Pope to tweet farewell as he leaves Vatican

Michael Kappeler / EPA

By Rosa Golijan

Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope to join Twitter, will post his last tweet on the social network at 11 a.m. ET, Thursday, right when he's expected to leave the Vatican by helicopter on his last day as pontiff. The papal?Twitter account, @Pontifex, will be then be suspended until?his successor is elected.

Like his prior tweets, the pope's last message is expected to go out in nine languages, across his various Twitter accounts.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi told the Associated Press that it will be up to the next leader of the Catholic Church whether or not he will use the @Pontifex Twitter account.?"The Twitter account @pontifex was created for the exclusive use of the pope," Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, previously stated on the Vatican Radio.

It is unclear what will happen to the?1.5 million followers ammassed by the main @Pontifex Twitter account. (There are an additional 1.2 million followers or so across the non-English versions of the Twitter feed.)

Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook posts, or circling her on?Google+.

Source: http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2013/02/28/17131820-pope-to-tweet-farewell-as-he-leaves-vatican?lite

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Heading a soccer ball may affect cognitive performance

Feb. 27, 2013 ? Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks, according to a paper published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Anne Sereno and colleagues from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The researchers tested the effects of non-injurious head-to-ball impacts on cognitive function using a tablet-based app. They found that high school female soccer players were significantly slower than non-players on a task that required pointing away from a target on the screen, but showed no difference in performance when pointing to the on-screen visual target.

According to the study, tasks that involve pointing away from a target require specific voluntary responses, whereas moving toward a target is a more reflexive response. Based on their observations, the authors conclude that sub-concussive blows to the head may cause changes specifically linked to certain cognitive functions.

The authors say that the app used in their research may be a quick and effective way to screen for and track cognitive changes in athletes. They add that a tablet-based application for such quick screens may also have broader applications in the clinic or the field.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marsha R. Zhang, Stuart D. Red, Angela H. Lin, Saumil S. Patel, Anne B. Sereno. Evidence of Cognitive Dysfunction after Soccer Playing with Ball Heading Using a Novel Tablet-Based Approach. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e57364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057364

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/hjbndy797cY/130227183458.htm

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Preserving Richard the Lionheart's heart

Philippe Charlier

The dusty remains of Richard I's heart now rest in this crystal box.

By Stephanie Pappas
LiveScience

The heart of Richard the Lionheart was preserved with mercury, mint and frankincense, among other sweet-smelling plants, a new study finds.

The study is the first biochemical look at the heart of Richard I, who died in 1199. As was common practice at the time, the king's heartwas removed and mummified separately from the rest of his body. It rested in a reliquary at Notre Dame in Rouen for centuries before its rediscovery in 1838.

Now, for the first time, the chemical composition of the substances used to preserve the heart has been revealed. These substances were directly inspired by biblical texts, said study leader Philippe Charlier of University Hospital R. Poincar?.

"The aim was to approach the odor of sanctity," Charlier told LiveScience.

The life and death of Richard I
Richard I of England began his rule in 1189. He spent two years in captivity in Europe, much of that time being held for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Later, the tale of Richard I's ransom would be folded into folk tales about Robin Hood, casting Richard I as a benevolent absent monarch and his brother John as a tax-happy usurper.

(Richard I came centuries before Richard III, the English monarch whose bones were discovered in a Leicester parking lot in September 2012. Richard III died in 1485.)

Mus?e d?partemental des Antiquit?s (c) Yohann Deslandes/CG76

The box that contained Richard the Lionheart's preserved heart. Translated, the inscription reads "Here is the heart of Richard, King of England."

On March 25, 1199, years after the kidnapping, Richard sustained a crossbow wound in Chalus, France, and died 12 days later of gangrene. His abdominal organs were removed and interred in Chalus, while his body went to rest at Fontevraud Abbey in France. His heart was embalmed and placed in its own casket and taken to Notre Dame in Rouen. [The 10 Weirdest Ways We Deal With the Dead]

This division of the body was used to symbolize and mark Richard I's territory, Charlier said. However, no ancient texts remain to record how the embalming process was done.

The heart rested in Rouen until July 1838, when a local historian discovered a lead box inscribed, "Here is the heart of Richard, King of England." The heart itself had been reduced to dust in the preceding centuries; all that the box contained was a brownish-white powder.

Spiritual and practical
It was this powder that Charlier and his colleagues tested. They found a variety of compounds, including traces of the proteins found in human heart muscle. They also observed tiny fragments of linen, suggesting that the heart was wrapped before placement in the box.

Some metal compounds, including lead and tin, likely seeped into the powder from the lead box. Others were probably used in the embalming process. In particular, the researchers detected mercury, which has been found in other medieval burials and was probably used as an embalming agent.

The analysis also turned up pollen from a variety of plants: myrtle, daisy, mint, pine, oak, poplar, plantain and bellflower. Some of these, including poplar and bellflower, would have been blooming in April when Richard the Lionheart died; their pollen may have simply settled out of the air into the casket.

Other plants were probably used to preserve the heart. Myrtle, daisy and mint would not have been in bloom at the time, the researchers found, and probably would have been part of the embalming process. Frankincense, a tree resin, would also have been useful for both its preservation and its symbolic properties.

"This symbolic substance appeared at both extremities of the Christ life," the researchers wrote online Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. "Presented by the Biblical Magi at His birth, and used during His external embalming after the Passion."

Preserving the heart would have been important, because the journey to Rouen from Chalus was about 330 miles (530 kilometers), the researchers wrote. But Richard I's contemporaries may have also seen the process as one of "theological transformation," Charlier said.

Indeed, contemporary wisdom seems to have held that Richard I needed all the spiritual help he could get. In the 1200s, the bishop of Rochester announced that the king had only made it to heaven in 1232, having spent the intervening 33 years in purgatory, repenting his Earthly sins.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas?or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/28/17133165-how-king-richard-the-lionhearts-heart-was-preserved?lite

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T-Mobile Q4 2012 revenue drops 5.2 percent to $4.9 billion, customers and income also fall

It might be a good thing that T-Mobile's in the crosshairs of a takeover by Deutsche Telecom, as the company again shed revenue, customers and profits. Total revenue dropped to $4.9 billion from $5.2 billion last year, while profits were down a whopping 25.1 percent over Q4 2011 to $1.05 billion. Meanwhile the company dropped 515,000 branded contract customers compared to 492,000 last quarter, representing a 'churn' rate of 2.5 percent, a slight improvement over last year. All that culminated in a rather miserable year for the carrier, which despite showing income of $4.9 billion for the year, took a whopping $11.3 billion in depreciation and impairment charges, resulting in a full year loss of $6.4 billion. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telecom said recently that T-Mobile would soon fall under its umbrella along with MetroPCS as early as April -- which sounds like it can't come soon enough.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, T-Mobile

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Diplomats urge EU to block Jerusalem settlements

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? Nearly two dozen European diplomats have urged the EU to intensify efforts to block Israeli settlement in and near Jerusalem, saying such construction on occupied lands is the "single biggest threat" to a Mideast peace deal, according to an internal report Wednesday.

The diplomats also said the EU must ensure that aid to Israel and preferential trade agreements don't inadvertently benefit settlements, according to the report obtained by The Associated Press.

They recommended that the EU "prevent, discourage and raise awareness" of direct investments by European companies in settlements, but did not elaborate.

While the recommendations are non-binding, the report, endorsed by 22 heads of mission posted in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, reflects Israel's growing international isolation over the settlement issue.

President Barack Obama confronted Israel over settlements early in his first term, but then backed off, and it's not clear if he will make another serious attempt to pressure Israel in his second term.

Israel built dozens of settlements after capturing the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967. More than half a million Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, complicating efforts to partition the land under a future peace deal. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

"Settlement construction remains the single biggest threat to the two-state solution," the report said, portraying the policy as "systematic, deliberate and provocative."

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said he had not seen the EU report, only what was published in the media. "The mission of a diplomat is to build bridges, not to foster confrontations," he said. "The EU consuls have therefore failed miserably in their mission."

The issue of settlements must be addressed in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Palmor said.

The Palestinians have said they will not resume negotiations unless Israel freezes settlement construction on lands they claim for their state, including the Gaza Strip, where Israel no longer has settlements.

Palestinians have negotiated in the past while settlement expansion continued, but said they are no longer willing to engage in open-ended negotiations they suspect largely serve Israel as a diplomatic cover for tightening its grip on occupied lands through settlements.

The EU report singled out Israeli policies in east Jerusalem, particularly several major settlement projects being planned there.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often come out against dividing Jerusalem. Israel annexed the eastern sector, sought by the Palestinians as a capital, weeks after capturing it in the 1967 Mideast war, a move not recognized internationally. Beyond its greatly expanded borders of Jerusalem, Israel has not annexed West Bank territory.

The EU report said Israel approved an unprecedented number of settlement plans in and near east Jerusalem in response to the Palestinians' successful bid in November to win U.N. recognition for a state of Palestine in the occupied lands.

If the current pace of settlement building on Jerusalem's southeastern flank continues, "an effective buffer between east Jerusalem and Bethlehem (in the West Bank) may be in place by the end of 2013, thus making the realization of a viable two-state solution inordinately more difficult, if not impossible," it said.

The consuls recommended that the EU intensify efforts to "counter settlement activity" in and near east Jerusalem and make sure EU aid programs don't inadvertently benefit settlements. They also proposed developing voluntary guidelines for EU tour operators to prevent support for settlement businesses in east Jerusalem.

It remains unclear what impact the report will have. The recommendations have not been endorsed by the EU, and the European bloc in any case plays only a supportive role in U.S.-led international efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian deal.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/diplomats-urge-eu-block-jerusalem-settlements-142035564.html

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Sequester Threatens University Research Funding And Federal Student Aid

The impending federal budget cuts known as the sequester, which will go into effect on Friday without action by Congress, are poised to have a significantly negative effect on both public and private universities nationwide. Some forms of federal student aid and funding for a variety of research programs are likely to find themselves on the chopping block, according to the White House and university administrators.

Several critical revenue streams for universities are at risk: The National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Humanities are all subject to cuts that fall within both the 7.6 percent cut to mandatory spending and the 8.2 percent cut to discretionary spending.

Students' tuition rates won't go up, and Pell Grants are protected; but the federal work-study program and other scholarship sources, like the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, would be subject to the 8.2 percent cut.

Some examples of how that breaks down, according to the White House: 4,720 low-income students in Texas would lose federal financial aid; an estimated 2,370 college students in Iowa will lose federal college aid; 4,520 low-income college students in New York would lose money; 6,250 Florida low-income students and 9,600 in California would get hit.

A White House fact sheet issued on Feb. 8 estimated that "several thousand researchers could lose their jobs," and the National Science Foundation would issue nearly 1,000 fewer research grants. The White House warned some projects with reduced funding would "need to be cancelled, putting prior year investments at risk."

"Sequestration is a reckless and blunt tool," Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, told the Chronicle of Higher Education. "It would have severe, long-term impacts that would put our nation at an extreme disadvantage for years to come."

With the loss of these federal grants, undergraduate research assistants would likely be the first to get cut, University of Washington vice provost for research Mary Lidstrom told Oregon Public Broadcasting.

That has Harvard Medical School executive dean of research William W. Chin worried. Chin warned earlier this month at a rally that "a generation of scientists could be lost in a period of profound funding reduction."

Although Harvard University has the largest endowment by far, they depend on federal dollars for 60 percent of research funding. With the sequester looming and after years of flat funding, Harvard has already begun to scale back its research, the Crimson reports.

"The bottom line for us is that there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty about what will happen if sequestration goes into effect," Harvard provost Alan M. Garber told the Crimson. "We expect, regardless of whether Congress averts the fiscal cliff or not, that there will be serious long-term cuts in research spending, in real terms and in nominal terms."

For public universities already dealing with years of declining state financial support, these cuts represent huge sums of money, and it's unlikely that schools will be able to compensate for the shortfall that results from the sequester.

Because it's unclear how the research cuts would play out and which initiatives would actually lose money, school officials can only speculate as to its consequences. What they do know: People working in their labs will be sent home, and that will have a ripple effect for both the science and the economy.

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation estimates the overall economic cost from cutting federal research spending would be between $203 billion and $860 billion over the next nine years.

For example, a report from the Arizona Board of Regents found the state's three public universities generated more than $1 billion in economic activity last year alone as a result of their research.

"Faculty bring in grants. They hire people. Those people buy houses and shop for groceries, and so on," University of Arizona senior vice president for research Dr. Leslie Tolbert told KOLD. "The impact is the creation of a research industry really within the university. So the impact on jobs, on workforce is going to be significant."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/sequester-university-research_n_2768501.html

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Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West wary

ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran gave an upbeat assessment of two days of nuclear talks with world powers that ended on Wednesday, but Western officials said Tehran must start taking concrete steps to ease mounting concerns about its atomic activity.

The first negotiations between Iran and six world powers in eight months ended without a breakthrough in Almaty, but they agreed to meet again at expert level in Istanbul next month and resume political discussions in the Kazakh city on April 5.

Israel, assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, is watching the talks closely. It has strongly hinted it might attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such aim.

Iran's foreign minister said he was optimistic an agreement could be reached with the powers - the United States, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and China - on the country's disputed nuclear program.

"Very confident," Ali Akbar Salehi told Reuters when asked on the sidelines of a U.N. conference in Vienna how confident he was of a positive outcome.

The six powers offered at the February 26-27 Almaty meeting to lift some sanctions if Iran scaled back nuclear activity that the West fears could be used to build a bomb.

Tehran, which says its program is entirely peaceful, did not agree to do so and the sides did not appear any closer to a deal to resolve a decade-old dispute that could lead to another war in the Middle East if diplomacy fails.

But Iran still said the talks were a positive step in which the six powers tried to "get closer to our viewpoint".

Western officials had made clear they did not expect major progress in Almaty, aware that the closeness of Iran's presidential election in June is raising political tensions in Tehran and makes significant concessions unlikely.

"I hope the Iranian side is looking positively on the proposal we put forward," said European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who led the talks on behalf of the powers. "We have to see what happens next."

The United States did not expect a breakthrough and "the result was clearly in line with those expectations," a senior U.S. official said.

The meeting was "useful" as the two sides agreed dates and venues for follow-up talks but there was a need for progress on confidence building measures, the official added.

UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR SITE

The West's immediate priority is that Iran halts higher-grade uranium enrichment and closes an underground facility, Fordow, where this work is carried out. The material is a relatively short technical step from bomb-grade uranium.

"What we care about at the end is concrete results," the U.S. official said.

One diplomat in Almaty said the Iranians appeared to be suggesting at the negotiations that they were opening new avenues, but that it was not clear if this was really the case.

Both sides said experts would meet for talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on March 18 and that political negotiators would return to Almaty on April 5-6.

Russian negotiator Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that the powers had offered to ease sanctions on Iran if it stops enriching uranium to 20 percent fissile purity - a short technical step from weapons grade - at the Fordow underground site where it carries out its most controversial uranium enrichment work.

Western officials said the offer of sanctions relief included a resumption of trade in gold and precious metals.

One diplomat said that lifting an embargo on imports of Iranian petrochemical products to Europe, if Iran responded, was also on the table. But a U.S. official said the world powers had not offered to suspend oil or financial sanctions.

The sanctions are hurting Iran's economy and its chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, suggested Iran could discuss its production of higher-grade nuclear fuel, although he appeared to rule out shutting Fordow.

In comments in Persian translated into English, Jalili told a news conference Fordow was under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and there was no justification for closing it.

MOOD "MORE OPTIMISTIC"

Asked about the production of 20-percent enriched fuel, he reiterated Iran's position that it needed this for a research reactor and had a right to produce it.

Iran says its enrichment program is aimed solely at fuelling nuclear power plants so that it can export more oil, and that Israel's assumed nuclear arsenal is the main threat to peace in the region.

But Jalili did indicate that Iran might be prepared to talk about the issue, saying: "This can be discussed in the negotiations ... in view of confidence building."

Iran has also previously suggested that 20-percent enrichment was up for negotiation if it received the fuel from abroad instead. It also wants sanctions lifted.

"While an agreement to meet again may not impress skeptics of diplomacy, an important development did occur," said Trita Parsi, an expert on Iran. "The parties began searching for a solution by offering positive measures in order to secure concessions from the other side.

Another expert, Dina Esfandiary of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: "I note that the mood is more optimistic and that's great, but a deal still hasn't been reached and in my view its unlikely to be reached before the Iranian elections have come and gone."

(Additional reporting Fredrik Dahl in Almaaty, Georgina Prodhan in Vienna, Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Marcus George in Dubai; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powers-wait-hear-iran-response-nuclear-offer-043022098.html

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Higher levels of several toxic metals found in children with autism

Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joe Kullman
joe.kullman@asu.edu
480-965-8122
Arizona State University

TEMPE, Ariiz. -- In a recently published study in the journal Biological Trace Element Research, Arizona State University researchers report that children with autism had higher levels of several toxic metals in their blood and urine compared to typical children. The study involved 55 children with autism ages 5 years compared to 44 controls of similar age and gender.

The autism group had significantly higher levels of lead in their red blood cells (+41 percent) and significantly higher urinary levels of lead (+74 percent), thallium (+77 percent), tin (+115 percent), and tungsten (+44 percent). Lead, thallium, tin, and tungsten are toxic metals that can impair brain development and function, and also interfere with the normal functioning of other body organs and systems.

A statistical analysis was conducted to determine if the levels of toxic metals were associated with autism severity, using three different scales of autism severity. It was found that 38-47 percent of the variation of autism severity was associated with the level of several toxic metals, with cadmium and mercury being the most strongly associated.

In the paper about the study, the authors state "We hypothesize that reducing early exposure to toxic metals may help ameliorate symptoms of autism, and treatment to remove toxic metals may reduce symptoms of autism; these hypotheses need further exploration, as there is a growing body of research to support it."

The study was led by James Adams, a President's Professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He directs the ASU Autism/Asperger's Research Program.

Adams previously published a study on the use of DMSA, an FDA-approved medication for removing toxic metals. The open-label study found that DMSA was generally safe and effective at removing some toxic metals. It also found that DMSA therapy improved some symptoms of autism. The biggest improvement was for children with the highest levels of toxic metals in their urine.

Overall, children with autism have higher average levels of several toxic metals, and levels of several toxic metals are strongly associated with variations in the severity of autism for all three of the autism severity scales investigated.

###

The study was funded by the Autism Research Institute and the Legacy Foundation.

---

[ | 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.

Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joe Kullman
joe.kullman@asu.edu
480-965-8122
Arizona State University

TEMPE, Ariiz. -- In a recently published study in the journal Biological Trace Element Research, Arizona State University researchers report that children with autism had higher levels of several toxic metals in their blood and urine compared to typical children. The study involved 55 children with autism ages 5 years compared to 44 controls of similar age and gender.

The autism group had significantly higher levels of lead in their red blood cells (+41 percent) and significantly higher urinary levels of lead (+74 percent), thallium (+77 percent), tin (+115 percent), and tungsten (+44 percent). Lead, thallium, tin, and tungsten are toxic metals that can impair brain development and function, and also interfere with the normal functioning of other body organs and systems.

A statistical analysis was conducted to determine if the levels of toxic metals were associated with autism severity, using three different scales of autism severity. It was found that 38-47 percent of the variation of autism severity was associated with the level of several toxic metals, with cadmium and mercury being the most strongly associated.

In the paper about the study, the authors state "We hypothesize that reducing early exposure to toxic metals may help ameliorate symptoms of autism, and treatment to remove toxic metals may reduce symptoms of autism; these hypotheses need further exploration, as there is a growing body of research to support it."

The study was led by James Adams, a President's Professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He directs the ASU Autism/Asperger's Research Program.

Adams previously published a study on the use of DMSA, an FDA-approved medication for removing toxic metals. The open-label study found that DMSA was generally safe and effective at removing some toxic metals. It also found that DMSA therapy improved some symptoms of autism. The biggest improvement was for children with the highest levels of toxic metals in their urine.

Overall, children with autism have higher average levels of several toxic metals, and levels of several toxic metals are strongly associated with variations in the severity of autism for all three of the autism severity scales investigated.

###

The study was funded by the Autism Research Institute and the Legacy Foundation.

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/asu-hlo022513.php

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Wall Street rallies on growth optimism

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Monday, suggesting the equity rally was intact as investors grew more confident that the global economy would continue to grow.

Stocks have been strong performers so far this year, with the S&P 500 jumping 6.2 percent in 2013 to hover around its highest levels since 2007. That has prompted many to call for a pullback, though recently any dip has been used as a buying opportunity.

While the S&P fell last week, the decline was a slight 0.3 percent and was the first weekly drop after a seven-week string of gains.

"The major trend is that indexes will keep moving higher, a reflection that the economy continues to grow at a moderate pace," said Bernard Baumohl, managing director at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, New Jersey.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 45.78 points, or 0.33 percent, at 14,046.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 6.90 points, or 0.46 percent, at 1,522.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 16.87 points, or 0.53 percent, at 3,178.69.

Equities will face a test with the looming debate over sequestration, massive U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect on Friday if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement over spending and taxes. The White House issued warnings about the harm the cuts are likely to inflict on the economy if enacted.

Early results from Italy's general election cheered markets there after the pro-reform, center-left Democratic Party was leading Silvio Berlusconi's conservative bloc. [ID:nL6N0BPFBQ] Investors worried if the elections went the wrong way, efforts to handle Italy's debt problems would be undermined.

"Odds are that there will be a coalition government that will let the austerity measures stay in place, allowing yields to come down and avoiding what would have been a headwind for U.S. markets," said Baumohl.

European shares <.fteu3> rose 0.4 percent while Italy's main FTSE MIB <.ftmib> soared 3.5 percent.

The Nasdaq was lifted by a rallies at SanDisk Corp , which jumped 2.7 percent to $50.81, and Amgen Inc , up 3.8 percent to $90.16.

Barnes & Noble Inc climbed 7.8 percent to $14.56 after the Wall Street Journal reported that Chairman Leonard Riggio was considering a bid for the company's bookstore business.

Lowe's Cos Inc reported earnings that beat expectations, helped by rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Sandy in the United States. After climbing in premarket, shares dipped 0.7 percent to $37.42.

With 83 percent of the S&P 500 having reported results, 69 percent of beat profit expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

Dynavax Technologies Inc shares plunged 34 percent to $1.96 after the Food and Drug Administration denied approval for the company's adult hepatitis B vaccine and sought additional data for evaluate its safety.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-point-flat-higher-open-091937222--finance.html

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Weather extremes provoked by trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere

Feb. 25, 2013 ? The world has suffered from severe regional weather extremes in recent years, such as the heat wave in the United States in 2011 or the one in Russia 2010 coinciding with the unprecedented Pakistan flood. Behind these devastating individual events there is a common physical cause, propose scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The study will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and suggests that man-made climate change repeatedly disturbs the patterns of atmospheric flow around the globe's Northern hemisphere through a subtle resonance mechanism.

"An important part of the global air motion in the mid-latitudes of the Earth normally takes the form of waves wandering around the planet, oscillating between the tropical and the Arctic regions. So when they swing up, these waves suck warm air from the tropics to Europe, Russia, or the US, and when they swing down, they do the same thing with cold air from the Arctic," explains lead author Vladimir Petoukhov.

"What we found is that during several recent extreme weather events these planetary waves almost freeze in their tracks for weeks. So instead of bringing in cool air after having brought warm air in before, the heat just stays. In fact, we observe a strong amplification of the usually weak, slowly moving component of these waves," says Petoukhov. Time is critical here: two or three days of 30 degrees Celsius are no problem, but twenty or more days lead to extreme heat stress. Since many ecosystems and cities are not adapted to this, prolonged hot periods can result in a high death toll, forest fires, and dramatic harvest losses.

Anomalous surface temperatures are disturbing the air flows

Climate change caused by greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning does not mean uniform global warming -- in the Arctic, the relative increase of temperatures, amplified by the loss of snow and ice, is higher than on average. This in turn reduces the temperature difference between the Arctic and, for example, Europe, yet temperature differences are a main driver of air flow. Additionally, continents generally warm and cool more readily than the oceans. "These two factors are crucial for the mechanism we detected," says Petoukhov. "They result in an unnatural pattern of the mid-latitude air flow, so that for extended periods the slow synoptic waves get trapped."

The authors of the study developed equations that describe the wave motions in the extra-tropical atmosphere and show under what conditions those waves can grind to a halt and get amplified. They tested their assumptions using standard daily weather data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). During recent periods in which several major weather extremes occurred, the trapping and strong amplification of particular waves -- like "wave seven" (which has seven troughs and crests spanning the globe) -- was indeed observed. The data show an increase in the occurrence of these specific atmospheric patterns, which is statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level.

The probability of extremes increases -- but other factors come in as well

"Our dynamical analysis helps to explain the increasing number of novel weather extremes. It complements previous research that already linked such phenomena to climate change, but did not yet identify a mechanism behind it," says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of PIK and co-author of the study. "This is quite a breakthrough, even though things are not at all simple -- the suggested physical process increases the probability of weather extremes, but additional factors certainly play a role as well, including natural variability." Also, the 32-year period studied in the project provides a good indication of the mechanism involved, yet is too short for definite conclusions.

Nevertheless, the study significantly advances the understanding of the relation between weather extremes and human-made climate change. Scientists were surprised by how far outside past experience some of the recent extremes have been. The new data show that the emergence of extraordinary weather is not just a linear response to the mean warming trend, and the proposed mechanism could explain that.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Petoukhov, V., Rahmstorf, S., Petri, S., Schellnhuber, H. J. Quasi-resonant amplification of planetary waves and recent Northern Hemisphere weather extremes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1222000110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/kxPdGyqhAPI/130225153128.htm

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NYC policeman's cannibal-plot trial set to start

NEW YORK (AP) ? Federal prosecutors planned to use a graphically detailed trail of emails, computer files and instant messages to show that a New York City police officer had dangerous schemes to abduct women, cook them and devour them.

Opening statements were expected early Monday afternoon in the case against 28-year-old Gilberto Valle.

"I'm planning on getting me some girl meat," Valle allegedly wrote in one chat room. "It's this November, for Thanksgiving. ... She's not a volunteer. She has to be abducted."

A criminal complaint claimed that Valle had created a computer file cataloging at least 100 women with their names, addresses and photos. And it accused him of illegally culling some of the information from a restricted law enforcement database.

He is charged with conspiring to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database. A conviction on the kidnapping count carries a possible life sentence.

A prosecutor told a judge on Monday the government had decided not to have an FBI agent testify about disputed cellphone data it claimed showed Valle stalked his victims.

Prosecutors have enough "overwhelming other evidence" to prove their case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Jackson.

The baby-faced tabloid sensation known as the "Cannibal Cop" is expected to take the stand as his defense tries to make the case that it was all fantasy, that his online chats were so offensive, so over-the-top that they couldn't possibly be taken seriously.

In pretrial proceedings, defense attorney Julia Gatto even showed prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan, aiming to drive home the argument that Valle's only appetite was for fantasies.

"The government's case is nothing more than a hard drive full of disturbing, sexually deviant talk between my client and other men who share his, albeit weird, proclivities," the attorney said.

The defense has been bolstered by pretrial rulings that will allow Valle's lawyers to call expert witnesses expected to give jurors a tutorial on online sexual deviance and fetishes often called "vore," short for carnivore.

A clinical sexologist will testify about sexually explicit websites that "resemble improvisational theater," court papers say. "The style is to maintain the repartee, regardless of how implausible, ridiculous or even impossible the conversations gets."

A forensic psychiatrist and criminologist who examined Valle and contends most men "who have sexually sadistic fantasies ... engage in no harmful actions toward others," the papers say.

The witness found that Valle has no serious mental illness or personality disorders related to violence. Instead, he says, the defendant has recurring fantasies of sexual sadism - a condition known as paraphilia.

At trial's end, Valle's fate will rest with a jury of six men and six women, most of whom are college-educated and have lived in Manhattan or New York's suburbs most of their lives.

A New Jersey man charged with scheming with Valle to kidnap, rape and murder a Manhattan woman is awaiting trial. He also says he intended no harm.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-policemans-cannibal-plot-trial-set-start-113732617.html

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San Francisco To Dublin, Ad Specialist Quantcast Opens EMEA Ops Center, Plans 100 Non-Engineering Jobs

Digital advertising specialist Quantcast has become the latest U.S. tech company to put down roots in Dublin. The San Francisco-headquartered company has announced the opening of a new EMEA Operations Center in the Irish city to support the "growth and expansion" of its advertising business throughout Europe, and better support existing clients in the region -- echoing a similar move by Dropbox last December, along with many others before it including Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, PayPal, LinkedIn, and Apple.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ALA03tS82Y0/

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Oyster farm fight has many interested parties

POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE ? To hear Kevin Lunny tell it, he's just a little guy, draining his life's savings to stand up to a heartless federal agency bent on closing down his family's oyster farm here.

It's a compelling tale, a years-long soap opera replete with allegations of scientific misconduct and government overreach. Tea party activists have taken up his cause, citing it as an example of government quashing free enterprise and environmentalism run amok. Lunny also has the support of powerhouse conservative law firms representing him pro bono, and Cause of Action, a Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog group with ties to the conservative Koch brothers.

Others, however, don't buy his story. They say Lunny and some of his supporters have distorted what is a very simple case: The owners of the oyster farm north of San Francisco agreed 40 years ago to shut down in 2012, and Lunny is trying to break the contract.

"This thing has been hijacked by people with different agendas and manufactured narratives," said Tom Strickland, former assistant secretary of the Interior. "When someone suggests that this is 'the government versus the little guy,' I think the question should be looked at in reverse. Who is looking out for the interest of individual Americans, who is looking out for the interests of taxpayers?"

In 2005, the Lunny family bought the oyster farm in Drakes Estero, which includes the tidal area where explorer Sir Francis Drake is believed to have made landfall 430 years ago. With the purchase, the family signed on to an existing 40-year agreement with the National Park Service stating that the business would cease operations last fall and the area would convert to marine wilderness, as Congress intended.

From the beginning, Lunny made clear to the Park Service that he was interested in staying on, but Interior's solicitor ruled the agency had no legal basis to allow that.

The often-ugly debate reached a crescendo three months ago when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar elected not to extend Lunny's permit to operate in Point Reyes National Seashore. The operation is scheduled to be removed next month, clearing the way for Drakes Estero, a dramatic coastal sweep of five bays in Marin County, to become the first marine wilderness in the Lower 48 states.

Lunny filed a lawsuit to force the government to extend his lease, but it failed in federal court. He said he is appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

"To my mind, the issue really centers on the original deal," said Lynn Scarlett, an assistant secretary of the Interior under George W. Bush. "When this area was designated as a national park unit, the Congress and all those who were engaged struck a deal. A deal's a deal."

Lunny casts the debate in different terms. He says that the government is being unfair and that his protracted fight to stay has devastated his family. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who wrote two bills to help Lunny continue operating in the park, wrote Salazar to say that because of the oyster farm's impending closure, Lunny's family is "facing financial ruin."

The family does have other sources of income. They run a cattle ranch on federal land and own a paving and construction business. Lunny's legal fight is being waged by lawyers working for free, five of whom joined him at his last court appearance. He is soliciting online donations via the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and has a shellfish industry lobbyist on his payroll as a consultant.

Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the federal government has extended generous subsidies to the Lunny family for decades. The extended family has leased more than 1,100 acres, where it raises cattle within the park. The grazing rate Lunny and other ranchers pay is about one-third the amount ranchers are charged on adjacent private land.

The Lunnys' lease includes a three-bedroom house, a second residence and a bunkhouse, all owned by the federal government but leased by the family. Lunny pays $2,200 a month for the 1,100 acres and the buildings ? about what renters nearby pay to lease a single-family house on a small plot of private land.

The Park Service, under political pressure to help Lunny, recently spent $50,000 to replace the roofs on two of the family's leased buildings. Other federal seashore tenants are required to pay for their own home maintenance.

The Park Service, however, has made mistakes in the case that have given ammunition to the Lunnys' supporters. In 2007, a seashore scientist wrote a flawed report that suggested Lunny's farm harmed harbor seals.

The Park Service acknowledged the errors and retracted the study, but the episode gave credibility to claims that the park was using "junk science" to force Lunny out.

At Feinstein's urging, the Park Service commissioned outside reviews of its ongoing study of Drakes Estero. The effort to resolve the scientific debate has morphed into a multimillion-dollar morass of scientific studies and investigations by Interior's inspector general, the National Academy of Sciences and the Marine Mammal Commission, paid for by taxpayers.

The results: In some instances the Park Service conclusions overreached, in some instances they were correct, and most of the time it was impossible to determine the accuracy of any claim without more study.

Apart from his trouble with the park, Lunny has a history of not complying with California Coastal Commission orders. For six years, Lunny's farm has failed to acquire the appropriate state permits to operate in a coastal zone.

The Coastal Commission earlier this month issued its second cease-and-desist order to the farm. "I find that this is one of the most egregious, egregious violations that I have seen," Commissioner Esther Sanchez said in a hearing.

Now that Drakes Bay Oyster Co.'s closure looms, the farm's plight has become a cause for groups with disparate agendas. Some represent the interests of the shellfish industry, which seeks to operate in protected waters up and down the coast. Some favor more commercial activities in national parks, and others espouse virulently anti-government views.

Lunny's supporters are threatening to stage protests and even blockade the road if authorities are required to escort Lunny and his staff from the seashore.

Lunny, a genial and quiet man, said he doesn't want to be associated with "right-wing land rights and anti-government groups."

"This has spun out of control like none of us would ever have imagined," Lunny said. "Some of these groups came out of the woodwork" after Salazar decided against extending the lease. "All of a sudden we have some new friends."

julie.cart@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/Iv_7WnO00Hw/la-me-oysters-20130224,0,7872291.story

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Celebrity Baby Alert: Who is (NOT) Expecting?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/celebrity-baby-alert-who-is-not-expecting/

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Kristen Stewart On Oscar Crutches: 'I'm An Idiot'

'On the Road' actress hits red carpet and makes a pass at why she hurt her foot.
By Emilee Lindner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Kristen Stewart at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702522/kristen-stewart-crutches-oscar-2013.jhtml

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Jobs System Administrator

Search job opportunities in world are highest paying jobs. List of jobs opportunties in world are top jobs in world 2013, search latest jobs and apply online free to all. The main keywords to this page are job opportunities, jobs opportunities, jobs opportunities in world, job opportunities by country, jobs by countries, jobs by country, jobs in country, jobs in 2012, jobs in 2013.

Source: http://www.jobsinworld.com/jobs-search.php?Jobs-System-Administrator-Jordan&jid=4235223

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5 Time-Saving Social Media Tools for Small Businesses

Is your small business quite new to the market? Are you aware of the social networking, bookmarking and blogging sites? Are you aware how social media can push up your sales?

To find all the answers to the above question you need to have social media accounts. But to push the sales of your business you need to be registered in many sites, but how can you mange them in midst of your business? You need to feed them instant updates, regular blogs and that?s time consuming.

So, if there is a will, there is a way, and hence we are sharing with you some of the greatest social media tools to manage a number of social networking and bookmarking sites in a hassle free way.

TwitterFeed

Twitter and blogs are one of the powerful combination and their free online services TwitterFeed will help you to generate your blog updates to Twitter, Laconica, Ping.fm or HelloTxt. As soon as you sign up with the TwitterFeed, you have to connect your Twitter with TwitterFeed. Helps to provide you with a feed name and enter in the URL to the RSS blog feed.
TwitterFeed helps you to choose how often you need to Tweet and you can shorten the URL. If you are able to maintain multiple blogs, then you feed with additional blogs under the same TwitterFeed account.

FriendFeed

If you are starting your small business then you must be aware of some social networking tools, and FriendFeed is most common among them. It is used to share and discuss things with your friend, which you find online. This is just like other social media sites in which you find friend contacts within that service itself. At the same time, you can publish your FriendFeed to a number of other social networking sites like Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Posterous

A free online service, that helps to save ample of time for the regular bloggers. Posterous is able to update your feeds to multiple blogs and social networks, just you need to e-mail the post to [email?protected], attach the media or links along with your email. Posterous allows you to tag the person, you just need to mention the names in the subject of your e-mail, just use a special syntax header. As soon as you send an update, it is posted on your Posterous blog and the mini-feed gets published in other social networking sites. Posterous at present supports Twitter, TypePad, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, WordPress, Xanga, Blogger, LiveJournal, and Movable Type.

Flock

A Mozilla powered social web browser is used to publish updates across million profiles and accounts. It is able to support number of social networking sites like Bebo, Gmail, Facebook, Digg, and others. You are able to operate specific social media features like Twitter updates and Facebook chat. In a single control panel, you are able to manage multiple social accounts. The built-in-blog editor enables to post your blog, helps in gathering RSS feeds, upload photos to the Flickr, or Tweet all from the Flock browser.

FriendBinder

It is a free online service that helps you top track your friend in one place or the other and post updates and replies directly from the Frienbinder. You can stream the updates and replies on multiple social sites and make them visible quite easily consuming less time.
The tools mentioned here are not only time-saving, but they are free. as your small business is having a low capital in the beginning, so these free tools will be of great help.

Author?s Bio: Mark Martinez, is writing on personal finance, small business ideas and marketing for over a decade. He is a frequent contributor to a number of reputed financial blogs. He is also the financial consultant in one of the reputed outsourced call centers that provides solutions to both small and mid-sized businesses.

Post Tags: apps, friendfeed, social media, tools

Source: http://socialwebtools.info/time-saving-social-media-tools/

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Golf: McIlroy and Woods both eliminated at Match Play

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Honda bringing 50 jobs to Marysville under new division

Honda is bringing up to 50 new jobs to Marysville.

A Honda reorganization will bring up to 50 new jobs to Marysville.

The automaker Friday announced the creation of Honda North America Services LLC, a company that will take on the shared services aspects of the business starting April 1. The move brings support functions spread across North America, including legal services, corporate audit and risk management, under one roof. The positions will be moving from American Honda Motor Co.?s Torrance, Calif. offices.

Tetsuo Iwamura, president of Honda North America Inc., in a press release said the changes improve the speed of decision-making and overall efficiency.

The new operation will be led by Hidenobu Iwata who also is president of Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., the Marysville-based manufacturing arm of the automaker.

Honda employs more than 13,500 in Ohio predominately in its manufacturing operations in Marysville, East Liberty, Anna and Russells Point as well as engineering and research and development functions.

Dan Eaton covers retail, restaurants, manufacturing, automotive and the advertising/PR industry for Business First.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_13/~3/oov8zbLXEx4/honda-bringing-50-jobs-to-marysville.html

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Chicago district disappointed in ex-congressman

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., center, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., center, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

With the Capitol dome in the background, Rev. Jessie Jackson, Sr. and his wife Jacqueline Lavinia Brown arrive at federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, where their son, former Illinois Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., and his wife Sandra were to appear to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Attorney Reid Weingarten, representing former Illinois Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., speaks to reporters outside federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, after Jackson entered a guilty plea to criminal charges that he engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his legal team arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Residents in this swath of sprawling Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs have brimmed with loyalty to Jesse Jackson Jr. over the past 17 years, giving him an enthusiastic majority each election ? even after questionable links to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, reports of an extramarital affair and a bizarre five-month medical leave.

But the former congressman's guilty plea to charges that he lived off and lavishly spent campaign money for personal use ? on everything from toilet paper to mink capes ? has turned the tide. In territory where it was difficult to scrape up any criticism of Jackson, his Chicago alderman wife or his famous civil rights leader father, the mood is now simply one of disappointment.

"He knew better; it was a very stupid thing to do," said 75-year-old Jeannette Reese, shaking her head as she grocery-shopped at a busy shopping complex. "He and his father came to our church. I thought he was the real thing."

Reese said she had voted for the younger Jackson for years.

Jackson, who resigned from office in November, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Washington to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces up to 57 months ? more than four years ? in prison and a fine, under a plea deal with prosecutors.

It was an emotional day for Jackson, 47, who held back tears as he addressed the federal judge, just hours before his wife pleaded guilty to filing false joint federal income tax returns that knowingly understated the income the couple received. Sandi Jackson, who resigned from Chicago's City Council last month, faces up to two years in prison and a fine.

"I did these things," Jesse Jackson Jr. told the judge, adding later, "Sir, for years I lived in my campaign."

He first won office in a 1995 special election and developed widespread support from mayors who said he delivered and constituents who valued his family legacy and said he gave them a voice. That support persevered even through an intense primary challenge last year from former one-term U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson who made Jackson's ethical troubles central to her campaign. He came away with the easy majority even as he remained under a House Ethics Committee investigation for ties to Blagojevich, who's serving a federal prison sentence on allegations that he tried to profit from President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate Seat.

Even the most loyal Jackson supporters who praised him for bringing home nearly $1 billion in federal funding to the district were rattled.

"I hate that circumstances ended up like they did," said Ford Heights Mayor Charles Griffin. His small community south of Chicago ? one of Illinois' poorest ? got a boost in its water system because of Jackson.

Still, Griffin did not want to pile on criticism. "His situation is between the court system and the family," the mayor said.

Next week, voters in the heavily Democratic district head to the polls in a special primary to replace him. The crowded field of candidates includes Halvorson, former state Rep. Robin Kelly and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale.

Jackson is scheduled to be sentenced June 28 and his wife on July 1. Both Jacksons, who maintain homes in Washington and Chicago, are free until sentencing.

More details emerged in a 22-page statement compiled by prosecutors and filed Wednesday. In it, Jackson admitted that he and his wife used campaign credit cards to buy thousands of personal items worth $582,772.58 from 2005 through April of last year. The most lavish purchases included the spending of more than $43,000 on a gold-plated men's Rolex watch.

Court papers said more than $60,000 was shelled out for restaurant, nightclub and lounge outings. Money was also spent on a washer, a dryer, a range and a refrigerator for the Jacksons' Chicago home.

Jackson even arranged for the use of campaign money to buy two mounted elk heads for his congressional office, according to court documents.

Jackson entered the courtroom Wednesday holding hands with his wife and looking a bit dazzled as he surveyed the packed room. He kissed his wife and headed to the defense table.

After the hearing he shouted to a reporter: "Tell everybody back home I'm sorry I let them down, OK?"

The Chicago Democrat disappeared from the public eye last June for a medical leave, though details on his condition and location were always scarce. Doctors later said he suffers from bipolar disorder and was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

His attorney said after the court appearance that Jackson's health is "not an excuse" for his actions, "just a fact." Jackson's father has said that his son remains under strict medical supervision.

One attorney, Reid Weingarten, told reporters after the hearing that there's reason for optimism.

"A man that talented, a man that devoted to public service, a man who's done so much for so many, has another day," he said. "There will be another chapter in Jesse Jackson's life."

___

Associated Press writers Frederic J. Frommer and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-21-Jesse%20Jackson%20Jr/id-dfcb4797a5cf45608723fde29fa5d2c9

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45 MLB all-stars on World Baseball Classic rosters

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Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera looks on during a baseball spring training workout Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Lakeland, Fla.(Photo: Charlie Neibergall, AP)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval and Cy Young knuckleballer R.A. Dickey are among 45 major league all-stars on the rosters for the World Baseball Classic.

The final rosters were announced Thursday. The 16-team tournament begins next month.

There are seven players who have won MVP awards, including Cabrera, Joe Mauer, Joey Votto and Miguel Tejada.

Japan won the first two WBC tournaments. This year's Japanese team does not include any players from Major League Baseball.

Ryan Braun, David Wright and Giancarlo Stanton are among the stars on the U.S. team. Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano and free agent Jose Valverde lead the Dominican Republic.

The Italian team includes New York Yankees minor league Pat Venditte, who is an ambidextrous pitcher.

PHOTOS: SCENES FROM SPRING TRAINING

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