NEW YORK -- Police investigating the discoveries of 10 sets of human remains on New York's Long Island say they believe it's the work of a serial killer instead of multiple killers.
The remains were found strewn along a remote beach parkway and elsewhere. Police have identified only five of the 10 victims. Those five were women working as escorts.
The investigation began as a hunt for missing New Jersey prostitute Shannan Gilbert, last seen a year ago. She hasn't been found. Dormer says detectives don't think her case is connected.
The Glover Park Group, one of Washington?s fastest-growing firms specializing in strategic communications and government relations, announced Tuesday that it has been bought by London-based WPP, the world?s largest communications-services company.
Glover Park was started in 2001 by four political refugees ? well-connected Democrats suddenly disconnected after the disputed election of President George W. Bush. The firm, now with a bipartisan leadership team, has grown to 140, with offices in Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Boulder, Colo.
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GPG has $60 million in annual revenue, putting it among the nation?s largest independent communications companies. The firm will keep its identity and operate as a stand-alone company within WPP. Specific terms were not disclosed.
GPG said that, as is typical for deals of this kind, ?the founding partners have contractually agreed to remain with the firm for the foreseeable future.?
The four founding partners are Carter Eskew, Joe Lockhart, Mike Feldman and Chip Smith. Lockhart was hired in June as Facebook?s vice president of corporate communications.
Eskew said in a statement: ?I?m fiercely proud of what we have built over the last 10 years and the impact we?ve had on the industry. But I?m even more excited about what lies ahead. WPP is an ideal partner for the next chapter in the GPG story.?
WPP is a monster, with 153,000 people working in 2,400 offices in 107 countries. Holdings include Burson-Marsteller, JWT, Hill & Knowlton, Ogilvy Group and Young & Rubicam.
The transaction marks a notable consolidation among Washington?s top-grossing and best-wired communications firms. Prominent WPP holdings in Washington include Blue State Digital, Dewey Square Group, Public Strategies Inc. and Quinn-Gillespie & Associates.
GPG staffers will celebrate the sale later this week at the company?s second annual trip to New Orleans, where they will work with the St. Bernard?s Project to rebuild homes for families affected by Hurricane Katrina.
GPG says its expertise includes ?strategic communications for complex business events such as mergers and acquisitions, executive transitions, and high-stakes negotiations. In addition, the firm has significantly deepened its bench of experts in brand positioning and corporate reputation management. ? GPG is stocked with professionals from the advertising, marketing and digital spheres as well as veterans from politics and government, including the Leadership in the House and Senate as well as the Obama, Bush and Clinton Administrations.?
Here is a Glover Park Group timeline:
2001: GPG founded by Carter Eskew, Mike Feldman, Joe Lockhart and Chip Smith in nondescript offices on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park.
2002: Amy Phee (Procter & Gamble Market Research) joins the firm to build the public opinion research and marketing capabilities.
2003: Howard Wolfson opens GPG?s New York office.
2004: GPG moves to bigger offices on Water Street in Georgetown.
2005: Joel Johnson and his team join GPG to start the government affairs practice.
2006: Private Equity Firm Svoboda Collins makes major investment in GPG.
2009: GPG moves into its current offices, on F Street, N.W., in Penn Quarter.
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? With Disney's film reboot of "The Muppets" raking in $29.5 million during its first weekend and claiming second place at the box office -- and a 98 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- director James Bobin is smiling as wide as Dr. Teeth.
TheWrap talked with the first-time feature-film director about his revival of franchise players Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Animal; how "The Muppets" wouldn't have been possible without the HBO series "Flight of the Conchords," which he co-created; and decoding the film's inside references.
TheWrap: So how do you segue from something like the adult-oriented "Flight of the Conchords" to the family-oriented "The Muppets"?
James Bobin: It was a logical progression. "Conchords" was also a musical comedy, and I was adamant this would be a musical comedy, too. I had a hunch that if I married the "Conchords" sensibility with the Muppets, it could work.
A few years ago on "Conchords," Kristen Schaal (who played the Conchords' fan Mel) sung a very Muppet-y song with puppet cookies, "Like in My Dreams." Also, during breaks from writing, we would watch Muppet clips on YouTube.
The Muppets kept popping up in my life. When the call came, it was serendipity.
TheWrap: Still, how does a first-time director get handed such a storied franchise?
Bobin: It was in 2009, and I had just finished the second season of "Conchords." I got an email from my agent that simply said, "Do you like the Muppets?" I said, "Of course." We had some conversations with producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. We were very clear about the scope of the movie we wanted to make. I was very keen to express my idea for the musicality of it. We met with Disney's Executive Vice President of Production Kristin Burr, and it seemed to be a good fit.
They pretty much trusted me, and didn't lay down the law. I wasn't going to put the Muppets in a direction where I could hurt them.
TheWrap: With direct-to-TV and -video movies, the 2000s were maybe the roughest decade yet for the Muppets. How did you bring the franchise out of mainstream dormancy?
Bobin: There's a cyclical nature to what people like in the world. Through time, things come around again. It it their time.
TheWrap: Did you have any cultural challenges in refreshing the veteran characters?
Bobin: They haven't really changed that much, and it was important that they be the way people remember them. But Bobby Benson, the leader of the Baby Band on "The Muppet Show," had a cigarette permanently attached to his lips. Obviously, now you can't do that.
TheWrap: Did you feel pressure to live up to creator Jim Henson's legacy?
Bobin: I've always liked the Muppets. I watched "The Muppet Show" in England every week as a child. The show was originally broadcast in England, and they're sacred, so I can't imagine what it's like over here. I didn't want to ruin people's childhoods, but I also couldn't let that impinge on my creativity.
TheWrap: Does "The Muppets" have any inside references that only fans will appreciate?
Bobin: There are numerous (references), but I don't want to give away too many. There is a gathering of the Muppets, and Sweetums comes running out of a car lot. It's Mad Mooney's, the same car lot that was used in (the first Muppets film, 1979's) "The Muppet Movie." We found it in Sun Valley, north of Los Angeles. We repainted the building. It was amazing to find the place still intact.
I made the movie for people who obsess over the Muppets but also people who have never heard of them.
TheWrap: In a 2001 interview with Jon Stewart, Kermit said "The Muppet Show" was close to returning to TV. Is that still a possibility?
Bobin: I don't see any reason they couldn't do that. It would make perfect sense.
TheWrap: Are you already planning a sequel?
Bobin: My brain is so full of this (movie), I haven't had the chance to think of anything else. On Disney's part, I guess how "The Muppets" does will determine if there is a sequel.
TheWrap: What about future plans for "Flight of the Conchords"?
Bobin: I'm sure we'll do something again in the future. My "Conchords" co-creators Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement love music and writing music, so I can't imagine they won't put out more.
TheWrap: What other projects do you have in the works?
Bobin: I just signed a deal with HBO for another half-hour comedy series, still untitled -- I'm very committed to the half-hour format. HBO is a natural home for me.
Restricted calorie diet improves heart function in obese patients with diabetesPublic release date: 28-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Linda Brooks lbrooks@rsna.org 630-590-7762 Radiological Society of North America
CHICAGO A low-calorie diet eliminates insulin dependence and leads to improved heart function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients," said the study's lead author, Sebastiaan Hammer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Radiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low calorie diet effectively cures type 2 diabetes mellitus. Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method."
Diabetes is a chronic illness in which there are high levels of glucose in the blood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the U.S., with 18.8 million diagnosed cases and an estimated seven million undiagnosed cases. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, representing 90 to 95 percent of diagnosed cases among adults.
Pericardial fat is a visceral fat compartment around the heart that can be detrimental to cardiac function, especially in people with metabolic disease. Dr. Hammer and colleagues set out to determine the long-term effects of initial weight loss induced by caloric restriction on pericardial fat and cardiac function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
Using cardiac MRI, the researchers analyzed cardiac function and pericardial fat in 15 patientsincluding seven men and eight womenwith type 2 diabetes before and after four months of a diet consisting of 500 calories daily. Changes in body mass index (BMI) were also measured.
The results showed that caloric restriction resulted in a decrease in BMI from 35.3 to 27.5 over four months. Pericardial fat decreased from 39 milliliters (ml) to 31 ml, and E/A ratio, a measure of diastolic heart function, improved from 0.96 to 1.2.
After an additional 14 months of follow-up on a regular diet, BMI increased to 31.7, but pericardial fat only increased slightly to 32 ml. E/A ratio after follow-up was 1.06.
"Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients," Dr. Hammer said. "More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term."
Dr. Hammer pointed out that these findings stress the importance of including imaging strategies in these types of therapy regimens.
"MRI clearly showed all the changes in fat compartments, structural changes in the heart and improvements in diastolic function, making it a very effective method of quantifying the effects of metabolic interventions," he said.
While these results are promising, not all patients are eligible for this type of therapy. Patients should consult with their doctors before embarking on any type of reduced calorie diet.
"It is of utmost importance to follow such a complicated intervention under strict medical supervision," Dr. Hammer said, "especially as patients may be able to stop all anti-diabetic therapy from Day 1."
###
Coauthors are Jan W. Smit, M.D., Ph.D., Johannes A. Romijn, M.D., Ph.D., Jacqueline Jonker, M.D., Marieke Snel, M.D., Albert De Roos, M.D., Hildo Lamb, M.D., and Rutger W. Van Der Meer, M.D.
Note: Copies of RSNA 2011 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press11 beginning Monday, Nov. 28.
RSNA is an association of more than 48,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)
Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-949-3233.
For patient-friendly information on MRI, visit RadiologyInfo.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Restricted calorie diet improves heart function in obese patients with diabetesPublic release date: 28-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Linda Brooks lbrooks@rsna.org 630-590-7762 Radiological Society of North America
CHICAGO A low-calorie diet eliminates insulin dependence and leads to improved heart function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients," said the study's lead author, Sebastiaan Hammer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Radiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low calorie diet effectively cures type 2 diabetes mellitus. Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method."
Diabetes is a chronic illness in which there are high levels of glucose in the blood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the U.S., with 18.8 million diagnosed cases and an estimated seven million undiagnosed cases. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, representing 90 to 95 percent of diagnosed cases among adults.
Pericardial fat is a visceral fat compartment around the heart that can be detrimental to cardiac function, especially in people with metabolic disease. Dr. Hammer and colleagues set out to determine the long-term effects of initial weight loss induced by caloric restriction on pericardial fat and cardiac function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
Using cardiac MRI, the researchers analyzed cardiac function and pericardial fat in 15 patientsincluding seven men and eight womenwith type 2 diabetes before and after four months of a diet consisting of 500 calories daily. Changes in body mass index (BMI) were also measured.
The results showed that caloric restriction resulted in a decrease in BMI from 35.3 to 27.5 over four months. Pericardial fat decreased from 39 milliliters (ml) to 31 ml, and E/A ratio, a measure of diastolic heart function, improved from 0.96 to 1.2.
After an additional 14 months of follow-up on a regular diet, BMI increased to 31.7, but pericardial fat only increased slightly to 32 ml. E/A ratio after follow-up was 1.06.
"Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients," Dr. Hammer said. "More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term."
Dr. Hammer pointed out that these findings stress the importance of including imaging strategies in these types of therapy regimens.
"MRI clearly showed all the changes in fat compartments, structural changes in the heart and improvements in diastolic function, making it a very effective method of quantifying the effects of metabolic interventions," he said.
While these results are promising, not all patients are eligible for this type of therapy. Patients should consult with their doctors before embarking on any type of reduced calorie diet.
"It is of utmost importance to follow such a complicated intervention under strict medical supervision," Dr. Hammer said, "especially as patients may be able to stop all anti-diabetic therapy from Day 1."
###
Coauthors are Jan W. Smit, M.D., Ph.D., Johannes A. Romijn, M.D., Ph.D., Jacqueline Jonker, M.D., Marieke Snel, M.D., Albert De Roos, M.D., Hildo Lamb, M.D., and Rutger W. Van Der Meer, M.D.
Note: Copies of RSNA 2011 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press11 beginning Monday, Nov. 28.
RSNA is an association of more than 48,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)
Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-949-3233.
For patient-friendly information on MRI, visit RadiologyInfo.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.
Fans of USA's Covert Affairs know that Annie Walker's stomping ground is Washington DC, where she pretends to be a buyer for the Smithsonian. So, there are only two plausible explanations for her iPhone 4 being able to connect to Rogers Wireless Canadian network: Either she's got a nuclear powered antenna on that thing, or the company is running a south-of-the-border service for Government agencies. Some might point out that the show is filmed in Toronto for cost purposes and the art directors aren't too hot at spotting continuity errors, but we'd dismiss that as paranoid fantasy.
On Thanksgiving, Pinterest?s co-founder Ben Silbermann sent an email to his entire user base saying thanks. It was fitting, as Pinterest was born two years ago on Thanksgiving day 2009. ?Ben had been working on a website with a few friends, and his girlfriend came up with the name while they were watching TV. Pinterest officially launched to the world 4 months later. Some startups go crazy with hype and users right after launch. And some don?t. I don?t know the founders, but I thought I?d take apart Pinterest?s story to discuss growth and virality in consumer web startups. Pinterest was not an overnight success. On the contrary, its growth was surprisingly modest after Turkey Day 2009. Take a look at Pinterest?s one-year traffic on Compete from Oct 2010 to Oct 2011, which is the picture in this post, and shows Pinterest rising from 40,000 to 3.2 million monthly unique visitors. I took both ends of this chart and estimated monthly compounded growth over Pinterest?s lifetime, then interpolated the curve using constant growth and put the results in this Google Spreadsheet.
Four people have been arrested in the Philippines for allegedly hacking into AT&T customers' phones as part of a plan to funnel money to a Saudi-based terror group, according to police.
The Philippine Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said it worked with the FBI to arrest the suspects last week. The hackers, according to investigators, worked for a group that helped finance a deadly 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India.
AT&T's systems weren't compromised but some of its customers were targeted, spokeswoman Jan Rasmussen said Saturday. AT&T cooperated in the investigation with the FBI, she said.
The FBI would not comment Saturday.
AT&T wrote off some fraudulent charges on customers' bills, but Rasmussen wouldn't say how much. Philippine police put the alleged hacking cost to AT&T at $2 million.
Last Tuesday, AT&T said that hackers unsuccessfully attempted to link mobile numbers with online customer accounts, but it wouldn't say on Saturday if that incident was linked to the arrests of the four people in the Philippines.
The hackers were working on commission for a terrorist group linked to Muhammad Zamir, according to the Philippine police. Zamir, a Pakistani, was arrested in Italy in 2007, where he was running a call center that collected money from callers but then routed the calls through hacked phone lines. He also allegedly sold international access codes for long distance calls that were gathered by Filipino hackers.
Since then, police said, Zamir's group has been taken over by a Saudi national. Philippine police didn't name the group, but India has blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant organization, for the Mumbai attacks. Three years ago Saturday, 10 Pakistan-based gunmen laid siege to India's financial hub, killing 166 people.
THE HAGUE/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Mexican human rights activists want the International Criminal Court to investigate President Felipe Calderon, top officials and the country's most-wanted drug trafficker, accusing them of allowing subordinates to kill, torture and kidnap civilians.
Netzai Sandoval, a Mexican human rights lawyer, filed a complaint with the ICC in The Hague on Friday, requesting an investigation into the deaths of hundreds of civilians at the hands of the military and drug traffickers in Mexico, where more than 45,000 have died in drug-related violence since 2006.
"The violence in Mexico is bigger than the violence in Afghanistan, the violence in Mexico is bigger than in Colombia," Sandoval said.
"We want the prosecutor to tell us if war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Mexico, and if the president and other top officials are responsible."
Signed by 23,000 Mexican citizens, the complaint names Sinaloa drug cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, as well as Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia Luna and the commanders of Mexico's army and navy.
The lawyers asked the ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court, to open a formal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mexico.
A decision by ICC prosecutors on whether to launch an investigation could take months or even years, legal experts say. The ICC has investigated crimes including genocide, murder, conscription of child soldiers and rape, mostly in Africa.
The Mexican government has denied the accusations and said security policy cannot constitute an international crime.
"In our country, society is not the victim of an authoritarian government or of systematic abuses by the armed forces," the foreign ministry said in a statement in October, when the petition was made public.
"In Mexico, there is a rule of law in which crime and impunity are fought without exception," the statement said.
TICKING THE BOXES
The office of the prosecutor said in a statement to Reuters that it had received the request, would study it, and "make a decision in due course."
The ICC tries cases of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity in states that are unwilling or unable to prosecute these crimes on their own.
"There are a large number of boxes that the prosecutor would need to check off before he could actually open an investigation," said Richard Dicker, an international justice expert with Human Rights Watch.
"It's possible ... but I think you want to be clear on what the challenges and obstacles are."
Several of those requirements have been met: Mexico has signed up to the ICC, the crimes fall within the ICC's time frame, and the case is not already being prosecuted in Mexico.
But in considering the case, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo will have to decide if the crimes presented in the activists' complaint, such as the torture of criminal suspects, qualify as crimes against humanity.
"The crimes would have to be widespread or systematic, carried out by a state or organization in attacks on a civilian population," Dicker said.
"It's certainly very arguable," said William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University.
"The prosecutor has been very focused on Africa. The pattern is, he stays within the comfort zone of the United States. Going after Mexicans for the war on drugs falls outside that comfort zone."
Activists claim that Calderon has systematically allowed Mexican troops to commit abuses against the civilian population since the military was deployed to fight Mexican drug traffickers in 2006.
More than 50,000 troops are currently battling drug cartels around the country, while the ranks of federal police have swelled from 6,000 to 35,000 under Calderon's watch.
Human rights activists say that Mexican troops and police are regularly violating the rights of citizens in their crackdown on the cartels.
A Human Rights Watch report has found evidence that Mexican police and armed forces were involved in 170 cases of torture, 24 extrajudicial killings and 39 forced disappearances in five Mexican states.
"We have known for five years that the Mexican army is committing sexual abuse, executing people, torturing people and kidnapping, and there have been no sanctions," Sandoval said, adding that he, like many other Mexicans, knows people who have lost family members in the drug-related violence.
Mexico's national human rights commission received more than 4,000 complaints of abuses by the army from 2006 to 2010. In the same period it issued detailed reports on 65 cases involving army abuse, according to Human Rights Watch.
In this photo taken June 16, 2009, Anthony Earley Jr., then-chairman and CEO of DTE Energy, speaks at the National Summit in Detroit, Mich. Large and small utility companies have told Republican-led congressional committees what the party wants to hear: dire predictions of plant closings and layoffs if the Obama administration succeeds with plans to further curb air and water pollution. "Without the right policy, we could be headed for disaster," Early told a committee on April 16. Earley is now chairman and CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
In this photo taken June 16, 2009, Anthony Earley Jr., then-chairman and CEO of DTE Energy, speaks at the National Summit in Detroit, Mich. Large and small utility companies have told Republican-led congressional committees what the party wants to hear: dire predictions of plant closings and layoffs if the Obama administration succeeds with plans to further curb air and water pollution. "Without the right policy, we could be headed for disaster," Early told a committee on April 16. Earley is now chairman and CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Companies complaining about tighter air and water pollution standards may be saying one thing to lawmakers and another to regulators and investors.
The Associated Press compared companies' congressional testimony to company reports submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The reports consistently said the impact of environmental proposals is unknown or would not cause serious financial harm.
That's different from testimony to Republican-led congressional committees. Companies large and small made dire predictions of plant closings and layoffs if the Obama administration succeeds with plans to further curb air and water pollution.
The disparity in the messages shows that in a political environment, business has no misgivings about describing potential economic horror stories to lawmakers. Republicans plan to make what they say is regulatory overreach a 2012 campaign issue.
COMBAT OUTPOST HANSON, Afghanistan ? A turkey trot it was not.
The U.S. Marines' top general, James Amos, sprinted up and down the Helmand River Valley in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, visiting frontline Marines at nine remote outposts to share Thanksgiving and applaud their gains against the Taliban in a region where al-Qaida hatched the 9/11 plot a decade ago.
Traveling mostly in an MV-22 Osprey, the hybrid that flies like an airplane and takes off and lands like a helicopter, Amos began shortly after daylight and finished 14 hours later ? and, improbably, managed to confront just one turkey dinner.
At one point the 65-year-old Amos referred to his unusual daytrip as the "Bataan death march," a reference to the gruesome forced march of American POWs in the Philippines during World War II.
Amos shook hands with hundreds of Marines, all veterans of tough fighting in Helmand Province, which has been a focal point of the U.S.-led strategy to counter the Taliban and other insurgent groups. The Marines have vastly improved security in Helmand over the past year, but with President Barack Obama having ordered 33,000 U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan by next September, the prospects for sustaining those gains are uncertain, and the subject of debate at home.
At each stop Amos struck similar themes in pep talks to his Marines: they are coming close to winning, and when the Marine Corps leaves Afghanistan it will shift its focus to the Pacific, where he said "a whole lot of opportunities" will await a Corps no longer bogged down by land wars in the greater Middle East. He also said Thanksgiving is a time for Marines to reflect on "the unique fraternal bond" among men and women at war.
Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael Barrett, the top enlisted Marine, who accompanied Amos, said that for most troops Thanksgiving was just another day at war ? until they finished their work.
"Then they'll have a meal of a lifetime," he said.
The feast was finally set for Amos when he arrived after dark at Camp Dwyer, the southern-most stop on his trip. He helped heap plates with roast turkey, baked ham and prime rib ? with all the traditional fixings ? and then sat amongst the troops to finish it off.
Amos said "Happy Thanksgiving" at each Marine outpost, but the troops did not seem in a festive mood ? at least in the presence of their commandant. The business of war does not take a holiday. When he asked the Marines what was on their minds, they asked about the future of the Corps, the latest of Washington's stalled budget debate, the possibility of seeing some of their retirement benefits go away, and internal Marine issues.
Some conveyed a sense of confidence that Afghanistan would soon be behind them.
At Combat Outpost Hanson, one member of the 3rd battalion, 6th Marine Regiment asked, "Who do you want us to fight next, sir?" Amos said he did not know, but he reassured the Marine that there would be no shortage of security crises in the years ahead.
At Combat Outpost Alcatraz, in Sangin district where fierce fights against the Taliban have waned only recently, the top overall commander of the war, Marine Gen. John Allen, joined Amos for a pep talk to several dozen Marines.
Allen said Marines will "go home under the victory pennant," but he stressed that the struggle to degrade Taliban influence and build up Afghan security forces ? in Helmand and throughout Afghanistan ? is far from over.
"As big as this is, and as hard as it has been, we are going to be successful here," Allen said. "We're going to win this. We're going to liberate these people, we're going to set this country up to be a free country in one of the toughest regions in the world."
There are now about 97,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. All are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014.
Amos clearly relished the chance to see so many combat Marines, but his trip was no joy ride. His itinerary was a closely-held secret, and the aircraft on which he flew was heavily armed.
As a CH-53 helicopter lifted off from a barren field across a dirt highway in the northern Helmand village of Puzeh, with Amos and part of his entourage aboard, a bearded special operations Marine quipped, "Cross your fingers." And then, as the chopper rose above a billowing wall of powdery dust, the Marine added, only half jokingly, "Whew! Getting the commandant shot down at your (outpost) would not be a good thing."
___
Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP
Everyone wonders what bugs might be lurking in public bathrooms. Now researchers are using novel genetic sequencing methods to answer this question, revealing a plethora of bacteria all around, from the doors and the floors to the faucet handles and toilet seats, with potential public health implications, as reported Nov. 23 in the online journal PLoS ONE.
Led by Gilberto Flores and Noah Fierer of the University of Colorado, Boulder, the researchers investigated 12 public restrooms, 6 male and 6 female, in Colorado. Using a high-throughput genetic sequencing technique, they identified various bacteria on all the surfaces they tested. The floor had the most diverse bacterial community, and human skin was the primary source of bacteria on all surfaces. Interestingly, there were a few differences between the bacteria found in the male versus female bathrooms.
The sequencing approach they used also allowed them to determine the source of the bacteria they identified, including skin, soil, and urine. This methodology, according to the authors, could potentially help "analyze bathroom bacterial communities to identify proper (or improper) hygiene habitats, and that the exchange of bacteria on building surfaces may represent an important mode of pathogen transmission between individuals."
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Flores GE, Bates ST, Knights D, Lauber CL, Stombaugh J, et al. (2011) Microbial Biogeography of Public Restroom Surfaces.PLoS ONE6(11): e28132.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028132
Public Library of Science: http://www.plos.org
Thanks to Public Library of Science for this article.
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Actor Jason Segel channeled Andre the Giant on "Saturday Night Live."
By Ree Hines
One of the highlights from Jason Segel?s recent stint as??Saturday Night Live? host came when the actor channeled the late wrestling-great-turned-actor Andre the Giant.
In ?Andre the Giant Chooses an Ice Cream Flavor,? Segel delivered a spot-on impression ? much like the one fans first saw in ?I Love You, Man? ? and according to TMZ, Andre?s family tuned in to see it for themselves.
"Jason Segel nails this impression and demonstrates, with good humor, that Andre's legacy continues to be relevant and has a big impact on the entertainment industry,? a rep for the estate told TMZ.
For those who don't recall the voice and manner that made Andre so memorable, see just how great Segel's impression is by comparing it to the real deal in this clip from the movie "The Princess Bride":
What did you think of Segel's "SNL" performance? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
MEXICO CITY ? Mexico's archaeology institute downplays theories that the ancient Mayas predicted some sort of apocalypse in 2012, but now acknowledges that a second reference to the date exists on a carved fragment from a ruin site in the country's south.
Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History has long said rumors of a world-ending or world-changing event in late December 2012 are a Westernized misinterpretation of Mayan calendars.
The institute repeated Thursday that "western messianic thought has twisted the Mayan cosmovision."
Most experts cite only one surviving reference to the date in Mayan script, a stone tablet from the Tortuguero site. But the institute's statement said there is in fact another from the nearby Comalcalco ruin site.
Welcome to?Just Show Me on Tecca TV, where we show you tips and tricks for getting the most out of the?gadgets in your life. In today's episode we'll show you how to use three great holiday shopping apps for your iPhone.
These apps are perfect for when you're out and about and want to be sure that you're getting the best deal possible. The apps we cover in this episode include:
ShopSavvy
Amazon's iPhone app
FastMall
Looking for more holiday shopping tips? Check out our guide to 2011's Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
For more episodes of Just Show Me, subscribe to Tecca TV's YouTube channel and check out all our Just Show Me episodes. If you have any topics you'd like to see us cover, just drop us a line in the comments.
INDIANAPOLIS?? Country duo Sugarland was named in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by 44 survivors of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse and family members of four people who died, by far the largest claim yet stemming from the tragedy.
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Attorneys representing at least 20 law firms across Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky filed the complaint alleging breach of reasonable care to the victims in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Sugarland, producers, stage riggers and others associated with the Aug. 13 show. Stage rigging collapsed into spectators following a wind gust of at least 60 mph, killing seven people and injuring more than 40 others. Sugarland had not yet taken the stage when the collapse occurred.
Sugarland's contract specified the act had the final say on whether to cancel the concert due to weather, plaintiff's attorney Mario Massillamany of Logansport said in a news release.
"Unfortunately, this tragedy could have been prevented if the responsible parties had been concerned about the concertgoers that night," Massillamany said.
The contract reached between Sugarland's agent, Creative Artists Agency, and the Indiana State Fair Committee guaranteed the duo $300,500 to perform, $34,500 for sound, lights and catering, and 85 percent of gross box office receipts over $470,000, Massillamany said.
"This is a devastating tragedy that has impacted hundreds of people," plaintiffs' so-counsel Scott Starr said. "It is critical to help the victims pay the medical bills and other financial expenses that they have incurred from this incident."
The plaintiffs include Lisa Hite of Cass County, who was with her 8-year-old custodial granddaughter in the area immediately in front of the stage called "the Sugar Pit."
"The injuries I sustained have left me unable to provide for my family. The financial and emotional strain this has caused has left a lasting impact on my family," said Hite, who is represented by Starr and Massillamany.
Sugarland's publicist didn't immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
The complaint charges that Sugarland and the other entities owed a duty to provide a safe concert environment and use reasonable care in the direction, set-up and supervision of the concert.
The complaint does not name the fair or the state of Indiana among the defendants. They were named separately in at least 40 tort claims filed with the attorney general's office. Indiana law caps the state's liability for damages from the incident at $5 million.
A separate State Fair Remembrance Fund has paid about $564,000 to 28 people, and the remaining $400,000 in the state-administered fund will be paid out on a prorated basis to people who have already received money, State Fair Commission chairman Andre Lacy said Monday. Fair officials said another 28 people applied for aid but were turned down.
At least two other lawsuits on behalf of other victims of the stage collapse have been filed against Sugarland and other defendants.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Rush Limbaugh does not like Barack and Michelle Obama, particularly their desire to lower carbon emissions and the First Lady's crusade against obesity (that hits too close to home, clearly, for the radio pundit). Which is fine, he's entitled to an opinion.
Sometimes his points are clouded by obvious hatred and racism, however.
Rush's argument was, by and large, legitimate and directed at media figures outraged and confused by the booing: It's not a crowd predisposed to like Obama anyway, he's at 44% approval, and people go to sporting events to escape politics.
Fair enough. But then he went overboard bashing the First Lady, who he terms "Moo-Chelle" and tears a new one for (gasp) using a private jet:
"I'll tell you something else," he said. "We don't like paying millions for Obama's vacations. A NASCAR crowd doesn't quite understand why, when the husband and the wife are going the same place, the first lady has to take her own Boeing 757 with family and kids and hangers-on four hours earlier than her husband, who will be on his 747."
"NASCAR people understand that's a little bit of a waste. They understand it is a little bit of uppity-ism. First ladies have not been known to hop their own 757s four hours ahead of their husband when they're going the same place."
The L.A. Times defines "uppity" as self-important or arrogant, historically to describe "blacks whom white people perceived as trying to rise above their station in life."
A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's immune system in stem cell regeneration.
The study, conducted at the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, examined how mice with genetic bone defects responded to infusions of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, or BMMSC.
Under normal conditions, the mice's T-cells produced an inflammatory response and triggered the creation of cellular proteins interferon (INF)-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. These attacked and killed the stem cells, preventing the production of new bone.
"Normally, T-cells protect us from infection," said Professor Songtao Shi, corresponding author for the study, "but they can block healthy regeneration from happening."
However, when the mice were given infusions of regulatory T-cells, or Treg, the levels of the interfering INF-gamma and TNF-alpha decreased, increasing the rate of bone growth and defect repair. Furthermore, administering the anti-inflammatory drug aspirin at the site of the bone defect also increased the rate at which the BMMSCs were able to regrow bone.
Postdoctoral Research Associate and lead author Yi Liu said the findings illustrate the previously unrecognized role of T-cells in tissue regeneration. They also highlight the need for scientists exploring the possibilities of stem cell regeneration to shift their focus to the immune system, she added.
"Based on what we've found, this should be the direction of more research in the future," Liu said.
###
University of Southern California: http://www.usc.edu
Thanks to University of Southern California for this article.
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Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during the Thanksgiving Family Forum sponsored by The Family Leader as former CEO of Godfathers Pizza Herman Cain looks on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.
By NBC's Carrie Dann, Alex Moe, Andrew Rafferty and James Novogrod
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At an emotional two-hour forum focused as much on the candidate's personal and spiritual lives as on their policies, six Republican candidates spoke at length Saturday about their faith but skirted direct discussion of misconduct by either twice-divorced Newt Gingrich or Herman Cain, who has faced allegations of sexual harassment.
During the Des Moines forum sponsored by the Family Leader group and moderated by pollster Frank Luntz, Gingrich disclosed a time in the 1990s when he felt that he was "failing personally," even turning to the Alcoholics Anonymous handbook because he felt "truly hollow."
"I wasn't drinking but I had precisely the symptoms of somebody who was collapsing under this weight," he said after Luntz directed candidates to "bare your soul."
The former House speaker, who has previously disclosed that he was engaging in an extramarital affair with his current wife while prosecuting the Clinton impeachment, acknowledged Saturday that his struggles "required a great deal of pain."
"I've been very blessed. Callista and I have a wonderful marriage," he said, going on to describe his closeness to his children. "But all of that has required a great deal of pain, some of which I have caused others, which I regret deeply. All of which required having to go to God to seek both reconciliation but also to seek God's acceptance that I had to recognize how limited I was and how much I had to depend on Him."
Earlier in the forum, Gingrich won the biggest laugh of the night for telling Occupy Wall Street protesters to "go get a job right after you take a bath."
In a rare moment,?Cain, who typically sticks to displays of humor and defiance on the campaign trail, choked up when talking about his wife, Gloria, and the struggle he faced with cancer.
When Cain received his diagnosis, he said, he told his wife "I can do this." She replied "WE can do this," he said of his wife of 42 years, who accompanied her husband to the forum for her first campaign appearance in Iowa this weekend.
Cain later struggled past tears in describing one consequence of his business success. "I didn't believe that I was home enough when my kids were growing up," he said.
The Atlanta businessman made no mention of at least four women who have accused him of sexual impropriety. He said Saturday that he believes he has experienced a "series of little failures rather than one great big disaster."
Also shedding tears Saturday was Rick Santorum, who delivered an emotional recounting of his disabled daughter's struggles for life.? "I had seen her as less of a person because of her disability," the former Pennsylvania senator confessed when describing one moment when his daughter's life was in danger.
Rick Perry, telling a familiar story about the academic failures that prevented him from achieving his dream of becoming a veterinarian, smiled broadly when delivering a line that could perhaps also apply to the rocky start of his once soaring campaign.?
"If you want to see God laugh, tell him your plans," Perry said.
The?Texas governor related details of his humble biography, saying that his presence on the stage after growing up in near-poverty was "a stunning story of America." He discussed, as he did at a speech at Liberty University in September, a period of time when he felt "lost" and "too busy for God" before turning to Christ at age 27.
The unusual format -- with the six candidates seated around a table topped with Thanksgiving accoutrements -- allowed each candidate to offer lengthy responses to questions about gay marriage, abortion, morality, and the role of faith in public life.
While largely focused on the candidate's philosophical views, the candidates also discussed their view of the federal government through the prism of morality.?
"The states have a right to be wrong," Rep. Ron Paul alleged, dovetailing on a back-and-forth he had with Gingrich about the meaning of "liberty." "The Constitution is a restriction on the federal government, not a restriction on the states."
Rep. Michele Bachmann spoke about her views of the spiritual nature of the oath of office, relating a story disputed by some historians that George Washington added the words "so help me God" and kissed the Bible upon delivering them. (The Bachmann campaign pushed back via Twitter on questions about the anecdote's veracity, citing author David McCullough.)
Bachmann also separately attacked Gingrich on his abortion record.
Republican frontrunner Gov. Mitt Romney, along with longshot Gov. John Huntsman, was notably absent from the Iowa forum, choosing instead to conduct a fiery town hall in New Hampshire. While the other candidates declined to take shots at the absent former Massachusetts governor, moderator Frank Luntz did take a dig at Romney, noting that he was not present to respond to critiques of the individual mandate for health care, an idea included in the plan he signed into law in 2006.
Romney?s absence was also noted by event organizer Bob Vander Plaats, who told reporters after the forum, ?Romney was the only one who stiffed us.?
?I think that?s gone with his persona, in how he?s treating Iowa, which happens to be a swing state,? Vander Plaats added. ?And he wants to win the presidency -- which tells me he lacks judgment.?
While skin grafts are an essential tool for treating severe burns, Avita Medical has developed a compact kit that grows replacement skin that can be sprayed on. Which has resulted in faster healing and better cosmetic results in patient testing. More »
Hunch, a service that provides a "taste graph" of personalized recommendations based on users' interests, has just been bought by auction site eBay, the companies have confirmed. The amount hasn't officially been disclosed, but Michael Arrington (who had the scoop this morning) hears that the amount is around $80 million. Founded in late 2007 and launched in 2009, the New York company will be used by eBay to help improve buying and selling recommendations for eBay users.
In the 1988 comedy Coming to America, a blatant McDonald's rip-off named McDowell's draws the legal ire of the empire built by Ray Kroc. In explaining his pathetic defense that includes noting that McDowell's uses golden arcs instead of golden arches, the eatery's manager notes that while both the Big Mac and his Big Mick both include the 1970s jingle-immortalized ingredients of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, the McDowell's flagship burger bun has, in fact, no sesame seeds.
This state of differentiation isn't a far cry from what characterized some of the earliest 10-inch Honeycomb devices -- a few fractions of an inch of thickness, a higher-quality display, a full-sized USB port, an hour or two of running time and some bundled apps constituted how many of the tablets asserted their competitiveness. Of course, there was the ASUS Transformer Prime with its keyboard add-on and its follow up, the Eee Pad Slider, which finally brought an integrated one. But whether it's been from a lack of of options for manufacturers or disadvantages of the overall Honeycomb approach, larger Android tablets have made limited inroads versus the similarly sized iPad and are now going after it more aggressively on price.
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Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
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On Thanksgiving, Pinterest?s co-founder 
Hunch, a service that provides a "taste graph" of personalized recommendations based on users' interests, has just been bought by auction site eBay, the companies have confirmed. The amount hasn't officially been disclosed, but Michael Arrington (who had the scoop this morning) hears that the amount is around $80 million. Founded in late 2007 and launched in 2009, the New York company will be used by eBay to help improve buying and selling recommendations for eBay users.
