Sunday, December 23, 2012

Patrick J. Hamilton: Voting on My Marriage? Let's Vote on Your Guns

Until the other day, I saw none of their faces. I avoided all links and news stories where the tiny victims of the Newtown massacre were shown and identified. I was not able to see them while the horror of the numbers sank in and details surfaced. I could not do it. I needed a few days of cowardice, of avoidance, a few days to steel myself before giving literal face to the staggering statistics, where the number of dead seemed impossible when paired with ages and grade levels. Too many, too young, too soon.

But in front of me, suddenly, on the treadmill, of all places, there they were. Eye level. Tiny faces, almost life-sized on the TV monitor, smiling, beautiful, gone. It was The Katie Couric Show, covering the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

As I ran in place, their pictures faded in and out, perfect and imperfectly perfect little faces, some still with their baby teeth. There are no words.

Katie was interviewing some of the family members. They all showed remarkable poise, exceptional grace in the face of such loss. I'm sure, just days after, there is still shock to block the horror and buffer the pain, to fill the void that will most certainly grow, not diminish, in the time ahead.

They told of morning routines, of holding tiny hands on the way to the school bus. One boy, his parents slowly and proudly recounted, stopping to blink back tears and clear a breaking voice, had already shown an ability to connect with the disabled. They also told of his never wanting to see anyone eat their lunch by themselves. They spoke clearly, elegantly, about the little losses leaving such terrible voids, in a home, at a breakfast table, in the world. Unspeakable, unfathomable loss.

This is our loss, too.

What future is now gone, with those squeezes of a trigger, as clip after clip was emptied? What stories will never be lived or told, the cover slammed shut so violently, with pages and pages yet to be written? What cure, what idea, what art, what revelation won't happen because of that deadly gunfire?

Duty and Debt

So in their absence, we have some new duties.

We have a duty to fill those voids, to work harder to make breakthroughs. To facilitate research, to fund arts, to lend a hand or a dollar. It's now our duty to replace the lights extinguished in those classrooms and halls with our own light. With charitable acts and by living lives that honor those who have no such luxury now. With choices that favor kindness, beauty. Choices that stave off anger and hunger, choices that steal the voice from hate.

We have a duty to make the world as kind as a child deserves.

We have a duty to be civil, to adopt all the things we learn, then forget, in the early years of grade school. Play. Share. Love. Create. Laugh. Yes, even now, even laugh.

We have the duty to evaluate what "the right to bear arms" should mean, in the over two centuries since our forefathers penned those words with a quill pen, on the edge of a wilderness and to block their fledgling nation from a tyrannical country they fought to be free of, when a barrel-loaded musket was the weapon of choice and no video game was giving our kids bonus points for killing.

We have a duty to demand of our president-reelect and elected officials that something change. Public tears, flags at half-mast and formal proclamations of condolence are no longer good enough. They never should have been without something next. A plan. A solution. A dialogue. A stand against the bullies that are the NRA.

These are our duties to the lost of Sandy Hook. This is our national debt to repay.

A Show of Hands on the Right to Bear Arms

If those beholden to the NRA want guns without restriction, I say put it to a vote. If my right as a gay man to marry is decided by my neighbors, if states allow their populace to attempt to amend state constitutions to block marriage equality, and if LGBT employment protections are decided state by state without federal-level protection, let's see a show of hands for how we feel as a nation on the right to bear arms. Fair is fair, right?

If our president-reelect won't speak up on the federal level about marriage bans and employment discrimination, let's make the issue of gun ownership a state-level vote, too. But no, they'll argue, you'll just cross a border and the laws will change. You mean like how a New York marriage license isn't honored after a PATH ride to New Jersey? Funny how that argument works.

If conservatives protect gun ownership under the fragile and deceptive umbrella of not wanting to give Big Government too big a hand, let's pass local legislation, then. I'm pretty sure Connecticut, right now, would vote for some kind of change, even among the blue- and white-collar, orange-vested deer hunters. If leaders are so sure there should not be change, they should not fear a vote. That's how it goes, right? And besides, in communities across the U.S.A. already, people are handing their guns over, without any buy-back incentive. That seems to be an indicator of how some of that voting might go.

Make the NRA pay by the vote, the way politicians have come to do. Make them buy airtime and try to make the case for why, as a civilized nation, we should be armed to the teeth. Make them dip deeper into their coffers to defend their stance and existence. Let them work for the public, at the public level, to plead their case, and not do it over martini lunches inside the Beltway, in secrecy and behind closed doors, with a greasy, tainted handshake.

Make your neighbors put up yard signs, saying they support guns in the home and, potentially, in an elementary school where their own children attend and those guns could all-too-easily find their way into hallway and classroom. And make them drive the stake of those yard signs into their lawns before the last of the Newtown dead are buried.

Let's take the debate off Facebook and put it in our faces. Let's make it so that people will have to use their own energies and funds and resources to tell me why their right to keep a gun, and do it with gigantic loopholes and an alarming lack of supervision and mandatory training, is more important than the right of a third-grader to not have to hide in a closet to save his or her life, after a morning of glueing macaroni to construction paper, half an Advent calendar away from a Christmas when many of those shot in the head and chest still believed in Santa Claus.

I laugh when even my LGBT friends (yes, some of the rainbow community are packing heat and fighting on Facebook to keep the privilege, to my own astonishment) cite the Second Amendment in defense of gun ownership, even in the immediate wake of this obscene tragedy. Aren't these the same who decry the Bible as an archaic, misinterpreted document when the issue of gay rights comes up, and when outdated language is used as a weapon against them? How, then, do they defend an amendment that has the word "militia" in it? Is that not as archaic? If you ask the Bible to be put in a modern context before using it to deny gay rights, you need to cast some modern light on the Second Amendment, too.

The Ultimate Goal

The ultimate goal of a gun, it seems to me, is death -- even in protection. Even at firing ranges, the targets are shaped like deer or humans. And I'm tired of hunters having a bigger say in the debate than an elementary school teacher charged with raising our youth. The Newtown shooter left his mother's hunting rifles at home and instead took her handguns and the semiautomatics. By the way, who's hunting bucks and does with a Saturday Night Special?

In the wake of the tragedy, as they have done after the Colorado movie theater shooting and the Oak Creek temple shooting, the NRA shuttered their Facebook page and silenced their Twitter feed. (Apparently, they have a formula for how long they stay silent, based on the number of casualties. A formula.) Sometimes what people don't do or say speaks louder than what they do. We owe it to the children of Newtown, lost or saved, that this time, our collective actions will say something about what happens next.

The statistics for what happens when a gun is present in the home speak for themselves, and oddly, there are no statistics that I've seen that counter the increased odds of death, suicide or tragedy among those who tuck a gun in a bedside table "for protection." You'd think that if this were a fair fight, there'd be a counter to at least some of those facts, not just the absurd argument that "guns don't kill people," or that "cars kill people, too -- you wanna outlaw cars?" or the flash of a bumper sticker that reads, "You'll have to pry my gun from my cold, dead hand." Be careful what you wish for, I always say.

I was admonished on Facebook for "politicizing" the Newtown shooting by making the discussion immediately about gun control. "Too soon," they said. "Now is time for mourning, not blame." Didn't we say that after Columbine? After Gabby Giffords was shot? After the D.C. zoo shooting? After Aurora? After Oak Creek? We have a remarkably short memory when it comes to gun violence. Outrage fades quickly as the mundane creeps back in. I wonder how quickly the memories of their children will fade for those parents who'd already bought presents for a child who will not be alive on Christmas morning to unwrap them.

I am capable of two emotions at once. I can mourn with all my heart and, in doing so, still and simultaneously express anger over something that could have been avoided if we'd just, as a nation, had a collective and calm discussion after any one of those past events. But no. After the mourning, once caskets are lowered into damp earth, we take our sunglasses off and put our blinders back on, going about our life of denial, letting the gun lobby decide what is best for us. If we avoid the discussion this time, then we all have blood on our hands the next time. We, as a nation, will pull the next trigger.

And politicizing? How pathetic that politics and guns are the bedfellows they are. Why is that not more a source of shame?

The time for compromise is past. I used to go out of my way to say, "We're not talking about banning, just better controls in a category already legislated, already to some degree controlled." But now I think the lack of response from the NRA has made them lose their vote. Their abstention, their lack of even condolence, means that they lose their voice in the matter. When you fall silent in the moment of tragedy, you abdicate your right to steer the conversation once the tiny dead are buried.

We Owe Them a Solution

On The Katie Couric Show, the surviving 10-year-old sister of one of the murdered boys proposed a ban on semiautomatic weapons and handguns. As far as hunting, she said, let people hunt. But do it with guns borrowed at the site, then returned when a carcass is strapped triumphantly to the car hood. Her solution is na?vely brilliant. But more than whether it will or won't work, it was proposed. By a 10-year-old. Among those clinging so desperately to their guns, I've heard no such proposals, rational, far-fetched, cynical or na?ve. Just silence, after the gunshots.

I lost a friend, a man struggling with his identity and demons of his own, when he walked into a Kmart, bought a hunting rifle and a box of ammo, drove to the edge of the Everglades directly from the Kmart parking lot and blew his brains out. One or 26, it is too easy.

Oddly, these thoughts and the Sandy Hook tragedy happened after a week of jury duty, where every day I had to arrive an hour early to empty my pockets, remove my belt and walk through a metal detector. Even if the NRA proposed that metal detectors be set up at every grade school, university, church theater and public space, I'd have some respect. But I suspect that they realize that the outcry would be too great, screams and protests going up soundly about our "civil liberties." I suspect that they also fear that any statement would admit complicity in the deaths of the young of Newtown.

The losses are just too great, and now too frequent, not to effect change. Anyone who suggests that the system is fine as is, and that these acts are mere anomalies at the hands of madmen, are wrong. Dead wrong.

We track Sudafed buyers and legislate Big Gulps. It is easier to buy ammo online than it is to buy merlot from Wine.com. It is faster to get a license for a gun than it is to get a license to cut hair. We have derailed. Something is gravely wrong. We owe the lost of Newtown, teacher and student, son and daughter, a fix, a solution, an answer.

We owe it to that boy who never wanted anyone to sit alone at lunchtime.

This piece originally appeared on The Bilerico Project.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-j-hamilton/voting-on-my-marriage-lets-vote-on-your-guns_b_2345997.html

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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Aladdin's Got Nothing on This Flying Carpet Chair

Supported by a small army of 90 elastic rods, the seat on this 1001 chair feels like it's magically floating in place while it contorts and conforms to your body. The seat was designed and built by Thomas Hiemann and Markus Dilger, and the pair unfortunately seem to have no plans to build and sell more of them. So the creation is kind of a tease, and A Whole New World of disappointment. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BE1hGBkzhAM/aladdins-got-nothing-on-this-flying-carpet-chair

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Movie Review: In Rust and Bone, It Takes a Strange Story to Bring ...

The plotline of Rust and Bone, the latest film from acclaimed French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (A Prophet), sounds a little strange at first: a street boxer falls for an orca trainer who has her legs bitten-off by the aquatic mammal. And yet that sharp distinction between backgrounds is part of what Audiard seems interested in exploring, that is, the capacity and needs of the heart of two people forged by dramatically different life circumstances and brought together for unlikely reasons.

Getting these two together does feel a bit awkward at first. Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) moves with his son to his sister?s house where he struggles to get back on his feet. He meets Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) at a club where he has found work as a bouncer. He drives her home after the firy woman gets into an altercation, and even though she is involved in a relationship, they exchange phone numbers. When Stephanie wakes in her hospital bed after the incident at her Sea World-like job, she begins an excruciating decent into depression and isolation. Estranged from her former life, she inexplicably reaches out to the bouncer Ali.

What follows is an unexpected evolution, as Ali begins to fight in street boxing matches arranged by his employer at a security company, and Stephanie, although initially reluctant, is drawn into (even attracted by) this brutal underworld. In the background, a murky social drama unfolds as Ali, his son, and sister are entangled in a subplot involving unethical workplace practices, abuse, and economic hardship that tugs at the budding ? of strained ? romance that slowly builds between the two central characters.

Rust and Bone can all feel a little haphazard at times, but what keeps it together are the exquisite performances by both Schoenaerts and Cotillard which help render an unlikely moving and nuanced love story. As with Schoenaerts? last film, Bullhead, much of the dynamic at play is reliant on his ability to couch authentic, palpable frailty into a hulking physical form that feels always on the brink of explosion. It?s that strength and physicality that Stephanie needs, and like Beauty and the Beast, the question becomes drawing out the sense of love that remains confined behind Ali?s hard-shell exterior. But in order to release that, Rust and Bone?needs one more unexpected ? and?unforgettable?- ?plot twist.

Source: http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2012/12/movie-review-in-rust-and-bone-it-takes-a-strange-story-to-bring-two-strangers-together/

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Just say ?don?t? (Unqualified Offerings)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/272592383?client_source=feed&format=rss

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13 Reasons Why 2013 May Be WWE?s Biggest Year Yet!

1. The Road to WrestleMania Leads to New York/New Jersey
Starting in Phoenix and ending at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., this year, The Road to WrestleMania will be long but rewarding. WWE brass has been mum on what we can expect at this year?s Show of Shows, but judging from the three men highlighted on the pay-per-view poster, it most certainly will be a special and explosive affair.

2. New Superstars!
Members of the WWE Universe with subscriptions to Hulu Plus have access to the brand-new NXT, featuring some of WWE?s youngest, best Superstars. The show is brimming with talent, and we can?t wait to watch these men and women move up to the main roster in the coming months.

4. Anniversaries!
Two very special 20-year milestones will be reached this year. In January, Raw turns 20, and after summer, September marks the month Paul Heyman took the reins of ECW. Also, this is the 20th anniversary of The Shockmaster. Judging by the way he works his way through walls, it?s still a relief he?s five more years away from renting cars.

7. Movie Blockbusters Mean New Kofi Gear
?Iron Man 3,? ?G.I. Joe,? ?Wolverine? and a rebooted ?Superman? are all releasing in 2013. That?s good news for moviegoers and even better news for Kofi Kingston. The spring-loaded Superstar and comic supergeek will have no shortage of inspiration for his highly detailed superhero-themed ring gear.

8. WWE Insider!
Launched in late 2012, WWE Insider offers all the premium photography and Heath Slater jokes you read in our magazine on the iPad, with Android and Kindle devices soon to follow. WWE Magazine turns the big 30 this year, and as a thank-you to readers, WWE Insider will highlight some of the best (and strangest) stories to have appeared in its pages.

13. AJ Lee ? Future Divas Champion?
The ?silver lining? in AJ Lee?s resignation as Raw General Manager isn?t that movie with Bradley Cooper and the girl who played Mystique, it?s that we might be able to see this young Diva evolve into an in-ring star. Is title gold in her future? Probably.

To see the complete list, pick-up the January issue of ?WWE Magazine? or?SUBSCRIBE HERE and save 70 percent off the newsstand price.

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/magazine/13-reasons-why

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Friday, December 21, 2012

ZeptoLabs releases Pudding Monsters for Android and iOS - Video ...

ZeptoLabs, the maker of Cut the Rope, has released its second title Pudding Monsters, available for both iOS and Android. The game revolves around freeing the puddings from the clutches of an evil ?fridge-owner.?

Speaking to Bloomberg, Misha Lyalin, the Chief Executive Officer at ZeptoLabs, says that they wanted to create something that is different from ?Cut the Rope,? which by the way, has been downloaded more than 100 million times since its launch. ?It?s going to be very different. We want to be a gaming company that?s not necessarily limited in what it can explore,? she adds.

ZeptoLabs, the Russian developer says that they have 5 more games they plan on launching over the period of next year, but for now, Pudding Monsters can be downloaded from the App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch and the iPad while Android lovers can get their fix from the Play Store.

ZeptoLabs' debut game, Cut the Rope, was an instant hit with gamers on the mobile platforms given that it was downloaded over a 100 million times since launch. The game also brought with it an interesting take on puzzle solving, a trend that was sparked by Angry Birds and the like.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Gaming/ZeptoLabs-releases-Pudding-Monsters-for-Android-and_11856.html

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Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight: When to watch for falling stars

A new and as-yet unnamed meteor shower may also make an appearance tonight, ramping up the celestial display even further.

By Mike Wall,?SPACE.com / December 13, 2012

In this picture provided by Wally Pacholka of AstroPics.com, a Geminid fireball explodes over the Mojave Desert in the Jojave Desert, Calif. in 2009.

Wally Pacholka/AstroPics.com/AP

Enlarge

Skywatchers around the world are in for a treat tonight, as the annual Geminid meteor shower is poised to put on a spectacular show.

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The Geminids?will peak overnight tonight (Dec. 13) with the moon at its new phase. The skies will thus be free of the moon's glare, allowing viewers in rural areas to see perhaps 100 or more meteors per hour, experts say.

A new and as-yet unnamed?meteor shower?may also make an appearance tonight, ramping up the celestial display even further.

"Meteors?from the new shower (if any) will be visible in the early evening, with the Geminids making their appearance later on and lasting until dawn," Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, said in a statement.?[Photos: Geminid Meteor Shower of December 2011]

The Geminids ? so named because they appear to emanate from the constellation Gemini (The Twins) ? result when Earth plows through debris shed by the huge, enigmatic asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This is unusual for annual meteor showers, which are typically caused by comet particles.

The potential new shower's source is a comet called Wirtanen, Cooke said. Earth hasn't run into Wirtanen's debris stream before, but computer models suggest this year could be different.

If the new shower does indeed materialize, it could produce up to 30 meteors per hour tonight by itself, Cooke said. These shooting stars will seem to be coming from the constellation Picses (The Fish), so the shower may end up being called the Piscids.

A few scattered Geminids can be spotted shortly after sunset tonight. The show will really start picking up around 10 p.m. local time, experts say, and it should peak at 2 a.m. or so. You won't need binoculars or a telescope to see the shooting stars; just crane your neck up, preferably in a spot away from bright city lights.

You can also watch the meteor action online tonight if you so choose. Cooke and several NASA colleagues will host a live web chat overnight from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. EST (0400 to 0800 GMT), complete with live video of streaking meteors captured by a special camera at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. It will all happen here:?http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids2012.html

Skywatchers who miss tonight's peak will have a few other chances to catch the Geminids this year. The shower should linger until Dec. 16 or so before petering out completely.

Editor's Note:?If you take a photo of this year's Geminids that you'd like to share with SPACE.com for a possible story or gallery, please send it, along with your comments, to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?and?Google+.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/P5njnmoqJFk/Geminid-meteor-shower-peaks-tonight-When-to-watch-for-falling-stars

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Pratt Park playground showered with bullets, and other New Orleans ...

A Pratt Park playground and football field where children were playing was showered with bullets Saturday afternoon, during what appeared to be an attempted drive-by shooting, witnesses and police said. According to the New Orleans Police Department, a report was filed claiming that a car was seen driving by the park around 4 p.m. when one or more people inside of the vehicle opened fire, spraying the nearby football field with bullets.

Police Commander John Thomas, who received the 3rd District report, said that the incident was being investigated as an illegal discharge of a weapon.

A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said there were approximately 20 children and teenagers present at the time the shots rang out, who ran and ducked for cover during the hail of gunfire.

Witnesses claimed they saw a lime-green Chevrolet Camaro speeding away from the scene near the 5400 block of Pratt Drive, Thomas said.

"We are looking into it and are looking for the owners registered to that car now. It is not clear if they are a person of interest in the case or simply someone who heard the shots and was trying to get out of there," Thomas said.

Anyone with any information on the incident to call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll-free at 877.903.7867. Tips can also be texted to C-R-I-M-E-S (274637); text TELLCS then the crime information. Callers or texters do not have to give their names or testify and can earn a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an indictment.

Armed robbery in Broadmoor: A 54-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday night by three men on bicycles, police said.

The victim was standing outside on the street near the 4300 block of Washington Avenue when he was approached by three armed men riding bikes. One of the men shoved the 54-year-old to the ground and took his money before the group fled the scene.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, police said.

Aggravated assault on Florida Avenue: A group of four women driving near the intersection of Alvar Street and Florida Avenue were the alleged targets of random gunfire on Saturday night, police said.

According to a police report given at a Dec. 19 5th District crime statistics meeting, the women, all in their 20s, were on their way to drop off a friend after dinner and driving in a sliver Oldsmobile Alero on Florida Avenue Saturday night when they noticed a dark blue vehicle following them.

Near the intersection of Alvar Street, police said, the blue car suddenly sped ahead and pulled out in front of the women. An unidentified man jumped out and? began to fire at them before quickly fleeing the scene, police said.

The women told police they did not know or recognize their alleged assailant. Police said they are investigating whether the shooter might have mistaken the women's car for a similar one belonging to someone else.

Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/12/mid-city_playground_showered_w.html

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Germany's Merck suffers setback with cancer drug

(AP) ? German pharmaceutical company Merck KgaA says a late stage trial of a new lung cancer drug has failed to meet expectations.

The company, based in Darmstadt, says the drug Stimuvax did not improve the overall survival of patients in the phase III study.

Merck shares fell 3.1 percent to ?98.20 ($129.41) after the announcement early Wednesday.

The company is a separate entity from Merck & Co., which is based in the U.S.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-12-19-Germany-Merck/id-5a76168a9be448aea9e96f093ad6266e

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Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight: When to watch for falling stars

A new and as-yet unnamed meteor shower may also make an appearance tonight, ramping up the celestial display even further.

By Mike Wall,?SPACE.com / December 13, 2012

In this picture provided by Wally Pacholka of AstroPics.com, a Geminid fireball explodes over the Mojave Desert in the Jojave Desert, Calif. in 2009.

Wally Pacholka/AstroPics.com/AP

Enlarge

Skywatchers around the world are in for a treat tonight, as the annual Geminid meteor shower is poised to put on a spectacular show.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

The Geminids?will peak overnight tonight (Dec. 13) with the moon at its new phase. The skies will thus be free of the moon's glare, allowing viewers in rural areas to see perhaps 100 or more meteors per hour, experts say.

A new and as-yet unnamed?meteor shower?may also make an appearance tonight, ramping up the celestial display even further.

"Meteors?from the new shower (if any) will be visible in the early evening, with the Geminids making their appearance later on and lasting until dawn," Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, said in a statement.?[Photos: Geminid Meteor Shower of December 2011]

The Geminids ? so named because they appear to emanate from the constellation Gemini (The Twins) ? result when Earth plows through debris shed by the huge, enigmatic asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This is unusual for annual meteor showers, which are typically caused by comet particles.

The potential new shower's source is a comet called Wirtanen, Cooke said. Earth hasn't run into Wirtanen's debris stream before, but computer models suggest this year could be different.

If the new shower does indeed materialize, it could produce up to 30 meteors per hour tonight by itself, Cooke said. These shooting stars will seem to be coming from the constellation Picses (The Fish), so the shower may end up being called the Piscids.

A few scattered Geminids can be spotted shortly after sunset tonight. The show will really start picking up around 10 p.m. local time, experts say, and it should peak at 2 a.m. or so. You won't need binoculars or a telescope to see the shooting stars; just crane your neck up, preferably in a spot away from bright city lights.

You can also watch the meteor action online tonight if you so choose. Cooke and several NASA colleagues will host a live web chat overnight from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. EST (0400 to 0800 GMT), complete with live video of streaking meteors captured by a special camera at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. It will all happen here:?http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids2012.html

Skywatchers who miss tonight's peak will have a few other chances to catch the Geminids this year. The shower should linger until Dec. 16 or so before petering out completely.

Editor's Note:?If you take a photo of this year's Geminids that you'd like to share with SPACE.com for a possible story or gallery, please send it, along with your comments, to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?and?Google+.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/P5njnmoqJFk/Geminid-meteor-shower-peaks-tonight-When-to-watch-for-falling-stars

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sally Roberts continues to oppose further treatment for her son Neon's cancer at High Court as doctor warns seven-year-old 'could die soon'

  • High Court rules Neon Roberts needs surgery on brain tumour
  • His mother tells court she does not consent to the operation
  • Doctors tell court that he would inevitably die if untreated
  • Mother previously disappeared with child after opposing the treatment

By Paul Bentley

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Refused: Sally Roberts, 37, told the High Court in London that she did not want her son Neon, 7, to receive surgery on a brain tumour

Refused: Sally Roberts, 37, pictured outside the High Court in London yesterday, told a judge that she did not want her son Neon, 7, to receive surgery on a brain tumour

The boy snatched by his mother to save him from the ordeal of cancer treatment will have brain surgery today against her wishes.

A judge ordered yesterday that seven-year-old Neon Roberts must be operated on ?as soon as possible?.

A doctor told the court that without treatment it was highly likely the child would die ?after a relatively short period of time?.

But Sally Roberts has refused to give her consent because she does not trust British doctors and fears her son will suffer long-term side effects from treatment.

Mrs Roberts, 37, wants to seek second opinions from abroad and argued it is her ?human right? to decide what is best for Neon.

But in the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Bodey said: ?We do not have the luxury of time. I am quite satisfied that surgery is in his best interests.?

Last night Neon was given his Christmas presents early before being taken to hospital.

He was diagnosed two months ago with a medulloblastoma tumour, which doctors believed they had removed in full during a nine-hour operation on October 25.

But Mrs Roberts refused to let her son receive radiotherapy following the first operation, and recent MRI scans picked up a growth of 1.5cm squared ? either regrowth or residual tumour.

Her estranged husband Ben, 34, wrote a statement to the judge saying he was in support of surgery and is said to be ?anxious? it is performed as soon as possible.

After yesterday?s verdict, Mrs Roberts, who triggered a national search when she went on the run with her son two weeks ago, said she understood why the judge made the ruling, but added: ?Should this be my decision as his mother? Of course it should be. It is a human rights issue.

Disagreement: Sally Roberts heard Mt Justice Bodey saying that emergency surgery should be carried out on Neon on Wednesday, despite her opposition

Disagreement: Sally Roberts heard Mt Justice Bodey saying that emergency surgery should be carried out on Neon on Wednesday, despite her opposition

A judge is expected to make a decision on whether Neon, left, should undergo further surgery on a brain tumour. his mother Sally Roberrts, centre, told the court she is opposed to the surgery. Neon's twin Electra is pictured right

Decision: A judge ruled that Neon, left, should undergo further surgery on a brain tumour. His mother Sally Roberts, centre, told the court she is opposed to the surgery. Neon's twin Electra is pictured right

Siblings: The High Court was forced to rule on Neon's case, pictured with his twin sister Electra, after repeated delays to treatment

Siblings: The High Court was forced to rule on Neon's case, pictured with his twin sister Electra, after repeated delays to treatment

Opposition: Sally Roberts has expressed concerns that radiotherapy may damage her son Neon in the long-term, potentially affecting his IQ and fertility

Neon Roberts faces brain surgery today

Neon Roberts faces brain surgery today

?I?m not keeping this case going, spending taxpayers? money, for nothing. I believe in this. Death by doctor ? people need to understand how big a problem it is. I couldn?t forgive myself if I did nothing.?

The operation carries a risk of between 10 and 25 per cent that Neon will be left mute. But despite experts unanimously reporting that his cancer has returned and warning that he may have only two or three months to live without treatment, Mrs Roberts said she believed doctors were over-emphasising how ?sick? he is.

?Everyone is talking of me depriving him of treatment, saying my son is going to die. It is simply not true but everyone believes it,? she added.

?He?s running about, wanting to play. But the surgery will take it out of him. The operation will affect his movement, balance, his speech. It can sometimes cause the cancer to spread.?

She insisted that she was not fighting simply on mother?s intuition, saying: ?This is not something I just think. This is something I know. I have researched this.?

She said her estranged husband opposed her actions because he had not done enough research on the subject. Mrs Roberts, who wants Neon to be treated with alternative medicine such as oxygen therapy, insisted ?death by doctor? was a ?bigger problem than terrorism?.

She argued that the only evidence cited in court in favour of radiotherapy was a study on a small number of infants from the 1940s, and claimed to have found studies from abroad which prove radiotherapy is often unnecessary. A doctor in court said he was not familiar with the research.

In court: Sally Roberts, 37, pictured left at a previous court hearing, has been battling with her estranged husband, Ben, 34, pictured right, over the treatment of their son Neon

In court: Sally Roberts, 37, pictured left at a previous court hearing, has been battling with her estranged husband, Ben, 34, pictured right, over the treatment of their son Neon

Mrs Roberts dismissed her legal team minutes before court yesterday because she did not believe they had enough faith in her case. She has since hired renowned human rights lawyer Imran Khan, best known for representing the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The mother-of-two, who is originally from New Zealand, had asked the court to postpone a decision on surgery until she could seek second opinions from Russia, Germany, China and the United States.

She had earlier consented to the operation but changed her mind on the morning of yesterday?s hearing, and said she believes the growth spotted on recent MRI scans could be scar tissue.

Doctors treating Neon, however, claim he has already been ?disadvantaged? by the delays in his treatment. Mr Justice Bodey said he had sympathy with Mrs Roberts, but added: ?Putting all those risks in the balance?.?.?.?in the unhappy position [Neon] now finds himself, I am quite satisfied that surgery is in his best interests.?

After spending today in hospital with Neon, Mrs Roberts will tomorrow return to the High Court to try to prevent her son being given radiotherapy in January.

Public: Mrs Roberts has spoken widely to the press about why she went on the run with her son, pictured here appearing on ITV's Daybreak

Public: Mrs Roberts has spoken widely to the press about why she went on the run with her son, pictured here appearing on ITV's Daybreak

Neon Roberts, 7, pictured, is suffering from a recurrence of his brain tumour, the court heard

Neon Roberts, 7, pictured, is suffering from a recurrence of his brain tumour, the court heard

Sally Roberts arriving at the High Court in London yesterday

Sally Roberts arriving at the High Court in London yesterday

?

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249988/Sally-Roberts-continues-oppose-treatment-son-Neons-cancer-High-Court-doctor-warns-seven-year-old-die-soon.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

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Your Amazon Account Might Be Getting Scammed with False Replacement Orders and You Can't Do Anything About It

When our dear friend Mat Honan got hacked earlier this year, it was because of gaping security flaws in Apple and Amazon's customer service systems. It hasn't been fixed. Amazon's customer service has another security flaw and it's being exploited to hijack Amazon accounts and snag false replacement orders. And the scammers don't even need to know your account's password. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KOrtAaYb6Io/your-amazon-account-might-be-getting-scammed-with-false-replacement-orders-and-you-cant-do-anything-about-it

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2 funerals begin sad procession in Conn.

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? Opening a long and almost unbearable procession of grief, Newtown began laying its dead to rest Monday, holding funerals for two 6-year-old boys ? one a football fan who was buried in a New York Giants jersey and one whose twin sister survived the school shooting rampage.

Two funeral homes filled with mourners for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, the first of the 20 children killed in last week's massacre to receive funerals. The gunman also killed six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary, and his mother in her home, before committing suicide.

A rabbi presided at Noah's service, and in keeping with Jewish tradition, the boy was laid to rest in a simple brown wooden casket with a Star of David on it.

"If Noah had not been taken from us, he would have become a great man. He would been a wonderful husband and a loving father," Noah's uncle, Alexis Haller, told mourners, according to remarks he provided to The Associated Press. Both services were closed to the news media.

Noah's twin, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the killing frenzy by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, an attack so horrifying that authorities could not say three days later whether the school would ever reopen.

Newtown, a community of 27,000 people 60 miles northeast of New York City, will face many more funerals over the next few days, just as other towns are getting ready for the holidays.

"I feel like we have to get back to normal, but I don't know if there is normal anymore," said Kim Camputo, mother of two children, 5 and 10, who attend a different school. "I'll definitely be dropping them off and picking them up myself for a while."

Beyond Newtown, parents nervously sent their children back to class in a country deeply shaken by the attack, and in a measure of how the tragedy has put people on edge, schools were locked down in at least four places.

As investigators worked to figure out what drove Lanza to lash out with such fury ? and why he singled out the school ? federal agents said he had fired guns at shooting ranges over the past several years but there was no evidence he did so recently as practice for the rampage.

At Jack's Christian service, hymns rang out from inside the funeral home, where the boy lay in an open casket in the Giants' star wide receiver Victor Cruz's No. 80 jersey. Jack was among the youngest members of a youth wrestling association in Newtown, and dozens of little boys turned up at the service in gray Newtown Wrestling T-shirts.

Ten-year-old Luke Wellman remembered a boy who loved football and wrestling and worshipped Cruz, who played in Sunday's game with "Jack Pinto 'My Hero'" written on one of his cleats.

Luke said: "I'm here to support my teammate and friend."

A mourner, Gwendolyn Glover, said the service carried a message of comfort and protection, particularly for other children. "The message was: You're secure now. The worst is over," she said.

At Noah's funeral, the boy was described a smart, funny and mischievous child who loved animals, Mario Brothers video games and tacos.

"I will miss your forceful and purposeful little steps stomping through our house. I will miss your perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes, framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room," his mother, Veronique Pozner, told mourners, according to Haller.

"Most of all, I will miss your visions of your future. You wanted to be a doctor, a soldier, a taco factory manager. It was your favorite food, and no doubt you wanted to ensure that the world kept producing tacos," she said, evoking laughter from the crowd.

She closed by saying: "Momma loves you, little man."

At both funeral homes, as around the country, people wrestled with what steps could and should be taken to prevent something like the massacre from happening again.

"If people want to go hunting, a single-shot rifle does the job, and that does the job to protect your home, too. If you need more than that, I don't know what to say," Ray DiStephan said outside Noah's funeral.

He added: "I don't want to see my kids go to schools that become maximum-security fortresses. That's not the world I want to live in, and that's not the world I want to raise them in."

Around the country, school systems asked police departments to increase patrols Monday and sent messages to parents outlining safety procedures. Teachers steeled themselves for their students' questions and fears.

Richard Cantlupe, an American history teacher at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, Fla., described the Connecticut rampage as "our 9/11 for schoolteachers."

Anxiety ran high enough in Ridgefield, about 20 miles from Newtown, that officials ordered a lockdown at schools after a person deemed suspicious was seen at a train station. Two schools were locked down in South Burlington, Vt., because of an unspecified threat.

Three schools in the Tampa, Fla., area did the same after a bullet was found on the floor of a school bus, and a New Hampshire high school went into emergency mode after an administrator heard a loud bang. A police search found nothing suspicious.

Meanwhile, the outlines of a national debate on gun control began to take shape. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said curbing gun violence is a complex problem that will require a "comprehensive solution."

Carney did not offer specific proposals or a timeline. He said President Barack Obama will meet with law enforcement officials and mental health professionals in coming weeks.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, flanked by shooting survivors and relatives of victims of gunfire around the country, pressed Obama and Congress to toughen gun laws and tighten enforcement after the Newtown massacre.

"If this doesn't do it," he asked, "what is going to?"

But Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicated Monday that he supported allowing teachers and administrators to carry concealed handguns. Local school districts should decide their own policies, Perry said.

Lanza is believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16. It is similar to the weapon used in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon and other deadly attacks around the U.S. Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in this country under the 1994 assault weapons ban, but the law expired in 2004.

At least one senator, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, said Monday that the attack in Newtown has led him to rethink his opposition to the ban on assault weapons.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who is an avid hunter and lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, said it's time to move beyond the political rhetoric and begin an honest discussion about reasonable restrictions on guns.

"This is bigger than just about guns," he added. "It's about how we treat people with mental illness, how we intervene, how we get them the care they need, how we protect our schools. It's just so sad."

Authorities say Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the school, where he broke in and opened fire. A Connecticut official said the mother, a gun enthusiast who practiced at shooting ranges, was found dead in her pajamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

Lanza was wearing all black, with an olive-drab utility vest with lots of pockets, during the attack.

Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the rampage.

Debora Seifert, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said both Lanza and his mother fired at shooting ranges, and also visited ranges together.

"We do not have any indication at this time that the shooter engaged in shooting activities in the past six months," Seifert told the AP.

In Newtown, classes were canceled Monday, and the town's other schools were to reopen Tuesday. The district made plans to send surviving Sandy Hook students to a former middle school in the neighboring town of Monroe.

Sandy Hook desks are being taken to the Chalk Hill school in Monroe, empty since town schools consolidated last year, and tradesmen are donating their services to get the school ready within a matter of days.

"These are innocent children that need to be put on the right path again," Monroe police Lt. Brian McCauley said.

With Sandy Hook Elementary still designated a crime scene, state police Lt. Paul Vance said it could be months before police turn the school back over to the district. The people of Newtown were not ready to address its future.

"We're just now getting ready to talk to our son about who was killed," said Robert Licata, the father of a student who escaped harm during the shooting. "He's not even there yet."

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers John Christoffersen, Ben Feller, Adam Geller, Jim Kuhnhenn and Michael Melia in Newtown; David Collins in Hartford, Conn.; Brian Skoloff in Phoenix; and Anne Flaherty in Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-funerals-begin-sad-procession-connecticut-223025248.html

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The Engadget Show 39: Holiday Spectacular with Jonathan Coulton, John Roderick and Ben Heck

It's the most wonderful time of year. There's stockings hung above the fireplace, overflowing hot cocoa on the table, a MakerBot Replicator 2 printing ornaments beneath the tree and a sampling of the year's most exciting gadgets strewn about. Yes, friends, it's time for the Engadget Holiday Spectacular!

We're kicking off this very special holiday episode with a visit to Ben Heck's private workshop in Madison, Wisconsin to watch the construction of his holiday creation, the Naughty or Nice Meter. Also on the docket is a trip to NORAD's headquarters on a base in Colorado Springs, to find out how the military will be hard at work tracking Santa Claus later this month. Of course, not even Saint Nick can deliver all of the presents this year, so we've paid a visit to UPS's massive 5.2 million square foot Worldport shipping facility in Louisville, Kentucky to get a behind the scenes look at its late night operations.

Speaking of gifts, we've got two huge presents in the form of songsters Jonathan Coulton and John Roderick, who will be playing a trio of brand new holiday classics off their new record, One Christmas at a Time. We've also got a visit from Engadget founder Peter Rojas, who will be helping us make a twice-checked list of some of the year's top gadgets. And as if that weren't enough, we've got an appearence by a very familiar looking Santa Claus and a special holiday animation. So light a fire, get cozy and prepare for a very special -- and very spectacular -- episode of The Engadget Show.

Continue reading The Engadget Show 39: Holiday Spectacular with Jonathan Coulton, John Roderick and Ben Heck

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Ft6SaNDEXbM/

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Retailer leaks next-gen AMD Radeon HD 8000 mobile graphics inside Asus Vivobook

Retailer leaks nextgen AMD Radeon HD 8000 graphics chip inside ASUS Vivobook

Give or take the odd roadmap, we're mostly in the dark about AMD's specific intentions for 2013. This spec sheet for an unannounced 13-inch Asus Vivobook U38DT drops a couple more crumbs, however, suggesting there'll be a fresh stack of Radeon HD 8000-series graphics chips before too long -- including a 8550M laptop variant with a gig of dedicated memory. It's hard to say anything definite beyond that, and in fact it's even possible that the 8550M will be a last-gen chip rebranded as part of next year's product range -- although that sort of behavior is more typical of NVIDIA. The laptop itself is very similar to the Trinity-powered Vivobook U38N we've already spotted at the FCC, and given that the retailer mentions delivery from the end of December, there's at least some possibility that this model is meant to tie-in with an official announcement at CES -- in which case we'll be right there to bring you a fuller update.

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Via: Ultrabook News, TechPowerUp

Source: Cyberport.de

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/17/amd-asus-vivobook-leak/

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Citi Cuts Apple's Rating - Business Insider

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

?

Apple is getting another price cut from a Wall Street analyst.

But this time, there's a twist. It's also getting its rating cut.

Citi's trio of Apple analysts, Glen Yeung, Walter Pritchard, and Jim Suva, are cutting Apple's price target to $575, and rating it neutral, down from buy.

Previously, Citi rated Apple as a buy because they believed there would be near term pop in stock on strong iPhone 5 sales. They no longer think iPhone 5 sales are going to be strong enough to prop the stock.

Last week UBS and Jefferies cut their price targets, but kept buy ratings.

All three banks are cutting their price target for essentially the same reason.

There are reports from Asian supply chain sources that Apple has cut orders for the iPhone 5 in the first quarter of the year.

These iPhone 5 order cuts are a mixed bag. Apple is naturally going to cut its orders following a holiday quarter. However, these cuts are bigger than expected.

Citi says, "Our checks suggest Apple has seen a 45-50% increase in monthly iPhone 5 production output October to December." This improvement was better than expected for Apple, which is why it's cutting its orders for the first quarter.

While it makes sense for Apple to cut orders, if its manufacturing partners are making more phones than it needs, Citi still sees it as a warning sign.

Basically, Citi thinks that if iPhone 5 demand was great then Apple would keep the machines cranking at full speed. The fact that it's letting off the gas suggests demand is merely "good," as opposed to "great," says Citi.

It also says Samsung is still crushing it, which is a big risk for Apple.

In addition to the iPhone 5 concerns, Citi says the iPad Mini is outselling the bigger iPad, which is going to affect the top and bottom line for Apple.

Don't Miss: Apple Says It Sold 2 Million iPhone 5s In China Last Weekend

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-cuts-apples-rating-2012-12

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Only balanced plan to avoid "cliff" is Obama's: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The only proposal that avoids the year-end U.S. "fiscal cliff" in a balanced manner is the one President Barack Obama has put forward, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.

"The only plan that we have seen that achieves the size and the balance that's required for sustainable - for long-term deficit reduction and for putting our economy on a sustainable fiscal path, is the president's," Carney told reporters at a briefing.

Carney had been asked to comment on reports of a proposal from House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, that would allow top tax rates to rise in exchange for cuts to entitlement programs.

(Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/only-balanced-plan-avoid-cliff-obamas-white-house-185223381--business.html

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Fiscal cliff talks stall. Middle class tax bill won't help.

Fiscal cliff talks are at an impasse, and there has been talk that House Republicans will pass the Middle Class Tax Cut Act approved by the Senate last summer. It's a problematic and ineffective idea.?

By Howard Gleckman,?Guest blogger / December 15, 2012

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., accompanied by fellow Senate Democratic leaders, pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, to discuss the stalled fiscal cliff negotiations and other unfinished business in the Senate. There's talk that House Republicans will pass the Middle Class Tax Cut Act in the wake of stalled fiscal cliff negotiations, but Gleckman argues that it wouldn't be much help to middle class taxpayers in the long run.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP/File

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With fiscal cliff talks seemingly stalled , there has been growing talk that House Republicans would call President Obama?s bluff and simply pass the Middle-class Tax Cut Act approved by the Senate last summer. But for all the chatter, nobody has paid much attention to what is, and is not, in that bill.

Skip to next paragraph Howard Gleckman

Howard Gleckman is a resident fellow at The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the author of Caring for Our Parents, and former senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Business Week. (http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org)

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They should, because a close look at the details suggests this option may not be quite so attractive to the GOP, or to anyone else who thinks seriously about tax policy.?Granted, it may be politically tempting.?In the words of fellow blogger Keith Hennessey (who has?great connections with GOP insiders), such a step would be ?terrible but not inconceivable.?

The bill extends for one year several provisions of the 2001-2009 tax cuts. For instance, it temporarily continues the low 2001-2003 ordinary income rates for individuals making less than $200,000 or couples making less than $250,000, repeals the limits on itemized deductions and personal exemptions (aka Pease and PEP), and extends marriage penalty relief. It also temporarily extends relatively generous treatment of the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.

The measure also raises the tax rate on capital gains and dividends to 20 percent for high income households, and retains a zero rate on investments for those with very low incomes. ?

Monday, December 17, 2012

Toward a new model of the cell: Everything you always wanted to know about genes

Dec. 16, 2012 ? urning vast amounts of genomic data into meaningful information about the cell is the great challenge of bioinformatics, with major implications for human biology and medicine. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have proposed a new method that creates a computational model of the cell from large networks of gene and protein interactions, discovering how genes and proteins connect to form higher-level cellular machinery.

The findings are published in the December 16 advance online publication of Nature Biotechnology.

"Our method creates ontology, or a specification of all the major players in the cell and the relationships between them," said first author Janusz Dutkowski, PhD, postdoctoral researcher in the UC San Diego Department of Medicine. It uses knowledge about how genes and proteins interact with each other and automatically organizes this information to form a comprehensive catalog of gene functions, cellular components, and processes.

"What's new about our ontology is that it is created automatically from large datasets. In this way, we see not only what is already known, but also potentially new biological components and processes -- the bases for new hypotheses," said Dutkowski.

Originally devised by philosophers attempting to explain the nature of existence, ontologies are now broadly used to encapsulate everything known about a subject in a hierarchy of terms and relationships. Intelligent information systems, such as iPhone's Siri, are built on ontologies to enable reasoning about the real world. Ontologies are also used by scientists to structure knowledge about subjects like taxonomy, anatomy and development, bioactive compounds, disease and clinical diagnosis.

A Gene Ontology (GO) exists as well, constructed over the last decade through a joint effort of hundreds of scientists. It is considered the gold standard for understanding cell structure and gene function, containing 34,765 terms and 64,635 hierarchical relations annotating genes from more than 80 species.

"GO is very influential in biology and bioinformatics, but it is also incomplete and hard to update based on new data," said senior author Trey Ideker, PhD, chief of the Division of Genetics in the School of Medicine and professor of bioengineering in UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering.

"This is expert knowledge based upon the work of many people over many, many years," said Ideker, who is also principal investigator of the National Resource for Network Biology, based at UC San Diego. "A fundamental problem is consistency. People do things in different ways, and that impacts what findings are incorporated into GO and how they relate to other findings. The approach we have proposed is a more objective way to determine what's known and uncover what's new."

In their paper, Dutkowski, Ideker and colleagues capitalized upon the growing power and utility of new technologies like high-throughput assays and bioinformatics to create elaborately detailed datasets describing complex biological networks. To test the approach, the scientists pulled together multiple such datasets, applied their method, and then compared the resulting "network-extracted ontology" to the existing GO.

They found that their ontology captured the majority of known cellular components, plus many additional terms and relationships, which subsequently triggered updates of the existing GO.

Neither Ideker nor Dutkowski say the new approach is intended to replace the current GO. Rather, they envision it as complementary high-tech model that identifies both known and uncharacterized biological components derived directly from data, something the current GO does not do well. Moreover, they note a network-extracted ontology can be continuously updated and refined with every new dataset, moving scientists closer to the complete model of the cell.

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