Saturday, December 31, 2011

Kid Cudi on Ben Breedlove: Late Teen is My Hero


On Christmas Day, Ben Breedlove - a teenager in Austin who who suffered for years from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - passed away, but not before he recorded a pair of moving YouTube videos.

In the messages, Breedlove tells his life story, including multiple brushes with death, the final one taking place when he passed out in his high school hallway, leading to a peaceful vision that included a white room, a white suit and a visit from his favorite rapper, Kid Cudi.

"I then looked at myself in the mirror," Breedlove writes on a notecard in the video. "I was proud of MYSELF, of my entire life, everything I have done."

Ben's mother says the videos were a "gift" to the family, while Kid Cudi has chimed in on his blog, writing:

"This is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much. Life is really f– up sometimes... I know Ben is at Peace. To Ben's family, you raised a real hero, he's definitely mine."

Amen.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/kid-cudi-on-ben-breedlove-late-teen-is-my-hero/

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Gomez reveals sister's name was Scarlett Teefey

We're happy to report Selena Gomez and her family are doing OK.

The pop star and former Disney princess has broken her silence since tragedy struck when her mom recently suffered a miscarriage.

RELATED: Selena Gomez Cancels Concerts After Mother Suffers Miscarriage

"Belated Merry Christmas everybody," Gomez tweeted and posted on Facebook this afternoon. "I can't thank you enough for all of your thoughts and prayers. I love you all so much and we hope you and your family had a beautiful Christmas!"

She not only signed the message from herself, but also included her mom, her stepdad and "our guardian angel Scarlett."

Gomez announced on Twitter late last month that mom Mandy and stepfather Brian Teefey were expecting their first child together. Sadly, Mandy miscarried mere weeks later.

Gomez subsequently pulled out of two radio station holiday shows to be with her family. She is expected to perform in Times Square during MTV's live New Year's Eve special.

GALLERY: Fashion Spotlight: Selena Gomez

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

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45795938/ns/today-entertainment/

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UN Urges Guinea Bissau Military to Respect Rule of Law

The United Nations Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) is calling on the government to follow ?due process? after the West African nation launched an investigation into a suspected coup attempt.

Dozens of military officers and civilians have been arrested.

UNIOGBIS spokesman Vladimir Monteiro said the world body is also calling on the military to respect the rule of and civilian leadership. Military factions battled each other in the capital, Bissau, Monday after rebel soldiers raided an armory and stormed the armed forces headquarters in the city.

While briefing members of the international community, Monteiro said Guinea Bissau?s foreign minister, ?Adelino Mano Queta, did not name those arrested in connection with the army unrest.

?The minister informed us that some military people have been arrested and some civilians [but] didn?t provide their identities saying that investigation will be carried out,? said Monteiro.

Many observers described the incident as an attempted coup after Prime Minister Carlos Gomes sought refuge at a foreign embassy following the confrontation.

The government denies the coup attempt after launching an investigation into the incident. Monteiro says the acting president and speaker of the parliament, Raimundo Pereira, requested the investigation into Monday?s incident following a meeting with senior administration officials.

The U.N., Monteiro says, emphasized the need for the official inquiry to ensure the respect for human rights.

?All investigations should respect due process at the same time calling for the military to abide by civilian control and to respect the rule of law,? continued Monteiro. ?This was stressed last week by the Security Council while adopting the resolution standing the UN office mandate here in the country.?

He also said the U.N. is cautioning the military to refrain from using force to resolve differences. The world body is also calling for reforms within the security agencies.

?Without these reforms,? said Monteiro, ?it will be very difficult to have a professional armed force, which is essential for stability.?

Article source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/UN-Urges-Guinea-Bissau-Military-to-Respect-Rule-of-Law---136290343.html

Source: http://thejournal.eu/2011/12/un-urges-guinea-bissau-military-to-respect-rule-of-law/

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Actavis settles Medicaid fraud case for $84 million (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Actavis Group has reached an $84 million settlement with Texas to resolve civil claims that it defrauded the state's Medicaid program by artificially inflating prices for its generic drugs.

The sum is just under half the $170.3 million that a Travis County state jury had ordered Actavis, a privately-held Icelandic company, to pay the state in February. Actavis had appealed that verdict, which followed a three-week trial.

In announcing the accord with U.S. units Actavis Elizabeth LLC and Actavis Mid-Atlantic LLC, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Actavis' inaccurate price reporting caused the Medicaid program to overpay pharmacies for prescription drugs.

The company did not admit liability in agreeing to settle, and both Actavis and Texas agreed to settle to avoid further litigation, according to the settlement agreement.

Doug Boothe, chief executive of Actavis Inc, the direct parent of Actavis Elizabeth and Actavis Mid-Atlantic, called the settlement a "favorable outcome" that allows Texas' Medicaid patients to continue using its drugs.

"Actavis will continue to report our product pricing in an manner consistent with all applicable laws as well as the terms of this agreement," Boothe said in a statement.

Abbott said the case arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed more than a decade ago. He said his office has recovered nearly $450 million in drug pricing lawsuits.

Actavis has offices in Reykjavik and in Zug, Switzerland. It also has U.S. operations in Morristown, New Jersey.

The company was taken private for $3 billion in 2007 by Novator Partners, an investment vehicle of Actavis' chairman, the Icelandic businessman Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson.

The case is Texas ex rel. Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc v. Alpharma USPD et al, District Court of Travis County, Texas, No. D-1-GV-08-001566.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/hl_nm/us_actavis

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Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves: Engaged!


It's taken years of dating and a pair of children, but Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves are finally engaged! How do we know? The actor himself Tweeted yesterday:

"Just asked Camila to marry me, #MerryChristmas."

Matthew McConaughey Engagement Photo

The Lincoln Lawyer star and model - 42 and 29, respectively - met in 2006 and have two adorable children together: three-year-old son Levi and 23-month old daughter Vida.

McConaughey included the photo above with his Tweet, which depicts the actor with very little hair, but a whole lot of heart. Congrats to the beautiful couple!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/matthew-mcconaughey-and-camila-alves-engaged/

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The 8 wackiest inventions of 2011 (The Week)

New York ? From caffeinated inhalers to a beer can Transformer, this year has had more than its share of funky innovations

If necessity is the mother of innovation, then novelty must at least be its cousin. Just look at some of the last year's rather odd inventions, from polar bear robots to a cyborg-like eyeball:

1. The disturbingly accurate mask of your own face?
A Japanese startup called REAL-f began selling "three-dimensional photo forms," or frighteningly realistic masks of human faces made from a chloride resin modeled on several photos of a person's face taken from a variety of angles and positions. (See some samples here.) If you have a spare $4,000, said Mariella Moon at Tecca, it's essentially "the best Halloween mask ever."?

SEE MORE: The 7 biggest political downfalls of 2011

?

2. The world's lightest material
A team of researchers in Southern California created the "world's lightest" material, a "microlattice" capable of sitting atop a feathery dandelion without damaging its seeds. (See a demo here.) What's its secret? Tubes of ultra-durable nickel, each 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, that together form a spongy, ultra-lightweight material. Just don't take it out on a windy day.

3. The caffeine you can inhale
Hate the taste of coffee, but need a fog-clearing jolt of caffeine? AeroShot is probably for you. This caffeinated inhaler, invented by a Harvard professor, gives you a shot of powdered caffeine with each puff. The caffeine dissolves in the mouth and goes instantly into your system. Good news, says Suzanne Labarre at Fast Company, especially for "Red Bull-pounding college kids."?

SEE MORE: The 5 best non-fiction books of 2011

?

4. The polar bear robot that fights snoring
A new cuddly polar bear robot named Jukusui-kun ? "deep sleep" in Japanese ? promises to combat snoring and sleep apnea. Just strap your hand into a device that measures your blood oxygen level, tuck yourself in under a sheet with built-in sensors, then plop down on the polar bear and get some shuteye. If you're having a hard time breathing ? which can cause you to snore ? your blood oxygen level will drop, Jukusui-kun will realize it, and the bear's paw will tickle your forehead so that you change positions and quit snoring. (Watch the video.)

5. The devices you move with your mind
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center attached electrodes to the brains of two monkeys and trained them to move objects on a computer screen with a virtual arm ? using only their minds. This technology could one day help quadriplegics walk by using "fantastical" robotic exoskeletons that patients would manipulate using just their thoughts.?

SEE MORE: The 4 biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2011

?

6. The Terminator-like video-camera eye
Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence lost his right eye in a childhood shooting accident, but his replacement is no ordinary glass sphere. Working with a group of sci-fi-loving engineers, Spence procured a robotic eyeball that sports a video camera. The robotic eye also has a wireless transmitter that beams the video signal to a hand-held screen. Just call him "Eyeborg."

7. The iPhone
The future of cell phones may be in the palm of your hand ? literally. Researchers at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, developed a way to answer a phone without taking it out of your pocket. Instead of tapping a button on the phone, users tap the same location on their palms.?The whole process is facilitated by a depth-sensitive camera that detects hand motions and relays the commands to the phone via Wi-Fi. (Watch a video demonstration here.)

SEE MORE: The 8 craziest lawsuits of 2011

?

8. The "diabolical" beer can robot
Japanese robot enthusiast Ron Tajima built?a robot hidden inside a beer can, and gives it orders via a rigged Wii controller.?The machine, aptly named CanBot, has a rather "diabolical" M.O.: Surprise tipsy drinkers with its transformative ability to sprout three legs and walk around like a spider. (Check out?here for a video demo.) Terrifying, says John Biggs at Crunchbeat, if only because there isn't any beer inside.

View this article on TheWeek.com
Get The 4 biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2011

  • The List: The 7 biggest political downfalls of 2011
  • Only in America: The 8 craziest lawsuits of 2011
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    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111227/cm_theweek/222435

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    Oil approaches $100 on global security concerns

    Published: Dec 23, 2011 at 8:45 AM MST
    NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel as worries over global security issues outweighed weak economic data in the U.S.

    Benchmark crude rose 36 cents to $99.89 per barrel in New York. Brent crude fell 6 cents to $107.83 per barrel in London.

    Tensions between Iran and the West, along with unrest in Syria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Iraq have raised worries that oil supplies could be disrupted if the unrest spreads or grows more serious.

    U.S. economic data released this week showed signs of an improving economy, but on Friday the Commerce department reported weak consumer spending and income growth.

    Average retail gasoline prices rose less than a penny Friday to a national average of $3.22 per gallon.

    Source: http://www.kboi2.com/news/business/Oil-approaches-100-on-global-security-concerns-136140788.html

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    Monday, December 26, 2011

    Death of Jew on Rainier fuels fight over autopsy

    The death of a 54-year-old Jewish man on a snowy slope on Mount Rainier set the stage for a Pierce County court fight pitting religious belief against scientific certainty.

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    Brian Grobois of New Rochelle, N.Y., died on a solo snowshoe hike, apparently from hypothermia. His body was recovered Dec. 13. Three days later, a judge upheld an appeal barring Pierce County's medical examiner from conducting an autopsy on Grobois' body because of religious objections from the family, The News-Tribune (http://is.gd/v11JlY ) reported in Sunday's newspaper.

    The case attracted the interest of Gov. Chris Gregoire and Jewish leaders from around the country. Jewish law requires a fast burial and no autopsy, but the Pierce County medical examiner fought for an autopsy because questions remain about the New York man's death.

    "This is not a matter of life and death. This is a matter of death and afterlife," said Rabbi Zalman Heber, director of Chabad Jewish Center of Pierce County, on Friday.

    But Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Clark said state law clearly empowers him to investigate unnatural deaths, and an autopsy was needed to answer questions that arose in his mind about how Grobois died.

    "Their concerns were very real to them," Clark said in an interview Friday. "But they're in conflict with Washington law and our charge to accurately determine deaths, and I can't make everybody happy."

    State law doesn't allow families to stop autopsies on religious grounds. Heber said the Jewish community intends to ask state lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session to change the law to accommodate such requests. He said 11 states have similar exemptions.

    "This case is a classic example of why this is needed so there is no confusion in the future," Heber said. "The family (members) shouldn't have had to go through what they went through."

    Clark said such a change would have significant implications for medical examiners around Washington and could jeopardize the integrity of death investigations.

    Grobois realized a dream on Dec. 11 when he arrived at Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park for a snowshoe excursion, but something went amiss.

    The family called the park the next morning to report him overdue. A helicopter crew found him later that afternoon lying in the snow at the top of the Stevens Creek drainage at an elevation of about 5,400 feet.

    A park spokeswoman said he likely lost this way, became exhausted, sat down and succumbed to the brutal cold; Paradise reached a low of 14 degrees that Sunday night, and Grobois was not equipped to spend the night outdoors.

    Grobois was taken by helicopter to Madigan Army Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Attending Madigan doctors wrote on medical records that Grobois died of "hypothermia/cardiac arrest," according to Clark.

    Heber said the doctors told him and Grobois' wife, daughter and son, who had flown in the morning of Dec. 13, that there was no need for an autopsy; they were confident about the cause of death.

    A chief investigator for the National Park Service told Heber he reached the same conclusion independently, Heber said Friday.

    "From all angles, there was no need for an autopsy," Heber said.

    But Clark reached a different conclusion.

    The circumstances of Grobois' death and the fact that he was in good health and no one witnessed his death made Clark determine he needed to conduct his own investigation.

    "They wrote the only thing they knew, which is the body was cold," Clark said. "The body can get cold and cause death, or death can happen for some other reason and then the body can get cold, and they don't have any basis for telling the difference." He also noted the body was covered in bruises, inconsistent with a finding that he wandered lost, fell asleep and died.

    Heber said the situation put incredible stress on the Grobois family. Jewish law prevents the family from starting its seven days of mourning until a body is buried.

    "It was agony for them," he said.

    After a hearing on Dec. 16, a judge signed an order barring the medical examiner's office from conducting an autopsy and ordering the body to be released to the family.

    Clark, in consultation with the prosecuting attorney's office, decided against another appeal.

    "We were afraid that if we lost the second level of appeal that would set a precedent that would be dangerous not just for us, but for every other medical examiner system in the state," he said.

    He said he wasn't influenced by calls that the Grobois family and its supporters made to his office and to other officials.

    Grobois was buried in Jerusalem on Monday.

    Heber said the family is confident that Grobois died of hypothermia doing what he loved. The case ended with no such certainty for Clark and his office. On Grobois' death certificate, it listed his cause and manner of death as "undetermined." Another line gives the reason: "Examination prohibited by court order."

    ___

    Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com

    Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45788265/ns/health/

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    At least 38 dead in Haitian shipwreck off Cuba (Reuters)

    HAVANA (Reuters) ? At least 38 people died on Saturday when a boat carrying Haitian migrants sunk off the coast of Guantanamo province in far eastern Cuban, Cuban television reported.

    It said 87 people, including seven women, were rescued after Cuban civil defense forces spotted the boat 100 meters off Punta Maisi, which is about 600 miles southeast of Havana.

    There were no details on possible cause of the accident or the destination of the boat, but search and rescue efforts were still underway, the report said.

    The dead included 21 men and 17 women, it said.

    (Reporting by Nelson Acosta; editing by Jeff Franks)

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/wl_nm/us_cuba_shipwreck

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    Sunday, December 25, 2011

    HP issues LaserJet firmware update, hopefully ends exploding printer saga

    Some of you might remember the story that HP LaserJet printers might be open to hack attacks that could result in some not-so-spontaneous combustion? Now the company has issued a statement saying that no-one reported their printer exploding, but to be on the safe side, it's produced a firmware update (available at the source link) that'll close the hole and ensure your Holiday doesn't end with a visit from the fire department.

    Continue reading HP issues LaserJet firmware update, hopefully ends exploding printer saga

    HP issues LaserJet firmware update, hopefully ends exploding printer saga originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink   |  sourceHP Technical Support  | Email this | Comments

    Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/hp-issues-laserjet-firmware-update-hopefully-ends-exploding-pri/

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    Rasmussen College to offer CPR classes

    Rasmussen College recently announced their partnership with In-Pulse CPR to offer CPR classes for the public at the college?s five Florida campus locations.

    In-Pulse CPR is an American Heart Association-authorized provider of CPR and ECC courses. The one-day, 4-hour classes will held throughout the next four months at Rasmussen?s Florida college campus locations in Ft. Myers, New Port Richey, Land O? Lakes, Ocala, and Tampa/Brandon.

    The first CPR Classes will start this January and are open to both Rasmussen College Students and the general public.

    Recommended as an invaluable skill for any adult, CPR training is required in many jobs such as early childhood education professionals, nursing home workers, and dental or medical office staff. In-Pulse CPR?s classes qualify students for the American Heart Association Heartsaver / BLS Healthcare CPR certification, good for two years.

    In-Pulse CPR classes use the latest equipment including Laerdal and Prestan mannequins and a large selection of AED trainer models. All instructors are either EMT workers or nurses, and all are certified by the American Heart Association.

    Course cost is $45, and no prior first aid knowledge is needed.

    For course times and directions to the nearest Rasmussen campus go to www.inpulsecpr.com/florida.

    For more information on Rasmussen College Florida campus locations, visit: http://www.rasmussen.edu/locations/florida/.

    Source: http://brandon.wtsp.com/news/health/96642-rasmussen-college-offer-cpr-classes

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    Saturday, December 24, 2011

    ACC All Access: Virginia coach Mike London's $225,000 contribution to indoor facility construction makes several statements

    Virginia coach Mike London might have made a statement about his intentions to hang around Charlottesville for a while by pledging $225,000 to the construction of U.Va.'s indoor practice facility, a project that will cost a total of $13 million to complete and has already had $9.5 million committed to it from all contributors.

    London's contribution is significant. His pledge adds up to more than coach Hugh Freeze made this season ($202,160) at Sun Belt champion Arkansas State (Freeze recently accepted the job at Mississippi, where he stands to make much more next season).

    Of course, a chunk of change like the one London dropped on the indoor facility is a little more manageable when you're earning almost $1.8 million like London did this season, but it still sends a massive monetary message.

    Perhaps as part of London's contract extension negotiations (of which there should be an announcement regarding said extension in the coming days or weeks) he worked this personalized $225,000 contribution into the framework of the deal, but that's pure speculation. Either way, it says something about where London ranks the importance of the 78,000 square foot facility, which U.Va. hopes to have ready for spring practice in 2013.

    ?The construction of the indoor practice facility is an important part of the effort to make our football program consistently successful,? said London in a statement released by U.Va.'s athletic department. ?That's why I want to show my personal support for the fundraising effort by making this pledge.

    ?The indoor facility will be a tremendous benefit for our team?s in-season preparation and out-of-season conditioning. It will allow us the opportunity to attract the types of student-athletes to Virginia who will play an important role in the building of the program. I can?t think of a better way to express my commitment to the University and to the football program than to personally make a gift to this important project.?

    Maybe some will perceive an element of apples and oranges to this next point, but I don't think so. I guess I'm a little confused about the differences between this contribution and the supplements to the income of Georgia football employees made recently by Georgia coach Mark Richt that got him in hot water with the NCAA.

    London's contributions will help himself, his coaching staff, his players and his university. Richt was slapped by the NCAA for committing a secondary violation after he gave more than $25,000 in out-of-pocket payments over the last two years to three assistant coaches that Richt believed were under-compensated by the university.

    He'll only get a nasty letter from the NCAA added to his permanent record, and a required refresher course in arcane NCAA rules, but it all seems kind of silly when you think about the fact Richt's actions served to provide some of the same program-building morale as London's contributions.

    It's hard to see how any harm was caused by either contribution. There's no personal statement being made here about what people should do with their money (to be honest, I don't see a problem with the contributions of either coach - it's their money, it's their programs and it's not going in the pockets of recruits or their families). Yet, London's own money is good in the eyes of the NCAA, while Richt's cash is a no-no. Weird.

    *****************************************************************************************************
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    Source: http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-now-accallaccess-mikelondonuva-122411,0,943037.story?track=rss

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    Friday, December 23, 2011

    New technique makes it easier to etch semiconductors

    Thursday, December 22, 2011

    Creating semiconductor structures for high-end optoelectronic devices just got easier, thanks to University of Illinois researchers.

    The team developed a method to chemically etch patterned arrays in the semiconductor gallium arsenide, used in solar cells, lasers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), field effect transistors (FETs), capacitors and sensors. Led by electrical and computer engineering professor Xiuling Li, the researchers describe their technique in the journal Nano Letters.

    A semiconductor's physical properties can vary depending on its structure, so semiconductor wafers are etched into structures that tune their electrical and optical properties and connectivity before they are assembled into chips.

    Semiconductors are commonly etched with two techniques: "Wet" etching uses a chemical solution to erode the semiconductor in all directions, while "dry" etching uses a directed beam of ions to bombard the surface, carving out a directed pattern. Such patterns are required for high-aspect-ratio nanostructures, or tiny shapes that have a large ratio of height to width. High-aspect-ratio structures are essential to many high-end optoelectronic device applications.

    While silicon is the most ubiquitous material in semiconductor devices, materials in the III-V (pronounced three-five) group are more efficient in optoelectronic applications, such as solar cells or lasers.

    Unfortunately, these materials can be difficult to dry etch, as the high-energy ion blasts damage the semiconductor's surface. III-V semiconductors are especially susceptible to damage.

    To address this problem, Li and her group turned to metal-assisted chemical etching (MacEtch), a wet-etching approach they had previously developed for silicon. Unlike other wet methods, MacEtch works in one direction, from the top down. It is faster and less expensive than many dry etch techniques, according to Li. Her group revisited the MacEtch technique, optimizing the chemical solution and reaction conditions for the III-V semiconductor gallium arsenide (GaAs).

    The process has two steps. First, a thin film of metal is patterned on the GaAs surface. Then, the semiconductor with the metal pattern is immersed in the MacEtch chemical solution. The metal catalyzes the reaction so that only the areas touching metal are etched away, and high-aspect-ratio structures are formed as the metal sinks into the wafer. When the etching is done, the metal can be cleaned from the surface without damaging it.

    "It is a big deal to be able to etch GaAs this way," Li said. "The realization of high-aspect-ratio III-V nanostructure arrays by wet etching can potentially transform the fabrication of semiconductor lasers where surface grating is currently fabricated by dry etching, which is expensive and causes surface damage."

    To create metal film patterns on the GaAs surface, Li's team used a patterning technique pioneered by John Rogers, the Lee J. Flory-Founder Chair and a professor of materials science and engineering at the U. of I. Their research teams joined forces to optimize the method, called soft lithography, for chemical compatibility while protecting the GaAs surface. Soft lithography is applied to the whole semiconductor wafer, as opposed to small segments, creating patterns over large areas ? without expensive optical equipment.

    "The combination of soft lithography and MacEtch make the perfect combination to produce large-area, high-aspect-ratio III-V nanostructures in a low-cost fashion," said Li, who is affiliated with the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I.

    Next, the researchers hope to further optimize conditions for GaAs etching and establish parameters for MacEtch of other III-V semiconductors. Then, they hope to demonstrate device fabrication, including distributed Bragg reflector lasers and photonic crystals.

    "MacEtch is a universal method as long as the right condition for deferential etching with and without metal can be found," Li said.

    ###

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: http://www.uiuc.edu

    Thanks to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for this article.

    This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

    This press release has been viewed 54 time(s).

    Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116286/New_technique_makes_it_easier_to_etch_semiconductors

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    Son of late North Korean leader leads mourning (AP)

    PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Korea's anointed heir Kim Jong Un led a solemn procession of mourners Tuesday to the glass coffin of his father and longtime ruler ? a strong indication that a smooth leadership transition was under way in the country known for secrecy and unpredictability.

    Weeping members of North Korea's elite filed past the body of Kim Jong Il, which was draped in red cloth and surrounded by stony-faced honor guards and dozens of red and white flowers.

    State media fed a budding personality cult around his youngest known son, hailing him as a "lighthouse of hope" as the country was awash in a "sea of tears and grief."

    In a dreamlike scene captured by Associated Press Television News, Kim's coffin appeared to float on a raft of "kimjongilia" ? the flowers named after him ? with his head and shoulders bathed in a spotlight as solemn music played. Various medals and honors were displayed at his feet.

    The bier was located in a hall of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, a mausoleum where the embalmed body of Kim Jong Il's father and North Korean founder Kim Il Sung has been on view in a glass sarcophagus since his death in 1994.

    Kim Jong Il's son and heir, Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be 27, wore a black Mao-style suit, his hair cropped closely on the sides but longer on top, as he walked with much older officials in suits and military uniforms.

    Stepping away from the group, Kim Jong Un bowed deeply, his expression serious, before circling the bier with other officials.

    The announcement Monday of Kim's death over the weekend raised acute worries in the region over the possibility of a power struggle between the untested son and rivals in an impoverished and reclusive country with a nuclear program.

    But there have been no signs of unrest or discord in Pyongyang.

    With the country in an 11-day period of official mourning, flags were at half-staff at all military units, factories, businesses, farms and public buildings. The streets of Pyongyang were quiet, but throngs gathered at landmarks honoring Kim.

    Outside one of the capital's main performance centers, mourners carried wreaths and flowers toward a portrait of Kim Jong Il. Groups were allowed to grieve in front of the portrait for a few minutes at a time.

    "We will change today's sorrow into strength and courage and work harder for a powerful and prosperous nation, as our general wanted, under the leadership of the new general, Kim Jong Un," Pyongyang resident U Son Hui told The Associated Press.

    Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack on Saturday caused by overwork and stress, according to North Korean media. He was 69 ? although some experts question the official accounts of the date and place of his birth.

    A state funeral is set for Dec. 28 in Pyongyang, to be followed by a national memorial service the next day, according to state media. North Korean officials say they will not invite foreign delegations and will allow no entertainment during the mourning period.

    Since Kim's death, the media stepped up their lavish praise of the son, indicating an effort to strengthen a cult of personality around him similar to that of his father and ? much more strongly ? of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

    The Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday described Kim Jong Un as "a great person born of heaven," a propaganda term previously used only for his father and grandfather. The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, added in an editorial that Kim Jong Un is "the spiritual pillar and the lighthouse of hope" for the military and the people.

    It described the young Kim as "born of Mount Paektu," one of Korea's most cherished sites and Kim Jong Il's official birthplace. On Monday, the North said in a dispatch that the people and the military "have pledged to uphold the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un" and called him a "great successor" of the country's revolutionary philosophy of juche, or self-reliance.

    Young Koreans, the North reported, "are burning with the faith and will to remain loyal to Kim Jong Un."

    Concerns remain, however, over the transition.

    South Korea put its military on high alert and experts warned that the next few days could be a crucial turning point for the North, which though impoverished by economic mismanagement and repeated famine, has a relatively well-supported, 1.2 million-member armed forces.

    South Korea offered sympathy to the North Korean people, but the government said no official delegation will be sent.

    Kim's death could set back efforts by the United States and others to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Concerns are also high that the young and untested Kim Jong Un may feel he needs to prove himself by precipitating a crisis.

    Kim Jong Il was in power for 17 years after the death of his father and was groomed for power before that. Kim Jong Un only emerged as the likely heir in the past year.

    Absent from any mention by the state media were Kim Jong Il's other sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol. Kim Jong Nam, the eldest, is widely believed to have fallen out of favor after embarrassing the government in 2001 by being caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He reportedly enjoys gambling and has lived in Macau.

    North Korea conducted at least one short-range missile test Monday, South Korean officials said. But they saw it as a routine drill.

    "The sudden death of Kim Jong Il has plunged the isolated state of North Korea into a period of major uncertainty. There are real concerns that heir-apparent Kim Jong Un has not had sufficient time to form the necessary alliances in the country to consolidate his future as leader of the country," said Sarah McDowall, a senior analyst with U.S.-based consultants IHS.

    Some analysts, however, said Kim's death was unlikely to plunge the country into chaos because it already was preparing a transition. Kim Jong Il indicated a year ago that Kim Jong Un would be his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

    President Hu Jintao of China offered his condolences at North Korea's embassy in Beijing as the government hinted at an early invitation for a visit by Kim Jong Un.

    China's response to Kim Jong Il's death highlights the government's growing emphasis on North Korean ties despite its annoyance at the North's refusal to reform its listless economy and its recurring provocative acts against South Korea that raise tensions in the region.

    ___

    Reported from Pyongyang by Associated Press Television News senior video journalist Rafael Wober. Associated Press writers Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim, Sam Kim and Eric Talmadge in Seoul, as well as Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee, contributed to this story.

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_as/as_kim_jong_il

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    Monday, December 19, 2011

    MyUnity Fixes Annoyances in Ubuntu's Unity Interface [Linux Downloads]

    MyUnity Fixes Annoyances in Ubuntu's Unity InterfaceUbuntu: If you're using the newest versions of Ubuntu, you probably have an annoyance or two with the Unity interface. MyUnity is a system tweaker based around changing Unity's behavior and appearance.

    MyUnity has quite a few settings in its panel, from tweaking what shows up in the dock, whether the dock autohides itself, the size of the Dash, the transparency of the menu bar, showing desktop icons, and more. If you're a Unity hater, this won't make you love it, but if you're dealing with Unity in spite of one or two annoyances, chances are this can help you fix them.

    To install MyUnity, just add ppa:myunity/ppa to your Software Sources and run the following command in a terminal:

    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install myunity

    MyUnity | Launchpad via OMG! Ubuntu!

    Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/g1vWgVSrIZ4/myunity-fixes-annoyances-in-ubuntus-unity-interface

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    Sunday, December 18, 2011

    Typhoon kills more than 436 in southern Philippines (Reuters)

    CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (Reuters) ? More than 400 people were killed and an unknown number were missing after a typhoon struck the southern Philippines, causing flash floods and landslides and driving tens of thousands from their homes.

    In a text message to Reuters, Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), said the death toll of 436 was expected to rise.

    "Our death toll was based on the actual number of bodies that were brought to funeral homes in the two cities that were the hardest hit by the typhoon," Pang said, adding it was difficult to estimate how many were still unaccounted for.

    Typhoon Washi, with winds gusting up to 90 kmh (56 mph), barreled into the resource-rich island of Mindanao late on Friday, bringing heavy rain that also grounded some domestic flights and left wide areas without power.

    Emergency workers, soldiers and police were recovering more bodies - most covered in mud - washed ashore in nearby towns.

    Pang said nearly 360 bodies had been found in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and about 50 in four other southern provinces. The government's official death toll stood only at 131 people and nearly 270 missing.

    Another 21 people drowned on the central island of Negros, the PNRC said.

    Hundreds were also unaccounted for, most of them from a coastal village in Iligan. Houses were swept into the sea by floodwaters while people were sleeping inside late on Friday.

    The Philippines social welfare department said about 100,000 people were displaced and brought to nearly three dozen

    shelters in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.

    "WE RAN FOR OUR LIVES"

    Army spokesman Colonel Leopoldo Galon said search and rescue operations would continue along the shorelines in Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte provinces.

    "I can't explain how these things happened, entire villages were swept to the sea by flash floods," Galon said.

    "I have not seen anything like this before. This could be worse than Ondoy," he said, referring to a 2009 storm that inundated the capital, Manila, killing hundreds of people.

    Television pictures showed bodies encased in mud, cars piled on top of each other and wrecked homes. Helicopters and boats searched the sea for survivors and victims.

    "We ran for our lives when we heard a loud whistle blow and was followed by a big bang," Michael Mabaylan, 38, a carpenter, told Reuters. He said his wife and five children were all safe.

    Aid worker Crislyn Felisilda cited concern about children who had became separated from their families or lost their parents. "Many children are looking for their loved ones... (and children were) crying and staring into space."

    Rosal Agacac, a 40-year-old mother, was begging authorities to help find her two children after their shanty was swept to the sea. "Please President Noynoy, help me," she cried, holding a candle at a spot where their house stood before the floods, referring to President Benigno Aquino.

    Aquino met with cabinet members and disaster officials to assess conditions on the main southern island and ordered a review of disaster plans to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. He is due to inspect typhoon-hit areas after Christmas.

    Rescue boats pulled at least 15 people from the sea, said another army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang.

    Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz said many people were caught by surprise when water rose one meter (three feet) high in less

    than an hour, forcing people onto roofs. "Most of them were already sleeping when floodwaters entered their homes. This is the worst flooding our city has experienced in years."

    The national disaster agency said it could not estimate crop and property damage because emergency workers, including soldiers and police officers, were evacuating families and recovering casualties.

    Six domestic flights run by Cebu Pacific were cancelled due to the rain and near-zero visibility in the southern and central

    Philippines. Ferry services were also halted, stranding hundreds of people.

    An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year.

    (Writing by Manny Mogato)

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111217/wl_nm/us_philippines_weather

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    Saturday, December 17, 2011

    Gene discovered for Weaver syndrome

    Friday, December 16, 2011

    Scientists have found a gene that causes Weaver syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that typically causes large size at birth, tall stature, developmental delay during childhood, and intellectual disability. Published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the discovery means that testing the EZH2 gene for mutations could help families who are seeking a diagnosis for their child.

    "For the families among whom we identified the gene, this discovery definitively brings the diagnostic odyssey to a close ? it's DNA confirmation that their children have Weaver syndrome," says Dr. William Gibson, the study's lead investigator. Dr. Gibson is a clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

    "Our discovery enables DNA-based diagnostic testing for this particular disease," says Dr. Gibson. "For physicians who suspect Weaver syndrome in one of their patients, we can now confirm it if we find mutations in EZH2. There may still be other Weaver syndrome genes, and we need to study more families to be sure."

    Presently, doctors diagnose Weaver syndrome by assessing a child's face, growth, skeleton and other clinical features. People with Weaver syndrome have an oversized head, typical facial features, problems with muscle tone and joints, and differences in the way their skeleton matures. Mutations in the NSD1 gene, which normally causes a rare disease called Sotos syndrome, are also known to cause Weaver syndrome in some cases. There may be other genes involved in Weaver syndrome that are yet to be discovered.

    "Now we have an answer for these families and we are also in a position to provide answers to other families affected by this rare and difficult disease," says Dr. Gibson. He is available to see new patients clinically for diagnosis of Weaver syndrome. As a result of this discovery, Dr. Gibson's team now offers sequencing of the EZH2 gene on a research basis in partnership with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Gibson's team can be contacted by email at wtgibson@cfri.ubc.ca.

    Traditionally, hunting for a disease-causing gene has relied on tracking a gene throughout a family's history. However, Weaver syndrome usually occurs only once in a family, as it is thought to be caused by a new genetic mutation in the sperm or egg that conceived the child. For this study, the investigators sought patients with Weaver syndrome from Canada and the United States. They approached Dr. David Weaver, who discovered the syndrome in 1974 and is professor emeritus of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. In two families that Dr. Weaver had examined, the Canadian team looked for brand new genetic mutations by comparing the DNA of affected children to DNA from their unaffected parents. Once the investigators identified EZH2 as a candidate gene, they sequenced it in DNA samples from a third Canadian family. They confirmed that an EZH2 mutation was in this third family's child but not in either of her healthy parents.

    EZH2 is a cancer gene that is known to be mutated in leukemia, B-cell lymphomas and some other blood cancers. The gene helps control how DNA is packaged around specific proteins, which in turn helps to regulate which groups of genes are turned off and on.

    "Our finding illuminates an emerging area of biology that links developmental syndromes and cancer," says Dr. Gibson. "It appears that some mutations in EZH2, if these occur early in life, produce developmental syndromes such as Weaver syndrome, whereas mutations in the same gene that occur later in life can produce cancer."

    Dr. Steven Jones is the study's senior author who led the DNA sequencing and bioinformatics. He is head of bioinformatics and associate director of the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer Agency, professor in the UBC Department of Medical Genetics, and professor, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University (SFU).

    ###

    Child & Family Research Institute: http://www.cfri.ca/

    Thanks to Child & Family Research Institute for this article.

    This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

    This press release has been viewed 26 time(s).

    Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116102/Gene_discovered_for_Weaver_syndrome

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    OPEC oil deal puts Saudi back in charge (Reuters)

    VIENNA (Reuters) ? OPEC oil producers on Wednesday sealed their first new output agreement in three years in a deal that settles a 6-month-old argument over supply policy firmly in Saudi Arabia's favor.

    The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed a target of 30 million barrels daily, ratifying current production near 3-year highs. It did not discuss individual national quotas.

    The deal vindicates Saudi Arabia after its proposal to raise output in June to stem rising prices was rejected by price hawks led by Iran, Algeria and Venezuela.

    "For the Saudis it's a fantastic decision," said Jamie Webster of Washington consultancy PFC Energy.

    Saudi said it pumped 10 million barrels a day last month, 25 percent above its old OPEC quota, in what Gulf delegates said was a demonstration of strength to the price hawks ahead of the meeting.

    In theory the agreement caps output for all 12 OPEC members for the first half of 2012 at levels that should permit a modest rebuilding of lean global inventories.

    "We're not going to bypass it, we're going to adhere to it," promised OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri of the new supply limit. "Saudi Arabia will abide by this decision for sure."

    That will depend on whether or not Saudi and its Gulf Arab allies decide to ease back supply as post-civil war Libya heads towards full production or keep the taps open to drive oil below $100 a barrel.

    Saudi Arabia did not allay doubts about its intentions.

    "If Libya increases it doesn't necessarily mean Saudi will cut," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. "We don't react to that, we react to market demand," he said.

    Oil analysts warned that without defined individual national quotas, leakage above the new limit was very possible.

    "Someone has to cut back to accommodate Libya, that has to be done," said analyst Lawrence Eagles of JP Morgan. "As always with OPEC the proof will be in the pudding. How closely will they stick to the new limit?"

    "The whole organization has to be at 30 million so if someone goes up somebody else should come down. But it's like anything when you divide responsibility -- it often ends up falling through the cracks," said Webster of PFC.

    Those concerns helped undermine oil prices. London Brent lost $4.67 to $104.83 a barrel, down from a year-high $127 in April. U.S. crude fell $5.19 to near $94.95.

    Rising supply from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab neighbors Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates has kept a leash on oil prices as Riyadh seeks to help nurture global growth by keeping fuel costs under control.

    HAWKS WANT NO LESS THAN $100

    OPEC's price hawks, all of whom already pump at full capacity, want to keep prices above $100.

    "We think the present level is appropriate for producers and consumers," Algerian Oil Minister Youcef Yousfi said of prices.

    "Prices are reasonable," said Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi.

    The Gulf Arabs would prefer prices that don't hinder economic growth while meeting their budget and oil investment needs. The UAE said recently that $80-$100 was reasonable.

    "Saudi Arabia is the central banker of the oil market and the decision that they will bring more oil to the market is definitely a good one," said Fatih Birol, chief economist at consumer body the International Energy Agency.

    World oil inventories should now rise, boosted by Libyan oil output that hit 1 million bpd this week on the way back to pre-war output of 1.6 million.

    OPEC's secretariat calculates that 30 million barrels a day from the group will meet demand in the first half of the year and build stocks by 650,000 bpd.

    According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration that would lift inventories among industrialized OECD nations from 56 days of OECD demand now to 60 days by the middle of 2012.

    OPEC next meets on June 14. Badri said OPEC would be ready by then to tackle the tricky issue of re-establishing individual quotas.

    That could prove difficult. Saudi Arabia and others who have seen market share rise in the past two years are unlikely to not cede ground on quotas to those who have lost share and cannot pump more.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    GRAPHICS: Demand for OPEC crude: http://link.reuters.com/zyk55s

    OECD inventories fall: http://link.reuters.com/cyk55s

    OPEC export revenues: http://link.reuters.com/wyk55s

    OPEC market share http://link.reuters.com/xem55s

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

    (additional reporting Ramin Mostafavi, Dan Fineren, Alex Lawler, writing Richard Mably)

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/bs_nm/us_opec

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    Friday, December 16, 2011

    Face it: Spielberg has a defining technique

    DreamWorks

    Tom Hanks in "Saving Private Ryan."

    By Kurt Schlosser

    Close your eyes and picture an iconic character from a?Steven Spielberg film. Do you see Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones? Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"? Roy Scheider in "Jaws" or Tom Hanks' war-weary gaze in "Saving Private Ryan"?

    Chances are if you see the faces of?these or any other Spielberg characters it's because the director has mastered a signature technique. Matt Patches at ugo.com first offered up a great essay on the subject and now?Kevin B. Lee over at Fandor.com?has compiled the video attached below. From Lee's own description:

    If there is one recurring image that defines the cinema of Steven Spielberg, it is The Spielberg Face. Eyes open, staring in wordless wonder in a moment where time stands still. But above all, a child-like surrender in the act of watching, both theirs and ours.? It?s as if their total submission to what they are seeing mirrors our own.

    The face tells us that a monumental event is happening; in doing so, it also tells us how we should feel. If Spielberg deserves to be called a master of audience manipulation, then this is his signature stroke. You can?t think of the most iconic moments in Spielberg?s cinema without The Spielberg Face.

    It's kind of amazing to watch the video and see so many instances of the technique from so many recognizable films. That Haley Joel Osment kid in "A.I." seemed destined to be captured in no other way.

    Spielberg is set to bring "War Horse" and "The Adventures of Tintin" to theaters soon and we'll have to be on the lookout for the face.

    In the meantime, share your thoughts on Spielberg's work. What's your favorite film by the director?

    Related content:

    Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9444516-face-it-steven-spielberg-has-a-signature-technique

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    French ex-president Chirac convicted in graft trial (Reuters)

    PARIS (Reuters) ? A judge found former French president Jacques Chirac guilty on Thursday of misusing public funds, making him the country's first head of state to be convicted since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain in 1945.

    Chirac, 79, was absent from the court as the judge declared him guilty of knowingly operating a system that diverted about 1.4 million euros of Paris City Hall funds for political purposes when he was mayor of the French capital.

    The judge handed down a suspended two-year jail sentence on Chirac, who was president from 1995 until 2007 and suffers from neurological problems, according to his doctors.

    Lawyers who had sought a conviction said the verdict on Chirac served as a reminder to France's ruling class that politicians could not abuse their position with impunity.

    Chirac was tried on charges of channeling public money into phantom jobs for political cronies when he was mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995, a time when he built a new centre-right Gaullist party that launched his bid to become president.

    Chirac, excused from much of the proceedings on the grounds of a failing memory, could in theory have been sent to jail for 10 years, the maximum sentence for the charges against him.

    Chirac's lawyer, Georges Kiejman, told reporters that he would talk to his client before deciding later in the day whether to make an appeal.

    "The verdict may look severe but it is worth noting that the court acted with a large measure of moderation, highlighting the personal qualities of president Chirac, how old the events in question were and the role he played in reorganizing how political parties are funded," Kiijman said.

    Jerome Karsenti, a lawyer for an anti-corruption association that sought a conviction, said Thursday's ruling was "historic and exemplary."

    "We've seen a strong message delivered today: politicians can no longer do as they please when in charge of public administrations," he told reporters outside the court.

    The case came to a head after 13 years of wrangling over allegations that 28 of Chirac's cronies were on the Paris payroll from 1992 to 1995 but did not work for the city.

    END OF IMMUNITY

    Chirac benefited from immunity from prosecution while head of state, and for some time afterwards it was unclear whether he would be hauled before a court, let alone convicted.

    Paris City Hall pulled out as a plaintiff earlier this year after Chirac agreed to a compensation deal worth 2.2 million euros, with 500,000 euros to be paid by himself and the rest by France's ruling UMP party on his behalf.

    The public prosecution service, which answers to the justice ministry, had recommended an acquittal, and many people believed

    the verdict read out by judge Dominique Pauthe would follow that advice.

    Seven of nine other people tried along with Chirac were also found guilty, among them Jean de Gaulle, grandson of President Charles de Gaulle, and Marc Blondel, a former trade union leader famous for his love of giant cigars.

    Less than five months before a presidential election, the opposition Socialist Party said the verdict vindicated its call for repeal of the rule giving heads of state judicial immunity while they are in office.

    Close to tears at the courthouse, Chirac's adopted daughter Anh Dao Traxel said the verdict was overly harsh, adding: "For the family, this brings great sorrow."

    (Reporting by Thierry Leveque and; Brian Love, editing by David Stamp)

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/wl_nm/us_france_chirac_verdict

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    Canada's quest to turn Afghanistan?s army of phantoms into fighters

    The current rate at which Afghan soldiers walk away from their jobs, and other kinds of attrition from the army, will make it difficult to adequately build up the force before international troops leave the country in 2014, a top general says.

    ?Before the end of the NATO mission we really do need to get a grip on attrition,? said Major-General Michael Day, Canada's senior commander in Afghanistan, speaking by telephone from Kabul.

    More related to this story

    Military trainers are scrambling to build the Afghan National Army into a force that can stop the Taliban and prevent anarchy after foreign troops hand over responsibility for security.

    Canada took on one of the toughest jobs during the fighting stage of the mission, on the front lines in Kandahar. Now Canadian soldiers have become central to the next ?mission impossible? ? bulking up the army.

    For the 950 Canadian trainers deployed to Afghanistan in the coming years, it's not so much a matter of attracting more recruits, but rather a challenge of stemming the number of Afghan soldiers who simply quit.

    ?Building this army is like pouring water in a sieve,? said Chris Mason, a senior research fellow at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., who helped with the establishment of the Afghan army while serving as a U.S. diplomat in the country. ?By their own numbers, they are losing almost half the army to attrition every 12 months.?

    The man most responsible for solving that problem is Gen. Day, whose experience in Afghanistan spans a decade and who now serves as deputy commanding general of the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan (NTMA). It's hard to understate the importance of his task; while the police and irregular forces are widely seen as a shambles ? or even a detriment to stability ? the Afghan army stands as the best hope for the Kabul government's survival.

    The force had a listed strength of 173,000 personnel in October and must reach 195,000 deployed soldiers by the end of 2013, according to military plans.

    Deaths, injuries and incapacitations account for only a minority of the losses. The much bigger problem is Afghan soldiers giving up the fight. An estimated 30 to 40 per cent of personnel do not re-enlist at the end of their three-year contracts. On top of that, the attrition rate averaged 32 per cent annually over the 12 months that ended in November. The biggest chunk of that figure represents soldiers abandoning their posts.

    A briefing document from Gen. Day's headquarters shows that the attrition rate increased 26 per cent compared with the previous year, and the rates in both years were significantly above target levels.

    Some observers suggest the real figures could be even worse, since the international staff at NTMA often depend on the local Afghan authorities to count their own ranks. Even if they are honest and avoid the temptation to inflate the payroll, Afghan officers assigned to tabulate personnel figures sometimes lack basic math skills. One educated guess at the true size of the Afghan army puts the force at perhaps 100,000 personnel on duty.

    ?Everyone worried that there were problems with numbers,? said a former official who served at the training headquarters in Kabul. There was never any sign of fraudulent statistics, he said, but the foreign troops lacked the capacity to audit their Afghan counterparts. ?For much of 2010, NTMA was sorely under-strength and lacked the assets to double-check every field report.?

    For his part, Gen. Day says he has confidence in the troop numbers and his ability to improve them. ?We run those numbers pretty hard,? he said.

    The Canadian commander described a list of recent adjustments designed to improve the morale and quality of life of Afghan soldiers. Their salary, vacation, cafeterias and sleeping quarters have all been improved. Leadership methods have been changed, and soldiers now carry more-modern weapons.

    But there's a limit to how much money can be spent on such improvements.

    The World Bank predicts Afghanistan will develop a mining industry and generate enough of its own revenue to reach a position where its annual budget shortfall is about $7.2-billion, or 25 per cent of gross domestic product, within about a decade. That's a serious gap, but the intervening years could be even more difficult as transition to local responsibility for security pushes the shortfall to more than 40 per cent of GDP in 2014 ? with the payroll and maintenance of Afghan forces accounting for more than half of the budget crunch.

    With attrition rates running at current levels, the financial picture looks even darker. Based on NTMA averages from November, 2010, to October, 2011, the army gains 4,272 soldiers a month but loses another 3,136, leaving a net increase of just 1,136.

    A veteran U.S. intelligence analyst reviewed those figures and calculated that the turnover costs a staggering amount of money. ?Each soldier actually added to the number of the ANA force will likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to train and equip,? the analyst said.

    Another persistent issue is the Afghan army's ethnic makeup. If the ANA is to serve as the backbone of a government facing potential war between southern Pashtun groups and the other ethnicities from the north, the force needs to dramatically improve recruiting in the south. Less than 4 per cent of recruits were counted as southern Pashtuns until NATO changed its counting methods in June in an effort to label tribes with ancestry in the south as ?southern Pashtuns.? But the relabelling effort in some cases counted as ?southern? tribes that had migrated north more than a century earlier.

    Some analysts say NATO commanders appear to grasp such problems more clearly than they have in previous years, however, and Gen. Day himself says the job will be far from easy.

    ?There's a lot of water to be carried before we can declare success,? the commander said.

    Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/canadas-quest-to-turn-afghanistans-army-of-phantoms-into-fighters/article2271703/?utm_medium=Feeds:%20RSS/Atom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2271703

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