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>>> now to the news out of silicon valley that has a lot of people talking. reports that facebook is preparing for a major status update, a move that would vault the social networking giant into the ranks of the largest public companies in the world. john ford covers the tech industry for cnbc. he joins from us san jose to break down how big this deal could be. a lot of folks are going to want to get in on the ground floor of this. how big are we talking about?
>> massive amounts of money here, lester. we're talking about in the neighborhood of $75 billion to $100 billion, potentially, more than i've got in my bank account . let's compare it to something. when google went public, it was a massive ipo around $23 billion. this is three to four times bigger, about the size at $100 billion of one mcdonald's, or half of a walmart. this is for a company, sure, almost everybody uses. facebook , it's got 800 million active users, but few people know how they make money, through advertising and transactions. this takes facebook definitely to another level.
>> end of the day we're still talking about an investment. you said 800 million users, it leads me to question how much more potential does this company have to grow?
>> well, the interesting thing about facebook , yes, more than 800 million users at this point. some estimates have their reven revenue, their sales for last year, almost $4 billion. they're sort of just getting started. they've only start eed to really figure out ways to get those people paying for things. if they can do that, there's a huge amount of potential here. 800 million, about half the people on the internet right now.
>> amazing. john ford from san
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46183827/
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OAKLAND, Calif. ? Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences.
Police Sgt. Christopher Bolton said the arrests came after protesters marched through downtown Oakland a little before 8 p.m. Saturday, with some of them entering a YMCA building.
Meanwhile, about 100 police officers surrounded City Hall while others were swept the inside of the building to see if any protesters broke in.
More help from other police agencies was also on the way, with busloads of Alameda County sheriff's deputies arriving in the downtown area late Saturday.
The nighttime arrests came after 19 people were taken into custody in Occupy Oakland protests hours earlier.
Police used tear gas and "flash" grenades on the group Saturday afternoon after some demonstrators threw rocks and other objects at them. Police said three officers were hurt, but they released no details.
Police said the group assembled at a downtown plaza Saturday morning, with demonstrators threatening to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. The group then marched through the streets, disrupting traffic.
The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.
The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.
Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.
Most of the arrests were made when protesters ignored orders to leave and assaulted officers, police said. By 4 p.m., the bulk of the crowd had left the convention center and headed back downtown.
The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.
In a statement Friday, Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana said the city would not be "bullied by threats of violence or illegal activity."
Interim police Chief Howard Jordan also warned that officers would arrest those carrying out illegal actions.
Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.
The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.
Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.
In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans. Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.
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NEW YORK ? The stock market closed mostly lower Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its first losing week of 2012, after the government reported that economic growth was slower at the end of last year than economists expected.
The Dow spent the whole day in the red. It ended down 74 points, or 0.6 percent, at 12,660.46. The loss snapped a three-week winning streak for the Dow, which fell 60 points for the week but is still up 3.6 percent for the year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 struggled above even with an hour to go in trading, but it lost the gains and finished down 2.10 points at 1,316.33. The S&P finished the week up a sliver ? 0.95 points.
The Nasdaq composite, which has more than doubled the Dow's gain for the year, edged up 11.27 to 2,816.55. It rose about 30 points this week.
Economic growth for October through December came in at an annual rate of 2.8 percent. That was the fastest of 2011 but lower than the 3 percent that economists were looking for.
Utility companies led the way down with a fall of 1.3 percent. Most of the other nine industries in the S&P also fell, but only slightly, continuing a curious trading pattern this year: Trading has been calm in the past four weeks, a big change from the violent moves up and down that marked much of 2011.
Friday was the 17th day in a row of moves of less than 100 points up or down for the Dow. The last time the index had a longer period of such small moves was a 34-day stretch that started Dec. 3, 2010.
Despite the drift lower, investors displayed some bullishness.
Roughly two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. And the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks rose nearly 2 percent for the week. Investors tend to sell stocks in the Russell when they're worried, not buy them, because smaller firms often don't have much cash and other resources when times get tough.
"Risk-taking is picking up," says Jeff Schwarte, a portfolio manager at Principal Global Equities. He says his firm has been buying small firms since late last year. "We're still finding attractive stocks."
Next week, investors will turn their attention to Facebook, the powerhouse social network, which appears headed for the most anticipated initial public offering of stock in years.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said Friday that Facebook could raise as much as $10 billion in an offering that would value the company at $75 billion to $100 billion.
That would vault Facebook into the largest public companies in the world, on par with the likes of McDonald's, Amazon.com and Visa. The Journal said Facebook could file IPO papers as early as Wednesday.
Investors earlier in the week had plenty of reason to hope the indexes would keep moving higher.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced it would likely keep benchmark interest rates near zero through late 2014, more than a year longer than it previously indicated. That helped send the Dow to its highest close since May.
Also lifting spirits: Apple had its best quarter for profits, trouncing expectations.
On Thursday, the Dow kept rising, briefly passing its highest close since the financial crisis three years ago. But the rally faded after news that new home sales in December had dropped, capping a year that ranked the worst for home sales since record-keeping began in 1963.
Among stocks making big moves Friday:
? Chevron fell more than 2 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow average, after its quarterly profit and revenue came in well below what analysts were expecting. Oil and natural gas production declined.
? Ford fell 4 percent after reporting disappointing earnings because of weak sales in Europe. The company said its results were also hurt by problems at parts suppliers in Thailand because of flooding there.
? Starbucks fell 1 percent after reporting late Thursday that that full-year results were likely to come in less than expectations.
? Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide, Crest and other consumer products, fell less than 1 percent after cutting its earnings outlook.
? Legg Mason dropped 5 percent after the investment management company's earnings fell by half as clients pulled money out. Legg Mason posted earnings of 20 cents per share. Analysts expected 25 cents, according to FactSet.
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CAMBRIDGE, Md. ? President Barack Obama rallied House Democrats for an election-year fight, urging them to work with Republicans if they show some willingness to put politics aside but telling the rank and file to call them out if they stand in the way.
Addressing Democrats on the final day of their three-day annual retreat, Obama outlined the political stakes over the next few months as congressional Democrats try to push his agenda in the face of Republican opposition, the GOP choses its nominee and signs of recovery in a fragile economy go a long way to determining his re-election chances and the party's fate.
Obama said Democrats should seize the opportunity "whenever there is a possibility that the other side is putting some politics aside for just a nanosecond in order to get something done for the American people, we've got to be right there ready to meet them," the president told the sometimes raucous crowd.
However, "where they obstruct, where they're unwilling to act, where they're more interested in party than they are in country, more interested in the next election than the next generation, then we've got to call them out on it," the president said. "We've got to push. We can't wait; we can't be held back."
Coming off a three-day tour to promote his State of the Union message, Obama promised a "robust debate about whose vision is more promising" when Republicans choose their nominee.
On a day when reports showed the economy picking up late in 2011 but still considered "fragile" by the White House, Obama told Democrats wondering about their re-election prospects: "It's going to be a tough election because a lot of people are still hurting out there and a lot of people have lost faith generally about the capacity of Washington to get anything done."
House Republicans, who held their retreat in Baltimore last week, have repeatedly said the election will be a referendum on Obama's policies, especially his handling of the economy.
The president acknowledged that Democrats have embraced parts of his agenda when it was politically difficult and in some cases costly. The party took a drubbing in the midterm elections, losing control of the House and seeing their ranks diminished in the Senate.
And despite some past clashes with House Democrats over his willingness to compromise with Republicans, Obama was warmly received and was introduced as "our champion" by Rep. John Larson of Connecticut.
The president returned the warmth with a vote of confidence that Democrats would win back the House in November, making a nod to their leader as "soon-to-be once-again Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi."
"I believe in you guys. You guys have had my back through some very tough times," said the president, who received a small gift ? a DVD of House Democrats singing Rev. Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."
Last week, at a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in New York, Obama stood on the stage and crooned a line from the Green classic.
Democrats were upbeat at their three-day session, energized by Obama's State of the Union address and its populist themes as well as recent polls showing more Americans say the country is on the right track and approve of Obama's handling of the economy. Divisions in the Republican ranks that were on full display last year in the fight over extending the payroll tax cut and the bitter battle between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for the GOP presidential nomination also lifted Democratic spirits.
But the relationship with the White House hasn't always been cordial. Vice President Joe Biden, who addressed the Democrats prior to Obama's speech, described some of the rough patches.
He noted that several members in the room were mad at him in December 2010 after Obama negotiated an extension of President George W. Bush's tax cuts over the objections of some House Democrats. Last year, frustrated Democrats complained the Obama gave away too much in negotiating a spending bill and an agreement to raise the government's borrowing authority.
Biden said Pelosi told him at the last conference to "get tough. Enough is enough." He said the "message was heard. The message was heard. And I think we've delivered."
Biden said Democrats would reclaim the House and he would help candidates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida. Those states also are critical to Obama's hopes of winning another term.
"We cannot succeed unless you all come back," Biden told House Democrats.
The vice president was more pointed in his political remarks than Obama and called out some Republicans by name. He said the American people will reject GOP unwillingness to compromise and its blatant determination to make Obama a one-term president.
Of the presidential candidates, Biden said Romney's criticism of the auto bailout and a host of positions stated by rival Newt Gingrich on government intervention will create a clear contrast for voters.
"These guys are helping us by saying what they believe," Biden said.
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Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
Share ] Contact: Paul Gallagher
corporatecomms@strath.ac.uk
44-141-548-2370
University of Strathclyde
A new system for delivering a drug to organ transplant patients, which could avoid the risk of harmful side effects, is being developed by scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The drug, cyclosporine (CsA), is widely used in transplant operations and helps prevent the patient's body rejecting the organ but it can cause adverse drug reactions, of which the most serious problems are kidney and liver damage, in the doses which are currently administered in the long term.
The gap between a safe, effective dose of the treatment and a toxic dose is extremely narrow but the Strathclyde scientists have found a way of capturing CsA in very small amounts. The new system, developed in laboratory tests, enables nanoparticles of the drug to be delivered orally so that the strength of the dose can be maintained, but at a level and in a form which spares kidneys from damage.
Professor Ravi Kumar, of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, led the research. He said: "CsA is very useful in transplants and treating conditions such as arthritis, lupus and some forms of diabetes, but we need to address the risks it can present to the kidney and liver, apart from various other toxicities such as convulsions and high blood pressure.
"The damage it can cause can be dealt with if it's caught at an early stage but can be irreversible if it continues unchecked. Furthermore, existing formulations of cyclosporine contain castor oil-based vehicle which is used owing to the drug's poor solubility in water but which can be toxic.
"By entrapping CsA in nanoparticles, we aimed to match the maximum concentration of the most potent formulation of the drug in market. In tests, we were able to strike a balance between strength, efficacy and safety and were able to make a marked increase in the drug's bioavailability- the level of the drug which becomes active in the system.
"We were also able to reduce the toxic effects on the kidneys by slow release of the nanoparticles, which brought the drug gradually to its maximum concentration.
"As well as its use in transplants, we hope to look into the effectiveness of this system with arthritis and address what is a hugely debilitating condition for many people."
The research paper has been published in the Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology.
Further current research is aimed at proving the therapeutic efficacy and long-term safety of cyclosporine, with a special focus on the safety of carriers- polymers used in the formulation- to fulfil regulatory requirements. The safety studies element of the research has been funded by the Cunningham Trust Scotland and will conclude early in 2013.
The research forms part of Health Technologies at Strathclyde- one of the principal themes of the University's Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC), a world-leading research and technology centre transforming the way universities, business and industry collaborate.
Through Health Technologies at Strathclyde, academics work with industry and the health sector to find technologies for earlier, more accurate disease detection and better treatments, as well as life-long disease prevention.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 26-Jan-2012 Share ] Contact: Paul Gallagher
corporatecomms@strath.ac.uk
44-141-548-2370
University of Strathclyde
A new system for delivering a drug to organ transplant patients, which could avoid the risk of harmful side effects, is being developed by scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The drug, cyclosporine (CsA), is widely used in transplant operations and helps prevent the patient's body rejecting the organ but it can cause adverse drug reactions, of which the most serious problems are kidney and liver damage, in the doses which are currently administered in the long term.
The gap between a safe, effective dose of the treatment and a toxic dose is extremely narrow but the Strathclyde scientists have found a way of capturing CsA in very small amounts. The new system, developed in laboratory tests, enables nanoparticles of the drug to be delivered orally so that the strength of the dose can be maintained, but at a level and in a form which spares kidneys from damage.
Professor Ravi Kumar, of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, led the research. He said: "CsA is very useful in transplants and treating conditions such as arthritis, lupus and some forms of diabetes, but we need to address the risks it can present to the kidney and liver, apart from various other toxicities such as convulsions and high blood pressure.
"The damage it can cause can be dealt with if it's caught at an early stage but can be irreversible if it continues unchecked. Furthermore, existing formulations of cyclosporine contain castor oil-based vehicle which is used owing to the drug's poor solubility in water but which can be toxic.
"By entrapping CsA in nanoparticles, we aimed to match the maximum concentration of the most potent formulation of the drug in market. In tests, we were able to strike a balance between strength, efficacy and safety and were able to make a marked increase in the drug's bioavailability- the level of the drug which becomes active in the system.
"We were also able to reduce the toxic effects on the kidneys by slow release of the nanoparticles, which brought the drug gradually to its maximum concentration.
"As well as its use in transplants, we hope to look into the effectiveness of this system with arthritis and address what is a hugely debilitating condition for many people."
The research paper has been published in the Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology.
Further current research is aimed at proving the therapeutic efficacy and long-term safety of cyclosporine, with a special focus on the safety of carriers- polymers used in the formulation- to fulfil regulatory requirements. The safety studies element of the research has been funded by the Cunningham Trust Scotland and will conclude early in 2013.
The research forms part of Health Technologies at Strathclyde- one of the principal themes of the University's Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC), a world-leading research and technology centre transforming the way universities, business and industry collaborate.
Through Health Technologies at Strathclyde, academics work with industry and the health sector to find technologies for earlier, more accurate disease detection and better treatments, as well as life-long disease prevention.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uos-std012612.php
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Paul McCartney's new bride is stepping down from the board of the authority that runs New York City's public transit system.
Nancy Shevell married the Beatles great in October. She announced her resignation from the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority at its meeting Wednesday.
Shevell had been on the MTA's board since 2001 and was one of its longest-serving members. Her term expired last year, but she had stayed on pending a new appointment by New York's governor.
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PHOENIX ? Two men pleaded guilty to buying guns that were destined to be smuggled into Mexico, the first convictions in the federal government's botched Operation Fast and Furious.
The men were so-called "straw buyers" who acknowledged purchasing guns that they knew were headed to Mexican drug gangs.
The goal of the federal government's investigation was to catch weapons-trafficking kingpins, but firearms agents lost track of many weapons they were trying to trace to smuggling ringleaders, and some guns ended up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S.
Jacob Wayne Chambers and Jacob Anthony Montelongo each pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to a conspiracy charge. Montelongo also pleaded guilty to dealing guns without a license.
The pair admitted being part of a 20-person smuggling ring that is accused of running guns into Mexico for use by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Two rifles bought by the ring were found at the scene of a December 2010 shootout near the Arizona-Mexico border that mortally wounded Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. The two guns weren't purchased by Chambers and Montelongo and instead were bought by another alleged ring member.
The investigation is the focus of an inquiry by congressional Republicans.
Several agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have said they were ordered by superiors to let suspected straw buyers walk away from Phoenix-area gun shops with AK-47s and other weapons believed headed for Mexican drug cartels, rather than arrest the buyers and seize the guns there.
The federal agency lost track of some 1,400 of the more than 2,000 weapons whose purchases attracted the suspicion of the Fast and Furious investigators.
Chambers and Montelongo acknowledged buying the guns under the false claim that the weapons were for themselves, when they were actually being bought for organizers of the ring, and to knowing that the guns were being smuggling into Mexico.
Chambers bought 79 guns from three licensed dealers in Arizona from September 2009 to December 2009 and got paid $50 for each AK-47 and $100 for a .50-caliber rifle.
Montelongo purchased 109 guns from eight dealers in Arizona from January 2010 to July 2010. He was paid $50 for pistols, $100 for rifles and $150 each for six .50-caliber rifles.
Each faces up to five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Their sentencing is set for May 21.
Baltazar Iniguez, an attorney for Montelongo, and Phil Noland, lawyer for Jacob Wayne Chambers, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
Trial for the remaining alleged ring members is set for Sept. 25. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Two men pleaded guilty to buying guns that were destined to be smuggled into Mexico, the first convictions in the federal government's botched Operation Fast and Furious.
The men were so-called "straw buyers" who acknowledged purchasing guns that they knew were headed to Mexico.
The goal of the federal government's investigation was to catch weapons-trafficking kingpins, but firearms agents lost track of many weapons they were trying to track to smuggling ringleaders, and some guns ended up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S.
Jacob Wayne Chambers and Jacob Anthony Montelongo each pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to a conspiracy charge.
The pair admitted being part of a 20-person smuggling ring that's accused of running guns into Mexico for use by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Signed contracts for the sale of existing U.S. homes retreated from a 1-1/2-year high in December and demand for home loans fell last week, pointing to a moderation in home sales after recent hefty gains.
But the reports on Wednesday did not change perceptions that a nascent recovery is under way in the housing market, which continues to be challenged by an oversupply of properties.
"This is potentially negative for January existing home sales although the two do not always go hand in hand," said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. "So does this mean the story has changed and housing is back in the dumps? Nope."
The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in December, dropped 3.5 percent to 96.6 in December, after hitting a 19-month high in November.
Economists had expected signed contracts for sales, which lead existing home sales by a month or two, to fall by only 1.0 percent. However, sales were up 5.6 percent in the 12 months to December.
A glut of unsold homes is weighing on house prices and frustrating the sector's recovery, even though mortgage rates are near record lows. Home resales have risen for three straight months.
The Federal Reserve has suggested a number of ways other policymakers could step in to help the beaten-up market, including giving government-controlled mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a bigger role in refinancing loans.
Some officials at the Fed say the central bank should consider further purchase of mortgage-backed securities as a way to help spur a stronger recovery, but no action is expected at the end of the Fed's first policy meeting of 2012 later on Wednesday.
"I don't think that lower mortgage interest rates are going to help much right now," said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica in Dallas. "That's not where the bottleneck is, and that is in two places: credit availability and the processing of paper work."
Lenders have adopted stringent requirements for potential homeowners, demanding down payments of as much as 20 percent, and contract cancellations have averaged about a third over the past few months.
Applications for home purchase loans declined 5.4 percent last week after two straight weeks of sturdy gains, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a separate report.
Another report showed house prices measured by the Federal Housing Finance Agency rose 1 percent in November from October.
"We are encouraged by the pop in prices as it may be a signal of further stabilization in the housing market and evidence that the erosion in home prices may be nearing an end," said Millan Mulraine, senior macro strategist at TD Securities in New York.
However, prices were down 1.8 percent in the 12 months to November, indicating the recovery in the housing market would be painfully slow.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) ? The high-profile case of the West Memphis Three murderers might seem like an odd choice of films for director Peter Jackson, but the "Lord of the Rings" maker has come to Sundance with a documentary about the case and a new revelation of a possible suspect.
Jackson, who helped bankroll the defense of the three convicted killers who are now out of jail nearly 20 years after the crime, and the legal team claim they have testimony that the stepfather of one of the victims is the real murderer.
Whether that allegation eventually proves true will await prosecutors' action in West Memphis, Arkansas where the murders took place in 1993, and so far the prosecution has stuck by its belief they had the right culprits all along.
But where Jackson and one of the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, are concerned, their documentary "West of Memphis" and this new testimony takes the fight further.
"It's got to be dealt with," Jackson told Reuters on Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival. "You can't just leave a murder case like that hanging in the air."
The high-profile case of the West Memphis Three who were tried and convicted as teens of murdering three boys prompted a call to action for Jackson when first told the disturbing tale of the young men linked to a grisly murder who were ultimately released from prison in August 2011.
"I was bullied and regarded as little bit of an oddball myself," Jackson told Reuters on Saturday. "And I see that happening to somebody else, so I just want to help them."
Jackson and director Amy Berg debuted "West of Memphis" at Sundance on Friday, and simultaneously defense lawyers issued a press release detailing their new revelations.
The documentary follows the case of what many believe was the wrongful conviction of Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who were teenagers when they were accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993.
The case already has been made famous by the HBO documentary series "Paradise Lost," but the story of the three jailed boys struck a chord in the Jackson and his wife and producing partner Fran Walsh as far back as 2005.
"It's an American story but it's a human story as well," Jackson said. "When you look at the original 'Paradise Lost' film, you see three kids who can't defend themselves, being persecuted in a medieval way -- witchcraft, satanic worship. It was kind of primitive. It makes you angry, so Fran and I contacted (Echols' wife) Lorri Davis and asked what we could do to help."
Jackson said he and Walsh funded the defense team's investigation anonymously, spending "more than thousands" of dollars paying bills for such things as DNA tests and sending investigators to interview additional witnesses.
"We're still doing that," Jackson said.
Only one week ago, he said, the filmmakers shot and edited the new revelation into the documentary, but they had no time to include the footage in early screenings.
NEW REVELATION
According to Jackson, Echols and the defense team, the nephew of Terry Hobbs -- Michael Hobbs, Jr. -- has told friends that his uncle committed the crime. Terry Hobbs' stepson, Stevie Branch, was among the murder victims.
Hobbs has long denied any wrongdoing and police have never considered him a suspect, according to media reports. Reuters was unable to reach Hobbs for comment.
For Jackson, the idea of actually making a documentary on the West Memphis Three didn't arise until 2008, after DNA and forensic findings paid for by Jackson and Walsh, were dismissed by the original judge presiding over the trial. He found the evidence as not being compelling enough to reopen the case.
"Whenever new evidence came and we tried to present it to the judge, he refused to hear it," said Echols, now 37. He and his wife are producers on the film alongside Jackson and Walsh.
"The only way to let the public know what was going on with this case was by doing a documentary. It was Peter's idea of 'well, why don't we get this evidence out to the public if the courts are going to refuse to hear it?'"
"West of Memphis" follows the three convicted killers until just after they were released last August in a legal maneuver known as an "Alford Plea," whereby the men plead guilty in their own best interest while asserting innocence.
But the trio, their families, their lawyers, Jackson, Walsh and director Berg haven't stopped fighting.
"You have to push this hard in order to get a reaction," said Berg. "I feel that we have gone further than anybody else has gone and we've put it out there for people to act."
The film received strong initial reviews from critics here at Sundance. The Hollywood Reporter labeled it a "gripping overall picture of the West Memphis 3 wrongful-conviction saga" and summed up, "Thorny, blood-boiling and finely made, it deserves a theatrical push."
(Editing by Christine Kearney and Bob Tourtellotte)
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A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46090610#46090610
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new diagnostic test to help identify patients who have an increased risk of developing a rare brain infection while taking Biogen Idec's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.
Tysabri is one of a handful of drugs used to control multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease in which the body attacks its own nervous system. Prescribing of the drug has been tightly controlled by the FDA because of a rare infection that causes inflammation of the brain, known as multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. Currently there is no treatment or cure for PML, which usually causes death or severe disability.
The newly approved Stratify JCV test is designed to detect a common virus that increases the likelihood of developing the brain infection. The John Cunningham virus is harmless in most people, but can become dangerous in patients taking immune system-suppressing drugs like Tysabri.
Doctors can use the results of the blood-based test, combined with facts about the patient's medical history, to determine whether they are at risk of developing the brain infection. Other factors that influence a patient's risk include how long they've been taking Tysabri and whether they've previously taken other medications that weaken the immune system.
The test was developed by Quest Diagnostics.
The FDA also updated Tysabri's label to specify that patients who test positive for the virus have a higher risk of developing PML.
"This label change marks an important advance in assisting people with MS and their physicians to make better-informed decisions concerning the challenges of balancing effectiveness with safety," said Dr. Nicholas LaRocca, vice president of the National MS Society.
Tysabri was temporarily pulled from the market shortly after its launch in 2005 after three patients taking the drug developed PML. FDA allowed the drug back on the market the following year but under a restricted distribution program. Only doctors and pharmacies registered with the company's distribution program are permitted to prescribe and dispense the drug.
Biogen, based in Weston, Mass., sells Tysabri through a partnership with Elan Corp., an Irish drugmaker.
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Bureau of Labor Statistics
The median amount of time it's taking for unemployed people to find new jobs is about 21 weeks.
Here?s the good news: Employers are hiring more workers than they are firing these days, a welcome turnaround from the darkest days of the Great Recession.
Here?s the bad news: If you are among those unlucky enough to lose your job now, you'd better prepare for a long job search.
The median duration of unemployment was 21 weeks or about five months as of December. That means half of all unemployed workers had been without a job for more than five months.
That?s actually an improvement from mid-2010, when the median duration of unemployment peaked at 25 weeks. But it?s still nearly three times what it was before the recession began and much higher than in previous tough job markets.
The main problem: There just aren?t enough jobs to go around.
Last year the economy added an average of about 137,000 jobs a month. While that?s better than when the economy was shedding jobs, it wasn?t nearly enough to absorb the millions of unemployed and new workers entering the market, said Sylvia Allegretto, an economist with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.
?That rate of job growth is simply not fast enough to really soak up all those who are unemployed and underemployed, and those who have left the labor market and will be coming back to the labor market,? Allegretto said.
?
Allegretto doesn?t expect the situation to improve?much soon for the long-term unemployed.
That?s partly because there are still 13 million people who are unemployed and seeking work. It?s also because there are many other Americans out there who may have stopped looking for a job because the market was so bad, and will start looking again if the market improves.
Those excruciatingly long job searches are an especially big problem for older workers. The median duration of unemployment for 20- to 24-year-olds was 16.3 weeks in December, compared with 31.4 weeks for 55- to 64-year-olds.
Related:
Many Americans still not prepared for a job loss?????
Five years without work: Labor department will now track it
How long do you think it would take you to find a new job?
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PHOENIX (Reuters) ? A U.S. Border Patrol agent and an Arizona jailer trapped in a sting operation have been arrested on charges they conspired to help traffickers smuggle drugs from Mexico, authorities said on Friday.
Ivhan Herrera-Chiang, 29, a Border Patrol agent in Yuma, Ariz., and Michael Lopez-Garcia, 28, a corrections officer at the Arizona State Prison Complex in San Luis, Ariz., were arrested on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona said.
They are accused of conspiring to help traffickers smuggle drugs from Mexico into far western Arizona between September 2010 and January 2012.
The two officials were fingered by a confidential informant working for a drug- and human-smuggling network in Mexico, according to the criminal complaint.
If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $10 million fine, or both.
The informant told federal investigators the organization used a "middleman" to work with a corrupt Border Patrol agent, identified by the underworld tag "La Mujer" or the "The Woman."
Investigations subsequently identified Lopez as the go-between and Herrera as The Woman. Evidence was gathered against both officials using phone taps, surveillance from a helicopter, and dummy loads of cocaine and methamphetamine.
The complaint alleges Herrera provided information including the identities of confidential informants and maps showing the locations of sensors on the border, to which he had access as a member of a Border Patrol intelligence unit.
Authorities say Lopez's role included smuggling two pounds of methamphetamine through a border crossing, guiding cocaine traffickers around Border Patrol checkpoints, and delivering drugs and intelligence materials to undercover U.S. federal agents he believed to be cartel representatives.
Corruption cases involving border police have increased in recent years as the U.S. government has ramped up recruitment in a drive to secure the southwest border with Mexico.
Between 2003 and 2009, 129 Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents were arrested on corruption charges, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, figures.
"When a law enforcement officer taints their badge, it erodes public confidence and threatens national security," said James Turgal, special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix division.
"The FBI, along with our partners in law enforcement, will continue to combat public corruption at all levels."
(Reporting By Tim Gaynor)
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"Unless the capacity of the Afghan state is built to withstand a Taliban offensive, and external intervention, its survival will remain in serious doubt."
To prevent Taliban resurgence Britain will need to contribute ?100 million to support development and ?65 million to Afghan forces "well beyond" 2014.
Large contributions are also expected from America and India.
To date Britain has spend more than ?3 billion on aid as well as more than ?20 billion spent on military operations and has suffered 395 military fatalities.
The RUSI report warned that political and ethnic divisions were obstructing stability which could be further undermined in the 2014 presidential elections.
"Poor governance, weak administrative structures, poor enforcement of law, narcotics trafficking and a weak economy are weighing too heavily on the ANSF, adding to stakeholders' apprehensions about the viability of the Afghan state beyond 2014."
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Content providers and users are still far apart on proposed Internet piracy-protection legislation as alternative bill is offered
?| January 17, 2012?|
SINKING DIGITAL PIRACY? The Obama White House has called for a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to clamping down on Internet intellectual-property piracy while preserving free speech.
Image: Image courtesy of PashaIgnatov, via iStockphoto.com
Rather than deliver an ultimatum to those on either side of the debate, the recent White House statement related to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (PIPA) encourages the entertainment and technology industries to work together to find a solution. This call for a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to clamping down on Internet intellectual-property piracy while preserving free speech has many wondering whether lawmakers will simply rework SOPA (pdf) and PIPA (pdf) using different language or if they will take anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA concerns to heart.
The Obama administration is not backing down when it comes to shutting down foreign sites that distribute content illegally. However, the administration's position?articulated by Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Cyber Security Coordinator Howard Schmidt?also makes it clear that any proposed laws "must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the domain name system (DNS), a foundation of Internet security." In addition, new legislation must target specific lawbreakers rather than broadly punishing Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors and search engines.
Under SOPA (introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith, R?Tex., in October) and PIPA (by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D?Vt., last May), Congress sought to prevent Internet users from accessing foreign sites with pirated content by having service providers block those sites' domain names. The proposed legislation also threatened to punish any search engine providers, payment network providers and Internet advertising services that continued to support those infringing sites.
SOPA and PIPA's primary supporters are organizations?the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Rupert Murdoch?owned News Corp. among them?that invest heavily in creating movies, television programs and other content that makes its way to the Internet. The legislation's most vocal opponents have included Craigslist, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and Wikipedia?Web-based entities that benefit from this content.
Wikipedia, news-aggregator Reddit and a number of other Web sites are planning to take the English-language version of their sites offline on Wednesday to protest the legislation, even though SOPA and PIPA are likely on their last legs. These sites' reasons for opposing SOPA and PIPA are clear?namely that they would lose access to free content if that content is found to published illegally on the Web. Less clear, however, is how such a blackout would further their goal of stopping such legislation or any related proposals that might follow.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R?Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D?Ore.) have already proposed an alternate bill called the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) (pdf), which would use international trade law to punish foreign Web sites that infringe U.S. copyrights. The MPAA opposes Issa's bill, saying that it would be "cumbersome" and vows to continue lobbying for SOPA and PIPA, The New York Times reports.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9b76bb5d30ede3edd31b507fdceda01c
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