Robot Allows Paraplegic Troops to March Again?

Walking is one of the many things in life that most of us take for granted. Now, for those who can?t, a technological marvel could prove miraculous.

A Defense Department program to develop super-strong soldiers has led to a wearable robot that enables paraplegics to walk.

At 10 leading rehab facilities from Honolulu to Atlanta, Ekso Bionics' Iron Man-style exoskeletons have been quietly tested over the past year, to resounding success.

Simply put, the exoskeleton is a wearable robot that allows a wheelchair user to stand up and walk. It could be a game-changer not only for wounded warriors with spinal cord injuries, but for people with multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, lower extremity weakness or paralysis due to neurological disease or spinal injury.

Wheelchairs have been the go-to solution for more than 1,500 years ? the 2002 census estimated 2.8 million U.S. citizens rely on them -- but now Ekso Bionics is literally revolutionizing this space. Its ultimate goal: a robot that is as easy to wear as a pair of jeans, one that requires not only innovative engineering but biomechanics advancements and cyborg-type research.

?Making a robot itself is difficult enough. To add that to the body and put it on like a pair of jeans is a whole other level,? Ekso Bionics CEO Eythor Bender said at a March TEDMed conference in Long Beach, Calif.

The exoskeleton has four electric motors that replicate a person?s hips and knees. Fifteen sensors are networked with a computer that sits on the user?s back and acts as a ?brain.? A battery pack provides four hours of endurance.

While users learn to walk with the exoskeleton -- for some, it is quite literally their first steps -- physical therapists hold a remote control to assist, support and guide them. The Ekso is designed to make the gait as natural as possible, which is particularly important for users who are relearning how to walk.

The exoskeleton can be modified to fit a person ranging from 5-foot-2 to 6-foot-2, with a maximum weight of 220 pounds. While there are some contraindications, many are capable of passing the medical screening and evaluation to use the device, the company has said.

In its current phase, a candidate must have the upper body strength to transfer from a wheelchair to a regular chair and to balance with crutches.

The next stage involves artificial intelligence and the user going solo. With that model, he?ll be able to initiate a step by leading with his arms and crutches and driving the opposite foot forward. The Ekso?s brain identifies body movement signals and converts them into movement of the exoskelton?s ?hips? and ?knees.?

This next generation will be available for trial within the next six months; it is currently undergoing clinical trials at the Kessler Institute.

Founded in 2005, Ekso Bionics created both the ExoHiker, which allows a user carrying up to 200 pounds to run over a range of challenging terrain, and the ExoClimber, which is designed to move the same payload up stairs and steep slopes quickly.

The Department of Defense quickly cottoned to the exoskeleton?s potential and sponsored the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) program. In 2009 HULC was licensed by Lockheed Martin for further military development.

HULC works without a joystick: A computer matches its movement to the direction of its user, allowing crawling, upper body lifting and deep squats while preventing lower back injuries. This past summer a ruggedized version called the HULCTM began biomechanical testing at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass.

Of course, a soldier on the hunt for a super exoskeleton has different needs than a civilian who wants to get out of a wheelchair. In collaboration with the medical partners and a design team, Ekso has been tailoring the military-inspired technology for the civilian.

Electronics replace the super soldier?s hydraulics, since civilians have lesser carrying needs. Reducing weight and making the exoskeleton smaller are ongoing design goals.

But ultimately, users require tools that can be mastered. Ekso is not quite ready to be taken home, but it?s getting close.

Ekso Bionics started collaborating with the leading U.S. rehabilitation providers and is now expanding into Europe, teaming with some of the world?s best there. In October the company demonstrated its exoskeleton at the London International Technology Show and announced that it would be available in the United Kingdom next year.

The price tag is high: The exoskeleton currently costs $150,000 -- hardly ideal, but not unexpected for cutting-edge technology of this sort.

From amping the power of super soldiers to giving paraplegics back the ability to walk, Ekso Bionics is one little company that helps us remember how challenging even a ?simple? task like walking can be.

Ballet dancer turned defense specialist Allison Barrie has traveled around the world covering the military, terrorism, weapons advancements and life on the front line. You can reach her at wargames@foxnews.com or follow her on Twitter @Allison_Barrie

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/29/wearable-robots-for-wounded-warriors/?test=faces

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zeitgeistblog: Google News: Protesters in Syria emboldened by Arab League presence - Washington Post http://t.co/zXFRL47G

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GoodReads? Recommendation Engine Acquisition Gooses The Publishing Game

While bookstores are reporting increased sales this month, I foresee a time when "Staff Picks" at the local booke shoppe will soon be replaced by recommendation engines that tell you what ebook to pick up next. Services like Amazon's own recommendation engine and smaller guys like Booklamp all promise to let you know what tome to crack after you finish the Stephen King epic but GoodReads adds a bit of value-add to the burgeoning self-publishing movement.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-1vo1dxm3qk/

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Blog: Dumped gaming marketer Christoforo: I don't actually know Mayor Menino

The web highlight of the week: An e-mail spat over a video game controller that went viral on the web, and sucked Boston into the middle of it.

The short version: A customer of the N-Control Avenger controller wanted to know why a shipment was delayed; the response (from Ocean Marketing?s Paul Christoforo) was rude, then insulting, then really insulting (the word ?douchiest? was employed); a founder of the web comic Penny Arcade ? and the PAX gaming conventions, including PAX East ? was brought into the e-mail and promptly defamed by Christoforo; and the whole thing caused a ?net ruckus after Penny Arcade posted it.

Somewhere in the middle of things, Christoforo started saying stuff about Boston, and how he by no means would be banned from Penny Arcade?s PAX East gaming convention in the future. From the Christoforo e-mail:

I?m born and raised in Boston I know the people who run the city inside and out watch the way you talk to people you never know who they know it?s a small industry and everyone knows everyone. ... If we want to be there we will be there with industry badges or with a booth you think I can?t team up with turtle beach , Callibur or Koy Christmas , I can?t get Kevin Kelly to pull some strings or G4 , Paul Eibler Ex CEO of take 2 , Rich Larocco Konami , Cliff Blizinski Epic who were working with on a gears version , Activision who were working with on a MW3 and Spider man Bundle , The Convention Center Owners themselves , Mayor of Boston come on Bud you run a show that?s all you do and lease a center in Cities you have no pull in its all about who you know not what you do.

Christoforo told the MSNBC In-Game blog that he was trying to ?impress? with the name dropping.

?I don?t know the mayor of Boston,? he told the blog. ?I am from Boston, though, and I know a lot of people who own clubs. I know some influential people, like the guy who runs the door at the convention center.?

Also, PAX East fans, Christoforo is mulling the idea of attending the April convention and wearing a shirt saying ?I?m Paul Christoforo.?

Upon further reflection, though, Christoforo said that might be a bad idea. ?I don?t want to get in any fights.?

?

?

Source: http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2011/12/26/daily19-Dumped-gaming-marketer-Christoforo-I-dont-actually-know-Mayor-Menino.html

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Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding rebels (Reuters)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) ? An Ethiopian court sentenced two Swedish journalists Tuesday to 11 years in prison for helping and promoting the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group and entering the country illegally.

The accusations and last week's guilty verdicts have provoked anger in Sweden and suggestions in the media the case has taken on a political dimension.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered the Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with ONLF fighters.

"The court has sentenced both defendants to 11 years. We have heard both cases ... and we believe this is an appropriate sentence," Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court.

Shemsu said the convictions warranted a sentence of up to 14 and a half years, but noted the freelance journalists' good behavior. The prosecution had asked for 18 and a half years.

"It wasn't an entirely unexpected sentence. It is regrettable in light of their journalistic assignment," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said. "The Swedish government's view is known, among other things through the prime minister's statement last week."

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said last week Sweden was seriously concerned about the judgment and the journalists should be freed as soon as possible.

The two Swedes had also been charged with terrorism but were acquitted in November on that count, as the court did not believe they were involved in carrying out any attacks. They did admit to crossing the border without a permit.

Schibbye and Persson looked at the judge without expression as the sentence was read out and then translated by their lawyer. No family members were present.

One of the journalists' lawyers said his clients were weighing the option of an appeal, but that for now there was no talk of pleading for clemency.

"We are only talking about the possibility of appealing for the time being, which follows judicial procedure," defense lawyer Sileshi Ketsela told Reuters.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Schibbye and Petersson's Swedish lawyer told Sweden's public broadcaster SVT that the pair were innocent reporters doing their job in a "closed area" and denounced the sentence as "completely unacceptable."

"This is judgment that represents a threat against foreign correspondents, against journalists who are trying to do their job," Thomas Olsson told the public channel in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

About a dozen protesters gathered outside Ethiopia's consulate in Stockholm, waving Swedish and Ethiopian flags and chanting "Free Martin Schibbye! Free Johan Persson! Free all political and journalist prisoners!"

"The government does not respect the rule of law that is made in parliament. This is our reality," said 30-year-old Nebiyu Desta Yiman, who is seeking political asylum in Sweden. "These two, and thousands of others, should be released."

Persson's father told Swedish news agency TT the government had promised to contact the Ethiopian government.

"We also expect the government to contact the European Union and the United States, since these (countries) have given their support to Johan and Martin," Kjell Persson said.

Sweden's prime minister has said Sweden was making high-level contact with the Ethiopian government in the matter.

This year, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including reporters, in a crackdown the opposition says is designed to stifle moves toward more democracy. The government vehemently denies such accusations.

Diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Sweden have become increasingly strained in the last couple of years, analysts say.

Ethiopia's opposition leader Birtukan Mideska, who was convicted of treason after violence broke out following a presidential poll in 2005 and then pardoned, was jailed again n in 2008 after flying to Stockholm and publicly disputing Addis Ababa's version of the pardon.

Birtukan was released in 2010, four months after presidential elections, and is now in the United States.

"The authorities in Addis Ababa seemed to have been rankled with the perceived backing of Ethiopia's opposition by Stockholm," A Western diplomat, who declined to be named, said.

Sweden has also been critical of Ethiopia's human rights track record. Addis Ababa said in 2010 it planned to shut its mission in Stockholm as there was no significant development cooperation or trade ties between the two countries.

A spokesman for Ethiopia's justice ministry said claims the trial had been politicized were unfounded.

"How can there be a political motive when prosecutors provided evidence throughout the trial and the defendants themselves admitted to entering the country illegally with rebels?" spokesman Desalegn Deressa told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Mia Shanley and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by David Clarke)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/wl_nm/us_ethiopia_sweden_journalists

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Yuan hits all-time high (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? The yuan closed up against the dollar on Monday after hitting an all-time high in intraday trading, guided by a stronger mid-point by the People's Bank of China, and looks set for an over-4-percent appreciation for 2011, traders said.

The yuan is expected to remain stable or rise slightly in the last week of the year to close 2011 near 6.30 versus the dollar, in line with market expectations.

The currency is likely to continue to appreciate next year as China continues to post big trade surpluses despite a slowdown in exports and amid pressure from the United States to let the yuan rise to balance bilateral trade, traders said.

But the yuan's appreciation is likely to slow to around 3 percent in 2012, with much of the rise seen in the second half of next year as China may keep the yuan relatively stable in the first half to assess the impact of the euro zone crisis, they said.

"The PBOC has recently set a slew of strong mid-points and pumped dollars into the market via state banks, giving the market a clear signal that the government won't let the yuan depreciate," said a trader at a major Chinese bank in Shanghai.

"But the central bank appears not in a hurry to let the yuan appreciate amid global economic uncertainties resulting from the euro zone debt crisis. So the yuan is likely to move largely sideways in coming months."

Spot yuan closed at 6.3198 against the dollar, up from Friday's close of 6.3364, after hitting an all-time high of 6.3160. Its previous peak was 6.3294 hit on December 16.

The PBOC set the dollar/yuan mid-point at 6.3167 on Monday, stronger than Friday's 6.3209 and near the record-high fixing of 6.3165 on November 4.

FIGHTING SPECULATORS

The yuan has appreciated 4.27 percent so far this year, with most of the gain being recorded in the first 10 months of the year as China tries to rebalance trade and use the currency to help fight high inflation.

While the government has recently halted yuan appreciation amid slowing exports, it also seems to be wary of a weaker yuan that may lead to capital outflows.

Some overseas investors appear to have been shorting the yuan in recent months amid signs that China's growth is slowing under the double weight of a global slowdown and the country's monetary tightening policy in place since October last year.

The PBOC, in addition to using strong mid-points to signal government intentions to keep the yuan stable, has also acted to inject dollars into the market via state-owned banks whenever there are signs that the yuan is set to weaken sharply.

The yuan has thus been effectively kept in a range of 6.3 to 6.4 against the dollar since early November -- a trend traders say they believe to continue well into 2012.

In contrast, offshore benchmark one-year non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) have largely been forecasting a yuan depreciation in a year's time since late September, reversing a general trend of predicting an appreciation since the yuan's revaluation in July 2005.

One-year NDFs fell slightly to 6.3790 on Monday against 6.3810 at the close on Friday, implying that the yuan will depreciate 0.97 percent in 12 months from Modnay's PBOC mid-point, compared with a 1.01 percent fall implied on Friday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/bs_nm/us_markets_china_yuan

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A History Of President Obama's Approval Ratings

Loop 21 looks at the ?Rise and Fall? of Obama?s job approval ratings

Going into a new year with a bid for reelection, President Barack Obama?s job approval rating is pretty low, according to Gallup.

From Nov. 21-27 2011, groups party/ideology groups were surveyed and Obama lost 10 percent of ?pure independents? and eight percent of moderate/liberal Republicans since January 2011. If the Obama campaign needed a strategy to push him to a 50% threshold of job approval rating, they could consider targeting those groups. Gaining more support from ?Moderate Democrats? could also be beneficial for the Obama campaign. In January of this year, Moderate Democrats gave Obama an 81 percent job approval rating, which slumped by six points to 75 percent, when asked again in November.

?

Gallup Poll

Presidential Inauguration- Jan. 20, 2009
Jan. 21-23 2009 68% Approve 12% Disapprove ?? First poll recorded for President Barack Obama
Feb. 21-23 2009 59% Approve 25% Disapprove ?? First Drop in 50s for approval rating
Aug. 24-26 2009 50% Approve 43% Disapprove ???First Drop to 50 for approval rating
Nov. 17-19 2009 49% Approve 44% Disapprove ?? First Drop in 40s for approval rating
July 26-28 2011 40% Approve 50% Disapprove ???First Drop to 40s for approval rating
Aug. 11-13 2011 39% Approve 54% Disapprove ?? First Drop in 30s for approval rating
?

****Has not dipped to 30% approval rating****

Most recent:
Dec. 20-22 2011 44% Approve 48% Disapprove

Random Facts:

?

Historically, President Barack Obama?s approval rating for November has been the lowest among other U.S. presidents, with the exception of Jimmy Carter. ?
?

In November of this year, Obama?s job approval rating stood at a 43%, ranking as one of the lowest for an elected president during that month of his third year in office, according to the Gallup poll.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/151106/Obama-November-Approval-Weak-Historical-Perspective.aspx

Although Obama?s approval rating has taken a historical dive, blacks, Democrats and Liberals still give him the majority support when surveyed in August by Gallup.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/149225/Obama-Weekly-Average-Approval-Holds-Term-Low.aspx

The African American and Hispanic support for Obama in swing states were recorded as high, according to likely voters through research conducted by Brilliant Corners Research.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70046.html

In battleground states, nine in ten blacks still support Obama, and 64 percent of Latinos said they are planning to vote for him in 2012.

We?re sure the Obama camp knows that minorities are priority in this upcoming race.

?

Source: http://www.loop21.com/obama-approval-ratings-history

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We Stand FIRM: The Coming Squeeze On Private Insurance

One of my friends here in Colorado received this letter from his health insurance company a few weeks ago.

This will just be the beginning of the shakeout in the private market due to "uncertainty brought on by the regulatory environment" (i.e., the slow strangling of the private insurance industry under ObamaCare):

Dear [name omitted]

We are writing to inform you of an important decision World Insurance Company ("World") has made regarding individually underwritten comprehensive major medical insurance in Colorado, which impacts your coverage.

This letter contains important information about the cancellation of your policy/certificate.

Like all companies, we continually monitor our business strategy to ensure a competitive presence in the rapidly changing insurance market. With the changes in the major medical insurance marketplace and the resulting uncertainty brought on by the regulatory environment, World has decided it is no longer able to provide the kind of major medical protection our customers have come to expect. During a recent review of World's overall businesses, the difficult decision was made to exit the individually underwritten comprehensive major medical insurance business in all of our existing markets.

You can click on the image below to see it full size.
Brian Schwartz also discusses this topic at, "State regulations force insurers out of market, Obamacare will make it worse".

Source: http://blog.westandfirm.org/2011/12/coming-squeeze-on-private-insurance.html

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Va. police find 2-year-old boy in stolen SUV (AP)

RICHMOND ? A massive Christmas Eve search for a 2-year-old boy who was in the backseat of an SUV that was stolen following a double-slaying in Richmond ended around midnight with the boy being found safe, police said.

Richmond police said in a Tweet late Saturday: "2-year-old Kaiden Burnside is OK. Found alone inside SUV off Jennie Scher Road. Thanks to everyone for assistance."

City police spokeswoman Karla Peters told the Richmond Times-Dispatch ( http://bit.ly/svXlqT) the child was found sleeping alone in the parked vehicle.

"He's being checked out by EMS and will soon be reunited with his mother," Peters said.

Authorities late Saturday identified the suspect as 27-year-old Jamal Louis Clemons of Richmond, Va. They say Clemons is wanted for abduction, robbery, robbery with a firearm and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony by a convicted felon.

Richmond city police said in a press release that shortly after 5 p.m., officers responded to a report of two persons down and found an adult man and an adult woman inside a Church Hill residence. Both had been fatally shot.

Witnesses reported that a man fled the scene inside a 2012 white GMC Terrain SUV that was left with the motor running and the boy strapped in the back seat, the news release said.

The Virginia State Police issued an Amber Alert at 9:39 p.m. EST Saturday for the boy, identified as Kaiden Gage Burnside. They described him as having short blond hair and blue eyes, and wearing a red plaid shirt, a cream-colored vest with a red truck carrying a Christmas tree, dark green corduroy slacks and white light-up sneakers.

"The child is believed to be in extreme danger," the alert said.

City police described the suspect ? later identified as Clemons ? as a black man in his mid- to late 20s, 5-foot-8 and 150 to 160 pounds, with black hair and wearing dark jeans and a black zip-up sweat shirt with a hood. He is believed to be armed with a revolver.

"We don't believe that he knew there was a child in the back seat," Richmond police Maj. Steve Drew told the newspaper.

Police said they didn't believe the shooting was random but have not released additional details about the victims or their potential relationship to the suspect.

Officers continued to search early Sunday for the suspect.

Richmond police did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press on Saturday evening.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111225/ap_on_re_us/us_richmond_double_killing

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Thompson joins Cavs; 3 other BayHawks make NBA rosters

Erie BayHawks forward Mychel Thompson made the Cleveland Cavaliers' final 15-man roster.

A rookie out of Pepperdine, Thompson averaged 19.8 points in Erie's first five games before being invited to Cleveland's training camp.

The Cavaliers open the 2011-12 season today against Toronto.

Along with Thompson, BayHawks point guard Donald Sloan made an NBA team in the Atlanta Hawks.

Sloan was Erie's leading scorer at 24.8 points. He also led the team in assists at 8.4 a game.

Former BayHawk forward Ivan Johnson also made the Hawks' final roster. Johnson was a first-team all-D-League pick last season in leading Erie to the 2011 D-League playoffs.

Guard Cory Higgins did not make the final roster of the Denver Nuggets, but the Charlotte Bobcats signed him. Higgins' father, Rod Higgins, is the president of basketball operations for the Bobcats.

Chris Daniels, a 7-footer, did not make the final 15-man roster of the Los Angeles Lakers. Daniels is expected to return to Erie for Wednesday's game against Fort Wayne at Tullio Arena.

-- Duane Rankin

Source: http://www.goerie.com/article/20111226/BASKETBALL05/312269949/Thompson-joins-Cavs;-3-other-BayHawks-make-NBA-rosters

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First lady asked Santa to help get Obama to Hawaii (AP)

HONOLULU ? Michelle Obama was looking for help from more than just House Republicans so her husband could make it to Hawaii in time for Christmas.

"We were all praying and praying, and asking Santa, and the tooth fairy, and every fairy they could think of," the first lady said Saturday. She said their children prayed as well that the president "would be able to be with us."

President Barack Obama eventually made it to Hawaii, about a week late, and only after Congress resolved its stalemate over extending expiring payroll tax cuts.

With the tense tax standoff behind him, the president has eased into vacation mode since arriving on the island of Oahu Friday night, spending a low-key Christmas Eve out of the spotlight.

Obama skipped his normal early morning gym workout Saturday, opting to spend time at the multimillion-dollar vacation home his family rents in the Kailua Beach area, near Honolulu. He headed to the golf course later in the day.

The first lady, meanwhile, got into the Christmas spirit by helping track Santa for NORAD. The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955.

The White House said Mrs. Obama answered several calls from children around the country who wanted to know how close Santa was to their homes. During one conversation, she divulged how she and her daughters sought Santa's help in bringing the president to Hawaii.

The Obamas were to spend Christmas Eve at home with a close circle of family and friends that typically joins the president for his annual Hawaiian vacation. They include Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in the state with her family, and several friends the president has known since high school.

Earlier in the week, it looked as though the president's annual December trip to the state where he was born and mostly raised might not happen.

The president pledged to stay in Washington until a deal on extending the payroll tax cuts was reached. When his planned Dec. 17 departure date arrived without a deal, the White House wouldn't say if or when Obama might leave.

A deal was finalized Friday morning. Hours later, the president boarded Air Force One for Hawaii to meet his wife and daughters, who traveled ahead of him.

Obama's first order of business when he arrived was taking his wife out to dinner. The couple joined a few friends at Morimoto restaurant, one of their favorite dining spots on the island of Oahu.

The president has no public events planned in Hawaii. A small group of advisers accompanied him to brief him on domestic and international developments.

The Obamas are expected to return to Washington shortly after New Year's Day.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111225/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_hawaii

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Queen Elizabeth visits husband in hospital (AP)

LONDON ? Queen Elizabeth II's husband is expected to spend a second night in a hospital where he is recovering from a heart procedure, palace officials said Saturday.

Prince Philip, 90, had a coronary stent put in late Friday to fix a blocked artery, though the palace has refused to say if he had a heart attack.

On Saturday, Philip ? also known as the Duke of Edinburgh ? received visits from the queen and his four children at Papworth Hospital, where he was admitted after experiencing chest pains at the queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The illness has cast a shadow over the royal family's traditional Christmas gathering at Sandringham ? the first to include Prince William's new wife, Catherine. Buckingham Palace said Philip is not expected to attend church Sunday with his family, but that the service will go on as planned.

A helicopter brought Elizabeth to her husband's side at Papworth Hospital, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) from London, shortly after 11 a.m. (1100 GMT, 6 a.m. EST) on Saturday. She was accompanied by three of her children ? Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.

Philip is "in good spirits, but he is eager to leave," Buckingham Palace said. After spending 45 minutes with Philip, the royals traveled back to Sandringham by helicopter, it added.

The palace said Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrived by car at the hospital 45 minutes after the queen for a separate visit and that no other family members were expected to visit on Saturday.

Doctors said Philip could have had a heart attack, but without more information it was impossible to know for sure.

Coronary stenting is standard procedure both to fend off a heart attack or save a patient already in the midst of one, said Dr. Allan Schwartz, chief of cardiology at New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center.

Philip, who in November marked 64 years of marriage to the queen, has been known to enjoy good health throughout his life and rarely misses royal engagements. Upon his 90th birthday in June, he announced plans to cut back his official duties.

In addition to well-wishers gathered outside Papworth Hospital, Prime Minister David Cameron also offered his support to Philip.

"The prime minister has been kept informed of the situation and wishes the Duke of Edinburgh a very speedy recovery," Cameron's office said.

Doctors say that some patients can leave the hospital a day after a similar medical procedure, but the palace said it does not know when Philip will be discharged. It said the prince remains "under observation" and that he is having a "short stay" in the hospital.

Members of the royal family were due to start arriving at Sandringham, where Philip had been since Monday, throughout the day Saturday.

While members of the public who gather each year to catch a glimpse of the royals walking to Sunday's traditional church services will most likely not see Philip, Buckingham Palace said it does not expect changes to the rest of the royal family's Christmas agenda.

Another key part of the royal family's Christmas celebrations is the queen's annual message to the nation, which this year will focus on family and community.

The queen has made a prerecorded Christmas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on television since 1957. She writes the speeches herself, and the broadcasts mark the rare occasion on which the queen voices her own opinion without government consultation.

___

Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_prince_philip

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RedScareBot: Smurf Communism RT @Dharma115: @mimiplush or such a useless ASS of a socialist president?

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Steelers QB Roethlisberger out against Rams

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) walks off the field past San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore (21) after an NFL football game in San Francisco, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. The 49ers won 20-3. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) walks off the field past San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore (21) after an NFL football game in San Francisco, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. The 49ers won 20-3. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) stands on the sidelines against the San Francisco 49ers during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not start Saturday when the Steelers face the St. Louis Rams.

Roethlisberger is dealing with a sprained left ankle and did not practice this week following a 20-3 loss to San Francisco on Monday. He will be replaced by veteran Charlie Batch, who is 4-2 as a spot starter since joining the Steelers in 2003.

Roethlisberger said Wednesday he would prefer to play and believed his ankle was in pretty good shape after throwing for 330 yards and three interceptions against the 49ers. Yet he watched both practices this week in sweat pants as Batch took the snaps with the first team.

Roethlisberger last missed a start due to injury in 2009, when a concussion forced him to sit out a loss to Baltimore.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-23-Steelers-Roethlisberger/id-56c0afc38c724e51bb7a4915ee4fcded

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Journal retracts paper on chronic fatigue syndrome

Reporting from Chicago?

A scientific paper embraced by many chronic fatigue syndrome patients as a ray of hope is being retracted by the journal that published it after a tumultuous year that included allegations of data manipulation and the arrest of the study's lead researcher on a felony charge of possessing stolen property.

In the paper, published in 2009 by the journal Science, researchers reported they had found evidence of a retrovirus called XMRV in the blood of patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome much more frequently than in the blood of healthy peers. The paper caused a stir and led other scientists to try to confirm the findings.

Patients rejoiced at the possibility of an explanation for their illness, which has long confounded researchers. Some patients even began taking antiretroviral drugs designed to treat a different retrovirus, HIV.

At the same time, the paper's lead researcher, Judy Mikovits, then employed at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, began linking XMRV to other frustrating disorders, including autism and Gulf War syndrome, without publishing data to support her statements.

Soon, independent teams of scientists began reporting they could not find evidence of the retrovirus in the blood of chronic fatigue patients or anyone else. Researchers hypothesized that lab contamination could have caused the original findings. Mikovits denied it.

Then, several authors on the original paper reported their data were flawed, resulting in a partial retraction. Science's staff attempted to get the paper's authors ? including Mikovits ? to agree to a full retraction, but the group could not agree on the wording, Science executive editor Monica Bradford said in an interview.

In particular, Mikovits and others wanted to include a statement that they had confidence in their larger conclusions about the presence of the virus, Bradford said. But some of the authors were uncomfortable with that, as was Science, she said.

On Thursday, Science's editor in chief, Bruce Alberts, said the journal would take the unusual step of retracting the paper itself.

Alberts listed several reasons: the partial retraction of data earlier in the year, the failure of multiple labs to reliably find evidence of XMRV in chronic fatigue patients' blood, poor quality control in some of the experiments and the acknowledgment by the paper's authors that they had left out some important information.

"Science has lost confidence in the report and the validity of its conclusions," Alberts wrote. "We regret the time and resources that the scientific community has devoted to unsuccessful attempts to replicate these results."

In an interview, Alberts said the episode was an unfortunate waste of time and resources for scientists and for patients. "I think this whole thing has been a tragedy for science," he said. "It is very sad that the patients got tied up and confused by it."

Attempts to contact Mikovits were unsuccessful.

Annette Whittemore, president of the Whittemore Peterson Institute, said in a statement that the institute would carry on with research on the illness. "It is not the end of the story," she wrote. "Rather it is the beginning of our renewed efforts."

At the center of the controversy is Mikovits, the scientist hired to be director of research by the institute, which was founded by the parents of a woman with chronic fatigue syndrome.

After the Science paper was published, some patients showered adulation on Mikovits. They wrote to her, crowded her at conferences and set up a defense fund when she ran into legal trouble. One patient signed message board postings: "In Judy We Trust."

Mikovits was controversial. Shortly after the paper came out, she spoke at the Autism One conference in Chicago, joining a lineup of speakers that included disgraced autism researcher Andrew Wakefield, who had lost the right to practice medicine in Britain for professional misconduct. There she linked XMRV to autism, a baseless assertion that has since been picked up by some in the autism community.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Tribune reported that Science was investigating whether data in the original paper had been manipulated after an Oklahoma graduate student, Abbie Smith, pointed out that Mikovits had presented the same figure twice ? once in the Science paper and once at a conference ? but with different labeling.

Science's executive editor, Bradford, said Mikovits explained the problem as an "honest error."

In September, the Whittemore Peterson Institute fired Mikovits and later filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she possessed key lab notebooks and other property belonging to the institute. An employee filed affidavits alleging Mikovits had instructed him to take the notebooks from the institute and hand them over to her.

Just before Thanksgiving, Mikovits was arrested in California and spent five days in jail. An arrest warrant issued by University of Nevada at Reno police listed two felony charges: possession of stolen property and unlawful taking of computer data, equipment, supplies or other computer-related property.

A spokeswoman for the institute said that Mikovits returned some but not all of the lab notebooks and that when she returned one computer, its hard drive had been wiped clean. Another computer is in police custody, the spokeswoman said.

On Monday, a Nevada judge granted a default judgment in the civil lawsuit in favor of the institute, and ordered Mikovits to pay attorney's fees.

ttsouderos@tribune.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/Hi3ObOrwWh0/la-na-chronic-fatigue-20111223,0,3458539.story

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EPA requires limit on power plant mercury emissions (CNN)

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Alarm over Manning defense team strategy

Joshua Roberts / Reuters

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning leaves U.S. Magistrate Court at Fort Meade, Md., on Tuesday.

By Mike Brunkermsnbc.com

Raising the hackles of some attorneys who work on transgender legal issues, defense attorneys for Bradley Manning apparently intend to make an almost novel legal argument -- that the Army private was suffering from gender identity disorder when his alleged crimes were committed -- if his case proceeds to court martial as expected.

In the first five days of Manning?s preliminary hearing at Fort Meade, Md., prosecutors and defense attorneys have both presented evidence that Manning, accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret government documents to the WikiLeaks website, was wrestling with gender issues in the period leading up to the publication of the documents.

The defense stated Saturday that Manning, 24, had written to one of his supervisors when he was stationed in Iraq before his arrest and said he had concluded he was suffering from gender identity disorder, which is classified as a medical disorder in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. He included a photo of himself dressed as a woman in the letter and said the issue was affecting his ability to do his job or think clearly.

---

A defense attorney and a witness also stated that Manning had created a Facebook profile and opened at least one email account using the name ?Breanna Manning,? which the attorney described as an ?alter-ego.?

As the hearing continued Tuesday, prosecutors presented testimony indicating that Manning had used another soldier?s laptop to order a book on female facial reconstructive surgery from Amazon.com that he had shipped to his Potomac address.

A search of Amazon.com for the term ?female facial reconstructive surgery? returns just one title, ?Facial Feminization Surgery: A Guide for the Transgendered Woman.?

Also Tuesday, Manning?s attorneys did little to challenge testimony by prosecution witnesses tying Manning to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and other electronic evidence collected in the case.

Manning is charged with aiding the enemy and violating the Espionage Act. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

If Manning?s case does go to court martial, his attorneys will apparently be just the second defense team to attempt to use a gender identity disorder as at least a partial defense in a military case, according to Jack King, a staff attorney with the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys specializing in mental health issues.

The only other case on record, he said, involved Karen Davis, a Navy electrician's mate, second class, formerly known as Charles Marx, who was prosecuted in the mid-1980s ?for wearing women's clothing (a skirt, nylons, a women's blouse, a bra, women's fashion jeans, nail polish, a purse, and a wig) on numerous occasions while at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.?

In appealing her court martial in 1988, Davis' attorneys argued that such conduct was not illegal. They also stated that, while living as Marx, she had been diagnosed by several Navy psychiatrists as having gender identity disorder and that cross-dressing was therapeutic.

The military appeals court allowed her dishonorable discharge to stand for the reason that?cross-dressing was??prejudicial to good order and discipline and discrediting of the Armed Forces."

King said such a case would be unlikely today, given the greater understanding of gender identity disorder.

?Now, if a person could show that because he or she believed themselves to be a member of the opposite sex they had an irresistible impulse to cross-dress, they would in all likelihood qualify for a medical discharge,? he said.

Several attorneys who work with transgender legal issues said they were not aware of a gender identity disorder defense being raised in a civilian court, and King said it?s easy to see why not, noting that such a diagnosis ?doesn?t prevent you from knowing right from wrong.? The disorder is most often raised in criminal proceedings as part of an overall insanity defense, or by expert witnesses arguing that a defendant is so mentally damaged that he or she should be committed, he said.

And several lawyers who work with transgender clients indicated they were not happy with the direction that the Manning proceedings have taken.

?We don?t think that being transgender, if he in fact is, has anything to do with him breaking the law,? said Kylar Broadus, an attorney with the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. ?Obviously the charges are serious and we don?t want the trial to be sensationalized or detracted from by him being transgender.?

?Our opinion is there is no correlation between anything he has done and gender identity disorder,? agreed Dru Levasseur, a transgender rights attorney with Lambda Legal.

?This plays into stereotypes that are not true,? he continued. ?There are a lot of people with gender identity disorder?fighting for their lives to be respected and understood as human beings who need equal access to the law. This type of scenario just confuses the situation.?

Follow Mike Brunker on Facebook or Twitter.

?

Source: http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/21/9590399-manning-defenses-focus-on-gender-identity-disorder-alarms-some

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Will 'Sister Wives' stars beat Utah's bigamy law?

The Kody Brown Bunch is hoping to rewrite the rule books in Utah.

The polygamous clan made famous on the TLC hit reality series "Sister Wives" has asked a federal judge in Utah to continue to let them challenge the state's bigamy laws.

Here's what went down today.

MORE: Sister Wives' Polygamy Clan: We Live in Fear Because of Utah's Bigamy Law

Lawyers for Brown and his four wives ? Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn ? offered oral arguments this morning for an hour-and-a-half before U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups, who, according to his clerk, took the case "under advisement" and plans to rule on the matter at an unspecified future date.

"The court gave us a fair hearing and we will await his decision," Brown's attorney and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley tells E! News. "We are committed to pursuing these claims on behalf of the Brown family wherever they take us in the legal system."

The family filed a lawsuit in Salt Lake City District Court back in July claiming Utah's bigamy law is unconstitutional because it criminalizes their private sexual relationships and prohibits them from living together. They've told the court they fear being punished by the statute, which they say has caused them irreprable harm and forced them to temporarily move to Nevada.

"The Brown's remain subject to potential persecution due to their status as a plural family," reads the complaint. "The family used their savings and moved their 17 children to Nevada in January after the state of Utah opened up a bigamy investigation on them."

(Kody is legally married only to Meri and the other three "sister wives" are so-called "commitments.")

The ever-expanding family belongs to the Apostolic United Brethren Church, which is centered in Salt Lake City, but per court docs, "due to the low of AUB members in Nevada, the Brown's cannot fully perform their religious practices outside of Utah and must return to Utah to engage in certain religious practices."

MORE: Sister Wives Take Their Big Love to the Silver State

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Part of the suit's aim is to make it safe for the Brown's and their 21-strong brood to move back to Utah.

"This family is asking no more than any family deserves: to be heard in the courts," says Turley. "This challenge was brought to benefit not just polygamists but all citizens who wish to live their lives according to their own values ? even if those values run counter to those of the majority in the state."

The Utah Attorney General's Office has asked Waddoups to toss the suit on the grounds that because it's unlikely prosecutors will go after the clan and the family failed to show how they've been injured by the state.

AG Mark Shurtleff has previously said his staff does not have the resources to prosecute polygamists unless they discovered more serious offenses, such as incest , statutory rape or abuse.

None of the Browns attended today's proceeding, prefering to let their attorneys do the talking on behalf of their privacy rights.

"While the state has asked for the courthouse doors to be shut to this family," says Turley, "we believe they have a right to be heard on the unconstitutionality of this law."

PICS: Check out some slightly less complicated famous families

? 2011 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45703754/ns/today-entertainment/

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Whither the Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs ? Today?s Q?s for O?s WH ? 12/16/2011 (ABC News)

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Full ban on driver calls could be tough to enforce

FILE - In a Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving, in San Diego. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday, Dec. 13, that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. But if lawmakers follow the advice of the federal board, police officers could be faced with decoding whether someone is using their cell phone or simply singing along to the radio, pleading with backseat children to stop fighting or reciting an important sales pitch. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - In a Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving, in San Diego. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday, Dec. 13, that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. But if lawmakers follow the advice of the federal board, police officers could be faced with decoding whether someone is using their cell phone or simply singing along to the radio, pleading with backseat children to stop fighting or reciting an important sales pitch. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - In a Tuesday, June 24, 2008 file photo, a sign warning drivers that hands-free technology will be required starting July 1, displays its message over a highway in San Francisco. While most states have banned texting among drivers and a number have also prohibited hand-held phones, the Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board is to outlaw all behind-the-wheel cell phone use, wireless or not. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

A driver uses a cellphone while driving Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in Los Angeles. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is just too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States and is urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A motorist uses a cellphone while holding the steering wheel and a cigarette in her other hand while passing through an intersection Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in Houston. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is just too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States and is urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in San Diego. Johnson, an operations manager, uses his cellphone while driving frequently for business. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? A driver in the next lane is moving his lips. Is he on a hands-free cellphone? Talking to someone in the car? To himself? Singing along to the radio?

If lawmakers follow the advice of a federal board, police officers will have to start figuring that out ? somehow.

The National Transportation Safety Board said this week that drivers should not only be barred from using hand-held cellphones, as they are in several states, but also from using hands-free devices. No more "Sorry, I'm stuck in traffic" calls, or virtually any other cellphone chatter behind the wheel.

Though no state has yet implemented such restrictive rules, the NTSB's recommendations carry weight that could place such language into future laws, or motivate the federal government to cut funding to states that don't follow suit.

Many of the men and women patrolling the nation's streets and highways wonder how they would sort the criminally chatty from the legally chatty.

"It would be almost impossible to determine if someone was talking on a phone or exercising their vocal cords," said Capt. Donald Melanson of the West Hartford, Conn., police department, which took part in a national pilot program aimed at cracking down on drivers' cellphone use. "That would be much more difficult to enforce, almost to the point where it would be impossible."

Officer Tom Nichols of the Port St. Lucie, Fla., police said a law written like the NTSB suggests would be difficult to enforce because so many variables would be at play.

"If you identify someone who has a hands-free set hooked up to their ear that doesn't mean they are talking on the phone," he said. "They could be talking to a passenger. They could be talking to a child in the back. They could be singing."

Police could end up turning to technology for help. They might even end up with the cellphone equivalent of a radar speed gun.

Fred Mannering, a Purdue University civil engineering professor who is associate director of the Center for Road Safety, said that since all cellphones emit signals, a simple Bluetooth detection device could spot them.

Computers are already common in patrol cars, and Mannering said a relatively cheap add-on could fit them to track cellphone signals.

"It would be really easy for police to have a computer on board and pick up those signals," Mannering said, "but it is sort of Big Brother."

The NTSB's proposal, announced Tuesday as a unanimous recommendation of its five-member board, urges all states to impose total bans except for emergencies. It cited deadly crashes caused by distracted drivers across the country, and noted that many studies have shown that hands-free cellphones are often as unsafe as hand-held devices.

The recommendation poses an astounding number of questions. What about chauffeurs and traveling salesmen who spend their entire day on the road? And roadside Amber Alert and Silver Alert notifications that implore drivers to call in if they spot a specific vehicle? What comes of phone lines dedicated to those "How's My Driving?" signs on trucks? How will you let someone know you're stuck in traffic?

Joe Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who studies people's use of technology while traveling, said he can't envision a law so restrictive ever hitting the books because phone use has become commonplace for drivers. He called such an approach "draconian" and said that if such a law were passed, the public would despise it as "imperial overreach," then ignore it.

"It's a little like speeding laws where it will become just culturally acceptable to violate," he said. He said a no-call law would be followed only if violations carried stiff penalties like those for drunken driving.

Lewis Katz, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, said a nationwide ban on using cellphones while driving would be wildly unpopular, and likely the target of legal challenges. But he believed such a law, and the methods police might use to enforce it, ultimately would be deemed as constitutional as seatbelt enforcement.

"I'm sure that it would be challenged on all sorts of constitutional grounds, including free speech," he said in a phone call from his car. "But it seems to me that it doesn't in any way infringe on any constitutional rights. It's a simple safety issue."

Whether the NTSB's recommendations will motivate decision-makers remains to be seen, but they have certainly caught their attention.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has made combating distracted driving the signature issue of his tenure, stopped short of an endorsement. His department is separate from the NTSB.

"My focus is going to be on preaching to people: Take personal responsibility. Put your cellphone and your texting device in the glove compartment when you get behind the wheel of a car," LaHood told reporters at a news conference in Chicago. "You can't drive safely when you have your hand on a cellphone and are trying to drive a 4,000- 5,000 pound vehicle."

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, a Republican, said he was wary. His state is among those that have resisted passing laws restricting drivers' cellphone use.

Cannon said future technological advances may prove more effective than legislation at addressing driver distraction issues. As an example, he cited his new iPhone, which can make phone calls and send text messages via voice command.

"In these attempts to try and prevent every bad thing from happening," he said, "it's all too easy to overly restrict personal freedoms and individual rights and responsibilities."

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, the top law enforcement official in Palm Beach County, Fla., said that if lawmakers take the NTSB's suggestions to heart, they should address all manner of distracted driving.

"I see women putting makeup on. I see a guy with an electric shaver. I see one woman with a newspaper. I see a guy with a dog in his hands. All of those are worse than texting," he said.

Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police, said training would be key to enforcing any ban. Officers are already looking for unbuckled seat belts and swerving drivers; they'd have to add to their mental checklists.

"It's something that is not insurmountable," Bond said. "How you're going to spot it, or how you're going to look for it ? you have to acclimate the troops and acclimate the operations as to how to do this."

Chief Walter McNeil of Quincy, Fla., president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said enforcement of a total ban would be difficult, but that distracted driving needs to be addressed.

"We certainly need to deal with the overall problem with distracted drivers, and getting some level of uniformity in how we enforce that would be helpful," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-15-Drivers-Cellphone%20Enforcement/id-410b6199cd5643749da70ee00b05b991

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Torrent of bad financial news flows out of Europe (AP)

DUBLIN ? Alarming financial news flowed out of Europe in a torrent Friday, just a week after the EU leaders struck a deal they thought would contain the continent's debt crisis.

The bombardment shredded hopes of a lasting solution to the turmoil that is endangering the euro ? the currency used by 17 European nations ? and threatening the entire global economy.

In quick succession:

? The Fitch Ratings agency announced it was considering further cuts to the credit scores of six eurozone nations ? heavyweights Italy and Spain, as well as Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and Slovenia. It said all six could face downgrades of one or two notches.

? Moody's Investors Services downgraded Belgium's credit rating by two notches. Belgium's local- and foreign-currency government bond ratings fell to "Aa3" from Aa1," with a negative outlook. The ratings remain investment grade.

? Ireland's economy shrunk again much deeper than had been expected, with its third-quarter gross domestic product falling 1.9 percent. Ireland is one of three eurozone nations kept solvent only by an international bailout.

? Bankers and hedge funds were balking in talks about forgiving 50 percent of Greece's massive debts, a key issue in the debate over Greece's second rescue bailout.

? The red ink in Spain's regional governments surged 22 percent in the last year, endangering the central government's efforts to cut overall Spanish debt.

? France, the second-largest eurozone economy after Germany, warned that it faced at least a temporary recession next year.

? The euro hovered Friday just above $1.30, a cent higher than its 11-month low.

On the positive side, Fitch said France should keep its top AAA credit rating even though the country's debt load is projected to rise through 2014. Italian lawmakers overwhelmingly passed Premier Mario Monti's new austerity package in a confidence vote, even though many still objected to its pension reforms.

French officials and investors had feared that France could get downgraded, which would have immediate repercussions for the entire eurozone. France and Germany's AAA credit ratings underpin the rating for the eurozone's bailout fund.

European Union leaders confirmed Friday they have distributed the text of their proposed new budget-stability treaty, a pact designed to deter runaway deficits and supposed to become EU law by March. But as growth prospects fade across the continent, governments are facing the likelihood that Europe's debt crisis will prove longer and tougher to overcome than even their most recently revised forecasts.

Until this week, EU leaders held up Ireland as the model for how a debt-struck nation should behave ? defying economic gravity by simultaneously growing its economy while sucking billions out of that same economy in Europe's longest austerity drive.

But on Friday, Ireland announced its third-quarter gross domestic product fell 1.9 percent, its national product 2.2 percent. Economists had expected only an 0.5 percent fall for GDP and none at all for GNP. The latter figure is considered a better measure of Ireland's economic vitality because it excludes the largely exported profits of about 600 American companies based in the country.

Ireland has been cutting spending and hiking taxes since late 2008 and has plans to keep doing so through 2015. Next year's target is euro2.2 billion ($2.9 billion) in cuts and euro1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) in extra charges, including a hike in national sales tax to 23 percent and introduction of a new euro100 ($131) tax on every property.

But the country's finances this year are seriously out of whack: It is spending euro57 billion ($74.5 billion), including euro10 billion ($13 billion) to keep its five nationalized banks afloat, but collecting just euro34 billion ($44 billion) in taxes.

Labor union leaders say the unexpected slump confirmed Friday is irrefutable evidence that Ireland's 4.5 million citizens already have been squeezed too much, too quickly.

"Current policies are making recovery almost impossible," said David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. "No economy can sustain the sort of ongoing damage that is being inflicted on us."

"We need growth and we need it quickly," he added.

Ireland's year-old international bailout requires the Irish to reduce their annual deficits from an EU record 32 percent of GDP in 2010 to the traditional eurozone limit of 3 percent by 2015. But analysts agree that Ireland cannot hope to meet the 2015 goal if its economy doesn't grow sufficiently.

Ireland's recovery plan now presumes 1.6 percent growth in 2012 and 2.8 percent growth in each of the next three years ? figures many consider way too optimistic.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers in Dublin, said Ireland would "do well" to reach 0.5 percent growth this year "given the deteriorating world economic backdrop and the fall-off in global demand." He said he doubted Ireland could top 1 percent growth next year.

In other developments:

ITALY:

The new premier's austerity package passed 495-88 Friday, but lawmakers on both the left and right criticized the pension reforms as too harsh. The plan raises euro30 billion ($39 billion) in extra taxes and pension reforms and plows about euro10 billion ($13 billion) of that back into growth measures.

Prosecutors in the southern region of Calabria, meanwhile, said they were investigating 10 envelopes with bullets inside found in a post office in the town of Lamezia Terme. The envelopes were addressed to the new leader Monti, his labor minister, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top political or media figures, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Reports said the envelopes contained notes threatening those named if the austerity package wasn't changed.

GREECE:

European officials told The Associated Press that private holders of Greek bonds were resisting EU efforts to persuade them to take a voluntary 50 percent cut in the value of their holdings. The talks in Paris between EU and Greek leaders against representatives of global banks and hedge funds have been very difficult, they said.

The proposed euro100 billion ($130.6 billion) write-off of privately held Greek bonds is supposed to be agreed upon by early next year ? and it's central to Greece's second bailout deal. Without it, Greece's debt is forecast to escalate to nearly 200 percent of GDP.

SPAIN:

A new conservative government committed to increased austerity is coming into office next week, but it faces a rapidly deteriorating financial outlook.

The Bank of Spain announced a 22 percent surge over the past year in the debts of the country's 17 regional governments to euro135.2 billion ($176.6 billion). Spain's central government debt rose 15 percent to above euro706 billion ($922.3 billion).

PORTUGAL:

The main opposition party refused Friday to support the government's plan to amend the constitution to include a budget-deficit limit. All 17 members of the eurozone are supposed to make such commitments as part of the bloc's week-old plan to enshrine spending controls in a new treaty.

In a further worrying development, ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the credit rating of six leading Portuguese banks to junk status.

Portugal received its own euro80 billion ($104.5 billion) international bailout deal in April.

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Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels, Barry Hatton in Lisbon and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.

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Online:

Ireland's GDP and GNP, http://bit.ly/vTKjuI

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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