildings for homeless people they could take to shelters.

Warsaw city authorities decided to place more than 40 heaters in the busiest city transport stops to help waiting passengers keep warm.

City authorities in the Czech capital of Prague set up tents for an estimated 3,000 homeless people. Freezing temperatures also damaged train tracks, slowing railway traffic.

In central Serbia, three people died and two more were missing, while 14 municipalities were operating under emergency decrees. Efforts to clear roads blocked by snow were hampered by strong winds and dozens of towns faced power outages.

Police said one woman froze to death in a snowstorm in a central Serbian village, while two elderly men were found dead, one in the snow outside his home. Further south, emergency crews are searching for two men in their 70s who are feared dead.

"We are getting some 'real' winter this week," Croatian meteorologist Zoran Vakula said.

In Bulgaria, a 57-year-old man froze to death in a northwestern village and emergency decrees were declared in 25 of the country's 28 districts. In the capital of Sofia, authorities handed out hot tea and placed homeless people in emergency shelters.

Strong winds also closed down Bulgaria's main Black Sea port of Varna, while part of a major highway leading to Bulgaria and Greece from Turkey was closed after a heavy snowfall. Nearly 200 Turkish Airlines flights to and from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport were canceled, and a city sports hall was turned to a temporary shelter for some 350 homeless people.

The temperature in Turkey's province of Kars, which borders Armenia, dropped to minus 25 C on Sunday night.

The situation was similar in Romania, where reports said four people have died because of freezing weather. There, authorities sent prison inmates to shovel snow and unblock paths leading to a shelter with some 300 stray dogs and puppies.

Weather forecasts say the cold snap will continue through the week.

_____

Associated Press writers across the region contributed to this report.

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Spider-silk skin stops a speeding bullet

Caitlin Stier, video intern

What if your skin could resist a speeding bullet? Now a new futuristic tissue designed by artist Jalila Essa?di, which reinforces human skin cells with spider silk, can stop a whizzing projectile without being pierced. Although its threads may look fragile, a spider-silk weave is four times stronger than Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests.

In the first clip, the bioengineered skin cushions a bullet fired at half speed. But its resistance has its limits: when shot at a full speed of 329 m/s, the bullet pierces the material and travels through it. The same tests were also performed with piglet skin, human skin and human skin fused with regular silkworm silk, which were all penetrated by bullets of both speeds.

An international team worked together to create the new material. First, transgenic goats and silkworms equipped to produce spider-silk proteins spun out the raw material at the synthetic biology lab at Utah State University. The cocoons were then shipped to South Korea, where they were reeled into thread, before being woven into fabric in Germany. The modified silk was then wedged between bioengineered skin cells developed by biochemist Abdoelwaheb El Ghalbzouri at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. After five weeks of incubation, the hybrid skin was ready for target practice.

In addition to exploring the material artistically, Essa?di is also looking into practical uses, such as skin transplants. Spider silk is already being developed by other teams for high-tech applications, which range from artificial corneas to brain implants.

For more about spider silk spin-offs, check out our full-length feature: "Stretching spider silk to its high-tech limits". Or you might also like to find out about the science behind a lavish golden spider-silk cape, currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

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'The Sting' actress Dimitra Arliss dies in LA (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Dimitra Arliss, who played a hired killer alongside Robert Redford and Paul Newman in the caper comedy "The Sting," has died in Los Angeles. She was 79.

Jaime Larkin, a spokesperson for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital, says Arliss died Jan. 26 at the Woodland Hills facility of complications from a stroke.

The Ohio native began her acting career at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. On Broadway, Arliss starred opposite Stacy Keach in "Indians" and with Kevin Kline and John Malkovich in "Arms and the Man."

After appearing as a "hit lady" in the 1973 hit "The Sting," she was seen in "Xanadu," starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, and in Clint Eastwood's "Firefox."

Her numerous television credits include "Dallas," "Quincy M.E.," and "Rich Man, Poor Man."

Arliss is survived by a sister.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_en_mo/us_obit_dimitra_arliss

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Sudan says to release ships seized from South Sudan (Reuters)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) ? Sudan will free ships carrying cargos of crude it seized from South Sudan to ease tensions between the former civil war foes and help the two states agree on a deal over oil revenue, Sayed El-Khatib, deputy head of negotiating team said on Saturday.

"President Bashir is ready to make this gesture. Sudan is going to release the vessels detained in Port Sudan," he told a media conference in the Ethiopian capital.

South Sudan became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement with Khartoum that ended decades of conflict but both sides have failed to agree how to untangle their oil industries.

The new landlocked nation needs to use a northern pipeline and the port of Port Sudan to export its crude but has failed to reach an agreement with Khartoum over a transit fee, prompting Sudan to start seizing oil as compensation.

South Sudan said on Monday it had started shutting down oil production and accused Sudan of seizing $815 million worth of crude.

South Sudan's top negotiator said on Friday his country would complete the shutdown by Saturday, after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir met on the sidelines of a meeting of East African officials in Ethiopia.

Sudan said it was freeing the ships to help end the deadlock.

"By doing this step, we expect the cover agreement to be signed, the shutdown to be halted, and the terms of the cover agreement to be respected," said El-Khatib.

"Before the end of today, we could be able to sign the cover agreement. We, at least, are ready to sign."

Officials said in November South Sudan was producing about 350,000 barrels of oil per day.

China is the biggest buyer of oil from the two countries, some 12.99 million barrels last year. That amounted to five percent of last year's crude imports by China, which is also the top investor in South Sudan's oilfields.

(Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_sudan_oil

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Occupy Oakland: Police Teargas Protestors, Use Flash Grenades

OAKLAND, Calif. ? Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences.

Police Sgt. Christopher Bolton said the arrests came after protesters marched through downtown Oakland a little before 8 p.m. Saturday, with some of them entering a YMCA building.

Meanwhile, about 100 police officers surrounded City Hall while others were swept the inside of the building to see if any protesters broke in.

More help from other police agencies was also on the way, with busloads of Alameda County sheriff's deputies arriving in the downtown area late Saturday.

The nighttime arrests came after 19 people were taken into custody in Occupy Oakland protests hours earlier.

Police used tear gas and "flash" grenades on the group Saturday afternoon after some demonstrators threw rocks and other objects at them. Police said three officers were hurt, but they released no details.

Police said the group assembled at a downtown plaza Saturday morning, with demonstrators threatening to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. The group then marched through the streets, disrupting traffic.

The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

Most of the arrests were made when protesters ignored orders to leave and assaulted officers, police said. By 4 p.m., the bulk of the crowd had left the convention center and headed back downtown.

The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

In a statement Friday, Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana said the city would not be "bullied by threats of violence or illegal activity."

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan also warned that officers would arrest those carrying out illegal actions.

Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans. Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/28/occupy-oakland-police-tea_n_1239232.html

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The Oil Off Cuba: Washington and Havana Dance at Arms Length Over Spill Prevention (Time.com)

On Christmas Eve, a massive, Chinese-made maritime oil rig, the Scarabeo 9, arrived at Trinidad and Tobago for inspection. The Spanish oil company Repsol YPF, which keeps regional headquarters in Trinidad, ferried it to the Caribbean to perform deep-ocean drilling off Cuba -- whose communist government believes as much as 20 billion barrels of crude may lie near the island's northwest coast. But it wasn't Cuban authorities who came aboard the Scarabeo 9 to give it the once-over: officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and Interior Department did, even though the rig won't be operating in U.S. waters.

On any other occasion that might have raised the ire of the Cubans, who consider Washington their imperialista enemy. But the U.S. examination of the Scarabeo 9, which Repsol agreed to and Cuba abided, was part of an unusual choreography of cooperation between the two countries. Their otherwise bitter cold-war feud (they haven't had diplomatic relations since 1961) is best known for a 50-year-long trade embargo and history's scariest nuclear standoff. Now, Cuba's commitment to offshore oil exploration -- drilling may start this weekend -- raises a specter that haunts both nations: an oil spill in the Florida Straits like the BP calamity that tarred the nearby Gulf of Mexico two years ago and left $40 billion in U.S. damages.

The Straits, an equally vital body of water that's home to some of the world's most precious coral reefs, separates Havana and Key West, Florida, by a mere 90 miles. As a result, the U.S. has tacitly loosened its embargo against Cuba to give firms like Repsol easier access to the U.S. equipment they need to help avoid or contain possible spills. "Preventing drilling off Cuba better protects our interests than preparing for [a disaster] does," U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida tells TIME, noting the U.S. would prefer to stop the Cuban drilling -- but can't. "But the two are not mutually exclusive, and that's why we should aim to do both."

(MORE: Cuba Set to Begin Offshore Drilling: Is Florida In Eco-Straits?)

Cuba meanwhile has tacitly agreed to ensure that its safety measures meet U.S. standards (not that U.S. standards proved all that golden during the 2010 BP disaster) and is letting unofficial U.S. delegations in to discuss the precautions being taken by Havana and the international oil companies it is contracting. No Cuban official would discuss the matter, but Dan Whittle, senior attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund in New York, who was part of one recent delegation, says the Cubans "seem very motivated to do the right thing."

It's also the right business thing to do. Cuba's threadbare economy -- President Ra?l Castro currently has to lay off more than 500,000 state workers -- is acutely energy-dependent on allies like Venezuela, which ships the island 120,000 barrels of oil per day. So Havana is eager to drill for the major offshore reserves geologists discovered eight years ago (which the U.S. Geological Survey estimates at closer to 10 billion bbl.). Cuba has signed or is negotiating leases with Repsol and companies from eight other nations -- Norway, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola and China -- for 59 drilling blocks inside a 43,000-sq.-mile (112,000 sq km) zone. Eventually, the government hopes to extract half a million bpd or more.

A serious oil spill could scuttle those drilling operations -- especially since Cuba hasn't the technology, infrastructure or means, like a clean-up fund similar to the $1 billion the U.S. keeps on reserve, to confront such an emergency. And there is another big economic anxiety: Cuba's $2 billion tourism industry. "The dilemma for Cuba is that as much as they want the oil, they care as much if not more about their ocean resources," says Billy Causey, southeast regional director for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine sanctuary program. Cuba's pristine beaches and reefs attract sunbathers and scuba divers the world over, and a quarter of its coastal environment is set aside as protected.

So is much of coastal Florida, where tourism generates $60 billion annually -- which is why the state keeps oil rigs out of its waters. The Florida Keys lie as close as 50 miles from where Repsol is drilling; and they run roughly parallel to the 350-mile-long (560 km) Florida Reef Tract (FRT), the world's third largest barrier reef and one of its most valuable ocean eco-systems. The FRT is already under assault from global warming, ocean acidification and overfishing of symbiotic species like parrotfish that keep coral pruned of corrosive algae. If a spill were to damage the FRT, which draws $2 billion from tourism each year and supports 33,000 jobs, "it would be a catastrophic event," says David Vaughan, director of Florida's private Mote Marine Laboratory.

(MORE: Will BP Spill Lower Risk of Deepwater Drilling?)

Which means America has its own dilemma. As much as the U.S. would like to thwart Cuban petro-profits -- Cuban-American leaders like U.S. Representative and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami say the oil will throw a lifeline to the Castro dictatorship -- it needs to care as much if not more about its own environment. Because fewer than a tenth of the Scarabeo 9's components were made in America, Washington can't wield the embargo cudgel and fine Repsol, which has interests in the U.S., for doing business with Cuba. (Most of the other firms don't have U.S. interests.) Nor can it in good conscience use the embargo in this case to keep U.S. companies from offering spill prevention/containment hardware and services to Repsol and other drilling contractors.

One of those U.S. firms is Helix Energy Solutions in Houston. Amid the Gulf disaster, Helix engineered a "capping stack" to plug damaged blow-out preventers like the one that failed on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig. (It later contained the spill.) Having that technology at hand -- especially since the Cuba rigs will often operate in deeper waters than the Deepwater rig was mining -- will be critical if a spill occurs off Cuba.

Helix has applied to the Treasury Department for a special license to lease its equipment, and speedily deliver it, to Cuba's contractors when needed. The license is still pending, but Helix spokesman Cameron Wallace says the company is confident it will come through since Cuba won't benefit economically from the arrangement. "This is a reasonable approach," says Wallace. "We can't just say we'll figure out what to do if a spill happens. We need this kind of preparation." Eco-advocates like Whittle agree: "It's a no-brainer for the U.S."

(MORE: U.S. Fails to Respond to Cuba's Freeing of Dissidents)

Preparation includes something the U.S.-Cuba cold-war time warp rarely allows: dialogue. Nelson has introduced legislation that would require federal agencies to consult Congress on how to work with countries like Cuba on offshore drilling safety and spill response, but the Administration has already shown some flexibility. Last month U.S. officials and scientists had contact with Cuban counterparts at a regional forum on drilling hazards. That's important because they need to be in synch, for example, about how to attack a spill without exacerbating the damage to coral reefs. Scientists like Vaughan worry that chemical dispersants used to fight the spill in the Gulf, where coral wasn't as prevalent, could be lethal to reefs in the Straits. That would breed more marine catastrophe, since coral reefs, though they make up only 1% of the world's sea bottoms, account for up to 40% of natural fisheries. "They're our underwater oases," says Vaughan, whose tests so far with dispersants and FRT species like Elkhorn coral don't augur well.

A rigid U.S. reluctance to engage communist Cuba is of course only half the problem. Another is Havana's notorious, Soviet-style secrecy -- which some fear "could override the need to immediately pick up the phone," as one environmentalist confides, if and when a spill occurs. As a result, some are also petitioning Washington to fund AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) that marine biologists use to detect red tides, and which could also be used to sniff out oil spills in the Straits.

What experts on both sides of the Straits hope is that sea currents will carry any oil slick directly out into the Atlantic Ocean. But that's wishful thinking. So probably is the notion that U.S.-Cuba cooperation on offshore drilling can be duplicated on other fronts. Among them are the embargo, including the arguably unconstitutional ban on U.S. travel to Cuba, which has utterly failed to dislodge the Castro regime but which Washington keeps in place for fear of offending Cuban-American voters in swing-state Florida; and cases like that of Alan Gross, a U.S. aid worker imprisoned in Cuba since 2009 on what many call questionable spying charges.

U.S. inspectors this month gave the Scarabeo 9 the thumbs-up. Meanwhile, U.S. pols hope they can still dissuade foreign oil companies from operating off Cuba. Last month Nelson and Cuban-American Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey introduced a bill to hold firms financially responsible for spills that affect the U.S. even if they originate outside U.S. waters. (It would also lift a $75 million liability cap.) Others in Congress say Big Oil should be exempted from the embargo to let the U.S. benefit from the Cuba oil find too. Either way, the only thing likely to stop the drilling now would be the discovery that there's not as much crude there as anticipated. That, or a major spill.

PHOTOS: Fidel Castro Steps Down

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Jeb Bush: Gingrich efforts to tie Romney to Crist "ridiculous" (Washington Bureau)

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Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video)

Here at Macworld 2012, Western Digital demoed a preview of their essentially finished, yet not final, MyBook Thunderbolt Duo. Scheduled to ship in Q1 for an "aggressive price," the unit plays host to two 3.5-inch drives, which'll come stuffed from the factory in either 4TB (2x 2TB) or 6TB (3x 2TB) configurations. On the outside, you're looking at the MyBook aesthetic you either love or loathe, but around back you'll find all connectivity has been gutted, save for power and two Thunderbolt ports. The latter means that up to six can be daisy-chained off one interconnect, which when setup in RAID 0 equate rather speedy transfers, like 700MB/sec reads and 500MB/sec writes in the four-unit demonstration configuration we toyed with. And it's future proof too, as there's a door up-top which enables plebes to swap drives should the need arise. We'll keep an ear out for pricing, but until that day arrives, peep them in the gallery below, or in video form after the break.

Gallery: Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video)

Continue reading Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video)

Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mandy Moore: Listen Up, Davos: Global Health is Good for Business

It's around 25?F in Davos, Switzerland today. Thousands of world leaders have arrived for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting. These powerful men and women will spend the next five days setting a course for 2012.

As an ambassador for the global health organization PSI and a member of the WEF Global Shapers, I am really following what's going on there, primarily because it includes a significant number of young leaders who will add their ideas on strengthening the global economy.

I am really hoping that the leaders of the world's most powerful companies walk away understanding the economic importance of global health. And that they make improving global health part of their business plans.

I can't fathom that 2 to 3 billion people live in poverty - many in the developing world, where access to basic health care is limited. I recently read that the poorest two-thirds of the world's population has a US $5 trillion purchasing power. So, with simple investments in the delivery of basic health products and services, people struggling to survive can become more active consumers and producers.

New markets for goods (including American products) will develop, economies will become more vibrant and profits will rise. Most importantly, mothers will be healthier and children will regularly attend school. It really is a win-win.

The U.S. Congress understands this.

On December 23, as the rest of us were finishing up last minute holiday shopping, President Obama signed into law the "Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012." Really, this long-winded title should be renamed: "The Other Jobs Bill."

All year, Republicans and Democrats had been discussing ways to improve the American economy and create jobs. With the bipartisan appropriations bill, Congress "put its money where its mouth is." The bill increased U.S. global health aid for 2012. Other aspects of foreign aid were reduced - but global health went up. This is because Congress understands the many benefits of American investment in global health.

Government support alone can't solve global health epidemics like malaria, HIV, unsafe drinking water and maternal mortality. Corporate involvement and investment is essential.

That's why these discussions at Davos and the subsequent actions are so important. It's an amazing opportunity for health organizations like PSI to link arms with companies such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble in the fight to improve drinking water and expand hand washing.

In such trying economic times, the need for all of us to work together is greater than ever.

And I really believe Davos is the perfect place to start.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mandy-moore/listen-up-davos-global-he_b_1232838.html

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Video: As Stocks Rally, Where to Invest?

Insight on why investors should focus on what others may be ignoring, with Ann Miletti, Wells Fargo Advantage Funds and Howard Present, F-Squared Investments.

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Which direction now? Just ask the north-facing map in your head

Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
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Contact: Divya Menon
dmenon@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science

You're driving from work to pick up your kids at school. The drive is familiar; you've done it almost every day for years. But how do you know in which direction the school is from your home? Landmarks? The sun? Animal instinct? Now, a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, yields an alternative answer that surprised even its authors, Julia Frankenstein, Betty J. Mohler, Heinrich H. Blthoff, and Tobias Meilinger, who collaborated at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, in Tbingen, Germany. "Our memory for our city of residence shows a map-like character," says Meilinger, a research scientist at the institute. "And that map seems to be oriented towards the north." Frankenstein adds: "At least in western societies, where maps are north-oriented, and people usually use maps and are able to read them, they can -and will- rely on their memory of city maps for certain spatial tasks."

Some theories of how we locate ourselves in place and space posit that each of us creates a personal "global reference frame," constructed of environmental factors (a city's grid, a cathedral visible everywhere in town) and individual experience, such as where we live in town. Others say we orient ourselves depending on where we areparallel to the street we're on. According to either of these theories, the further away an invisible location is, the longer it takes us to point in its direction and the more likely we are to make a mistake.

The Tbingen study does not support these theories. In it, 26 residents of Tbingen (who had lived in Tbingen for at least two years) were put into a virtual-reality headset and seated in a chair that didn't allow them to swivel. Participants found themselves in the virtual three-dimensional photorealistic model of their hometown, at locations familiar to them, surrounded by fog masking all but the near distance. Then they had to point to an invisible locationsay, the main gate of the university or the fire station. The scenes changed, and so did the participant's spatial orientation. After 60 three-location trials, participants were asked to draw a map of the town including all the locations they'd pointed to.

The results: Although participants drew differently oriented maps, everyone performed most accurately when facing north and got worse the further they deviated from north. The only explanation the researchers could figure was that they'd all seen, and internalized, a map of Tbingen at some point, and Western maps are all oriented the same waynorth on top.

Meilinger conjectures that we rely on this mental map out of cognitive laziness. "If you acquire your knowledge from navigation only, the task [of pointing to an invisible target] requires you to coordinate a lot of things into the same reference frame" walked trajectories, experienced views, and so on. "A map gives all that information within one frame." Frankenstein refines: "The memory of a map does not need to be updated by further experience, as it depicts all spatial relations undistorted within one reference frame. It therefore provides a very reliable source of spatial information." She emphasizes, that "remembering a map is not the only strategy to solve spatial tasks. We do not necessarily get lost in environments where we have never seen a map of- e.g., buildings or our flat." And while participants used the map for pointing, the replication of the map (i.e., drawing a map) did not result necessarily in north-oriented maps. "Our brain seems to choose the easiest and best strategy to solve spatial tasks, but relying on a mental city-map is one of them," concludes Frankenstein.

Meilinger says it's possible that the increasing reliance on GPS devices will eventually erase these memorized maps. "If somebody doesn't care to learn the environment, that's totally fine with me," he comments. "But they shouldn't complain if their mobile is not working and they are completely lost." How to avoid this? "Look at maps before you start your trip, keep them at hand, but navigate yourself, and try to rely on your memory- it will work better than you expect! Give your brain the chance to train its spatial abilities use them or lose them," adds Frankenstein.

###

For more information about this study, please contact: Julia Frankenstein or Tobias Meilinger at julia.frankenstein@cognition.uni-freiburg.de; tobias.meilinger@tuebingen.mpg.de.

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Is the Map in Our Head Oriented North?" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Divya Menon at 202-293-9300 or dmenon@psychologicalscience.org.

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Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
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Contact: Divya Menon
dmenon@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science

You're driving from work to pick up your kids at school. The drive is familiar; you've done it almost every day for years. But how do you know in which direction the school is from your home? Landmarks? The sun? Animal instinct? Now, a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, yields an alternative answer that surprised even its authors, Julia Frankenstein, Betty J. Mohler, Heinrich H. Blthoff, and Tobias Meilinger, who collaborated at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, in Tbingen, Germany. "Our memory for our city of residence shows a map-like character," says Meilinger, a research scientist at the institute. "And that map seems to be oriented towards the north." Frankenstein adds: "At least in western societies, where maps are north-oriented, and people usually use maps and are able to read them, they can -and will- rely on their memory of city maps for certain spatial tasks."

Some theories of how we locate ourselves in place and space posit that each of us creates a personal "global reference frame," constructed of environmental factors (a city's grid, a cathedral visible everywhere in town) and individual experience, such as where we live in town. Others say we orient ourselves depending on where we areparallel to the street we're on. According to either of these theories, the further away an invisible location is, the longer it takes us to point in its direction and the more likely we are to make a mistake.

The Tbingen study does not support these theories. In it, 26 residents of Tbingen (who had lived in Tbingen for at least two years) were put into a virtual-reality headset and seated in a chair that didn't allow them to swivel. Participants found themselves in the virtual three-dimensional photorealistic model of their hometown, at locations familiar to them, surrounded by fog masking all but the near distance. Then they had to point to an invisible locationsay, the main gate of the university or the fire station. The scenes changed, and so did the participant's spatial orientation. After 60 three-location trials, participants were asked to draw a map of the town including all the locations they'd pointed to.

The results: Although participants drew differently oriented maps, everyone performed most accurately when facing north and got worse the further they deviated from north. The only explanation the researchers could figure was that they'd all seen, and internalized, a map of Tbingen at some point, and Western maps are all oriented the same waynorth on top.

Meilinger conjectures that we rely on this mental map out of cognitive laziness. "If you acquire your knowledge from navigation only, the task [of pointing to an invisible target] requires you to coordinate a lot of things into the same reference frame" walked trajectories, experienced views, and so on. "A map gives all that information within one frame." Frankenstein refines: "The memory of a map does not need to be updated by further experience, as it depicts all spatial relations undistorted within one reference frame. It therefore provides a very reliable source of spatial information." She emphasizes, that "remembering a map is not the only strategy to solve spatial tasks. We do not necessarily get lost in environments where we have never seen a map of- e.g., buildings or our flat." And while participants used the map for pointing, the replication of the map (i.e., drawing a map) did not result necessarily in north-oriented maps. "Our brain seems to choose the easiest and best strategy to solve spatial tasks, but relying on a mental city-map is one of them," concludes Frankenstein.

Meilinger says it's possible that the increasing reliance on GPS devices will eventually erase these memorized maps. "If somebody doesn't care to learn the environment, that's totally fine with me," he comments. "But they shouldn't complain if their mobile is not working and they are completely lost." How to avoid this? "Look at maps before you start your trip, keep them at hand, but navigate yourself, and try to rely on your memory- it will work better than you expect! Give your brain the chance to train its spatial abilities use them or lose them," adds Frankenstein.

###

For more information about this study, please contact: Julia Frankenstein or Tobias Meilinger at julia.frankenstein@cognition.uni-freiburg.de; tobias.meilinger@tuebingen.mpg.de.

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Is the Map in Our Head Oriented North?" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Divya Menon at 202-293-9300 or dmenon@psychologicalscience.org.

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/afps-wdn011812.php

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JockSpin.com :: Phoenix Suns versus New York Knicks Sports Betting Odds Pick Preview

Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns will compete on the back end of a back to back when they face Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks in an NBA pro basketball game on Wednesday night.

Tip off time from New York is scheduled for 7PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA League Pass.

The point spread opened up in this NBA game with the home team New York Knicks favored by -8 ? points with an over under of 194 points.

Early money from the NBA wagering public has landed on the side of the road team as the New York Knicks are now favored by -7 ? points.

The total has moved up to 194 ? points.

New York Knicks money line bettors will lay ?TBA odds with the road underdog Phoenix Suns bringing back +TBA odds to earn the straight up win with no need for taking the points.

The Suns and Knicks split their two game series a year ago with each team winning and covering the point spread on the road.

There was one over and one under in the two games.

Phoenix will head to New York with a record of 4-9 on the year. The club is 1-5 on the highway.

The Suns average 94 points with 45.1% shooting with 33.2% coming from beyond the arc.

On the defensive side of the court Phoenix allows 97 points and 45% shooting from the floor. Teams hit on 32.6% from the three point line against them.

The team has dropped five straight games.

They are coming off a 118-97 loss last night to the Chicago Bulls as a +9 ? point underdog.

The total landed over the closing line of 181 points.

The Bulls played without Derrick Rose.

Phoenix got down by 20 at the half in defeat.

The Suns made 51.4% of their shots with 5 of 11 coming from the three point line.

The team was sloppy with 20 turnovers while forcing just 6 away from Chicago.

Steve Nash led Phoenix with 25 points and nine assists on 10 of 13 shooting.

Off the bench Robin Lopez had 16 points with six rebounds as he made 6 of his 7 shots from the floor.

Marcin Gortat had 15 points and grabbed 15 boards in defeat.

Phoenix allowed Chicago 53.4% shooting with 5 of 10 from the three point line.

The Pick: The winning Phoenix Suns versus New York Knicks pick is available free right now to all callers to Tony?s Courtesy line by dialing 1-888-711-4311.

The New York Knicks will host Phoenix with a record of 6-7 on the season. The team is 3-3 at home.

New York puts up 93 points and 41.7% shooting with 30.9% coming from the three point line. The club makes 79.9% of their free throws.

The team has dropped three straight games.

They are coming off the 102-93 home defeat on Monday afternoon to the Orlando Magic as a +1 ? point underdog.

The total landed over the closing line of 193 points.

The Knicks were outscored in the fourth quarter by Orlando by the score of 29-18 in defeat.

The team hit on 41.1% of their shots with 5 of 20 coming from the three point line.

New York pulled down seven less rebounds in defeat.

Carmelo Anthony led New York with 33 points and eight rebounds on just 9 of 27 shooting from the floor.

Iman Shumpert had 12 points and made just 3 of 9 of his shots.

Off the bench Toney Douglas contributed with 12 points but on just 4 of 12 from the field.

New York allowed Orlando 50.7% shooting and 17 of 35 from the three point line.

Trend: New York Knicks are 1-8 ATS in their past nine home games.

For the Latest NBA Odds Please Visit our NBA Odds Page

Recommended Reading

Source: http://rd.sportsblogs.org/viewEntry.php?id=3454886&src=rss

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Angela Merkel: S&P Downgrade Highlights Need For Strong 'Fiscal Compact'

* Leaders see downgrades as wake-up call
* Italy seen as problem child number one
* Merkel says decision should not impede EFSF
* S&P says France could fall further, no euro break-up
By Robin Emmott and Brian Rohan
BRUSSELS/BERLIN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - European leaders promised on Saturday to speed up plans to strengthen spending rules and get a permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, a day after U.S. agency S&P cut the ratings of several euro zone countries' creditworthiness.
In a conference call with reporters and analysts after downgrading nine of the euro zone's 17 countries, Standard & Poor's said it saw continued risks from the debt crisis that has overshadowed Europe for the past two years and said the single currency area was heading towards recession.
It also warned that France, which suffered a downgrade to AA+ from the top-notch AAA, was at risk of further cuts if a recession further inflates its debt and budget deficit.
"The policy response at the European level has in our view not kept up with the rising challenges in the euro zone," S&P credit analyst Moritz Kraemer said on the call, forecasting a 40 percent chance of euro zone gross domestic product contracting by up to 1.5 percent in 2012.
The downgrades were delivered hours after talks between private bond holders and the Greek government aimed at restructing Greece's vast debts broke down, pushing Athens closer to default, an event that would tarnish euro zone unity and pose a contagion threat which could engulf the bloc.
In Germany - whose top AAA rating survived unscathed - Chancellor Angela Merkel said the downgrades underlined why a so-called 'fiscal compact' must be signed by member states quickly, and the next bailout mechanism, known as the ESM, should be funded soon.
"We are now challenged to implement the fiscal compact even quicker ... and to do it resolutely, not to try to soften it," she said at a meeting of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in the northern city of Kiel.
"We will also work particularly to implement the permanent stability mechanism, the ESM, so soon as possible -- this is important regarding investor trust," she added.
European Central Bank policymaker Joerg Asmussen warned that Europe's drive to tighten fiscal rules was being softened, considering the latest draft of the agreement a "substantial watering down" of budgetary discipline because it would allow extra spending in extraordinary circumstances, the Financial Times Deutschland reported.
Leaders including Merkel have urged countries to tighten their belts with higher taxes and deep spending cuts to rein in massive budget deficits. But that has heightened market concern about their ability to grow their way back to health, pushing borrowing costs even higher for heavily indebted governments.
S&P said it was not working on the assumption of a euro zone break up, although it blamed its leaders for focusing too much on cutting debts and not sufficiently on competititveness.
"We think that the diagnosis of policymakers regarding the crisis is only partially recognising the origin of the crisis," said Kraemer, mentioning the focus on budget austerity.
"The proper diagnosis would have to give more weight to the rising imbalances in the euro zone in terms of the external funding positions, current account positions, much of it is based in diverging trends of competitiveness," he said.

WAKE-UP CALL
Austria, which was downgraded one notch from AAA, called S&P's decision a wake-up call for the country to cut debt and deficits, and for Europe to move more quickly on reforms.
"The downgrade is bad news for Austria but it should wake everyone up when such a thing happens," Finance Minister Maria Fekter said. "Now everyone recognises that this ... is a matter of debt and deficits, not primarily of the economy."
The ratings decision hit some countries harder than others, with France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia suffering single-notch downgrades, but Italy, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus falling two notches. Portugal's debt is now rated junk.
ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny, an Austrian, said Italy in particular would now face problems given large refinancing needs this year in that country and its banks.
Asked in an interview broadcast by Austrian radio if Italy - now rated at the same BBB+ level as Kazakhstan - was "problem child number one", Nowotny agreed.
"In a certain sense, yes, because we know this year Italy has a very significant refinancing need. Italian banks also need refinancing," he said.
"In normal times this is all possible, in very nervous and difficult times it can be a problem and in my view this sharp downgrade of Italy is probably one of the most difficult and problematic aspects of this sweeping blow from the ratings agency."
NO TORPEDO
Long-standing frustration with ratings agencies echoed across Europe after the S&P decision. While Germany and France downplayed the decision and called it expected, Spain's finance minister was more alarmed.
"The downgrade is far too broad, it effects too many countries, it effects the very credibility of the euro," Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro said on the radio.
"It's important that the European institutions understand that it's time to do everything possible to build and reinforce the euro," said Montoro, whose highly indebted country has the highest unemployment level in the euro zone.
Meanwhile, in a move to circumvent their influence, Germany's Merkel backed a proposal to reduce the reliance of institutional investors on ratings agencies, which some of her allies say are politically driven.
The idea would be to introduce legislation to allow institutional investors to evaluate risk themselves and make decisions independent from the U.S.-based agencies.
"I think it is very useful to look at this and see where if necessary we can make changes to legislation," Merkel said at her party meeting.
European leaders are set to meet at a summit on Jan. 30 to discuss how to boost growth and jobs, and Merkel's words on Saturday suggest she will also be looking for faster progress on tighter common fiscal rules.
But now, policymakers at the meeting may have bigger fish to fry. The downgrades threaten the top rating of Europe's current bailout fund -- the European Financial Stability Facility -- as contributors France and Austria are no longer rated AAA.
A downgrade of the EFSF could increase its borrowing costs, reducing its ability to protect the currency bloc's weaker members. S&P said it would deliver its view on the impact to the EFSF from the sovereign downgrades "shortly".

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/15/angela-merkel-sp-downgrade_n_1206283.html

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Legal Advocates for Abused Women? SLAPPs and Racketeering ...

January 17, 2012 | Filed Under Crime, Government, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, The Law | No Comments

by Paleo-Skeptic

You would think that an organization with such a high-sounding name as ?Legal Advocates for Abused Women? might be out doing some good in the world. Maybe they would be, if they actually cared about providing services for battered women more than engaging in racketeering and violating federal law. As it stands, it?s more of a model of the evils of centralization.

First, by removing community services away from the communities which they were intended to serve, those services become less and less responsive to the individual needs of the community. A ?one size fits all? approach becomes the streamlined effort, whereas to engage in true thought lies beyond their means. This leads to heavy-handed measures where they are not warranted, and insufficient measures where they would be.

Secondly, centralization allows those service organizations to wield greater power, which naturally incentivize more precarious rent-seeking behaviors. The potential for usurpation, the ?hostile take-over,? becomes greater, not lessened, due to the disproportionate influence at the upper rungs of the structure.

Here follows a portion from the transcript of Straussner v. Hart, Cause No. 09SL-PN03697, and Hart v. Straussner, Cause No. 09SL-PN03700, which were heard at the same time. Mr. Hart is here a creditor in a bankruptcy and, having been threatened by Straussner, who was using a fake name at the time, and Hart had received a previous Order of Protection with a finding of Stalking against Straussner under the phony name, Cause No. 09SL-PN02411, a few months earlier.

Mr. Straussner is represented here by Katherine ?Evidence Tampering? Wessling, managing attorney for Legal Advocates for Abused Women and racketeer-in-chief, who has determined that Straussner was, according to their mission statement, a battered woman or child. That has a lot to do with why this organization, LAAW, is being investigated by various federal agencies, including the Office of a prominent Senator.

I will save the more appalling aspects of this for the end of the citations.

Mr. Straussner is being questioned here under cross-examination from Mr. Hart?s attorney, Mr. Cohan:

(Mr. Straussner): And I said to him, I said, I would knock the glasses off your face.
(p. 13)

(Mr. Straussner): I told him that I would knock the glasses off his face.
(p. 14)

Q: Did he have any kind of communication with you prior to the phone call that you made to him in May of 2009?

(Mr. Straussner): Umm, not that I know of, no. Not that I can recall.

Q: And when you called him, you told him who you were, is that right?

A: No.

Q: So he had no idea ?

A: Yeah, no, he knew who I was. I told him that I was Sherry?s fianc?.

Q: Okay.

A: Yes, I did. I did say that, yes.

Q: And you?re aware when you made that call that he was Sherry?s ex-boyfriend, for want of a better term, is that right?

A: Umm, actually at that time he was ? I believe he was filed as a creditor.

THE COURT: He was what?

A: Filed as a creditor. He said that she owed ? he owed her money or ? Yeah, he said that she owed him money.

THE COURT: Filed what as a creditor?

MR. COHAN: Just to clear this up, Your Honor, ?cause I think I know what he?s talking about.

Q: (By Mr. Cohan) Your fianc?e had filed for bankruptcy, is that right?

A: Correct. Correct.

Q: And he filed as a creditor in the bankruptcy ?

A: Correct.

Q: ? ?cause he thought she owed him money?

A: Yes, sir.

MR. COHAN: That?s what he?s talking about, Your Honor.

A: Yes, sir.

(pp. 20 ? 22)

What you just read there were several violations of federal law.

First, Straussner admits that he gave the fake name at a time when he knew that Hart was a creditor in the bankruptcy. Hart had initiated an objection to the discharge of debt, and hired a private investigator to conduct an asset investigation. Bringing that investigation to an end was a great part of the purpose of Straussner having brought this suit against Hart; a process known as a ?strategic lawsuit against public participation? (SLAPP); which, by the way, is outside of the mission statement for Legal Advocates for Abused Women.

What that would indicate is that the omnibus clause of Title 18 Sections 1503 was in effect, as the procedure was then pending.

??or corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice??

The term ?endeavor? has been interpreted to indicate actions more inclusive than ?attempts.?

Although I am no attorney, it certainly looks like a violation of Section 1512 of Title 18, Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant:

(2) Whoever uses physical force or the threat of physical force against any person, or attempts to do so, with intent to?
???(A) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;
???(B) cause or induce any person to?
??????(i) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official proceeding;
??????(ii) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the integrity or availability of the object for use in an official proceeding;
??????(iii) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in an official proceeding; or
??????(iv) be absent from an official proceeding to which that person has been summoned by legal process

(b) Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to?
???(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;
???(2) cause or induce any person to?
??????(A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official proceeding;
??????(B) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the object?s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding;
??????(C) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in an official proceeding; or
??????(D) be absent from an official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process

(c) Whoever corruptly?
???(1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object?s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or
???(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so

(d) Whoever intentionally harasses another person and thereby hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades any person from?
???(1) attending or testifying in an official proceeding;
???(2) reporting to a law enforcement officer or judge of the United States the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense?;
???(3) arresting or seeking the arrest of another person in connection with a Federal offense

(k) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy

More on the judicial interpretation of the term ?corruptly? may be found here. The phrase ?any persons? was included in a revision to extend protections to attorneys, parties that would not give testimony, those who would produce documents without testifying, etc.

These citations are from Chapter 73 of Title 18, which is the portion of the federal criminal code (Title 18) that deals with Obstruction of Justice crimes.

Now, there are other things going on here, such as violations of Title 18 U.S.C. ? 241 Conspiracy to interfere with rights; but I don?t want to focus on that so much.

I would rather focus on the language of Title 18 Chapter 96 ? 1961 (1) (D):

any offense involving fraud connected with a case under title 11 (except a case under section 157 of this title)

Title 11 would be the federal bankruptcy code.

I went to Chapter 96 of Title 18 to cite this, because this Chapter is known as the ?Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations statute,? which is Title IX of the RICO Act. Section 1961 is where you will find the definitions of what constitutes racketeering under the Act. Wouldn?t you know, both Sections 1503 and 1512 are listed as RICO predicate acts!

Hmmm?

Now, Mr. Straussner?s actions would constitute racketeering under the Act all by themselves; the question is? how exactly is it that engaging in racketeering might help battered women?

So, suppose Straussner was, in fact, a woman. Do SLAPPs make women safer in the absence of physical abuse? Do SLAPPs make women safer even in instances of physical abuse? What about RICO violations? Does racketeering help battered women in any way?

And why aren?t the racketeering activities mentioned in this group?s fund-raising materials?

You can look here to see if you see anything about RICO violations.

Why are your tax dollars going to pay for a criminal enterprise?

I can tell you that the Senator was the first one on top of that.

The Senator Roy Blunt, ever since his distinguished days in the House, has always been on guard against wasteful spending.

In times like these, we need that now more than ever.

Senator Blunt served as President of Southwest Baptist University back in the early 90?s, and he brings a strong moral character to his Office. It?s not that he doesn?t care, or doesn?t want to help women in abusive relationships? it?s that he wants people getting money from the government to do the things they say they?re going to do with it.

Sen. Blunt has received a 94 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. Maybe the belief that people shouldn?t be lying to the government just to get money out of them is one big reason why.

I?m not saying that all the people under Pelosi?s wings are swindlers. It?s just that the idea of getting something for nothing seems to run deep on that Left-hand side of the aisle.

There?s a greater lesson there about identity politics, but I?ll leave that aside for another time. For now, let?s just be thankful that someone is watching out for the rights of the people, and keeping the pilferers out of the public purse.

Source: http://www.publiusforum.com/2012/01/17/legal-advocates-for-abused-women-slapps-rico/

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China cancer village tests reach of law against pollution (Reuters)

XIAOXIN, China (Reuters) ? Nothing in Wu Wenyong's rural childhood hinted he would end up on a hospital bed aged 15, battling two kinds of cancer.

Born to poor farmers in Xiaoxin, a dusty village of low brick houses in southwestern Yunnan province, he paddled in the Nanpan River as a child and later helped his parents tend rice.

About 3 km (two miles) from Wu's home stands a three-storey high hill of chromium slag produced from the Yunnan Luliang Peace Technology Company. The runoff from chromium-6, listed as a carcinogen by the World Health Organisation, seeped into the Nanpan, turning its waters yellow.

And the toxic water and earth that Wu's family blames for his condition have become a battleground over how far China will bend to letting courts punish pollution.

The chromium hill is a rallying point for a coalition of environmental advocacy groups, who have filed a public interest lawsuit for residents of Xiaoxin and nearby Xinglong in a special environment court.

Last September, Wu's face ballooned and tumor-like growths developed on his neck. He was diagnosed with thymoma, cancer of the thymus gland in the chest, and with leukemia.

"The pollution is quite terrible. I've heard stories of cattle dying," Wu said, from his hospital bed in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. "I've seen the water in the river and it's all yellow. I've never drunk the water."

Beset by growing public alarm and protests about pollution, China's leaders have reached for a remedy they have otherwise shown little appetite for: letting the courts decide. Those courts come under the control of the ruling Communist Party, but environmental campaigners spot a welcome, if narrow opening.

In a country where non-governmental organizations have long been treated with suspicion by authorities, collective litigation by organizations with no government backing is breaking new ground in the environment courts. The groups want the privately owned company to establish a 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) compensation fund for an environmental clean-up.

"This is a significant case," said Qin Tianbao, a professor of environmental law at Wuhan University, uninvolved in the case. "In the past, lawsuits were only launched by agencies with semi-official backing. If it is possible that an organization with absolutely no government backing can bring about a public interest litigation, then it certainly is a good thing."

The Yunnan Luliang Peace Technology Co. was established in 2003, according to its website. It makes chromium, a metal used in stainless steel, paints, plastic and dyes, and sodium dichromate, used for the tanning of leather.

Both are highly carcinogenic metals.

The company declined Reuters' request for an interview.

Polluting factories have been relocated from urban areas to the countryside, home to half of China's population. Local officials rely on these industries to generate tax revenues.

"Why was the factory built here and not Beijing and Shanghai? Because in Beijing and Shanghai, there are people watching," said Chang Shichen, 47, a villager from Xinglong.

The lawsuit had been due to go to trial in the city of Qujing last November, but was delayed until February to give advocates more time to assess the ecological damage, said Li Bo, director of Friends of Nature, one of the groups involved.

Environmental groups dispute local authorities' assertion that the water is now safe.

"There is no problem with the village's water now, although I'm not sure about the specific circumstances," Ji Honghua, an official with the Qujing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, said by telephone.

In the two villages, which are surrounded by an industrial park, residents drink either bottled water or water supplied from a small river and later filtered.

The local government gave Wenyong's father, Wu Shuliang, 1,000 yuan after he told officials about his son's plight. He borrowed 50,000 yuan for his son's chemotherapy -- and family members say there is no health insurance to reclaim the money.

"All I want is for the government to give us an answer about the pollution," said Wenyong, a tear rolling down his cheek.

His hair has fallen out from chemotherapy and he weighs 32 kg (70 pounds), almost 10 kg lighter than before his illness.

Wenyong's doctor, a woman surnamed Li, said her patient in any case needs two to three years of follow-up treatment.

Last year, the environmentalist Li learned from a media report that 5,000 tonnes of chromium-6 had been dumped outside a district of Qujing. He investigated and found 140,000 tonnes had been buried in the nearby villages of Xiaoxin and Xinglong.

"Many villagers didn't know what chromium is, they thought it was soil, so they'll dig up the chromium to pave roads. "Others will use it to build the foundation of their homes," he said. "They work barefooted in the fields. Some of their feet would start to rot and they would never understand why."

HIGH EXPOSURE

The chromium-6 levels in the water were 200 times above the permissible limits, Ma Tianjie of Greenpeace in China said after

an independent investigation was conducted.

Enforcement of laws regulating the disposal of chromium is poor. Greenpeace's Ma estimates there are 1 million tonnes of chromium-6 dumped across China that still has not been disposed of, based on environment ministry data.

Virtually every resident of the villages knew of someone who contracted cancer after the industrial park was set up about seven years ago. No epidemiological studies have been conducted.

Studies have shown that exposure to chromium-6 causes leukemia and cancer of the stomach, liver and breast.

"It is one of the worst chemicals to get in drinking water,"

Max Costa, chairman of the department of environmental medicine at New York University, said in emailed comments.

Wu's family needs no convincing about what is to blame.

"Our plot of farmland was just next to the chromium slag," said the elder Wu. "They even dug a drain next to our land for the runoff."

In September, the local government arrested five people for the dumping and ordered the company to halt production of chromium and sodium dichromate.

The hill is now covered by metal slabs. Guards monitor the company around the clock to ensure production has stopped and detoxification will be completed in August, Ji from the Qujing environmental bureau said.

Li recruited lawyers, academics and other NGOs to look into the feasibility of filing a lawsuit and the team named the Qujing Environmental Protection bureau as a co-plaintiff,

Two weeks after their case was accepted by the Qujing court, the central government's Civil Law Draft Amendment Office sought Li's views on amendments to draft legislation.

An official told him the government was considering letting "social organizations" bring lawsuits about pollution and food safety.

Although "social organizations" have not been defined, new laws could lead to more "public interest" litigation and allow ordinary people to join forces to defend their interests.

Li said he was "cautiously optimistic" about prospects for victory in the Qujing case -- which he said he had raised in his discussions with the government.

"If this has already happened, that an environmental organization with a status like ours could successfully file a public interest lawsuit, not including us in future interpretations of the amendments to the civil law, will be something that is unjustified," he told the official.

But without an independent judiciary, the environment courts will continue to avoid handling sensitive cases, said Zhang Jingjing, a lawyer involved in many pollution causes.

"Our circle of lawyers has a saying: in China, the big cases are about politics, the mid-sized cases are about influence and only the small cases deal with law," Zhang said.

($1 = 6.3066 Chinese yuan)

(Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Royston Chan, Editing by Ken Wills and Ron Popeski)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/hl_nm/us_china_pollution_lawsuit

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Many Head and Neck Cancer Survivors Face Eating Problems (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Persistent pain, eating problems and depression are the most common problems experienced by long-term survivors of head and neck cancer, a new study finds.

In the study, published in the Jan. 16 online issue of the journal Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, researchers looked at 337 people who were diagnosed with head and neck cancer from 1995 to 2004 and survived at least five years.

More than 50 percent of the survivors had problems eating because of poor throat functioning, 28.5 percent had symptoms of depression and more than 17 percent had substantial pain, the researchers found.

However, when the long-term survivors were compared to age-matched people in the general population, their average general health was similar, Dr. Gerry Funk, of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, and colleagues explained in a journal news release.

The investigators also found that pain and diet in the first year after cancer treatment were the strongest independent predictors of five-year, health-related quality-of-life outcomes.

Problems with mouth and throat function in head and neck cancer survivors can be due to factors such as neuromuscular changes, anatomic deficits after surgery, pain and dental problems, the researchers noted.

"Early interventions addressing eating issues, swallowing problems and pain management will be a crucial component in improving this patient population's long-term quality of life, especially in those who are functioning poorly one year after diagnosis," the study authors concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about head and neck cancer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120116/hl_hsn/manyheadandneckcancersurvivorsfaceeatingproblems

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Local small-business leaders cheer White House talks ...

When Ulysses Turner left the White House on Friday, he was eager to explore new investment in Hampton Roads.

The CEO of Atlantic Apartment Rentals and Development Co., which builds multifamily housing primarily in Norfolk, spent the day with 27 other Hampton Roads business leaders who met with the Obama administration to discuss ways to help small businesses grow. The visit convinced Turner that the economy would head in a positive direction this year.

"I came away feeling that the president's policies are very pro-small business," he said. "It was a very inspirational day."

Gary McCollum, senior vice president and general manager of Cox Communications Inc.'s operations in Virginia, agreed that the meetings showed the administration's belief in small business "as a key driver in this economy."

During a series of afternoon workshops, McCollum said, he heard encouraging ideas about the use of technology to improve productivity and about opportunities for small- and medium-size defense contractors. Despite reductions in defense spending, administration officials assured the local companies that money is available and that the process to get it would become more efficient, McCollum said.

Among those who attended the White House meetings were Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News; Gilbert Bland, president and CEO of Tymark Enterprises Inc., the Norfolk-based owner of several Burger King franchises; and Tom Walker, president of Chesapeake technology development firm Web Teks. The meetings were set up by Business Forward, which organizes businesses to inform government decision-making on economic issues.

Some in the group attended President Barack Obama's news conference earlier in the day, when he suggested shrinking the number of federal agencies that deal with business.

The simplification of government regulations arose as a common theme, Turner and McCollum said. So did the need to nurture an educated workforce, from kindergarten through college, McCollum said.

"So we're producing the talent that can not only get a job but can create a job."?

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/local-smallbusiness-leaders-cheer-white-house-talks

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