Ex-RBS CEO Fred Goodwin stripped of knighthood (AP)

LONDON ? The former Royal Bank of Scotland chief who infuriated the British public by leading the bank to near-collapse and then walking away with a fat pension was stripped of his knighthood Tuesday, a rare punishment that puts him in the company of criminals and dictators.

Queen Elizabeth II "canceled and annulled" Fred Goodwin's knighthood for the key role he played in the failure of RBS, a financial disaster that helped trigger the recession in Britain and forced taxpayers to bail out the bank, the Cabinet Office said.

Knighthoods are rarely revoked, but the government said Goodwin "had brought the honors system into disrepute" and that the "scale and severity" of the impact of his actions made it an exceptional case.

After losing the honor, Goodwin, 53, joins a group that also includes the British spy Anthony Blunt, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

"I think we've got a special case here of the Royal Bank of Scotland symbolizing everything that went wrong in the British economy over the last decade," Treasury chief George Osborne said. "Fred Goodwin was in charge, and I think it's appropriate that he loses his knighthood."

Since he left RBS in 2008 with a multimillion-dollar pension as the bank was foundering, Goodwin has become a high-profile public villain of the financial crisis in Britain.

Goodwin built the Royal Bank of Scotland into one of the world's largest banks and was knighted in 2004 for services to banking. But four years later, he led the bank to ruin with a multi-billion dollar takeover of the Dutch bank ABN Amro just as the credit crisis was starting to bite.

Goodwin resigned in October 2008 as the bank was failing, provoking the public's ire by leaving with 16 million pounds ($25 million) in pension benefits.

The British government had to spend 45 billion pounds ($71 billion) bailing out and nationalizing RBS, and taxpayers now own an 82 percent stake.

A report on RBS published last year by the Financial Services Authority blamed the RBS debacle on bad decisions, rather than dishonesty or any violation of regulations.

Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the move and called it "the right decision."

"The FSA report into what went wrong at RBS made clear where the failures lay and who was responsible," he said in a statement.

The queen removed Goodwin's title on the advice of the Forfeiture Committee, which usually acts only against people sentenced to more than three months in prison for a criminal offense, or who have lost their professional license or been censured by a regulatory or professional body.

Some believed that in the absence of a trial it was the appropriate penalty.

"There was a sense that this guy had got away scot-free and the only thing left really to show the public opprobrium was for the knighthood to be stripped," said Conservative lawmaker David Ruffley.

RBS declined Tuesday to comment on the decision and Goodwin was not immediately reachable for comment. But, not everyone saw it as fair for a man who has not been charged with any crime.

Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, said he did not approve of the decision and was concerned about "anti-business hysteria."

"To do it because you don't like someone, you don't approve of someone, you think they've done things that are wrong, but actually there's no criminality, alleged or charged, I think is inappropriate and politicizes the honors system," he told the BBC.

Goodwin is likely to retain his other title ? "Fred the Shred," a tribute to his aggressive cost-cutting while expanding RBS.

Public and political pressure has been mounting on the current executives of the bank to renounce hefty bonuses they were awarded at a time when many Britons face painful spending cuts and tax hikes.

Goodwin's replacement, Stephen Hester, announced Sunday he would not accept a bonus of 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) in shares. The day before, RBS chairman Philip Hampton waived his own bonus of 1.4 million pounds ($2.2 million) in shares.

___

Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_rbs

mike martz hokies quadrantid norv turner work it jerry angelo amy chua

Hundreds of Meteorites Uncovered in Antarctica (SPACE.com)

A gang of heavily insulated scientists has wrapped up its Antarctic expedition, with its members thawing out from the experience, but pleased to have bagged more than 300 space rocks.

They are participants in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program, or ANSMET for short. Since 1976, ANSMET researchers have been recovering thousands of meteorite specimens from the East Antarctic ice sheet. ANSMET is funded by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation.

According to the ANSMET website, the specimens are currently the only reliable, continuous source of new, nonmicroscopic extraterrestrial material. Given that there are no active planetary sample-return missions coming or going at the moment, the retrieval of meteorites is the cheapest and only guaranteed way to recover new things from worlds beyond the Earth. [Photos: Asteroids in Deep Space ]

Special place

"It has been another interesting season at Miller Range," said Ralph Harvey, associate professor in the department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

"The place is special for us because we seem to find meteorites everywhere , in every little nook and cranny, almost unpredictable," Harvey told SPACE.com. "And it did it again ... lots of places we checked out just to be complete proved to have dozens of specimens."

Harvey is the principal investigator for the ANSMET program. "I've been leading field parties since 1991 and I think this year marks my 25th overall with the program," Harvey said.

Harvey likens his search for meteorites to a farmer who's used to harvesting corn in a field finding it growing in the barn, in the garage, in the basement and other surprising spots.

The meteorite hunting wasn't all smooth, though.

The team was held back significantly by early snowfalls that buried the meteorites. Even though a few strong windstorms cleared some of it, the whipping winds did not clear all of it, Harvey explained.?

"The total number of meteorites is less than half what I would have predicted, again primarily because of that early snow hiding all the specimens," Harvey said. "We'll be going back to the Miller Range at least one more time and maybe two."

Celestial collectibles

Antarctica is viewed as the world's premier meteorite hunting ground, and for good reason.

While meteorites fall in a random fashion all over the globe, the East Antarctic ice sheet is a "desert of ice," a stark scene that enhances the likelihood of finding meteorites, which are usually undisturbed and stand out against the background.

In the just-concluded search, the team's bounty of celestial collectibles brought the total number of meteorites found in ANSMET history to 20,000. [Hunting for Space Rocks: Q&A with Geoff Notkin of 'Meteorite Men']

Along with Harvey, the meteorite hunters are:

John Schutt, an ANSMET mountaineer for over 30 years who once again played that role. He recently got an honorary doctorate recognizing his contributions to planetary science.

Jim Karner, a postdoctoral researcher working with the ANSMET program and a specialist in Martian meteorites from Case Western Reserve. He's a veteran of four ANSMET expeditions.

Christian Schrader, a geologist from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., who has done significant rock work, particularly in studying lunar meteorites.

Katie Joy, planetary geologist, most recently from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Tex., and a lunar meteorite researcher.

Anne Peslier, a planetary scientist from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston who has done a great deal of work on Martian meteorites.

Jake Maule, a planetary scientist, recently of Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C., with a specialty in astrobiology.

Jesper Holst, a Ph.D. student studying planetary geochemistry at the University of Copenhagen.

Tim Swindle, a planetary geochemist from the University of Arizona, taking part in the second half of the season, and a veteran of several previous expeditions.

Samples and survival kits

The team members used Ski-Doo Snowmobiles to transport themselves out in the field. Each person is armed with a survival kit, meteorite gathering equipment, lots of water and food, medical kits, Iridium satellite phones and GPS devices.

Once a sample is spotted, scientists assign it an identification number. They establish its position with GPS and note the specimen's size, possible classification and any distinguishing features such as shape or fusion crust.

Researchers then collect the sample in a sterile Teflon bag, taking care to avoid contact with any mechanical or biological materials.

While the field season was in progress, these samples were inventoried and kept frozen. Upon the team's return to McMurdo Station, the U.S. scientific headquarters in the Antarctic, the meteorites were transferred to special shipping containers and sent, still frozen, to the Antarctic Meteorite Curation Facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

There the meteorites are carefully removed from their sealed bags, dried to remove any attached snow or ice and stored under cleanroom conditions for future study.

Tent time

During their month-long stay, and at different camp sites, the group posted a series of dispatches from the field. Frequently, the noncooperating weather forced the team to spend lots of tent time: eating, reading, resting, writing.

"But as always in Antarctica, everything depends on the weather," wrote an upbeat Peslier, "so who knows what tomorrow will bring!"

Added another team member, "I am starting to wonder about the wisdom of having so many sugary snacks within hand's reach, literally, in our tent food box."

"Life has been good so far in camp," wrote Joy. "There has been lots of great meals, endless hot chocolate drinking and, having dug out my box of sweet treats, I have uncovered my small stash of Kendal mint cake that I have been saving for months for the trip. Yum."

In another dispatch from the ice, Schrader reported: "It was a special day for us because we collected our first meteorites. Yee haw." At the start of exploring Miller Range, he said, "we collected 15 specimens...a modest but solid start."

Snug in his tent, Maule explained: "The biggest hardship for me out here is missing my loved ones back home. Yet, all of us on the team are in the same boat and we're all pulling together for one another. This place is special and it is a real honor for us to be here."

As the Christmas holiday season neared, Maule observed: "Best wishes to everyone as the holiday season nears. We actually have a poor, stunted Christmas tree in a bucket outside the poo tent. Very festive."

In another posting. Holst wrote: "A few hours of systematic searching yielded another 14 meteorites, including carbonaceous chondrite shards...I think we all feel that we hit the jackpot today, and we are so happy that we moved camp. So now, the real hunt is on! Oh yeah!"

Click here to see the rest of the ANSMET 2011-2012 team postings.

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of last year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120124/sc_space/hundredsofmeteoritesuncoveredinantarctica

double mastectomy 2011 bowl schedule bcs games heath bell

Romney reports tax bill of $6.2 million for 2010-11 (Reuters)

TAMPA, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney bowed to political pressure and cracked the books on his personal finances on Tuesday, releasing tax returns showing he will pay $6.2 million in taxes on $42.5 million in combined 2010 and 2011 income.

Unlike most Americans who earn a paycheck, Romney gets the majority of his income from investment profits, dividends and interest. One of the wealthiest men ever to run for the White House, he made his fortune buying and selling companies as a private equity financier with Bain Capital.

Romney and his wife Ann paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010 and expect to pay a 15.4 percent effective tax rate when they file their returns for 2011.

Those rates are roughly in line with the effective tax rates paid by most Americans, but they are far below the top income tax rate levied against wages, which is 35 percent, because the U.S. tax code favors investment income over wage income.

Romney released the tax returns after a week when his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, questioned whether Romney was hiding information about his finances and cast him as out of touch with most Americans.

Romney's estimated net worth is $190 million to $250 million.

The candidates are engaged in the state-by-state battle for their party's nomination to face President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election. The next contest is the Florida primary on January 31.

Gingrich's attacks helped him upset the former Massachusetts governor in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Since then, Romney has fired back with attacks questioning Gingrich's character, judgment and lucrative work as a consultant.

Romney's release of his tax returns is meant to try to blunt Gingrich's criticisms on that front, but the returns could further fuel a national debate about the fairness of the tax code and rising U.S. income inequality.

Romney campaign officials said his tax rate is based mostly on blind trust investment income. They said he makes no decisions on how his money is invested. They said his holdings include amounts in funds based in the Cayman Islands and other overseas entities.

The Caymans holdings and holdings in a Swiss bank account - which was closed in 2010 after an adviser decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney - were reported on tax returns and were not vehicles to avoid taxes, the advisers said.

Regardless, the emerging picture was of a man of great means who contributes mightily to charity. The tax returns showed he and his wife contributed $7 million in charity over the two years, much of it going to the Mormon church. That represents more than 15 percent of the Romneys' income for those years.

Romney had total capital gains income of $12.5 million for 2010 and an estimated $10.7 million for 2011.

'FULSOME RELEASE'

Top campaign officials and the director of Romney's blind trust, Brad Malt, briefed Reuters on the details ahead of a more general release of the information on Tuesday morning.

Campaign counsel Ben Ginsberg, asked why Romney was not releasing tax records for the years in the 1980s and 1990s in which Romney made his fortune at private equity firm Bain Capital, said the two years covered by the tax returns should give a broad picture of Romney's financial situation.

"We're not going to get into the game of once you give them something, they demand more," Ginsberg said. "This is a fulsome release and we're proud of it."

The tax issue may have been a factor in Romney's loss to Gingrich in the South Carolina primary last Saturday. It became a distraction to Romney's campaign, and Romney's fuzzy answers on when and if he would release his records aggravated the problem.

First he said he might release them, or might not. When the questions kept coming, he said he would put them out in April, after his 2011 forms were completed. Only after he was defeated in South Carolina did his aides say he would release them this week. Gingrich has released his returns for 2010, but has not released an estimate for last year, as Romney did.

Long considered the front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Romney was staggered by Gingrich's lopsided win in South Carolina, and is looking to regain enough momentum to defeat Gingrich in Florida.

(Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign_romney_taxes

joel osteen emmy rossum moonshine tony blankley the big chill jay z and beyonce steelers

Nigerian police say four Boko Haram members killed (Reuters)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) ? Nigerian police said on Monday they shot dead four members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram in the northeast city of Maiduguri and recovered explosive materials stored in a car, two days after the sect carried out its most deadly attacks.

Bomb attacks and fierce gun battles between the sect and police on Friday in Nigeria's second largest city Kano killed at least 178 people, according to hospital staff. Kano is hundreds of kilometers west of Maiduguri, Boko Haram's home town.

"Four members of Boko Haram sect involved in killings in Maiduguri and environs have been under surveillance of security agencies and have been shot dead in Pomomari area of Maiduguri yesterday (Sunday)," Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, an officer in the joint military task force, said in a statement.

"Various IED (improvised explosive device) materials prepared for detonation were recovered from their car."

Boko Haram, which was formed in Maiduguri in 2002, has killed hundreds of people in the last year, mostly in and around its home state of Borno, though its attacks have been spreading across the north of Africa's most populous nation.

Residents in Kano, a city of more than 10 million people, began to return to work on Monday amid a heavy military presence as soldiers searched vehicles at dozens of checkpoints set up on the city's wide, dusty streets.

President Goodluck Jonathan has been severely criticized for not getting a grip on Boko Haram, a group he says have infiltrated the police, military and all areas of government.

Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on Afghanistan's Taliban.

The sect originally said it wanted sharia, Islamic law, to be applied more widely across Nigeria but its aims appear to have changed.

The sect focuses its attacks mostly on the police, military and government, but has attacked Christians more recently. It says it is fighting enemies who have wronged its members through violence, arrests or economic neglect and corruption.

(Reporting by Ibrahim Mshelizza; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja and Mike Oboh in Kano; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_nigeria_sect

project runway all stars elin nordegren kansas state tangled ever after king cake last house on the left last house on the left

AdWatch: Obama's new TV ad, 'Unprecedented' (AP)

WASHINGTON ? TITLE: "Unprecedented."

LENGTH: 30 seconds.

AIRING: On national cable and broadcast and cable stations in Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

KEY IMAGES: The ad opens with the words, "Secretive oil billionaires attacking President Obama," showing a small image of an ad aired by GOP-leaning outside group Americans for Prosperity that criticizes Obama's connection to the Solyndra bankruptcy. The Obama ad hits back, claiming the other ad is "not tethered to facts."

Obama is then shown sitting in the Oval Office, speaking with two advisers. "President Obama's record on ethics ... Unprecedented," the ad says, citing Common Cause and the League of Women Voters. The ad scrolls through images of workers wearing hard hats installing solar panels and electric wind turbines rotating at dusk.

The words "2.7 million clean-energy American jobs" are superimposed on solar panels, citing a report by the Brookings Institution followed by the words "expanding rapidly." A woman is shown pumping gasoline into a nondescript gray car and an offshore oil platform is blanketed by a setting sun. The ad then says American dependence on foreign oil has fallen below the 50 percent mark, citing data from the Energy Information Administration in May 2011.

The ad cuts back to Obama sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, with the words, "President Obama `kept a campaign promise to toughen ethics rules,'" citing fact-checking organization Politifact from Jan. 21, 2009. Obama is then shown in a field of solar panels, talking to two men.

ANALYSIS: "Morning in America" this is not. The first ad of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign avoids the typical sunny re-introduction of an incumbent president, instead offering a stern defense of Obama's record on energy and ethics.

The spot, airing in the days surrounding Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, responds to a hard-hitting ad accusing the president of overseeing pay-for-play politics with bankrupt energy company Solyndra. That ad was aired by Americans for Prosperity, a group with ties to the billionaire energy moguls Charles and David Koch, in the same states where Obama's ad is appearing.

By citing "secretive oil billionaires" attacking the president, the ad aims to drum up Obama's most ardent supporters who have assailed the Koch Brothers' bankrolling of conservative causes. The $2.5 million ad buy is running in six states Obama carried in 2008 and remain critical to his re-election prospects.

California solar panel manufacturer Solyndra imploded last year even though it had received a $528 million federal loan guarantee from the Obama administration under a 2009 stimulus law. More than 1,000 jobs were lost in the bankruptcy. House Republicans have questioned the connection of two major Obama donors to Solyndra, one with a large investment in the company and another who helped monitor the loan guarantee program.

Obama's ad aims to recast the Solyndra storyline by touting the administration's work to bring more transparency to government and develop renewable energy jobs and cut the nation's dependence on imported oil.

Yet some of the citations listed in the ad could be misleading.

Politifact initially found that Obama kept his campaign promise on toughening ethics rules, but later updated its verdict because of concerns over former lobbyists receiving waivers to return to government under Obama's watch. Politifact changed its rating to a "Promise Broken," yet the ad simply cites the first finding.

The Brookings Institution study refers to 2.7 million workers currently employed by the clean economy ? not the number of jobs created by Obama, which a viewer might interpret from the ad. The report found that "clean economy establishments" added half a million jobs between 2003 and 2010, comprising six years of the Bush administration.

The report said the industry was "expanding rapidly at a time of sluggish national growth" but found the growth of the clean energy economy had been "depressed by significant policy problems and uncertainties."

Lastly, the Energy Information Administration's report found that U.S. dependence on foreign oil had dropped below 50 percent ? but it said there was "no single explanation for the decline." It attributed the trend to a "significant contraction in consumption" that "partly reflects the downturn in the underlying economy after the financial crisis of 2008."

If viewers were expecting a feel-good start to Obama's campaign on the airwaves, this is not the ad. In a new age of super PACs spending millions on advertising, they could see campaigns playing more defense on TV throughout the campaign.

___

Analysis by Associated Press writer Ken Thomas.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_adwatch

zachary quinto ashley judd brewers harbaugh the walking dead season 2 milwaukee brewers will power

Samsung Galaxy Note for AT&T passes through the FCC

Well that didn't take long. Shortly after getting our grubby mitts on the AT&T variant of Samsung's Galaxy Note at CES, the jumbo phone has made its way into the loving arms of Uncle Sam at the FCC. Naturally, it's not advertised as such, but test documents reveal that a model SGH-i717 handset packing UMTS/HSPA+ (21Mbps) and GSM/EDGE world radios, plus Ma Bell-friendly bands 4 and 17 LTE has passed the FCC's emissions tests with flying colors. So, now that it's got the governmental stamp of approval, all that's left is to find out when we can make with the S Pen action on AT&T's newly minted high speed network. Don't keep us waiting, guys.

Samsung Galaxy Note for AT&T passes through the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/2hdZ4yS54m0/

end of the world jerome harrison ryan leaf ryan leaf jahvid best libya map libya map

'Pulverized' chromosomes linked to cancer?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 19, 2012) ? They are the Robinson Crusoes of the intracellular world -- lone chromosomes, whole and hardy, stranded outside the nucleus where their fellow chromosomes reside. Such castaways, each confined to its own "micronucleus," are often found in cancer cells, but scientists haven't known what role, if any, they play in the cancer process.

In a paper published online on Jan. 18 by the journal Nature, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have mapped out a mechanism by which micronuclei could potentially disrupt the chromosomes within them and produce cancer-causing gene mutations. The findings may point to a vulnerability in cancer cells that could be attacked by new therapies.

"The most common genetic change in cancer is the presence of an incorrect number of intact chromosomes within cancer cells -- a condition known as aneuploidy," says Dana-Farber's David Pellman, MD, the study's senior author. "The significance of aneuploidy has been hard to pin down, however, because little is known about how it might trigger tumors. In contrast, the mechanism by which DNA damage and broken chromosomes cause cancer is well established -- by altering cancer genes in a way that spurs runaway cell division.

"The new study demonstrates one possible chain of events by which aneuploidy and specifically 'exiled' chromosomes could lead to cancer-causing mutations, with potential implications for cancer prevention and treatment," says Pellman, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Margaret M. Dyson Professor of Pediatric Oncology at Dana-Farber, Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School.

Whole chromosomes can end up outside the nucleus as a result of a glitch in cell division. In normal division, a cell duplicates its chromosomes and dispatches them to the newly forming daughter cells: the original set to one daughter, the twin set to the other. For a variety of reasons, the chromosomes sometimes aren't allocated evenly -- one daughter receives an extra one, the other is short one. Unlike the rest of the chromosomes, these stragglers sometimes don't make it to the nucleus. Instead, they're marooned elsewhere within the cell and become wrapped in their own membrane, forming a micronucleus.

"In some respects, micronuclei are similar to primary nuclei," Pellman remarks, "but much about their function and composition is unknown. Previous studies differ on whether micronuclei replicate or repair their chromosomes as normal nuclei do. The ultimate fate of these chromosomes is unclear as well: Are they passed on to daughter cells during cell division or are they somehow eliminated as division proceeds?"

One clue that odd-man-out chromosomes themselves may be subject to damage -- and therefore be involved in cancer -- emerged from Pellman's previous research into aneuploidy. "We found that cancer cells generated from cells with micronuclei also have a great deal of chromosome breakage," Pellman explains. But researchers didn't know if this was a sign of connection or of coincidence.

Another clue came from a recently discovered phenomenon called "chromothripsis," in which one chromosome of a cancer cell shows massive amounts of breakage and rearrangement, while the remainder of the genome is largely intact. "That finding leapt off the page of these studies -- that such extensive damage could be limited to a single chromosome or single arm of a chromosome," Pellman says. "We wondered if the physical isolation of chromosomes in micronuclei could explain this kind of highly localized chromosome damage."

To find out, Karen Crasta, PhD, of Pellman's lab and the study's lead author, used a confocal microscope to observe dividing cells with micronuclei. She found that while micronuclei do form duplicate copies of their chromosomes, the process is bungled in two respects. First, it is inefficient: part of the chromosome is replicated and part isn't, leading to chromosome damage. Second, it is out of sync: the micronucleus keeps trying to replicate its chromosomes long after replication of the other chromosomes was completed. For cell division to be successful, every step of the process must occur in the proper order, at the proper time. In fact, when study co-author Regina Dagher directly analyzed the structure of the late-replicating chromosomes, she found them to be smashed to bits -- exactly what was predicted as the first step in chromothripsis.

The final piece of the puzzle came when Pellman's colleague Neil Ganem, PhD, examined what happens to these pulverized fragments, using an imaging trick that marked the chromosome in the micronucleus with its own color.

"It has been theorized that micronuclei are garbage disposals for chromosomes that the cell doesn't need anymore," Pellman comments. "If that were true, the smashed pieces would be discarded or digested, but we found that, a third of the time, they're donated to one of the daughter cells and therefore cold be incorporated into that cell's genome.

Pellman says that the findings suggest that, unexpectedly, whole chromosome aneuploidy might promote cancer in a very similar way to other kinds of genomic alterations. The key event may be mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressors. This mechanism may also explain how cancer cells acquire more than one such mutation at a time.

"Although chromothripsis occurs in only a few percent of human cancers, our findings suggest that it might be an extreme instance of a kind of chromosome damage that could be much more common," says Pellman, who adds that accelerating this process in cancer cells, thus generating so many mutations that the cells die, may represent a possible strategy for new therapies against certain tumors.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Karen Crasta, Neil J. Ganem, Regina Dagher, Alexandra B. Lantermann, Elena V. Ivanova, Yunfeng Pan, Luigi Nezi, Alexei Protopopov, Dipanjan Chowdhury, David Pellman. DNA breaks and chromosome pulverization from errors in mitosis. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature10802

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119163255.htm

miami hurricanes vlad the impaler michael lohan fiddler on the roof rally squirrel rally squirrel scumbag steve

'Survivor' Winner Ethan Zohn Says He's Getting Better

Ethan Zohn has had a difficult few months, but it looks like his cancer treatment is working. The Grassroots Soccer co-founder has successfully completed three rounds of chemotherapy and his tumors are shrinking.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/survivor-winner-ethan-zohn-says-hes-getting-better/1-a-420665?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Asurvivor-winner-ethan-zohn-says-hes-getting-better-420665

netanyahu apple keynote apple keynote seattle news seattle news jenna fischer ben bernanke

Ethnic Shan leader in Myanmar to re-register party (AP)

YANGON, Myanmar ? A prominent ethnic minority leader recently freed from prison in Myanmar said Thursday he will register his political party but it will not contest upcoming by-elections.

Hkun Htun Oo said his Shan Nationalities League for Democracy party decided to rejoin mainstream politics after being taken off the list of legal parties because it refused to take part in the 2010 general election.

The decision is the latest move illustrating a new era in Myanmar's politics, after decades of strictly authoritarian military rule. The elected government is still dominated by the military and its allies, but the ex-general who became prime minister, Thein Sein, initiated reforms in an effort at reconciliation and ending West-imposed sanctions.

The Shan party won the second largest number of seats after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in the 1990 election that the long-ruling junta nullified.

Suu Kyi's party, which also boycotted the 2010 polls, recently reregistered and will contest all 48 seats in the April 1 by-election.

Hkun Htun Oo said his party decided at a meeting to register "so that they can legally conduct political activities" but added the party doesn't have enough time to organize to run in the April by-election.

Hkun Htun Oo and several party colleagues were arrested in 2005 and charged with high treason and other offenses after the government accused them of launching movements to disintegrate national unity soon after they attended a meeting of many ethnic minorities.

Hkun Htun Oo, serving a 93-year prison sentence, and SNLD general secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin, serving 85 years, were freed under an amnesty on Jan. 13. After his release, Hkun Htun Oo said the charges against them were baseless and he was imprisoned only because his Shan group refused to take part in a military-directed constitution drafting process.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_politics

packers vs giants focus on the family giants score baltimore ravens ravens aaron rodgers super bowl 2012

Oil rises above $101 on positive China data, Iran

Oil advanced above $101 a barrel Wednesday, buoyed by positive economic data from China and continued concerns about diplomatic tensions with Iran and their potential effect on the flow of the region's oil exports.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was up 74 cents at $101.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $2.01 to finish at $100.71 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude was up 44 cents to $111.97 on the ICE Futures exchange.

China, the world's second largest economy, reported 8.9 percent growth in the fourth quarter, slower than the previous quarter but robust enough to indicate it would avoid an abrupt slowdown. Retail and factory production improved while oil demand was up 6.4 percent in 2011 from 2010, according to data cited by Barclays Capital.

Tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as a move by France to accelerate the EU's implementation of an embargo on Iranian oil export also supported prices, he said.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi has said Saudi Arabia wants to stabilize prices at $100 a barrel this year and was ready to pump more oil if needed. That came as Iran warned Gulf nations not to make up any shortfall and that it may shut the Strait of Hormuz which is used to transport about a fifth of the world's oil.

Iraq's oil minister, Abdul-Karim Elaibi, who is also the rotating president of OPEC, said he would travel to Iran on Thursday to convince Tehran to assure the world that the Islamic Republic will not close the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which about one-sixth of the world's oil flows.

A slower pace of oil demand growth forecast by the International Energy Agency helped cap gains.

The Paris-based IEA said global demand for crude would rise by 1.1 million barrels a day in 2012, while earlier it was expecting demand to increase by 1.3 million barrels a day.

The IEA also warned that the relatively narrow band in which oil prices have been moving lately was not necessarily a sign of market consistency.

"A sustained spell of oil price stability is often seen as a good thing," the IEA said in its monthly report on the oil market. "But if it derives from the 'rock' of potential economic slump on the one hand, and the 'hard place' of possible geopolitical turmoil on the other, that is scarcely a source of comfort."

Investors will also be monitoring fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.

Data for the week ending Jan. 13 is expected to show builds of 2.6 million barrels in crude oil stocks and of 3 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its report on oil stocks later Wednesday, while the report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration ? the market benchmark ? will be out Thursday.

Both reports are being released a day later than usual because of Monday's Martin Luther King holiday.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 0.16 cent to $3.0388 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 0.83 cent to $2.7796 per gallon. Natural gas advanced 2 cents to $2.508 per 1,000 cubic feet.

___

Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-18-Oil-Prices/id-3892db132760415e95657fbc9c2c467f

nancy grace st louis rams charlie sheen roast dancing with the stars 2011 cast paz de la huerta julianna margulies dr oz

Lazy Bows Wrapping Paper: The Only Good Use For 3D I've Seen So Far [3D]

There's no better way to say "I truly hate you" than by giving someone a gift that requires them to wear 3D glasses. But this lazy gift wrap is a brilliant way to show someone you actually care, a little. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/gYGtkDCpjWY/lazy-bows-wrapping-paper-the-only-good-use-for-3d-ive-seen-so-far

nfl draft 2012 rose bowl 2012 nfl playoff picture nfl playoff picture ryan seacrest the secret life of bees sat cheating scandal

Rupert Murdoch turns to Twitter to attack Obama (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/186955567?client_source=feed&format=rss

john hughes panasonic lumix dmc lx5 ucla football taylor momsen deliverance muhammad ali pentatonix

Caucus Quiz, How Romney's Already a Winner, New Newt and Political Bracketology (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/182140883?client_source=feed&format=rss

heavy d dead alaska weather alaska weather election results gop debate live gop debate live nome alaska

Obama applauds Iowa Democrats for their help

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia arrive on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in Washington. The first family was returning from their family vacation to Hawaii. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia arrive on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in Washington. The first family was returning from their family vacation to Hawaii. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet people on the tarmac before they board Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, in Honolulu, en route to Washington after a family vacation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Air Force One, carrying President Barack and the first family, prepares to land at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney speaks during his daily briefing, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in the White House's Brady Briefing Room in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Confronting his Republican opponents, President Barack Obama told Iowa Democrats on Tuesday that the stakes of the 2012 election are much higher than when the state launched his presidential bid four years ago.

"We're battling millions of dollars of negative advertising and lobbyists and special interests who don't want to see the change that you worked so hard to fully take root," Obama said in a teleconference with Democrats attending precinct caucuses. "And that's why this time out is going to be, in some ways, more important than the first time out."

Obama outlined his progress during the first term, telling activists in the live video link that because of their support, the Iraq war ended, a major health care overhaul bill was signed into law and the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays was no longer in use.

"The problems that we've been dealing with over the last three years, they didn't happen overnight and we're not going to fix them overnight," Obama said. "But we've been making steady progress as long as we can sustain it." Democrats estimated that more than 25,000 Iowans attended Democratic caucuses.

Obama wasted little time getting back in front of voters following a Hawaiian vacation spent largely out of the spotlight. On Wednesday, Obama will travel to Cleveland for an event focused on the economy.

Obama was seeking to rebut months of withering criticism from Republicans as GOP voters in Iowa took their first step in choosing a challenger among a field that included Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and others. Republicans have assailed Obama's economic record, pointing to high unemployment rates, while tagging him as a president who has failed to live up to lofty expectations.

"Three years later, the president's promises of hope and change have been replaced with a record of failed leadership and policies that have made the economy worse," Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said.

Iowa looks to be among about a dozen states that could shift either way in the 2012 campaign, with Republicans pointing to voter registration gains as a positive sign heading into the fall. Iowa has switched its support in each of the past three elections, supporting Obama in 2008, Republican President George W. Bush in 2004 and Democrat Al Gore in 2000.

Trying to build on his 2008 win there, Obama's campaign has opened eight offices in the state and had held more than 1,200 training sessions, phone banks and other events and made more than 350,000 phone calls to supporters since April.

The president's re-election campaign emailed supporters a video of Obama's Iowa victory speech in January 2008, arguing he has kept the promises he made that night: making health care more affordable, cutting taxes for the middle class, ending the war in Iraq and reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

In Des Moines, roughly 200 people gathered at a caucus site at Lincoln High School, making small talk and waiting for Obama to speak as a girls' basketball game was played in an adjoining gym. Several party loyalists said they thought Obama could reignite the loyal support he generated in 2008.

"No Republican candidate is exciting their base. There's just isn't anybody exciting their base, and if they can't get excited, I just can't believe they have a chance whatsoever," said Danny Waterman, 65, a retired police officer who supported Obama four years ago.

Scott Rieker, a 35-year-old elementary school teacher, said he hasn't agreed with everything Obama has done since winning the White House but many party loyalists are approaching the upcoming campaign with a greater sense of reality.

"I'm not going to vote for anyone else, and I will make calls and knock on doors," Rieker said. "But ... it's more grounded in reality now. We thought that the world would magically change in four years, I think, when we were working last time."

Rieker and others listened as Obama sat in a chair with a flag behind him in a call monitored by Mitch Stewart, the Obama campaign's battleground states director.

Skipping a fiery speech, Obama gave caucus-goers in Iowa an understated recitation of accomplishments and challenges. The address was marred by audio difficulties when the president sought to hear questions from two members of the audience.

Obama told party activists that he was "actually more optimistic now than I was when I first ran, because we've already seen change take place." He said a key part of the 2012 campaign would be "reminding the American people of how far we've traveled and the concrete effects that some of our work has had."

Turning nostalgic at one point, Obama recalled the pivotal role that voters in Iowa played in his first campaign, when he shook up the Democratic political establishment by defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton in the caucuses.

"Because of you, because of all the memories I have of being in your living rooms, meeting you in a diner or seeing you over in a campaign office, I have never lost that same source of inspiration that drove me to embark on this journey in the first place," he said. "You guys inspire me every single day."

___

Meredith reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-03-Obama/id-aa651dd935c74530ac3ef8514adc9742

brownback salvia cybermonday deals cybermonday deals steve johnson norman reedus norman reedus

Golf cart driver caught 3 times over limit

17:34 AEDT Mon Jan 2 2012

Gift flip-outBoy gets exactly what he wanted secret slideAussies take on steep dune shock twistKathy Griffin strips on CNN eye catchingGirl's eyebrow dance goes viral ooohHow to defeat your hangover shade itThe new rules of summer skincare '); thisElem.before(twitElem); new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'search', search: 'ripsteve isad', id: 'twtr-search-widget', interval: 10000, title: '', subject: '', width: 310, height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#000203', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#444444', links: '#1986b5' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: true, live: true, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: true, toptweets: true, behavior: 'default' } }).render().start(); }

A man driving a golf cart tried to run away from police after getting caught with almost three times the legal blood alcohol limit.

Police stopped the golf cart at 12.30am (AEDT) on New Year's Day when they saw it travelling on Dorsman Drive at Singleton Heights, in the Hunter Valley.

Officers spoke to two men who were in the cart before subjecting the driver to a roadside breath test, which allegedly returned a positive result.

The 33-year-old man from Byron Bay was arrested and taken to Singleton Police Station where it is alleged he attempted to run from officers.

The man was caught and subjected to a breath analysis which returned a reading of 0.143.

He was subsequently charged with mid-range PCA, providing a false name and resisting arrest.

He was refused bail to appear in Singleton Bail Court on Monday.

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8397519/golf-cart-driver-caught-3-times-over-limit

spear of destiny rock hill sc kate middleton pregnant national book awards jessica sutta sexiest man alive 2011 ruben studdard

XE.com - Iceland names new finance minister in govt shuffle

REYKJAVIK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Iceland named a new finance minister on Saturday in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at strengthening the centre-left coalition by decreasing internal dissent.

Oddny Hardardottir, the new minister, is expected to maintain policies aimed at gradually cutting the budget deficit.

The 54-year-old is seen as a loyalist to Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, a Social Democrat whose government has been hurt by the anti-EU sentiments of some ministers.

Iceland is currently in talks to enter the European Union, a stance supported by the prime minister.

'I have no doubt that the changes we are making will be positive for the coalition and the country,' Sigurdardottir told reporters.

Hardardottir replaces Steingrimur Sigfusson as finance minister.

Sigfusson will now take on the Economy Ministry and the Fisheries and Farm Ministry in a combined post. The move ousts an outspoken critic of Iceland's EU talks who had served as farm and fisheries minister.

Analysts say the government will be more united after the reshuffle, announced after traditional end-of-the-year talks between the government and the president.

The reshuffle also means women now outnumber men in the government by five to four, including the prime minister.

(Reporting by Omar Valdimarsson; Writing by Patrick Lannin; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo) Keywords: ICELAND/

(patrick.lannin@thomsonreuters.com)(+46 70 721 1007)(Reuters Messaging: patrick.lannin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.xe.com/news/2011/12/31/2375685.htm?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=TL&utm_content=NOGEO&utm_campaign=News_RSS_Art2

whitney cummings larry the cable guy miracle on 34th street mark sanchez santa tracker patrice oneal monkey bread

Missiles tested near oil-transit channel

Reuters

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Tehran - Iran on Monday tested missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, underlining its threats to close the vital oil-transit channel at the entrance to the Gulf as the West prepares to impose more economic sanctions.

The launch of two missiles took place on the final day of war games in waters east of the Strait of Hormuz, a navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, was quoted as saying by official media.

Another missile was also to be tested Monday, he said.

The longest range of the missiles tested on Monday was 200

kilometres (120 miles)

On Sunday, a medium-range surface-to-air missile was also test-fired during the exercises, according to Mousavi.

The show of military muscle was designed to show Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz - through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows - if it chooses.

Political and military officials have said they could take that drastic step if the West imposes more sanctions on top of others that have already taken their toll on Iran's oil-dependent economy.

US President Barack Obama did up the sanction pressure on the weekend, signing into law new unilateral sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector.

The European Union is considering an embargo on Iranian oil imports. A meeting of EU foreign ministers at the end of this month will decide whether to implement that measure.

The United States, which keeps its Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf, has warned it will not tolerate a closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Halfway through the 10 days of Iranian navy manoeuvres it sent an aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, through the strait on what the Pentagon said was a ?routine? passage.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday told senior officials in his country's central bank that the institution would confront the new US sanctions with ?strength.?

He also said that ?currently there is no particular problem in the economic sector.?

Iran's currency, though, was showing the impact of the sanctions, diving to a record low against the dollar.

On Monday, the Iranian rial was sliding deeper, trading at 16,400 to the dollar. The currency has lost 53 percent of its value over the past year.

The new US sanctions seek to further squeeze Iran's crucial oil revenues, most of which are processed by the central bank.

Under the measures, foreign firms will have to choose between doing business with the Islamic republic or the economically mighty United States.

The sanctions, meant to punish Iran for its nuclear programme, were contained in a mammoth $662 billion US defence bill. Obama signed them into law despite reservations they would ties his hands on setting foreign policy.

Iranian officials have started admitting the sanctions were hurting their economy.

Their threat to close the Strait of Hormuz if the sanctions worsened, though, left analysts sceptical.

Some noted that Iran would devastate its own economy if it did so, likely lose the diplomatic protection it enjoys from Russia and China, and risk open war with the United States.

Monday's missile tests, however, raised concerns over what Iran might do if it felt cornered.

Mousavi said a Qader ground-to-ship cruise missile and a shorter-range Nasr surface-to-surface missile were launched in the tests.

The Qader cruise missile ?built by Iranian experts successfully hit its target and destroyed it,? Mousavi was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.

He said it was ?the first time? a Qader missile had been tested.

Hours later a Nasr missile ?was also fired from a vessel in the sea today,? he told state television, adding that its test, too, was successful.

The Qader missile is said to have a range of 200 kilometres, which is generally considered medium-range or even short-range for a cruise missile, even though IRNA described it as ?long-range.?

The Nasr is based on a Chinese design, as is the other missile to be tested Monday, the Nour. The Nour missile has a range of 200

kilometres. - Sapa-AFP

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/missiles-tested-near-oil-transit-channel-1.1206879

ali fedotowsky ali fedotowsky krill oil krill oil black friday 2011 rhodium uppity

Facebook photos lead to child abuse arrests in Arizona

PHOENIX | Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:52am EST

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Two Arizona parents were arrested by sheriff's deputies after apparently posting pictures on Facebook that showed their children, an infant and a toddler, bound with duct tape, authorities said on Thursday.

Coconino County deputies arrested Frankie Almuina, 20, and Kayla Almuina, 19, on suspicion of two counts of child abuse on Wednesday at their northern Arizona home after being alerted to the photos by an anonymous tip.

The children, a 2-year-old toddler and a 10-month-old infant, were seen online bound with duct tape on their wrists and ankles with their mouths taped shut, Commander Rex Gilliland told Reuters. One of the children was shown hanging upside down on an exercise machine.

The parents told investigators that the photos, posted on the mother's Facebook account, were a joke and that the children were not harmed, Gilliland said.

"It's clear in our minds that these children were placed in a very extreme situation," Gilliland said. "By the look on their faces, they were in sheer terror. I don't know how this could have been a joke."

Authorities were called to the scene after a person who likely knew the couple saw the postings and called the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline, Gilliland said. The caller knew the names of the parents and where they lived.

He said investigators seized about a dozen similar photos, some that were not posted online, from the home north of Williams, Arizona, about 175 miles north of Phoenix.

The couple were being held in a county jail as of late on Thursday. The children have been turned over to another family member, Gilliland said.

(Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/UKInternetNews/~3/_A2jM-y4C-A/us-childabuse-facebook-arizona-idUSTRE7BT05520111230

shooting at virginia tech shooting at virginia tech blagojevich rod blagojevich rod blagojevich harry morgan john lennon death

LabibaLaith: Happy New Year Lenden!!! #London !

• Passer la navigation
• Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
• Passer cette ?tape
• Connexion

• Connexion
• Rejoignez Twitter !

Happy New Year Lenden!!! #London ! Il y a environ 5 heures via Twitter for BlackBerry?

LabibaLaith

Labiba Laith

Pied de page

• ? 2011 Twitter
• ? propos de nous
• Contact
• Blog
• Statut
• Ressources
• API
• Entreprises
• Aide
• Offres d'emploi
• Conditions
• Confidentialit?

Source: http://twitter.com/LabibaLaith/statuses/153266343997751297

toyota recall order of operations carrie underwood eric church sara evans lionel richie cma awards