UFC 159 was clearly cursed by demons (Video)

"It was a very weird night."

UFC president Dana White started the post-UFC 159 press conference with these words. The event featured a nasty broken thumb on Yancy Medeiros, and equally nasty broken toe on Jon Jones, two fight stoppages because of eyepokes, and one fight that was canceled hours before it was supposed to happen.

But the craziest part of all? The demonic voice that was heard between rounds of Michael Bisping's win over Alan Belcher.

Did the gates of hell open before the fight, and did Satan send his minions to New Jersey? Were Bisping's cornermen, who were bathed in creepy red light, actually demons? Middle Easy thinks it was a spell from "Passages of the Dead."

It's possible the UFC ticked off the wrong person and got the evil eye thrown its way. The bigger question: Are we all cursed for watching the bouts?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-159-clearly-cursed-demons-video-172924960.html

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Lawmaker: FBI checking training angle in bombing

FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2013 file photo, visitors pause at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in Boston. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2013 file photo, visitors pause at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in Boston. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 file photo, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct ranking member Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, arrives for a closed door executive session on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - This file image from a Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security joint bulletin issued to law enforcement and obtained by The Associated Press, shows the remains of a pressure cooker that the FBI says was part of one of the bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/FBI, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday that the FBI is investigating in the United States and overseas to determine whether the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing received training that helped them carry out the attack.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is charged with joining with his older brother, Tamerlan, who's now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The bombs were triggered by a remote detonator of the kind used in remote-control toys, U.S. officials have said.

U.S. officials investigating the bombings have told The Associated Press that so far there is no evidence to date of a wider plot, including training, direction or funding for the attacks.

A criminal complaint outlining federal charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev described him as holding a cellphone in his hand minutes before the first explosion.

The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents.

"I think given the level of sophistication of this device, the fact that the pressure cooker is a signature device that goes back to Pakistan, Afghanistan, leads me to believe ? and the way they handled these devices and the tradecraft ? ... that there was a trainer and the question is where is that trainer or trainers," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on "Fox News Sunday."

"Are they overseas in the Chechen region or are they in the United States?" McCaul said. "In my conversations with the FBI, that's the big question. They've casted a wide net both overseas and in the United States to find out where this person is. But I think the experts all agree that there is someone who did train these two individuals."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he thought it's "probably true" that the attack was not linked to a major group. But, he told CNN's "State of the Union," that there "may have been radicalizing influences" in the U.S. or abroad. "It does look like a lot of radicalization was self-radicalization online, but we don't know the full answers yet."

On ABC's "This Week," moderator George Stephanopoulos raised the question to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about FBI suspicions that the brothers had help in getting the bombs together.

"Absolutely, and not only that, but in the self-radicalization process, you still need outside affirmation," responded Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

"We still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with," he added.

At this point in the investigation, however, Sen. Claire McCaskill said there was no evidence that the brothers "were part of a larger organization, that they were, in fact, part of some kind of terror cell or any kind of direction."

The Missouri Democrat, who's on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "it appears, at this point, based on the evidence, that it's the two of them."

Homemade bombs built from pressure cookers have been a frequent weapon of militants in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen once published an online manual on how to make one.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, officials have said. He frequently looked at extremist sites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate.

In recent years, two would-be U.S. attackers reported receiving bomb-making training from foreign groups but failed to set off the explosives.

A Nigerian man was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb sewn into his underwear. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had tried to set off the bomb minutes before the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight landed.

The device didn't work as planned, but it still produced smoke, flame and panic. He told authorities that he trained in Yemen under the eye of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and one of the best-known al-Qaida figures.

A U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed al-Awlaki in 2011.

In 2010, a Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square also received a life sentence. Faisal Shazad said the Pakistan Taliban provided him with more than $15,000 and five days of explosives training.

The bomb was made of fireworks fertilizer, propane tanks and gasoline canisters. Explosives experts said the fertilizer wasn't the right grade and the fireworks weren't powerful enough to set off the intended chain reaction.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-28-Boston%20Marathon-Congress/id-8a6376da8014442fa115039bb649d7bc

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Florence and Mary: Movie Review: Pitch Perfect

I recently picked up Pitch Perfect from the library (where I rent all my movies from - post coming soon!) and it was the perfect Saturday night film. Most often when watching tv I'll still be browsing on the ipad or flicking through a magazine, but every so often there's a film that manages to keep my attention from beginning to end and Pitch Perfect was it.

If you're a fan of Glee I'd suggest this is a must but if you're not (and neither am I) do give it a try. Anna Kendrick of Twilight fame arrives at college and despite her reservations joins underdog a cappella singing group featuring the very funny Rebel Wilson who you must remember from Bridesmaids.

Yes it's fluff, yes its predictable and Bring it On?with microphones?familiar but it's good fun and well worth gathering your friends and/or family together to watch.?

The only criticism my friend had whilst watching was "there's no good looking men" but I'll leave you to judge the "Treble Makers" looks for yourself.

Pin It Now!

Source: http://www.florenceandmary.com/2013/04/movie-review-pitch-perfect.html

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Alaska ferries lose nature experts to budget cuts

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) ? As the sun creeps into the sleeping quarters of the Tustumena, passengers who take a second to look out the window wake up to volcanic topography, sky blue lakes and wildlife that looks extraterrestrial even to most Alaskans.

That ethereal experience only lasts a few seconds; the berth's stripped-down bunk beds and dreary wallpaper quickly remind passengers they are sailing on a ferry that is almost 50 years old.

Having a ship that's a vestige of another era, however, does offer one small perk: During the summer, a handful of vessels have a nature expert on board who teaches passengers about the stunning local scenery and animals.

Alaska's state-owned ferries ? which shuttle residents and tourists between remote towns on the coasts of Washington state, Canada and Alaska ? are scaling back costs by getting rid of the naturalist program on all but one of the 11-ship fleet this year.

State officials say the program may eventually be brought back, but for now, the plan is to replace them with computerized equipment and brochures on the so-called Alaska Marine Highway System, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

In light of Alaska's declining revenues and an unclear financial future, the state's various departments were asked to bring expenses down by eliminating items that do not affect core functions.

Naturalists, who are hired and paid by the U.S. Forest Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, make about $22,000 a season. The state provides them free room and board on the ferry, which costs about $5,000 per year, per ship, according to Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation, the department responsible for the ferry system.

"The core purpose of the marine highway system really is providing transportation as a highway," Woodrow said.

The Marine Highway system is an aging, bare-boned necessity. Only four of the 11 ships in the fleet were built after 1980, but they remain a crucial link connecting the state's coastal cities to the rest of the world. The only way to reach Alaska's capital, Juneau, for instance, is to fly or take a ferry. There are no roads in or out of the rugged terrain.

Many of the ferries' passengers are Alaska residents shuttling from town to town or back from the mainland. But the trips also draw adventuresome tourists looking for an off-the-beaten-path vacation.

The naturalists, called "interpreters," are a valuable tool for tourists and residents because staff members don't have time to play tour guide, according to Doug Stuart, who served as the Tustumena's naturalist for over a decade.

Stuart, 71, is now out of work for the first summer in 12 years. He gets social security, but does odd jobs in the winter to supplement his income. Without the money from the naturalist job, Stuart and his wife are selling their big house in town with a mortgage ? where they currently live together after raising five children there? and moving to a smaller one on the outskirts of town that he's been building for the last few years.

Erin Kirkland, the publisher of AKontheGO.com, a website dedicated to family travel and outdoor activities in Alaska, said she is sad to see the naturalists go because a lot more tourists are starting to take the ferries instead of cruise ships. She and her family also enjoy the interpreters when they take the ferries.

"They have all the maps. They've got all the information about the communities you're headed to, the national forests, the national parks, and they will offer very insightful information," she said. "It's just a really nice fit."

Interpreter programs on many ships began disappearing when funding from the federal government became less certain, Woodrow said.

Without knowing for sure whether the federal government would be able to pay for interpreters in the future, the Department of Transportation is now hesitant to sign a contract to rent out a room for them.

That's space that could be used to transport Alaska's tourists and in-state travelers, the department said.

This summer will be the first time in 23 years that the Tustumena doesn't have a naturalist on board, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official Larry Bell.

It's a loss for tourists because the state ferry system is the one of the few ways to see the Aleutian Islands. Cruise ships mostly travel southeast Alaska, with some venturing to Anchorage and Kodiak.

"I'm really befuddled, because to save a few bucks on what they pay for me to ride and do all the work for the passengers is eventually going to bite them," Stuart said. "I'm afraid that the state of Alaska is going to be hurt a little more deeply than just not getting ferry revenues. I think people just might not come to Alaska if they really wanted to do a ferry trip."

---

Follow Joshua Berlinger on Twitter at https://twitter.com/j_berlinger

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-28-US-Marine-Highway-Naturalists/id-613f3943b9c747d9bf80e8bc56976043

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FBI removes boat used by Boston bombing suspect

By Karen Brooks

(Reuters) - Investigators have removed from its Watertown, Massachusetts, backyard the now-famous boat used as a hiding spot by one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, and have taken it to an evidence storage facility, the FBI said on Saturday.

The boat was the scene of high drama when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old ethnic Chechen charged with the April 15 bombing that killed three people and wounded 264, was captured by authorities on April 19 after a tense day of searching in the Boston area.

The owner of the boat called police after he lifted the tarp of the boat stored in his backyard and saw blood. Police found a wounded Tsarnaev inside the boat.

The boat was processed for evidence at the scene and then moved on Friday to an undisclosed FBI facility for storage, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, is also a suspect but was killed by police on April 18.

Also on Friday, the FBI concluded their search at a landfill in New Bedford for evidence connected to the bombings, she said. Eimiller declined to say what evidence investigators hoped to find and whether they found anything.

"We were seeking evidence but we are not commenting on the nature of what was being sought or what was found," she said. "We can confirm that we were there Thursday, Friday and left yesterday."

The landfill is near the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, attended by the younger Tsarnaev.

Local media reported the FBI were trying to find the younger Tsarnaev's laptop.

(Reporting By Karen Brooks; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-removes-boat-used-boston-bombing-suspect-storage-152132969.html

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Follow These Suggestions To Health And Fitness | Articles Squad

Getting in shape is an essential element of a healthy way of living. But with all the details on the market, understanding what is proper can be hard. You might like to stop trying, but will not practice it. The advice that adheres to can give you some understanding concerning how to boost the healthiness quotient in your daily life.

If you take control of your respiration, it will help you boost your exercises. If you are performing situps or ab crunches, try and exhale forcefully once your shoulder area have reached their highest stage. The muscle tissues that commitment your diaphragm also push your abdominal muscles into working harder.

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There are several spots you can look for physical fitness regimens which entail individuals with issues. Search the internet or talk with a neighborhood community center, health club or college or university to see what training course offerings you can find for people with an impairment. An affiliate from the medical center which specializes in sporting activities treatments can be beneficial.

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When performing ab stomach crunches, breathe out forcefully towards the top of the movements. This will cause your stomach muscle tissues to operate more difficult and burns a greater quantity of energy. Use this strategy to boost the effectiveness of your ab crunches.

Exercise is useful for anyone, and you may improve your exercise by fine-tuning your schedule and changing it from time to time. With more health and fitness expertise to enhance your fitness expertise you can easily build a fitness plan and achieve your objectives.

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Source: http://www.articlessquad.com/follow-these-suggestions-to-health-and-fitness-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=follow-these-suggestions-to-health-and-fitness-2

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Murder suspect missing since 1999 surrenders

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) ? Authorities say a murder suspect who's been on the run since a brazen escape from an Oklahoma jail with eight other inmates in 1999 has turned himself in.

David Lee Kemp was the only inmate to elude capture after escaping the Comanche County jail on March 11, 1999. He was awaiting trial on two first-degree murder counts in the killings of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. Authorities say the inmates escaped after overpowering a guard using a large barbecue fork.

Comanche County Sheriff Kenny Stradley says Kemp, 43, was arrested early Friday. Comanche County is 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

The FBI says Kemp was spotted in Las Vegas and may have visited Phoenix and Louisiana. FBI spokesman Rick Rains says Kemp turned himself in.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/inmate-missing-since-1999-surrenders-oklahoma-162641201.html

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The Shameful Sequester Vote: Bad for Democrats, Worse for Democracy (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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

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How to stop Excel errors driving austerity economics

A global row has erupted over errors in research used to bolster the case for austerity. Open data might have spared us the pain, says Velichka Dimitrova of the Open Knowledge Foundation

Another economics storm has hit the headlines but this time it is not the grand global gambles of the banks that matter ? it is the minutiae of Excel spreadsheet entries. At the centre of it are two professors from prestigious Harvard University, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff.

In 2010 they wrote a paper, "Growth in a time of debt", which concluded that economic growth slows when the ratio of a nation's public debt to its gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds 90 per cent. It goes to the heart of the debate over austerity policies.

Reinhart and Rogoff's results were published in the Papers and Proceedings of one of the most prestigious economics journals ? The American Economic Review ? and had a powerful resonance in a period of serious economic and public policy turmoil. Some argue that the paper prompted governments around the world to slash spending in the hope of stimulating economic growth. For example, US congressman Paul Ryan and the vice president of the European Commission Olli Rehn both cited the 90 per cent threshold level as a benchmark in their policies.

This month Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash and Robert Pollin from the less prestigious University of Massachusetts Amherst tried to replicate the results of Reinhart and Rogoff but instead discovered errors that, when corrected, create a very different outcome.

Debt redeemed

Most widely reported among their three grounds of criticism is a single spreadsheet mistake that meant five countries were excluded from the sample used by Reinhart and Rogoff. The University of Massachusetts team say that, taken together, the problems they have identified in the original paper resulted in significant error in the conclusion that a large public debt cripples growth.

After correcting the mistakes, the researchers found that countries with a lot of public debt suffer only "modestly diminished" average GDP growth rates, rather than the stronger effect shown in the 2010 paper. Their analysis shows that when countries owe about 90 per cent of their GDP, they do indeed tend to have slower economic growth ? but the trend does not follow the data at all well. This means that if a country's public debt exceeds the threshold, its economic performance will not necessarily deteriorate. It may even get better.

The debate continues. Reinhart and Rogoff have admitted they made mistakes but say their core point remains valid. Herndon has responded that his results do not show that public-debt-to-GDP ratio above a certain threshold has a significant impact on growth.

So how did such errors go unnoticed for so long? The American Economic Review has an excellent policy on data availability, implemented in 2004 and a model for other economics journals . However, the Review does not apply it to Papers and Proceedings, an edition of the journal published each May to reflect the annual meetings of the American Economic Association and which is not subject to its usual rigorous peer review. As a result, it did not make the data and regression code of the Reinhart and Rogoff study available to other researchers.

Even if peer review did not apply, does this really exempt researchers publishing in the May issue from sharing their data and code? It is the policy of The American Economic Review "to publish papers only if the data used in the analysis are clearly and precisely documented and are readily available to any researcher for purposes of replication". Note that there is no differentiation between users of the data as peer-reviewers or as researchers who want to replicate the results: data and code should be available to any researcher.

Coding errors happen, but the greater problem was this failure to allow others to review and replicate the results by making the data openly available. If this had been done upon publication in 2010 ? or if the idea of open data was universally applied ? it might not have taken three years to prove these results wrong, and the odd case of Reinhart and Rogoff's slip of the keyboard wouldn't be making such huge waves around the world.

Profile

Velichka Dimitrova is project coordinator of Open Economics at the Open Knowledge Foundation, which advocates the release of datasets and code along with published academic articles. It defines open data as "a piece of data or content? free for anyone to use, reuse, and redistribute ? subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and/or share alike".

This article is based on a blog first posted on the London School of Economics website

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Obama: Syrian government use of chemical weapons a "game changer"

* Lewandowski scored four goals against Real Madrid * Poland international refuses contract extension (adds details, background) BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski have not signed a deal, the newly-crowned champions said on Friday, shooting down widespread speculation of another imminent surprise transfer. "Bayern, as opposed to some reports, has no contract with Robert Lewandowski," the Bavarian Champions League semi-finalists said in a brief statement. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-syrian-government-chemical-weapons-game-changer-183303953.html

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Futures head lower ahead of economic growth report

(Ends first round) NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Selections in the first roundof the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday (picknumber, NFL team, player, position, college): 1-Kansas City, Eric Fisher, offensive tackle, Central Michigan 2-Jacksonville, Luke Joeckel, offensive tackle, Texas A&M 3-Miami (from Oakland), Dion Jordan, defensive tackle, Oregon 4-Philadelphia, Lane Johnson, offensive tackle, Oklahoma 5-Detroit, Ezekiel Ansah, defensive end, Brigham Young 6-Cleveland, Barkevious Mingo, linebacker, LSU 7-Arizona, Jonathan Cooper, guard, North Carolina 8-St. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/futures-head-lower-ahead-economic-growth-report-114859079--finance.html

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Netflix's 'Long Term View' lays out predictions for internet vs. traditional TV delivery

Haven't been reading every Netflix quarterly report or listening to each earnings call for the last several years? No problem, you can quickly get caught up on the company's strategy thanks to a "Long Term View" document posted to its investor relations site. Boiling down many of the things executives like Reed Hastings have been saying into a single PDF, it's an easier to digest road map of where Netflix thinks this whole online video thing is going. Among other things, it sees the simplicity of its offering -- no ads, no VOD, no-hassle cancellation, access on any screen at any time mobile or TV -- as a main selling point. How to keep customers happy? Make sure that they think of Netflix as the better option for their entertainment time than other possible choices. Hit the source link to dig into it yourself or check below for a breakdown.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Comments

Source: Netflix (PDF)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/netflix-long-term-view/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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EU's Rehn: fiscal adjustment slowing down in Europe

MUNICH, April 23 (Reuters) - Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. "They gave us a thrashing," he said. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans. "They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse." Arjen Robben, who sparkled on the wing for Bayern and scored one of the goals, hailed his team's spectacular performance. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eus-rehn-fiscal-adjustment-slowing-down-europe-081518681--business.html

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Periodic bursts of genetic mutations drive prostate cancer

Apr. 25, 2013 ? Cancer is typically thought to develop after genes gradually mutate over time, finally overwhelming the ability of a cell to control growth. But a new closer look at genomes in prostate cancer by an international team of researchers reveals that, in fact, genetic mutations occur in abrupt, periodic bursts, causing complex, large scale reshuffling of DNA driving the development of prostate cancer.

In the April 25 issue of Cell, the scientists, led by researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College, the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Trento in Italy, dub this process "punctuated cancer evolution," akin to the theory of human evolution that states changes in a species occur in abrupt intervals. After discovering how DNA abnormalities arise in a highly interdependent manner, the researchers named these periodic disruptions in cancer cells that lead to complex genome restructuring "chromoplexy."

"We believe chromoplexy occurs in the majority of prostate cancers, and these DNA shuffling events appear to simultaneously inactivate genes that could help protect against cancer," says the study's co-lead investigator Dr. Mark Rubin, who is director of the recently-established Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"Knowing what actually happens over time to the genome in cancer may lead to more accurate diagnosis of disease and, hopefully, more effective treatment in the future," says Dr. Rubin, also the Homer T. Hirst III Professor of Oncology, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and professor of pathology in urology at Weill Cornell and a pathologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. "Our findings represent a new way to think about cancer genomics as well as treatment in prostate and, potentially, other cancers."

The discovery of "chromoplexy" came after the research team worked collaboratively to sequence the entire genomes of 57 prostate tumors and compare those findings to sequences in matched normal tissue.

Co-lead investigator Dr. Levi Garraway, of the Broad Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and his collaborators then tracked how genetic alterations accumulated during cancer development and progression. They used advanced computer techniques to identify periodic bursts of genetic derangements.

"We have, for the first time, mapped the genetic landscape of prostate cancer as it changes over time," says Dr. Garraway, a senior associate member of the Broad Institute and associate professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. "The complex genomic restructuring we discovered, which occurs at discrete times during tumor development, is a unique and important model of carcinogenesis which likely has relevance for other tumor types."

Co-senior author Dr. Francesca Demichelis, assistant professor at the Centre for Integrative Biology at the University of Trento who also serves as adjunct assistant professor of computational biomedicine at Weill Cornell, worked with her collaborators to understand how widespread the DNA mutations and alterations seen in the tumors were across the cancer samples, and what that might mean in terms of cancer progression and, potentially, treatment. "Information about what alterations are common, and which aren't, will most likely help guide us in terms of cancer drug use and patient response," says Dr. Demichelis.

The researchers also report that future targeted cancer therapy may depend on identifying complex sets of genetic mutations and rearrangements in each patient.

"Every cancer patient may have individual patterns of genetic dysfunction that will need to be understood in order to provide precise treatment. Multiple drugs may be needed to shut down these genetic derangements," says Dr. Rubin. "Providing those tests now on every patient isn't possible, but our study suggests that punctuated cancer evolution may occur to provide a subset of genes that offer a selective advantage for tumor growth. If that is true, we may be able to zero in on a limited number of genetic drivers responsible for an individual's prostate cancer."

Astonishing Degree of Genetic Alterations

The collaborators have been working together for a number of years exploring and mapping the prostate cancer genome. They believe that structural genomic alterations are key to prostate cancer development and progression, and their approach has been to model those changes and tease apart the significance of those alterations.

This study sequenced 57 prostate cancer genomes as well as the entire genomes of matched normal tissue. Researchers revealed an astonishing number of genetic alterations in the prostate cancer cells -- 356,136 base-pair mutations and 5,596 rearrangements that were absent from normal DNA. Of those rearrangements, 113 were validated by re-sequencing and other methods.

"We saw wholesale rearrangements of chromosomes -- the cutting up and retying of chromosomes -- mutations we have never seen on that scale," Dr. Garraway says. "Our research teams then charted a path of oncogenic events that appeared to drive prostate cancer."

Using advanced computer techniques that modeled the genomic rearrangements and copy number alterations, the scientists at the Broad Institute inferred that the chromosomal disarray in a typical tumor might accumulate over a handful of discrete events during tumor development.

"The rearrangement of chromosomes can coordinately affect specific genes, which provides a selective advantage for cancer growth," according to Dr. Garraway.

"Chromoplexy is a common process by which geographically-distant genomic regions may be disrupted at once, in a coordinated fashion," says Dr. Rubin. "The unifying feature is that these alterations seem to occur in a sequential, punctuated pattern which is designed to eliminate cancer-fighting genes. This suggests that genes that are active at the end of these events may drive progression of the cancer."

"This study represents a wonderful example of a team science that embraces multidisciplinary competencies," says Dr. Demichelis.

The study required the development of special computational tools to go beyond the pure detection -- presence or absence -- of any particular aberration, and to quantify the dosage of the mutation; meaning, how many tumor cells have that specific mutation in the patient's tumor.

"The approach developed in my laboratory takes advantage of the genetic information of each individual and classifies every aberration as homogenous or heterogeneous across the tumor cells," Dr. Demichelis says. "This classification allows us then to chart the order in which mutations occur and to learn how far the tumor is in its progression. It suggests to us that patients with heterogeneous aberrations may not respond as effectively to a drug as patients with homogenous alterations."

"The punctuated changes we see occur in a single cycle of cell growth, and we believe this leads to tumor cells that have a growth advantage," says Dr. Rubin. "This new model of cancer growth tells us that cells gain an advantage mutating multiple genes simultaneously as opposed to gradually."

"These are exciting findings in a field of prostate cancer genomics that our research team's collaboration has redefined. We have made a lot of progress, but we have much more work to do," adds Dr. Rubin.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Weill Cornell Medical College.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Sylvan?C. Baca, Davide Prandi, Michael?S. Lawrence, Juan?Miguel Mosquera, Alessandro Romanel, Yotam Drier, Kyung Park, Naoki Kitabayashi, Theresa?Y. MacDonald, Mahmoud Ghandi, Eliezer Van?Allen, Gregory?V. Kryukov, Andrea Sboner, Jean-Philippe Theurillat, T.?David Soong, Elizabeth Nickerson, Daniel Auclair, Ashutosh Tewari, Himisha Beltran, Robert?C. Onofrio, Gunther Boysen, Candace Guiducci, Christopher?E. Barbieri, Kristian Cibulskis, Andrey Sivachenko, Scott?L. Carter, Gordon Saksena, Douglas Voet, Alex?H. Ramos, Wendy Winckler, Michelle Cipicchio, Kristin Ardlie, Philip?W. Kantoff, Michael?F. Berger, Stacey?B. Gabriel, Todd?R. Golub, Matthew Meyerson, Eric?S. Lander, Olivier Elemento, Gad Getz, Francesca Demichelis, Mark?A. Rubin, Levi?A. Garraway. Punctuated Evolution of Prostate Cancer Genomes. Cell, 2013; 153 (3): 666 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.03.021

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/pJuLazzxnUw/130425132628.htm

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Google Updates Search iOS App With Minor Bug Fixes, Still No Sign Of Google Now

Google has quietly rolled out an update to its Google Search app for iOS, and before you get your hopes up, I'll go ahead and tell you that there's no "Google Now" anywhere to be seen. The update does, however, bring with it some improvements to voice search. According to the official iTunes page, users will have "faster and significantly improved voice recognition with text streamed on the fly."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/19b2jMaT5EE/

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Know what time it is in 16 regions with the Time Traveler Watch

If you travel often or deal with people in all corners of the world, knowing the local time can be a challenge… unless you have a Time Traveler watch from Watchismo. The watch uses 16 landmark buildings to mark the time in different countries. Big Ben for London, Eiffel Tower for Paris, Statue of Liberty [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/04/09/know-what-time-it-is-in-16-regions-with-the-the-time-traveler-watch/

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How Marines Train for an Enemy Like North Korea

Tanks, F/A-18s, artillery, armored vehicles, and MV-22 tiltrotor Ospreys: Just another day of live-fire training at the Marine Corps' Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif. PM was there to observe?at close range?the climax of the second-ever Integrated Training Exercise (ITX), a training event meant to prepare 800 Marines for deployment.

Unlike earlier training exercises, the Marines' imaginary enemies at the ITX are not insurgent infantry with rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs. Instead, late last year the training personnel here set up a scenario in which Marines oppose battle tanks, mechanized infantry, and antiaircraft missiles.

America's most probable military opponents?rogue states, unsteady regimes, and proxies for other world powers?have arsenals of 20th-century weapons that pose a real risk to U.S. troops. Because their equipment and training are real threats, but do not quite measure up to the United States' capability, defense professionals call them near-peer competitors. The list includes Iran, China, and North Korea. Out on the mock battlefield in California, we watched elements of Third Battalion, Third Marines (3/3) try to drive these kinds of enemies out of a desert valley called Gays Pass.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/how-marines-train-for-an-enemy-like-north-korea?src=rss

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Obama's bracket goes bust (CNN)

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

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Stocks edge higher as earnings start

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks rose modestly Tuesday as traders lacked a catalyst to push the market decisively higher following a strong start to year.

The stock market has mostly moved sideways for the past three weeks, alternating between small gains and losses, after beginning the year on a tear. Signs of slowing growth and concerns about the outlook for Europe have checked investors' confidence.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 53 points, 0.4 percent, to 14,667 as of 12:37 p.m. EDT. The index is up 11.8 percent since the start of the year.

Alcoa, traditionally the first company in the Dow to report results, was little changed at $8.40 after the company posted its earnings late Monday. The aluminum producer's earnings beat Wall Street's expectations but the company was still weighed down by depressed aluminum prices, which offset strong demand from auto and plane makers.

Online auto retailer CarMax, home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond and banks Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are among companies that will report earnings later this week.

Investors will be looking to see whether companies are feeling an impact from government spending cuts that kicked in recently, said Jim Russell, investment director at U.S. Bank. They will also want to know what impact, if any, there will be from the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.

"The market is looking for companies to fill in those blanks," said Russell.

J.C. Penney Co. plunged $1.67, or 11 percent, to $14.20 following its ouster of CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job. J.C. Penney announced late Monday that it had rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman, who was CEO of the department store operator for seven years until November 2011.

Analysts and investors are questioning whether Ullman has what it takes to turn around the retailer's fortunes after sales plummeted under Johnson's reign.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,566. The Nasdaq composite gained four points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,222.

Material companies and energy corporations led gains in the S&P 500 index, rising 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. The prices of metals like gold and copper rose, bouncing back from a recent slump. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rose $1.46 to $33.88. Cliff's Natural Resources, an iron ore mining company, rose $1.69 to $20.49, paring its losses this year to 47 percent.

While stocks are struggling to extend their gains from the start of the year, bonds have rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, fell to 1.74 from 1.75 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-09-Wall%20Street/id-0322f51999104694922896b05dfaac1c

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Report points to worldwide rise in anti-Semitic incidents

A report by Tel Aviv University and the European Jewish Congress found a 30 percent jump in anti-Semetic violence and vandalism in 2012. Researchers saw a correlation between extreme right-wing parties and high levels of anti-Semitic incidents in certain countries.

By Ariel David,?Associated Press / April 7, 2013

Police officers gather at the site of a shooting where a gunman opened fire in front of a Jewish school in a city in Toulouse, southwestern France March 19, 2012. Israeli researchers and Jewish leaders on Sunday reported 30 percent jump in anti-Semitic violence and vandalism last year, topped by a deadly school shooting in France, and expressed alarm about the rise of neo-Nazi parties in Hungary, Greece and other countries.

Bruno Martin/AP/File

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Israeli researchers and Jewish leaders on Sunday reported a 30 percent jump in anti-Semitic violence and vandalism last year, topped by a deadly school shooting in France, and expressed alarm about the rise of far-right parties in Hungary, Greece and other countries.

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Following a two-year decline in the figures, the annual report on worldwide anti-Semitic incidents recorded 686 attacks in 34 countries, ranging from physical violence to vandalism of synagogues and cemeteries, compared to 526 in 2011. The report was issued at Tel Aviv University, in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across Europe.

The report linked the March 2012 shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, where an extremist Muslim gunman killed four, to a series of copycat attacks, particularly in France, where physical assaults on Jews almost doubled.

Researchers who presented the report at the university on Sunday said they had also found a direct correlation between the strengthening of extreme right-wing parties in some European countries and high levels of anti-Semitic incidents, as well as attacks on other minorities and immigrants.

They said Europe's economic crisis was fueling the success of parties like Jobbik in Hungary, Golden Dawn in Greece and Svoboda in Ukraine.

Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, called for strong action by the European Union, charging that governments ? particularly Hungary ?were not doing enough to curb these parties' activities and protect minorities.

"Neo-Nazis have been once again legalized in Europe, they are openly sitting in parliaments," said Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress.

Golden Dawn swept into Greece's parliament for the first time in June on an anti-immigrant platform. The party rejects the neo-Nazi label but is fond of Nazi literature and references. In Hungary, a Jobbik lawmaker has called for Jews to be screened as potential security risks. The leader of Ukraine's Svoboda denies his party is anti-Semitic but has repeatedly used derogatory terms to refer to Jews.

The report by the university's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry found little correlation between the increase of anti-Semitic attacks and Israel's military operation in Gaza in November. While there was a spike in incidents at the time, it was much smaller in number and intensity than the one that followed the Toulouse attack, said Roni Stauber, the chief researcher on the project.

"This shows that the desire to harm Jews is deeply rooted among extremist Muslims and right-wingers, regardless of events in the Middle East," he said.

The release of the report was timed to coincide with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was starting Sunday at sundown.

On the net:?http://www.kantorcenter.tau.ac.il/

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/eCNtxeE2-6Q/Report-points-to-worldwide-rise-in-anti-Semitic-incidents

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Loan info from GEFA contradicts City - Valdosta Daily Times

VALDOSTA ? Current loan history for the City of Valdosta from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) directly contradicts information recently presented to the public by the City, and shows an active GEFA loan of more than $11 million, which was not previously released.

According to Deputy City Manager of Administration Mark Barber, a loan coded 92003SW (SW indicating the loan is purposed for ?solid waste? projects) was split into two parts, $1 million paid off earlier and a $250,000 portion of it paid off in March.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the 2012 fiscal year, which Barber developed and delivered to the City Council March 21 shows 92003SW maintaining a balance of $34,984 in June of 2012, and Barber removed the loan from the spreadsheet before giving it to the Times, which appeared in Monday?s edition as well as today, saying it had been paid off.

The CAFR also mentions on page 67 that the balance for a loan coded 2006-L53WJPHII was $2,823,855 in June 2012, and that ?additional draws are pending,? but does not go into detail about how much remains to be disbursed. A chart on the same page shows loan totals and payment periods over which the loans are due.

Information on these loans from GEFA is not consistent with the CAFR in these cases.

The City of Valdosta has applied to draw loan money from the organization for 26 years, starting with a water quality (WQ) loan in the amount of $1 million, with an execution date (the date the official paperwork was signed) of January 1987. The interest rate for that loan was 6 percent, and the money was used for ?sewer plant improvements,? according to GEFA.

A second loan was taken out in October 1991 in the amount of $2 million for a water supply (WS) issue, which was spent on a ?water plant and water lines,? according to GEFA. The interest rate on this loan was 6.7 percent.

As of March 31, 2013, these two loans are the only loans out of 10 that have been paid off completely. The City still owes an outstanding principal balance of $22,193.95 on the 92003SW loan, which was not split into two parts.

However, a loan coded 2006L53WJ (for ?water-joint,? indicating a joint water and wastewater project), shows an execution date of December 2007 for an award in the amount of $24,097,000. This loan was split into two parts, its counterpart named 2006L53WJB (as in ?loan B? under the same code).

A portion in the amount of $7,410,611.20 was broken from the original award to allow the City to begin the repayment period, leaving the remaining WJB portion of $16,686,388.80 available for spending, according to GEFA.

Repayment periods normally do not begin until construction for the intended project has ended or the loan completely spent, said GEFA Public Affairs Director Shane Hix, but during this period, the loan will accrue construction interest.

There remains $11,316,776.41 to be disbursed to the City from the WJB loan, according to GEFA. Both the WJ and WJB loans are intended to fund nine rehabilitation projects, including a two-million-gallon water storage tank, water mains, service lines, lift stations and fire protection.

In addition to these inconsistencies between City and GEFA records, four loan amounts listed in the FY2012 CAFR do not match the loan amounts in GEFA documents.

The WS loan for $2 million is listed in the CAFR as $2,228,600; the WJ loan of more than $7.4 million is listed as $7,553,410; a loan coded DW97036P (DW for ?drinking water? issues) in the amount of $4.8 million is listed as $4,288,164; and a fourth loan coded CW08003ARRA (CW short for ?Clean Water State Revolving Fund?) in the amount of $6 million is listed as $6,142,659.

The CW loan (also coded ARRA for ?American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?) was originally taken out in the amount of $10 million, but $4 million of that original amount was forgiven, according to GEFA.

The remaining five loan accounts printed in the City?s CAFR perfectly match repayment amounts and dates of maturity listed in GEFA records. However, the loan amount listed in the CAFR for the DW loan does not match the spreadsheet given to the Times, which lists the loan at $2,351.80 less.

Loan SW was drawn to construct a recovery facility and equipment for recyclable materials; the four CW loans, including CW08003ARRA, were intended to increase the capacity of the Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant from 3.2 million gallons per day (MGD) to 5.7 MGD and to improve the sewer system; and the DW loan was intended for the replacement of 30 miles of undersized galvanized steel water mains with a minimum of six-inch diameter PVC lines.

Loans from GEFA are set up for automatic withdrawal during their repayment periods, Hix said. It is not possible for communities with GEFA debt not to reach complete payment.

Hix mentioned ?nothing out of the ordinary? has happened in the City?s relationship with GEFA, that the City?s ?financial audits are in good shape,? and that Valdosta is ?one of our better customers.?

He could not answer as to why the City?s accounting of the loans and information provided to the public is inconsistent with the official records kept by GEFA.

Source: http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x2015920175/Loan-info-from-GEFA-contradicts-City

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Stocks rise ahead of earnings season

Trader Luigi Muccitelli, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Luigi Muccitelli, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks ended modestly higher Monday, shrugging off an early decline, as investors waited to see whether big U.S. companies would deliver on expectations of strong earnings in 2013.

Alcoa became the first major U.S. company to report earnings late Monday, and the results were mostly good. Aluminum maker's income was higher than analysts were expecting, but its revenue fell slightly short of expectations. Later this week the pace picks up with reports from Bed Bath & Beyond, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

A big factor driving the Standard & Poor's 500 up 9.6 percent this year has been optimism that it will be a good year for company profits. While the expectations for the first quarter are relatively modest, many investors are expecting to see more of a pickup in earnings later in the year.

"We need to see some earnings growth here to justify the big gains we've seen in the first quarter," said Ryan Detrick, a senior technical analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index are expected to rise by 0.7 percent from the first quarter of last year, but that growth is expected to accelerate sharply to 13 percent in the final three-month period of the year, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.

On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.23 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 14,613.48. The index started the day lower and fell as much as 67 points during morning trading. Alcoa's gain of 1.8 percent was one of the biggest in the Dow. It rose 15 cents to $8.39. The stock was off seven cents in after-hours trading.

The S&P 500 index closed up 9.79 points, or 0.6 percent, at 1,563.07.

The Dow and S&P have struggled for direction over the past three weeks. The S&P 500 has alternated between gains and losses every day as investors take advantage of any weakness to add to their holdings.

Telecommunications stocks fell 0.5 percent and health care stocks inched up just 0.2 percent, lagging the rest of the market. The two industry groups have performed well this year as investors sought out less risky stocks that pay good dividends. Health care companies are up almost 16 percent, making them the best performers in the S&P 500.

Lufkin Industries, an oilfield equipment maker, surged $24.03, or 38 percent, to $87.96 after General Electric Co. agreed to buy the company for $3 billion. GE wants to bolster its oil and gas operations. Its stock rose 19 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $23.12.

Johnson & Johnson logged the biggest percentage decline on the 30-member Dow Jones industrial average, dropping 93 cents to $81.11. Analysts at JPMorgan cut their rating on the stock to "neutral," saying it has risen too far, too fast. Johnson & Johnson is up 16 percent this year.

Stocks fell Friday after the government reported a slowdown in hiring that was far worse than economists had expected. The report capped a bad week: The S&P 500 logged its biggest weekly decline of the year as signs emerged that U.S. growth is starting to cool.

In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index rose 18.39 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,222.25.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.75 percent from 1.71 percent late Friday. It went as 1.69 percent Friday, its lowest level of the year. The benchmark rate has fallen from a recent high of 2.06 percent reached March 11 as demand for low-risk assets increases.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-08-Wall%20Street/id-5180d41abc5f4d90afbc605bd3af77a0

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