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Tuesday, 31 January 2012
With The Twist of a Handle, This Flat Whisk Becomes a Balloon Whisk [Food]
Video: Doctors ignore blood pressure guidelines, study says
When a patient?s blood pressure is measured in both arms, instead of just one, the differences in readings could point to underlying health risks. NBC?s Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.
>>> as we mentioned earlier, the health news has to do with a basic staple of the doctor's office, getting your blood pressure checked. if your last time at the doctor they only measured it on one arm, well, new research says they're doing it wrong. further, they say, doing it right could reveal a big health risk. our report from our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman .
>> reporter: doctors who measure blood pressure in only one arm may be missing critical information about their patient's heart health. a new study published in the journal "the lancet" shows the differences in blood pressure readings between both arms could point to underlying health risks. if the systolic pressure , the top number in a reading which measures the pressure in the artery where the heart beats , differs by 15 points in each arm, this study shows that a person is at 2.5 times higher risk of prefrl vas car disease, meaning blood vessels in the handed a feet are more likely to become blocked. risk of stroke is 1.6 times higher. risk from death of heart attack is 70% higher. some risk factors for hypertension are ages, genetics, age and obesity. your doctor should take blood pressure in each arm. if it's high in one arm, have that blood pressure repeated because some people develop something we call white coat hypertension . they go to their doctors, they're nervous, blood pressure goes up and settles down after a short time. brian, if that's not you and your blood pressure stays up, that's the time you go on and have further tests. it's amazing how many people have falsely elevated blood pressure and don't know it.
>> that's the effect.
>> it's that white coat .
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46196747/
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Monday, 30 January 2012
NEC will cut 10,000 jobs after forecasting $1.3 billion annual loss, mostly in mobile phone biz
NEC will cut 10,000 jobs after forecasting $1.3 billion annual loss, mostly in mobile phone biz originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Portraits Of The Homeless
lightbox.time.com:
In 2008, accountant and amateur photographer Lee Jeffries was in London to run a marathon. On the day before the race, Jeffries thought he would wander the city to take pictures. Near Leicester Square, he trained his 5D camera with a long, 70-200 lens on a young, homeless woman who was huddled in a sleeping bag among Chinese food containers.
Read the whole story: lightbox.time.com
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/portraits-of-the-homeless_n_1240102.html
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Sunday, 29 January 2012
Gillmor Gang 01.28.12 (TCTV)
The Gillmor Gang ? Doc Searls, Danny Sullivan, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor ? debut the latest Google catchphrase to replace Do No Evil: We Really Don't Care! @stevegillmor, @dsearls, @dannysullivan, @jtaschek, @kevinmarks, @tinagillmorSource: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HwOo54sfw9s/
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Saturday, 28 January 2012
American economy not healthy yet, but it's healing (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The American economy may not be truly healthy yet, but it's healing.
The 2.8 percent annual growth rate reported Friday for the fourth quarter was the fastest since spring 2010 and was the third straight quarter that growth has accelerated.
Experts cautioned, however, that the pace was unlikely to last and that it's not enough to sharply drive down the unemployment rate.
Unemployment stands at 8.5 percent ? its lowest level in nearly three years after a sixth straight month of solid hiring. And Friday's Commerce Department report suggests more hiring gains ahead.
For the final three months of 2011, Americans spent more on vehicles, and companies restocked their supplies at a robust pace.
Still, overall growth last quarter ? and for all of last year ? was slowed by the sharpest cuts in annual government spending in four decades. And many people are reluctant to spend more or buy homes, and many employers remain hesitant to hire, even though job growth has strengthened.
The outlook for 2012 is slightly better. The Federal Reserve has estimated economic growth of roughly 2.5 percent for the year, despite abundant risk factors: federal spending cuts, weak pay increases, cautious consumers and the risk of a European recession.
Economists noted that most of the growth in the October-December quarter was due to companies restocking their supplies at the fastest rate in nearly two years. That pace is expected to slow.
"The pickup in growth doesn't look half as good when you realize that most of it was due to inventory accumulation," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.
Ashworth expects annualized growth to slip below 2 percent in the current January-March quarter. Other economists have similar estimates.
Stocks opened lower after the government reported the growth figures. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down about 74 points. Broader indexes were mixed.
In a normal economy, roughly 3 percent growth is a healthy figure. It's enough to keep unemployment down ? but not so much growth as to ignite inflation.
But coming out of a recession, much stronger growth is needed. By some estimates, the economy would have to expand at least 5 percent for a full year to drive down the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point.
In many ways, the economy did end 2011 on a strong note. Companies invested more in equipment and machinery in December.
People are buying more cars, and consumer confidence has risen. Even the depressed housing market has shown enough incremental gains to lead some economists to detect the start of a turnaround.
In the final three months of 2011, consumer spending grew at a 2 percent annual rate. That was up modestly from the July-September quarter. Consumer spending is critical because it fuels about 70 percent of the economy.
Much of the growth was powered by a 15 percent surge in sales of autos and other long-lasting manufactured goods.
Incomes, which have been weak because of still-high unemployment, grew ever so slightly, at a tepid 0.8 percent annual rate, following two straight quarterly declines. Unless pay picks up, consumers who have dipped into savings in recent months may pull back.
"Consumers don't have much income growth, and to even achieve a 2 percent growth rate in spending in the fourth quarter, they had to run down their saving rate," said Nigel Gault, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
And government spending at all levels fell at an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.1 percent for the year ? the sharpest drop since 1971. Defense cuts at the start and end of the year were a key factor. With Congress aiming to shrink budget deficits, the likelihood of further federal spending cuts could weigh on the economy.
Economic growth is measured by the change in the gross domestic product, or GDP. The GDP reflects the value of all goods and services ? from machinery to manicures to hotel bookings to jet fighters ? produced in the United States.
Friday's estimate of GDP growth was the first of three for the October-December quarter. The figure will be revised twice, in February and then in March.
Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics, is among the more optimistic analysts. He said he thought business investment in capital goods would be stronger and consumer spending higher this year.
Many fear that a likely recession in Europe could cool demand for U.S. manufactured goods. Growth would slow. Without many more jobs and better pay, consumer spending could weaken.
The Fed signaled this week that a full economic recovery could take at least three more years.
Although things may not be good, they're getting better.
Gault predicts the economy will create an average of 150,000 jobs a month in 2012 based on his expectation that the year will be slightly stronger than 2011. Last year, the economy created an average 133,000 jobs a month.
"We are starting to see improvements in the housing market, and consumers are working down their debt levels," Gault said. "That is all good and will help us this year."
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The Beatles: Here Comes The Sun [Video]
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OriJSCcflqc/the-beatles-here-comes-the-sun
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NC man charged in beheading plot to face trial (AP)
WILMINGTON, N.C. ? A federal magistrate judge says a North Carolina man must stand trial in a plot to hire a hit man to behead three witnesses in his brother's terrorism case.
The ruling came Friday during a hearing in Wilmington. Federal Magistrate Judge Robert Jones also ordered Shkumbin Sherifi (shuh-REE'-fee shuh-KUM'-bihn) remanded without bond.
Sherifi was arrested after FBI agents tracked him to a meeting with a government informant posing as a representative of a hit man. He is accused of paying the informant $4,250 toward the first killing.
It was revealed at the hearing that the FBI faked a witness' death by providing Sherifi with photos of the person in a shallow grave as well as a faked picture of what appeared to be the witness' severed head.
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Friday, 27 January 2012
Mint Competitor And Personal Finance Platform HelloWallet Raises $12M From Morningstar
HelloWallet, a personal finance software, has raised $12 million in Series B funding from Morningstar and TD Fund. The startup previously raised $9 million in Series A funding, from Grotech Ventures and AOL co-founder Steve Case's VC fund Revolution Ventures. HelloWallet, which launched last year, helps users track and proactively manage their personal finances from both the web and mobile. But HelloWallet aims to be a full-service financial advisor, and looks forward to proactively uncover savings opportunities and potential threats for its members.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vCwHPUKU3OY/
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Costa offers settlement for passengers (Reuters)
ROME (Reuters) ? Costa Cruises has offered to pay 11,000 euros ($14,500) in compensation to each of the more than 3,000 passengers aboard the ship that capsized near the island of Giglio two weeks ago, Italian consumer groups said on Friday.
The offer, negotiated by the consumer groups, is an attempt by Costa Cruises to limit the legal fallout of the accident.
Each passenger would also receive a refund on the cruise and costs of their return home. The offer applies to all passengers,
whether a child or an adult, who suffered no physical injuries. Injured passengers will be dealt with individually.
Those accepting the offer would have to agree to drop all future litigation, and receive payment within seven days.
Costa Cruises' U.S. parent company Carnival Plc is already facing legal action for compensation.
Codacons, a consumer group which did not participate in the negotiation, is collecting names for a class action suit to be filed in Miami requesting 125,000 euros for each passenger.
Carlo Rienzi, president of Codacons, said the offer was insufficient and urged passengers to see a doctor to check whether they had suffered psychological trauma.
Meanwhile, John Arthur Eaves, a U.S. personal injury lawyer,
is urging passengers to file individual lawsuits in the United States. Eaves represented families of some of those killed when a U.S. military jet struck and severed cables holding skiers in a cable car in northern Italy in 1998, killing 20.
"The class action is not the right tool for this case," Eaves told Reuters Television. "In this case people need to be treated like individuals. Everyone in this boat had different damages."
But Roberto Corbella, head of Italy's association of tour operators, and who helped Costa negotiate the offer with the consumer protection groups, urged passengers to accept it.
"Lawsuits have uncertain outcomes, they take a long time, there are legal costs, and some studies indicate that it's not at all certain that passengers would get more than the company is offering," he told Reuters Television.
Crew member Gary Lobaton has already filed a lawsuit against
Carnival in a U.S. district court. His lawyers said in his court filing that he was not aware of the "dangerous conditions" of the cruise ship until it was too late to abandon it safely.
On Thursday, Italy's top-ranking Coast Guard official, Marco Brusco, said Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino lost "a precious hour," which made evacuating the ship more difficult.
Had the order been given earlier, "the lifeboats could have been launched calmly, people could have been reassured," Brusco said in Senate testimony.
Passengers have complained the evacuation was chaotic, with some left waiting in lifeboats for two hours before being able to leave the ship. Several bodies were found by divers in submerged evacuation assembly points, wearing life vests.
Sixteen bodies have so far been recovered and 16 are still missing after the 290-metre long cruise liner struck a rock near the Tuscan island.
As divers continued to comb the submerged parts of the ship, Dutch salvage team SMIT finalized preparations to remove fuel from the ship's tanks.
"We could finish today the process of inserting valves on six tanks," said a spokesman for the civil protection agency, which is in charge of operations regarding the Concordia. That would open the way for fuel removal to begin on Saturday.
($1 = 0.7601 euros)
(Additional reporting by Emilio Parodi on Giglio and Gabriele Pileri in Rome; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
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Memorial service to cap 3-day mourning for Paterno (AP)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? 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 coaching career, his love for the school and his generosity.
"What's Joe's legacy? The answer, is his legacy is us," former NFL and Penn State 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 stadium 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 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, a 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.
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Looking for feedback for my comic idea.
No clue where else to put it, really.
So I sat myself down and thought through my characters and general idea, and I wanted other writers/rpers to throw in their two cents!
Title: VOODOO IN STEREO
[I?m a little married to this title, but I?m willing to change it if something better comes up]
Characters:
MAIN CHARACTERS
Kevin Lewis: Your hero, he is a hipster-ish sort who makes money by drawing gig posters for shitty bands, selling prints on Etsy, and freelance graphic design. He?s about 23 years old and lives in an apartment with his college roommate, Archie. His hobbies include smoking, loitering, and tinkering with old electronics. He comes into possession of the Boombox, all because he wants to impress Casey, who barely notices his advances. He and Boombox Jones have to work as a team in order to defeat the obstacles that are thrown at him.
BOOMBOX JONES: A displaced soul that inhabits a boombox that Kevin comes across. He?s not the nicest person, and he won?t hesitate to show it, so it?s really no surprise that he would end up in a piece of obsolete tech. Placed there by a jilted ex who just so happened to be a Witch, he uses Kevin as his body by-proxy to move himself around and get closer to getting his original body back. However, in order to break the spell, the Witch has to die.
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
Casey Allen: Cute but oblivious, Casey is a server at the Midnite Bite diner and one of Kevin?s friends from college. Casey made the fatal error of graduating with a BA in English, and the job market has not been kind. She aspires to be a best-selling YA author, and has submitted to several publishers, but so far, she?s come up empty. She?s bubbly and friendly and poor Kevin wants her BAD.
Archie [lastnamepending]: Kevin?s roommate and best friend. He works at a call center, even though he graduated with a film studies degree. While Boombox Jones appears to not like Kevin, he simply adores Archie and together they give the artist a hard fucking time. He inevitably gets swept up into this whole mess with Kevin and Boombox.
ANTAGONISTS
Phillip Tweedle: A smug-faced, ridiculously popular YA fiction writer who?s made bank with his vampire romance novels. He is dating Casey, much to Kevin?s dismay, and is constantly promising her that he will get her an ?in? with his publisher. [There?s more to him, but I want to leave that as a surprise.]
THE WITCH (as of yet unnamed): Boombox Jones? ex-girlfriend, who essentially went psychobitch after he tried to dump her. She?s fairly powerful, and becomes aware that Boombox is looking for some sort of revenge. She uses a series of pawns and schemes to keep this from happening, trying to take Kevin out so Boombox is left without any proxy body. She?s already done this once before several years ago.
GENERAL:
Kevin and Boombox fight increasingly more vicious cronies of The Witch in order to get Boombox?s body back. Boombox can draw spiritual energy from sound energy, so he is only so powerful based on what music is playing through his vessel. The mood and even lyrics of the song determine what kind of powers he can manifest. In order to have any successful battle, the music has to change pretty rapidly, and so most of the sound energy Boombox needs to fight comes from mixtapes that Kevin puts together. Mixtapes are cool, right?
Hipsters and boomboxes.
It has a bit of a Scott Pilgrim feel, but I don?t want it to be Scott Pilgrim. I?m afraid it?ll be too much like Scott Pilgrim with ghosts.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/NPwITiU_4FY/viewtopic.php
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Thursday, 26 January 2012
Google Offers expands to five new locales, hipsters in Portland nonchalantly recall being first
Despite Mountain View's efforts to the contrary, neither Google Wallet nor Offers, have yet to set the payment sector alight. That doesn't mean the search giant's throwing in the towel, as it vehemently expands the latter into five additional cities here in the United States. Residents of Charlotte, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Tampa will soon be able to participate in all sorts of discounted debauchery, joining bargain-hunters in the service's existing 33 locales. Those eager ought to hit the source links to begin, but before leaving, regale us with an outrageous tale involving a discount in the comments below.
Google Offers expands to five new locales, hipsters in Portland nonchalantly recall being first originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Droid Life | Google Commerce, Android Market | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/google-offers-expands-to-five-new-cities/
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Martin and Yankees agree at $7.5 million
updated 6:55 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012
NEW YORK - All-Star catcher Russell Martin and the New York Yankees avoided salary arbitration when they agreed to a $7.5 million, one-year contract.
The deal, announced Tuesday, was $100,000 under the midpoint between the $8.2 million he had asked for in arbitration and the $7 million the Yankees had offered when proposed salaries were exchanged last week.
Martin also can earn performances bonuses.
Martin hit .237 with 18 homers and 65 RBIs last year for the Yankees, who signed him after the Los Angeles Dodgers failed to offer a contract. He had a $4 million base salary and earned $1,375,000 in performance bonuses.
He is eligible for free agency after next season.
Lefty reliever Boone Logan is the last Yankees player still in arbitration.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsAs health goes, so go Phillies
DeMarco's Mailbag: Team will likely make the playoffs, but they'll need all their stars healthy for a World Series shot.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46123106/ns/sports-baseball/
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Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Amid tears, Giffords bids her farewell to Congress
This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House on Wednesday amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (AP Photo/House Television)
This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House on Wednesday amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (AP Photo/House Television)
This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., accompanied by Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House on Wednesday amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (AP Photo/House Television)
This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House on Wednesday amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (AP Photo/House Television)
This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House on Wednesday amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (AP Photo/House Television)
This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House on Wednesday amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (AP Photo/House Television)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The applause rolled through the big chamber, growing ever louder as hundreds of Republicans and Democrats suddenly realized Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was back in the House.
But this time she had come to say goodbye.
Fellow lawmakers gave her a fitting send-off: cheers, hugs, a cascade of tributes and plenty of tears in a rare moment of political unity.
A year since that fateful Saturday morning when Giffords was severely wounded during a shooting rampage in her home district, the Arizona congresswoman resigned on Wednesday with a plea for civility ? and a hint that she'll be back on the national stage. For now, the 41-year-old said, her movements and speech still halting, she needs to focus on her recovery.
For all the kind words showered on her, Giffords reflected in her resignation letter about a level of respect that seems like an aberration these days in a bitterly divided Washington.
In her five years in Congress, she said, "Always I fought for what I thought was right. But never did I question the character of those with whom I disagreed. Never did I let pass an opportunity to join hands with someone just because he or she held different ideals."
Said Republican Rep. Ted Poe of Texas in the first of many tributes: "Gabby is the spirit of bipartisanship that we should all learn from."
Giffords' friend Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., became emotional before reading Giffords' resignation letter in the well of the House. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., held Giffords' hand. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, cried after Giffords slowly made her way to the podium and handed him the envelope with her resignation letter.
Last January, a gunman opened fire at Giffords' "Congress on Your Corner" event in Tucson, killing six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge and wounding 13, including Giffords who suffered a gunshot wound to her head. She has spent the past year recovering, showing up in the House just once last August to vote on raising the nation's borrowing authority.
That appearance stirred speculation about her political future and whether she would seek another term or even pursue an open Senate seat.
Giffords put that talk to rest on Sunday, announcing in a Web video that she would resign this week. On Monday, she met with survivors of the shootings in Arizona, , finishing the event that she had started outside a supermarket. On Tuesday night, she received thunderous applause and a hug from President Barack Obama at his State of the Union address.
Colleagues and friends stood with her, Flake by her side. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had her back.
On Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats turned a morning debate over Giffords' last bill into a forum to praise her work and perseverance.
"We haven't seen the last of Gabby Giffords," said Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas. "I believe ... whatever the future holds for her she has made this a better place."
Around 10 a.m., Giffords entered the chamber through the main door, the same one Obama used the previous night. Wasserman Schultz assisted her as she made her way down the aisle, greeted warmly by colleagues with kisses and hugs. She sat in the front row for a flurry of tributes. In the gallery sat her mother, Gloria, and husband, retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, the former astronaut.
"All of us come to the floor today ... to salute her as the brightest star among us, the brightest star Congress has ever seen," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he received a call from Kelly on Sunday informing him of Giffords' plans to resign. He said Giffords' "strength against all odds serves and will continue to serve as a daily inspiration to all of us."
Said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., "The House of Representative has been made proud by this extraordinary daughter of the House. Gabby, we love you, we have missed you."
Prolonged standing ovations and spontaneous whoops marked the tributes. Giffords briefly waved at Kelly and her mother when their names were mentioned.
Surrounded by colleagues and friends, Giffords stood in the well of the chamber to resign. Wasserman Schultz read her two-page letter to Boehner.
"Everyday, I am working hard," Giffords wrote. "I will recover and will return, and we will work together again, for Arizona and for all Americans."
She purposefully made it to the podium to deliver the letter to Boehner.
Moments later, the House, including Giffords, voted for her final piece of legislation ? a bill that would impose tougher penalties on smugglers who use small, low-flying aircraft to avoid radar detection and bring drugs across the Mexican border.
The vote was 408-0. The Senate, which recently passed a version of the bill, is expected to vote Thursday on the measure and send it to Obama for his signature.
Giffords submitted resignation letters to both Boehner and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. It falls to Brewer to set a date for a special primary and general election to fill the Arizona seat. That will probably happen in the spring or early summer. In November, voters will choose someone for the full two-year term.
After the tribute, Kelly said his wife realized stepping down was the right thing to do.
"But I'm more optimistic than anybody else about her future. She just needs some more time, whether it's a year or two years or three years, I'm very confident she's going to have a long and effective career as a public servant," he said.
Asked about her daughter's future, Gloria Giffords said, "I kind of think she's transcended Congress. I don't know where she's going to end up."
"She's remembered every boy she's ever kissed, every song she's ever sang, every bill she's ever passed," she said. "So upward and onward."
___
Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Jim Abrams contributed to this report.
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Tim Gunn: "I Haven't Had Sex in 29 Years"
Beloved Project Runway judge Tim Gunn has always been a bit of a closed book when it comes to his personal life -- he's more of an attentive listener than a sharer. But on Tuesday's edition of his new ABC talk show The Revolution, the 58-year-old style maven opened up -- big-time -- about his love life.
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A tiny wasp sneaks into US and prospers
A tiny wasp with iridescent wings showed up in upstate New York in 2010. Just one year later it was spotted in Irvine, Calif. ? suggesting the fairyfly wasp is now well established in the United States within a year of sneaking into the country, a scientist says.
"This wasp was accidentally introduced in North America," said Serguei Triapitsyn of? the University of California-Riverside, who made the initial discovery but wasn't able to positively identify the species until two weeks ago.
The fairyfly wasp, Gonatocerus ater, is a millimeter (two-fifths of an inch) long. It lays its eggs inside the eggs of plant-eating insects called leafhoppers, which in turn lay their eggs inside plant tissue. When the fairyfly wasp eggs hatch, the little larvae munch on what is essentially the womb: the leafhopper eggs.
Triapitsyn, director of California-Riverside's Entomology Research Museum, said it is likely the wasp eggs were carried inside leafhopper eggs that were in twigs of Lombardy poplar seedlings coming from Europe. In fact, reports of the wasp in Italy suggested the leafhopper Rhytidodus decimaquartus was the wasp's host.
"In California, we do not know if the wasp's host is this leafhopper, but I found it on the same Lombardy poplar trees that had the wasp, so an association is very likely," he said.
Triapitsyn found the wasp species in August 2011 while doing fieldwork and brought ?samples back to his lab.
"I identified the wasp as Gonatocerus ater by comparing it to wasps from upstate New York and also Europe," he said. "It would not surprise me if this wasp is found wherever Lombardy poplars are located, because it's likely leafhopper host prefers these trees for feeding."
Though a relative newcomer, the wasp poses no known risk in the U.S., at least to humans. For leafhoppers, that's another story, as the wasp kills leafhopper larvae within their eggs.
"It actually helps naturally control leafhopper numbers," Triapitsyn said. "In its absence leafhopper populations could have skyrocketed."
Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46122202/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Christopher Lamb: South Carolina: An Embarrassment of Riches?
During my first semester at the College of Charleston 15 years ago, I was teaching a journalism writing course where I gave weekly current-events quizzes. During one quiz a few weeks after the semester began, I asked which state finished 50th in the country on SAT test scores, according to an Associated Press story.
When the quiz was finished, I asked the class which state finished 50th on SAT scores. Nearly everyone shouted out the correct answer:
"South Carolina!"
A young man in the last row then blurted, "At least we weren't last."
There was a brief, painful silence before the class erupted in laughter.
My immediate reaction was, "I wonder if I can get my old job back."
But I soon realized that the student was an aberration, probably in more ways than one. He wasn't representative of the students at the college, then or now. Someone like him would probably not be admitted into the college today. But he or she could still become governor, represent the state in the U.S. Congress or in the Miss Teen USA Pageant -- or vote.
I thought about this story after seeing that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich won heavily in the South Carolina primary by capturing the heavily evangelical state with a pro-adultery platform.
When South Carolina embarrasses itself like this, I receive emails and phone calls from friends elsewhere in the country, who can barely contain their snickering. Some bring up comedian Jon Stewart, who calls South Carolina "America's whoopee cushion.
This inevitably leads to a trip down memory lane of other South Carolinians who have slipped on banana peels while the country was watching. Gov. Mark Sanford. U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson. U.S. Sen. candidate Alvin Greene, who won the Democratic primary even though he had never won an elected office and had recently been arrested for showing pornography to a college student.
Then there was Miss Teen South Carolina Caitlin Upton. She was asked during the Miss Teen USA pageant to respond to a poll that said a fifth of Americans could not locate the United States on a world map. She began her answer by suggesting that this was because most Americans didn't have maps, and things deteriorated from there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII
I tell my friends that the people in South Carolina are no more foolish than they are anywhere else in the country. It's just that when we sit on whoopee cushions and slip on banana peels, we do so when others are watching, often when millions of people are watching. And people laugh.
Listen to Stephen Colbert, who was born and raised in Charleston, or listen to Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, David Letterman, or other comics and what do you hear? Jokes that were "made in South Carolina."
And what do we in South Carolina get out of it? It's time we turn this embarrassment of riches into actual wealth by exploiting our reputation as the nation's breadbasket of laughter. It's time that South Carolina finds a way to profit economically from our boundless resource.
We'll simply tell the rest of the country that if it doesn't start paying users' fees on comedy coming from this state, we'll start electing serious, thoughtful politicians. The comedians will have to find their own jokes.
And South Carolina will have the last laugh.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-lamb/south-carolina-breadbaske_b_1222582.html
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Tuesday, 24 January 2012
AP IMPACT: Meth fills hospitals with burn patients
This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department shows firefighters battling a blaze from a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, at a house in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff?s Department )
This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department shows firefighters battling a blaze from a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, at a house in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff?s Department )
This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department shows shake-and-bake meth ingredients found at house that burned from a meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff?s Department )
This dashboard police video photo provided Jan. 17, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows what authorities say is a mobile shake-and-bake meth lab vehicle burning in August, 2011, in Clarksville, Tenn. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force)
This photo provided Jan. 19, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows shows the interior of a home in Clarksville, Tenn., damaged by a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion in December, 2011. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, Jesse Reynolds)
This photo provided Jan. 17, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows the aftermath what authorities say is a mobile shake-and-bake meth lab vehicle that burned in August, 2011, in Clarksville, Tenn. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force)
ST. LOUIS (AP) ? A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment ? a burden so costly that it's contributing to the closure of some burn units.
So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. But if the person mixing the noxious brew makes the slightest error, such as removing the cap too soon or accidentally perforating the plastic, the concoction can explode, searing flesh and causing permanent disfigurement, blindness or even death.
An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation's most active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured. The average treatment costs $6,000 per day. And the average meth patient's hospital stay costs $130,000 ? 60 percent more than other burn patients, according to a study by doctors at a burn center in Kalamazoo, Mich.
The influx of patients is overwhelming hospitals and becoming a major factor in the closure of some burn wards. At least seven burn units across the nation have shut down over the past six years, partly due to consolidation but also because of the cost of treating uninsured patients, many of whom are connected to methamphetamine.
Burn experts agree the annual cost to taxpayers is well into the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, although it is impossible to determine a more accurate number because so many meth users lie about the cause of their burns.
Larger meth labs have been bursting into flame for years, usually in basements, backyard sheds or other private spaces. But those were fires that people could usually escape. Using the shake-and-bake method, drugmakers typically hold the flammable concoction up close, causing burns from the waist to the face.
"You're holding a flame-thrower in your hands," said Jason Grellner of the Franklin County, Mo., Sheriff's Department.
Also known as the "one-pot" approach, the method is popular because it uses less pseudoephedrine ? a common component in some cold and allergy pills. It also yields meth in minutes rather than hours, and it's cheaper and easier to conceal. Meth cooks can carry all the ingredients in a backpack and mix them in a bathroom stall or the seat of a car.
The improvised system first emerged several years ago, partly in response to attempts by many states to limit or forbid over-the-counter access to pseudoephedrine. Since then, the shake-and-bake recipe has spread to become the method of choice.
By 2010, about 80 percent of labs busted by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration were using shake-and-bake recipes, said Pat Johnakin, a DEA agent specializing in meth.
So instead of a large lab that supplies many users, there are now more people making meth for their personal use. The consequences are showing up in emergency rooms and burn wards.
"From what we see on the medical side, that's the primary reason the numbers seem to be going up: greater numbers of producers making smaller batches," said Dr. Michael Smock, director of the burn unit at Mercy Hospital St. Louis.
It's impossible to know precisely how many people are burned while making shake-and-bake meth. Some avoid medical treatment, and no one keeps exact track of those who go to the hospital. But many burn centers in the nation's most active meth-producing states report sharp spikes in the number of patients linked to meth. And experts say the trend goes well beyond those facilities, easily involving thousands of drug users.
The director of the burn center at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, the state that led the nation in meth lab seizures in 2010, said meth injuries are doubly damaging because patients often suffer thermal burn from the explosion, as well as chemical burns. And the medical challenge is compounded by patients' addictions.
"You're not judgmental in this kind of work, but you see it day after day," said Vanderbilt's Dr. Jeffrey Guy. "We've had patients say, 'I'm going out for a smoke,' and they come back all jacked up. It's clear they went out and did meth again."
Few people burned by meth will admit it.
"We get a lot of people who have strange stories," said Dr. David Greenhalgh, past president of the American Burn Association and director of the burn center at the University of California, Davis. "They'll say they were working on the carburetor at 2 or 3 in the morning and things blew up. So we don't know for sure, but 25 to 35 percent of our patients are meth-positive when we check them."
Guy cited a similar percentage at Vanderbilt, which operates the largest burn unit in Tennessee. He said the lies can come with a big price because the chemicals used in meth-making are often as dangerous as the burns themselves.
He recalled the case of a woman who arrived with facial burns that she said were caused by a toaster. As a result, she didn't tell doctors that meth-making chemicals got into her eyes, delaying treatment.
"Now she's probably going to be blind because she wasn't honest about it," Guy said.
In Indiana, about three-quarters of meth busts now involve shake-and-bake. And injuries are rising sharply, mostly because of burns, said Niki Crawford of the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Team.
Indiana had 89 meth-related injuries during the 10-year period ending in 2009. The state has had 70 in the last 23 months, mostly from shake-and-bake labs, Crawford said.
What's more, meth-related burns often sear some of the body's most sensitive areas ? the face and hands.
"I don't think a lot of these patients will be able to re-enter society, said Dr. Lucy Wibbenmeyer of the burn center at the University of Iowa. "They'll need rehab therapy, occupational therapy, which is very expensive."
Researchers at the University of Iowa found that people burned while making meth typically have longer hospital stays and more expensive bills than other burn patients ? bills that are frequently absorbed by the hospital since a vast majority of the meth-makers lack insurance.
Medicaid provides reimbursement for many patients lacking private insurance, but experts say it amounts to pennies on the dollar.
Doctors at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., performed a five-year study of meth patients in the early 2000s, then a follow-up study in 2009-2010. Their investigation concurred with the Iowa findings. The Kalamazoo study also found that meth burn victims were more likely to suffer damage to the lungs and windpipe, spent more time on ventilators and needed surgery more often.
That report also found that only about 10 percent of meth patients had private insurance coverage, compared with 59 percent of other patients. And in many cases, their injuries leave them unable to work.
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Why Apple builds iPhones (and everything else) in China (The Week)
New York ? President Obama reportedly once asked Steve Jobs what it would take to make iPhones in the U.S. Jobs' response wasn't encouraging...
When President Obama famously dined with a handful of Silicon Valley titans a year ago, he had a question for Apple chief Steve Jobs, say Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher in The New York Times: What would it take to make iPhones in the United States? Jobs' answer was unambiguous and sobering: "Those jobs aren't coming back." Now, in a lengthy story, Duhigg and Bradsher explain ? based on conversations with executives at Apple and its tech rivals, economists, and government officials ??why Apple and just about every player in the consumer-electronics universe has all but given up on "Made in the USA." Here, a concise look at the secret to China's success:
What does China have that America lacks?
Quite a lot. China has more mid-level engineers, a more flexible workforce, and gigantic factories that can ramp up production at the drop of a hat. China also offers tech firms a one-stop solution. "The entire supply chain is in China now," a former high-ranking Apple executive tells The Times. "You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That's the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours."
SEE MORE: Is China to blame for pricier Christmas gifts?
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It's not just about cheaper wages?
No. Wages actually aren't that big a part of the cost of making consumer electronics, according to The Times. Paying American wages to build iPhones would add only about $65 to the retail price of each handset, according to analysts' estimates. That's an amount Apple could likely afford. And in fact, China no longer offers rock-bottom wages. But when it did, it used that window "to innovate the entire way supply chains work," says Sarah Lacy at?PandoDaily. China is now "a place other countries can beat on sheer cost, but not on speed, flexibility, and know-how."
What does China's competitive edge look like in practice?
One example from The Times article: When Jobs decided just a month before the iPhone hit markets to replace a scratch-prone plastic screen with a glass one, a Foxconn factory in China woke up about 8,000 workers when the glass screens arrived at midnight, and the workers were assembling 10,000 iPhones a day within 96 hours. Another example: Apple had originally estimated that it would take nine months to hire the 8,700 qualified industrial engineers needed to oversee production of the iPhone; in China, it took 15 days. Anecdotes like that leave you "feeling almost impressed by the no-holds-barred capabilities of these manufacturing plants," says Edward Moyer at?CNET News, "impressed and queasy at the same time."
SEE MORE: China's mysterious, 'bewildering' Octomom
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Is there anything the U.S. can do to bring these jobs back?
At the Silicon Valley dinner, some tech executives suggested that a "tax holiday" on foreign profits would allow their companies to repatriate money to create jobs at home. Such a tax break would save Apple about $8.2 billion, says Philip Elmer-DeWitt at?Fortune. "That's a lot of lettuce." Jobs also suggested at the dinner that Apple could bring some skilled manufacturing jobs to the U.S. if the government helped train a new cadre of engineers.
Was Steve Jobs generally down on America?
No. Apple has actually added quite a few jobs here in the U.S., even as it outsources more of its labor overseas. And at the end of the Silicon Valley dinner, Jobs reportedly told Obama that he's "not worried about the country's long-term future" because the U.S. "is insanely great."
SEE MORE: The $1.2 million Rolls-Royce that's selling out in China
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Sources: CNET News, Fortune, Gizmodo, PandoDaily, New York Times
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Monday, 23 January 2012
Dow and S&P 500 post best week since Christmas (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks posted their best week since Christmas, even with a mixed finish on Friday after strong earnings from tech bellwethers IBM (IBM.N) and Intel (INTC.O) contrasted with Google's (GOOG.O) disappointing report.
The market heads into the most hectic week so far in this earnings season after a mixed start, with some worries over revenue and growth offset by sharp cost-cutting to protect the bottom line.
For the week, the Dow rose 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 gained 2 percent as investors showed some relief that earnings didn't reflect the worst elements that battered the market in the last year, especially given the problems in the euro zone that have been weighing on investor sentiment.
"For the time being, investors are pretty much taking earnings in stride. They knocked Google down this morning, but the general feeling in the marketplace is (stocks) are very undervalued at these levels, even given the marginal misses they're making in earnings," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
Indeed, investors in recent weeks have been heartened by improving economic data, even though progress has been uneven. Reflecting improved economic sentiment, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, an indicator of the economy's strength (.DJT) has gained about 2 percent in each of the last two weeks.
IBM (IBM.N) lifted the Dow a day after it offered a strong outlook and results from several big-tech names signaled they were shaking off nervousness about economic growth and boosting technology spending. IBM's stock rose 4.4 percent to $188.52.
On the flip side, Google Inc (GOOG.O) slid 8.4 percent to $585.99. The Internet search giant's quarterly profit and revenue missed expectations on declining search advertising rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 96.50 points, or 0.76 percent, to 12,720.48 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) inched up just 0.88 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,315.38. But the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dipped 1.63 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,786.70.
For the week, the Nasdaq climbed 2.8 percent, making this its best week in seven.
General Electric Co (GE.N) was unchanged at $19.15 after the conglomerate's revenues missed consensus forecasts. Fellow Dow component American Express Co (AXP.N) fell 1.8 percent to $50.04 as it set aside more money to cover bad loans.
Intel Corp (INTC.O) rose 2.9 percent to $26.38, while Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) advanced 5.7 percent to $29.71. Both reported results late Thursday.
Investors also kept an eye on Greece, where a bond-swap deal between the cash-strapped country and its private bondholders appeared to be close, according to sources. An agreement was deemed possible by late Friday. Creditors could lose up to 70 percent of the loans given to the fiscally troubled nation.
Hopes are an agreement would prevent the nation from spiraling into bankruptcy and bring some stability to the debt-strained euro zone.
(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
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Renowned attorney Bennett to represent Megaupload
FILE - In this April 30, 2007 file photo, attorney Robert Bennett speaks in Washington. Bennett, one of the nation's most prominent defense lawyers will represent file-sharing website Megaupload on charges that the company used its popular site to orchestrate a massive piracy scheme that enabled millions of illegal downloads of movies and other content. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this April 30, 2007 file photo, attorney Robert Bennett speaks in Washington. Bennett, one of the nation's most prominent defense lawyers will represent file-sharing website Megaupload on charges that the company used its popular site to orchestrate a massive piracy scheme that enabled millions of illegal downloads of movies and other content. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (AP) ? When Megaupload executives arrive in court to answer charges that they orchestrated a massive online piracy scheme, they'll be backed by a prominent lawyer who has defended Bill Clinton against sexual harassment charges and Enron against allegations of corporate fraud.
Washington attorney Robert Bennett said Friday that he will represent the company, which was indicted in federal court in Alexandria Thursday on copyright infringement and other charges.
The U.S. government shut down Megaupload's file-sharing website on Thursday, alleging that the company facilitated illegal downloads of copyrighted movies and other content. Seven individuals ? including the company's founder, who had his name legally changed to Kim Dotcom ? were also charged. Dotcom and three others were arrested in New Zealand; three others remain at large.
New Zealand police raided several homes and businesses linked to Dotcom and seized guns, millions of dollars and nearly $5 million in luxury cars, officials said.
In Hong Kong, where Megaupload is based, customs officials said they seized more than $42.5 million in assets. They said the company operated out of luxury hotel space costing more than $12,000 a day, and they seized high-speed servers and other equipment from the offices.
The shutdown and indictment generated headlines around the world in part because of the size and scope of Megaupload's operation. Sandvine, Inc., a Canadian company that provides equipment to monitor Internet traffic, said the website alone accounted for about 1 percent of traffic on U.S. cable and DSL lines. The site is even more popular in many foreign countries.
Bennett said that "we intend to vigorously defend against these charges" but declined to comment on the case in detail.
Bennett is best known for serving as President Bill Clinton's attorney when he was accused of sexual harassment by Paula Jones. He has also represented Defense Secretaries Clark Clifford and Caspar Weinberger.
Megaupload was no stranger to accusations that its website existed for the sole purpose of mass copyright breach. Before its website was taken down, Megaupload offered a more detailed defense of its operations, claiming in a statement that such accusations are "grotesquely overblown."
The company said it had a clear, easy-to-follow procedure if movie studios or other copyright holders saw that their products were being illegally shared on Megaupload, and said that it responded to those "takedown notices" as required by law.
"Of course, abuse does happen and is an inevitable fact of life in a free society, but it is curbed heavily and efficiently by our close cooperation with trusted takedown partners. It is just unfortunate that the activities of a small group of 'black sheep' overshadows the millions of users that use our sites legitimately every day," the statement said.
Indeed, sites like megaupload.com, known as cyberlockers, can fulfill legitimate needs and are used every day by people looking for an efficient way to share or transfer large files that can't easily be sent by email.
In their indictment, however, federal prosecutors offered a detailed glimpse of the internal workings of the website. They allege that Megaupload was well aware that the vast majority of its users were there to illegally download copyrighted content.
According to the indictment, in a 2008 email chat session, two of the alleged coconspirators exchange messages, with one saying "we have a funny business . . . modern days pirates :)" and the other responds, "we're not pirates, we're just providing shipping services to pirates :)".
In another instance, one of the defendants allegedly laments in colorful language that an episode HBO's "The Sopranos" has been uploaded to site, but the dialogue is in French, limiting its appeal.
In fact, prosecutors allege that the entire website was specifically designed to encourage piracy. The website provided cash bonuses to users who uploaded content popular enough to prompt mass downloads ? such content was almost always copyrighted material.
Stefan Mentzer, an intellectual property partner with the White and Case law firm in New York, said it's likely that Megaupload will try to argue at least two defenses: One is that its service qualifies as a so-called "safe harbor" under Digital Millennium Copyright Act ? the federal law governing copyright infringement ? if they can show, for instance, that they had no actual knowledge that infringing material was on their system. Another possible defense would be jurisdictional ? specifically, that a case can't be brought in the Eastern District of Virginia against a Hong Kong-based company like Megaupload without evidence that they directed criminal activity related to the district.
But Mentzer said both defenses would be a challenge, given the evidence that prosecutors appear to have collected.
"The Department of Justice doesn't just cavalierly file these lawsuits," Mentzer said.
Federal prosecutors have made Internet piracy a priority in the last decade, especially in the Eastern District of Virginia, which can claim jurisdiction over many such cases because large portions of the Internet's backbone ? servers and other infrastructure ? are physically located in northern Virginia's technology corridor.
The vast majority of those cases have resulted in guilty pleas and prison time. On Friday, a day after announcement of the Megaupload case, a federal judge sentenced Matthew David Howard Smith, 24, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 14 months in prison for his role in founding a website called NinjaVideo. That site was one of many shut down in 2010, at a time when it facilitated nearly 1 million illegal downloads a week.
NinjaVideo was what prosecutors called a "linking site" to Megaupload. Casual users of Megaupload would be unable to find popular movies and TV shows on the site without the proper links. Sites like NinjaVideo allowed users to easily search for the desired movies or music and provided the links that enabled them to download the content from Megaupload.
The other co-founder of NinjaVideo, Hana Beshara, was sentenced earlier this month to 22 months in prison. While she admitted guilt, she portrayed herself as a sort of Robin Hood of the online world, stealing from greedy movie studios to provide entertainment downloads to the masses in the form of free films, TV shows, videogames and music.
While the legal defense for piracy may be difficult, accused Internet pirates clearly have their supporters, as evidenced by the millions of people who use their sites as well as the response to Thursday's Megaupload shutdown. Within hours of the indictment being unsealed, the loose affiliation of hackers known as Anonymous caused temporary shutdowns of the Justice Department website as well as the websites of the Motion Picture Association of America and other industry groups that support a tougher piracy laws.
It could be months before the criminal case against Megaupload gets underway. The four defendants arrested in made an initial appearance in a New Zealand court Friday and are scheduled to make a second appearance on Monday. Authorities have said it could take a year or more to bring them to the U.S. if they fight extradition.
___
AP Business Writers Daniel Wagner in Washington and Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
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