AP photographer describes 128-degree heat

FURNACE CREEK, Calif. (AP) ? Associated Press photographer Chris Carlson is no stranger to heat. He grew up just outside Palm Springs, Calif. On Friday, he returned to his desert roots, leaving his home near Los Angeles and driving to the hottest place on earth on one of the hottest days of the year. Below, he describes what it is like to be in triple digit heat in Death Valley:

___

By 9 a.m., the two bags of ice I loaded in the cooler are gone and the floor of my rental car looks like a storage bin at a recycling plant. Hydration is essential.

I know what to expect in Death Valley: Unrelenting heat so bad it makes my eyes hurt, as if someone is blowing a hair dryer in my face. I don't leave CDs or electronics in the car because they could melt or warp. I always carry bottles of water.

But I still make mistakes. I forgot my oven mitts, the desert driving trick I learned as a teenager after burning my hands too many times on the steering wheel. And my rental car is black, adding several degrees to the outside temperature of 127. When the digital thermometer at the Furnace Creek visitor center ticks up to 128, a few people jump out of their cars to take a picture. The record temperature for the region ? and the world ? is 134 degrees, reached a century ago.

I try to work in flip-flops, but the sun sears the tops of my feet, and I am forced to put shoes on. My cellphone, pulled from my shirt pocket, is so hot that it burns my ear when I try to take a call from my wife.

One of my first stops is at the Furnace Creek Golf Course, a place I've played in the past. The guy in the pro shop tells me they've only had two players all morning. Both were employees.

I don't stay long. The camera around my neck gets so hot it stops working. An error message flashes a warning at me.

I'm surprised to find out that hotels are packed with visitors. This is Death Valley's busy time of year. Tourists, mostly from Europe, come to experience extreme heat, or they just didn't know what they were getting into. Death Valley is between the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, and many people add it to their itinerary.

Tourists are out today, but they rarely emerge from their cars. They drive through the brown, cracked landscape, peering out at the vast desert and occasionally rolling down the windows, but only briefly.

Those who do attempt to get out of their cars park in sparse shade, sprint to local landmarks, snap a few photos, and then jump back in their cars. Most were out at daybreak. By midday, few people can be seen.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photographer-describes-128-degree-heat-225620355.html

kirk cameron news 10 hillary rosen j.k. rowling j.k. rowling axl rose google earnings

Calif.'s Sierra a 'living lab' for climate change

SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. (AP) ? In parts of California's Sierra Nevada, marshy meadows are going dry, wildflowers are blooming earlier and glaciers are melting into ice fields.

Scientists also are predicting the optimal temperature zone for giant sequoias will rise hundreds and hundreds of feet, leaving trees at risk of dying over the next 100 years.

As indicators point toward a warming climate, scientists across 4 million acres of federally protected land are noting changes affecting everything from the massive trees that can grow to more than two-dozen feet across to the tiny, hamsterlike pika. But what the changes mean and whether humans should do anything to intervene are sources of disagreement among land managers.

"That's the tricky part of the debate: If humans are causing warming, does that obligate us under the laws of the National Park Service to try to counteract those effects?" said Nate Stephenson, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

"How do you adapt to a changing climate if you're a national park?" added Stephenson, who is 30 years into a study of trees in the largest wilderness in the continental U.S., Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park.

Since 1895, the average temperature across California has increased by 1.7 degrees, and experts say the most visible effects of that warming occur within the Sierra Nevada, where low temperatures are rising and precipitation increasingly falls as rain rather than snow. Some models show noncoastal California warming by 2.7 degrees between 2000 and 2050, one of many reasons President Obama pledged last week to use executive powers to cut carbon pollution.

The state's two largest rivers ? the Sacramento and San Joaquin ? originate in the Sierra. The range also is home to Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America; Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the Lower 48; and the nation's only groves of giant sequoias, the largest living things on earth.

There are mounting concerns about the beloved sequoias, whose sprawling, 10-foot-deep root systems make them especially vulnerable to drought and heat.

Because the trees exist only in such a small region, scientists are debating whether to irrigate the 65 groves in the southern Sierra to help them endure warmer temperatures. Otherwise they fear the trees could die. During the last warm, dry period 4,000 to 10,000 years ago, their numbers were greatly diminished, according to pollen evidence collected by researchers at Northern Arizona University.

"Whether we would water them certainly comes up on our climate change scenario planning," said Koren Nydick, science coordinator at Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. "They are a very unusual species because they're also looked on as a social artifact."

Stephenson says his decades of studying conifers in Sequoia National Forest have shown they are dying at twice their historic rate, partly because the climate is warmer and dryer. The giant sequoias grow much more slowly than conifers over many hundreds of years so changes have been tougher to recognize, though researchers suspect seedlings already may be having a harder time taking root.

"That's always the million-dollar question," said Stephenson, director of USGS's Sierra Nevada Global Change Research Program. "We just don't have a big enough sample size to know what's going on with the giant sequoias, whereas we monitor thousands of pines and firs and have much more confidence."

So far, the dozens of changes researchers have noted, in everything from earlier songbird fledging dates to greater wildfire intensity, may point to a warming climate. But it's far from understood whether that would mean doom or adaptation for California's ecological heart.

"I don't want to say that because we're seeing one thing, that's how it will play out," said Rob Klinger who is studying alpine mammals for the USGS's Western Ecological Research Center. "The endgame of our study is determining whether there will be uniform change or will it be patchwork. If you look at evolutionary time scales, species have gone through these changes before, and they handle it."

As part of a Ph.D. project at the University of California, Merced, Kaitlin Lubetkin for five summers has hiked the backcountry taking inventory of 350 subalpine meadows formed when glaciers retreated eons ago. The marshy ground acts as a reservoir that eases flooding after snow melts, and the stored water feeds streams during dry months and sustains wildlife such as the endangered willow flycatcher songbird and the Yosemite toad, which is being considered for threatened species status.

Over the past decade of warmer, drier conditions, however, pine trees have begun to take root, acting like straws to pull the moisture out of the meadows, Klinger and Lubetkin have observed.

"Pretty much right up to the tree line you're getting encroachment in every meadow," said Lubetkin.

In September, Hassan Basagic of the Glaciers of the American West Project will be hiking to 12,000 feet elevation to measure the Lyell Glacier in Yosemite National Park and monitor the changes he first began observing in the early 2000s. Scientists from Yosemite National Park and the University of Colorado recently noted that the glacier is no longer moving ? and is melting ? by using measurements they've made over the past four years, as well as some of Basagic's earlier work.

Basagic's used photos from the 1930s to show that in the early 2000s the rate at which the Sierra's glaciers were receding picked up.

"A lot of people call glaciers the 'canary in the coal mine.' They're an indicator that the alpine climate is changing," said Basagic, who monitors glacial changes for Portland State University research projects. "With that change, other things will change, like the plants and animals that depend on certain climatic conditions."

Already the American pika, a cold-loving rodent, is moving to higher elevations, and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report says, "Climate change is a potential threat to the long-term survival."

The USGS's Klinger, however, said pikas might be more resilient than the wildlife service predicts. "It doesn't hibernate and it has dealt with expanding and contracting snow packs and changing temperatures ? and yet it persists," Klinger said.

If the trends continue, some species are expected to adapt by finding more hospitable environments, scientists say. One potential place is Devil's Postpile National Monument in the eastern Sierra, where 40 data collection devices are showing that temperature inversions caused by atmospheric pressure are filling the region of steep canyons with colder air.

Scientists are studying whether other areas with similar features might serve as refuges for some species. They're looking at establishing seed banks in the 800-acre park where several climatic regions overlap and more than 400 plants, 100 birds and 35 animals coexist.

"We have an incredible living laboratory to understand what's happening with this cold air pool," said monument Superintendent Deanna Dulen. "We're really trying to get a good baseline of knowledge so we can look at the changes over time. We have the potential to be a refuge, but also to be a place of increased vulnerability. There's so much to learn."

___

Reach Tracie Cone: www.twitter.com/TConeAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/calif-sierra-living-lab-climate-change-132607224.html

kentucky jayhawks wwe wrestlemania oakland shooting mega millions winning numbers autism speaks ubaldo jimenez

32 killed in ethno-religious clashes in Nigeria

JOS, Nigeria (AP) ? Community leaders say 32 people died Thursday and many were injured in tribal clashes sparked by cattle rustling in Nigeria's volatile central Plateau state.

Langtang South committee chairman Nanman Garko said men believed to be Fulani herdsmen attacked Tarok farmers in reprisal for cattle thefts in the area some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from state capital Jos.

Community leader Salihu Jauro denied the attackers were Fulani though his people are angry about the theft of 300 cows by suspected Taroks.

The Fulani are Muslim and the Taroks Christian but violence here is a complex mix of religion, tribe, politics and land rights. Thousands have been killed since 1999.

Military spokesman Mustapha Salisu said five people died in similar violence last week in Wase district, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Jos.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/32-killed-ethno-religious-clashes-nigeria-193254545.html

2012 nfl draft grades young justice d rose iman shumpert mayweather vs cotto shumpert hopkins

Tenn. man charged in alleged Mitt Romney tax scheme

By Sophia Rosenbaum, NBC News

A Tennessee man has been charged after allegedly claiming that he had former GOP nominee Mitt Romney?s income tax returns during the 2012 presidential campaign, according to court documents.

Michael Mancil Brown, 34, was charged with six counts of wire fraud and six counts of extortion, according to a federal grand jury indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Nashville on Wednesday.

Brown allegedly sent an anonymous letter to the offices of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Franklin, Tenn., at the height of last year?s presidential race, according to the indictment. The letter demanded $1 million in the form of the digital currency Bitcoin in exchange for the supposed tax returns.

The letter, which was delivered at about the same time as the Republican and Democratic national conventions were held, also said that parties could get the alleged tax forms released in exchange for $1 million in Bitcoins.

Brown claimed he got a copy of the tax documents after accessing PwC?s internal systems. Those claims were false, the indictment found.

Related:

?

?

?

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2de41b90/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C270C191739430Etenn0Eman0Echarged0Ein0Ealleged0Emitt0Eromney0Etax0Escheme0Dlite/story01.htm

1000 words ron white ron white buckyballs buckyballs awake mario batali

Roberto Castro leads at tough Congressional

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) ? Roberto Castro missed the U.S. Open at Merion. It felt as if he was playing one Thursday in the AT&T National at Congressional.

The course that has hosted three U.S. Opens looked as though it could hold another in a moment's notice. Only a dozen players shot in the 60s, with Castro leading the way at a 5-under 66 that required some of his best golf. He made three straight birdies late in his round with a 20-foot putt, a perfect 3-wood into a par 5 and a chip-in.

"It's very similar in that there's not a lot of birdies out there," Castro said. "There's not many good breaks or bad breaks to be had out there. If you drive it in the rough, you drove it in the rough. If you hit it in the fairway, you can go from there."

The average score was just over 73, despite cloud cover for most of the day leading to soft conditions and only a light wind.

Billy Horschel, who tied for fourth in the real U.S. Open two weeks ago, began his day with a 50-foot birdie putt, added a pair of birdies over the next three holes and then hung on for a 68. That was the best score among the early starters. Bud Cauley and Graham DeLaet each had a 68 in the afternoon.

"It's like another U.S. Open," Horschel said. "Off the fairways, the rough is thick. Fortunately, the greens are soft so they're really receptive. It's still a tough golf course."

The eight players at 69 included Jim Furyk, 19-year-old Jordan Spieth and Brandt Snedeker, whose round included a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole in which he covered more than the 635 yards it was playing.

Snedeker snap-hooked his drive into the rough and was blocked by trees, leaving him no choice but to chip backward or play down the adjacent fourth hole. He hit hybrid down the fourth, and just his luck, wound up on the member's tee. From about 180 yards, he hammered a 6-iron through more trees, and the big roar told him he had reached the green. From there, he made a 55-foot birdie putt. Simple as that.

"Kind of stealing a couple there is what it feels like," he said.

Davis Love III had an 83 with a sore hip and then withdrew, not wanting to risk further injury. Rory Sabbatini withdrew with a sore back after he was 8 over in 12 holes. Charlie Beljan had an 84.

Lucas Glover, a former U.S. Open champion, called it "the most boring round of PGA Tour golf I've heard."

Heard?

"I heard two cheers across the whole golf course all morning," Glover said after a hard-earned 71. "They definitely weren't for my group."

There were no tricks at Congressional, and there certainly was no faking it. Masters champion Adam Scott hurt himself with an ordinary day by his standards off the tee and wound up with a 73. Hunter Mahan hit only six fairways ? he's one of the best drivers in golf ? and shot a 75.

Officials cut the rough Wednesday, though its thickness presented the bigger problem than the height of the grass. It's tougher than Congressional was for the U.S. Open two years ago, when the course was relatively soft throughout the week. Rory McIlroy played better than anyone that week and won by eight shot at a record 16-under 268.

This was more of a grind.

Castro made only one bogey, and that was from the fairway. After a weak drive, he put his second shot on the 11th into the water, and saved bogey with a chip to tap-in range. He bounced back with consecutive birdies, and twice made solid par saves before his run of birdies on his back nine.

But it was a quiet day for the most part.

"Two U.S. Opens in three weeks," said George McNeill, who had a 71 while playing with Jonas Blixt and Ben Curtis. "And before that, we got to play the U.S. Open at Muirfield (Village), too. It was fairly quiet out there. You have a few cheers here and there. But we had the 'hot dog' group. That's where the fans are looking at the pairing sheet and go, 'Curtis, Blixt, McNeill. Let's go get a hot dog.'"

It didn't help that Tiger Woods wasn't around, unable to play because of a sore left elbow that will keep him out of competition until the British Open next month.

Woods won last year at 8-under 276, one of the higher winning scores on tour in 2012.

"You don't usually see first-round scores on a PGA Tour event only be 3-under leading after the morning wave," Horschel said. "It shows you how tough this golf course is, shows you how long the rough is."

Horschel, though, said he likes it that way because it doesn't feel like a putting contest.

As for not having Woods around? Horschel doesn't look at the AT&T National any differently without him.

"Tiger is Tiger. He's just another guy," Horschel said. "He's just another player out there. For me, thinking about someone, how great he is, is just a distraction for me. But it is a disappointment that he's not playing out there because obviously it is his event. The crowds love him to death, and he does spice up the event a little bit."

It's the second time in the last seven weeks that Castro got off to a great start. He had a course record-tying 63 on the TPC Sawgrass for a three-shot lead at The Players Championship, and he wasn't sure which was tougher.

"They were totally different rounds," he said. "The one at Sawgrass, I hit it 3 feet eight or nine times. And the one today was more of a normal, lower round where I made some putts. It's hard to compare these two golf courses. That one was playing firm and fast. This one is just long and soft."

DIVOTS: Nick Watney holed out from 148 yards with a wedge on the fourth hole for an eagle on his way to a 70. ... K.J. Choi celebrated his birthday Thursday, at least based on the Korean calendar. The lunar calendar birthday for the 43-year-old was May 19. Either way, here's how Choi counts it: "Every year, I get shorter," he said. ... Every player made at least one bogey.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roberto-castro-leads-tough-congressional-210833452.html

colcannon dystonia tourettes rosie o donnell soda bread recipe vanderbilt evan mathis

Red Carpet Photos with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and More

Red Carpet Roundup with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx and More

Channing Tatum, Joey King, Reid Carolin

Hint: use arrow keys to navigate.

Submitted By: RT Staff

Date: Jun 27, 2013

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927758/news/1927758/

michael jordan stephen colbert Exodus International John McAfee publix North West James Gandolfini

How The NSA Still Harvests Online Data - Business Insider

REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

A cyber security analyst works in a watch and warning center at a Department of Homeland Security cyber security defense lab at the Idaho National Laboratory, September 30, 2011, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

A review of top-secret NSA documents suggests that the surveillance agency still collects and sifts through large quantities of Americans' online data ? despite the Obama administration's insistence that the program that began under Bush ended in 2011.

Shawn Turner, the Obama administration's director of communications for National Intelligence, told the Guardian that "the internet metadata collection program authorized by the Fisa court was discontinued in 2011 for operational and resource reasons and has not been restarted."

But the documents indicate that the amount of internet metadata harvested, viewed, processed and overseen by the Special Source Operations (SSO) directorate inside the NSA is extensive.

While there is no reference to any specific program currently collecting purely domestic internet metadata in bulk, it is clear that the agency collects and analyzes significant amounts of data from US communications systems in the course of monitoring foreign targets.

On December 26 2012, SSO announced what it described as a new capability to allow it to collect far more internet traffic and data than ever before. With this new system, the NSA is able to direct more than half of the internet traffic it intercepts from its collection points into its own repositories. One end of the communications collected are inside the United States.

The NSA called it the "One-End Foreign (1EF) solution". It intended the program, codenamed EvilOlive, for "broadening the scope" of what it is able to collect. It relied, legally, on "FAA Authority", a reference to the 2008 Fisa Amendments Act that relaxed surveillance restrictions.

This new system, SSO stated in December, enables vastly increased collection by the NSA of internet traffic. "The 1EF solution is allowing more than 75% of the traffic to pass through the filter," the SSO December document reads. "This milestone not only opened the aperture of the access but allowed the possibility for more traffic to be identified, selected and forwarded to NSA repositories."

It continued: "After the EvilOlive deployment, traffic has literally doubled."

The scale of the NSA's metadata collection is highlighted by references in the documents to another NSA program, codenamed ShellTrumpet.

On December 31, 2012, an SSO official wrote that ShellTrumpet had just "processed its One Trillionth metadata record".

It is not clear how much of this collection concerns foreigners' online records and how much concerns those of Americans. Also unclear is the claimed legal authority for this collection.

Explaining that the five-year old program "began as a near-real-time metadata analyzer ? for a classic collection system", the SSO official noted: "In its five year history, numerous other systems from across the Agency have come to use ShellTrumpet's processing capabilities for performance monitoring" and other tasks, such as "direct email tip alerting."

Almost half of those trillion pieces of internet metadata were processed in 2012, the document detailed: "though it took five years to get to the one trillion mark, almost half of this volume was processed in this calendar year".

Another SSO entry, dated February 6, 2013, described ongoing plans to expand metadata collection. A joint surveillance collection operation with an unnamed partner agency yielded a new program "to query metadata" that was "turned on in the Fall 2012". Two others, called MoonLightPath and Spinneret, "are planned to be added by September 2013."

A substantial portion of the internet metadata still collected and analyzed by the NSA comes from allied governments, including its British counterpart, GCHQ.

An SSO entry dated September 21, 2012, announced that "Transient Thurible, a new Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) managed XKeyScore (XKS) Deep Dive was declared operational." The entry states that GCHQ "modified" an existing program so the NSA could "benefit" from what GCHQ harvested.

"Transient Thurible metadata [has been] flowing into NSA repositories since 13 August 2012," the entry states.

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-nsa-still-harvests-online-data-2013-6

halo 4 jewel san francisco earthquake san francisco earthquake terminator salvation terminator salvation jarhead

Mormon church-owned Utah NBC affiliate to air SNL

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? A Mormon church-owned NBC television station in Utah plans to begin showing first-run "Saturday Night Live" episodes this fall after years of refusing to air the sketch comedy show.

The decision is part of the station's plan to make the lineup stronger and improve its relationship with NBC, said Tami Ostmark, KSL-TV's vice president of marketing, research and promotion.

KSL is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has not aired certain shows over the years due to content it deems inappropriate. But Ostmark says content was never the issue with "SNL." She says the station didn't want to bump a popular sports show that aired at the same time.

New episodes of "SNL" will air at 10:30 p.m. Saturdays on KSL starting Sept. 28, Ostmark said. The station has been airing re-runs for the past year at an earlier time slot Saturday evenings.

NBC said in a statement that it's pleased KSL will air the 39th season of "SNL," adding that it values its partnership with the Utah affiliate.

First-run episodes of SNL have previously aired on Utah's CW network affiliate, KUCW. KUCW executive Richard Jones said he was taking the loss in stride.

"Obviously, we would have liked to have kept it," he said, but added, "Maintaining a good relationship with NBC is more important than complaining about this."

The CW affiliate has been airing NBC's "Hannibal" since May after KSL dropped it due to graphic and gory content. The station has also been showing "The New Normal," a sitcom about a gay couple who invites a surrogate mother into their home, since the fall of 2012.

KSL executives said the program was inappropriate to air during family viewing time, saying the show's dialogue was excessively crude and that scenes were too explicit.

KSL announced the decision Wednesday on its Facebook page. The reaction on Facebook was mixed. Some applauded the station for finally airing "SNL" while others decried the station's decision to air a show with foul humor. Some predicted the show would be pulled as soon as "SNL" airs a crude skit that offends the audience.

In a statement sent by email, KSL said it's excited about its fall lineup that will now include "Saturday Night Live" and the 2014 Winter Olympics.

___

Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mormon-church-owned-utah-nbc-affiliate-air-snl-172936339.html

new orleans saints ireland vangogh yield crossbow airhead atherosclerosis

Overcrowded shelter wants negligent pet owners fined - Fox 59 News

ANDERSON ? An overcrowded Central Indiana animal shelter wants city leaders to fine pet owners who don?t neuter or spay their animals.

During the month of June, the Animal Protection League nearly doubled its size when it took in about 300 animals. It was already caring for about 200 animals.

It is so packed, there are now kennels in offices and out in the lobby.

?We have them everywhere,? said Director Maleah Stringer.

Anderson police reported a jump in the number of calls for stray or abused animals?from less than 10 a day to now 35 a day.

?People are irresponsible. They don?t spay and neuter their pets. They don?t practice responsible pet ownership,? Stringer told Fox 59.

She wants tougher state laws for animal abuse and neglect and wants to see a city ordinance that would fine negligent pet owners.

?We need people to spay and neuter their pets and not let them run loose,? she said.

If things don?t change, Stringer said, it is likely many of the animals in house will have to be put down to make room for more coming in.

If you would like to adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate, call the Animal Protection League at (765) 356-0900.

Source: http://fox59.com/2013/06/27/overcrowded-shelter-wants-negligent-pet-owners-fined/

ted nugent Pope Resigns westminster dog show Christopher Dorner Manifesto mardi gras Christopher Dorner whitney houston

Digg adds reader to its iOS app, offers instant Google Reader import

There's more than a few enterprises that have an eye on filling the void in the RSS market left by Google's curious withdrawal. Digg is one of those hoping to woo Mountain View's refugees and has updated its iOS app to incorporate its experimental new service, which offers direct imports from Google Reader. It's available from the App Store right now, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that there are other, ahem, AOL-sanctioned, alternatives.

Filed under: Internet, Apple, Google

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: App Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/27/digg-reader-ios-app/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

usain bolt Closing Ceremony London 2012 Tom Daley Leryn Franco The Campaign Kinesio tape randy travis

Bonus Quote of the Day (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315672759?client_source=feed&format=rss

Clint Eastwood speech Maria Montessori clint eastwood Julian Castro Blue Moon August 2012 Eddie Murphy Dead Democratic National Convention 2012

Pre-existing insomnia linked to PTSD and other mental disorders after military deployment

Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jessica Mikulski
jessica.mikulski@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-8369
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Pre-deployment insomnia symptoms confer risk similar to combat exposure

PHILADELPHIA - A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Naval Health Research Center has shown military service members who have trouble sleeping prior to deployments may be at greater risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety once they return home. The new study, published in the July 2013 edition of the journal SLEEP, found that pre-existing insomnia symptoms conferred almost as a large of a risk for those mental disorders as combat exposure.

"Understanding environmental and behavioral risk factors associated with the onset of common major mental disorders is of great importance in a military occupational setting," said lead study author Philip Gehrman, PhD, assistant professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, member of the Penn Sleep Center, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. "This study is the first prospective investigation of the relationship between sleep disturbance and development of newly identified positive screens for mental disorders in a large military cohort who have been deployed in support of the recent operations in Iraq or Afghanistan."

Using self-reported data from the Millennium Cohort Study, the research team evaluated the association of pre-deployment sleep duration and insomnia symptoms on the development of new-onset mental disorders among deployers. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of developing PTSD, depression, and anxiety, while adjusting for relevant covariates including combat-related trauma.

They analyzed data from 15,204 service members, including only those servicemen and women on the timing of their first deployment across all branches and components of military service. They identified 522 people with new-onset PTSD, 151 with anxiety, and 303 with depression following deployment. In adjusted models, combat-related trauma and pre-deployment insomnia symptoms were significantly associated with higher odds of developing posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.

"One of the more interesting findings of this study is not only the degree of risk conferred by pre-deployment insomnia symptoms, but also the relative magnitude of this risk compared with combat-related trauma," says Gehrman. "The risk conferred by insomnia symptoms was almost as strong as our measure of combat exposure in adjusted models."

The researchers also found that short sleep duration (less than six hours of sleep per night), separate from general insomnia, was associated with new-onset PTSD symptoms.

"We found that insomnia is both a symptom and a risk factor for mental illness and may present a modifiable target for intervention among military personnel," says Gehrman. "We hope that by early identification of those most vulnerable, the potential exists for the designing and testing of preventive strategies that may reduce the occurrence of PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

The research team says that additional study is needed to investigate whether routine inquiry about insomnia symptoms and application of appropriate early, effective interventions reduces subsequent morbidity from mental disorders. They note that in a military population, assessment of insomnia symptoms could easily be incorporated into routine pre-deployment screening.

###

The Millennium Cohort Study is funded through the Military Operational Medicine Research Program of the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

---

[ | 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.

Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jessica Mikulski
jessica.mikulski@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-8369
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Pre-deployment insomnia symptoms confer risk similar to combat exposure

PHILADELPHIA - A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Naval Health Research Center has shown military service members who have trouble sleeping prior to deployments may be at greater risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety once they return home. The new study, published in the July 2013 edition of the journal SLEEP, found that pre-existing insomnia symptoms conferred almost as a large of a risk for those mental disorders as combat exposure.

"Understanding environmental and behavioral risk factors associated with the onset of common major mental disorders is of great importance in a military occupational setting," said lead study author Philip Gehrman, PhD, assistant professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, member of the Penn Sleep Center, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. "This study is the first prospective investigation of the relationship between sleep disturbance and development of newly identified positive screens for mental disorders in a large military cohort who have been deployed in support of the recent operations in Iraq or Afghanistan."

Using self-reported data from the Millennium Cohort Study, the research team evaluated the association of pre-deployment sleep duration and insomnia symptoms on the development of new-onset mental disorders among deployers. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of developing PTSD, depression, and anxiety, while adjusting for relevant covariates including combat-related trauma.

They analyzed data from 15,204 service members, including only those servicemen and women on the timing of their first deployment across all branches and components of military service. They identified 522 people with new-onset PTSD, 151 with anxiety, and 303 with depression following deployment. In adjusted models, combat-related trauma and pre-deployment insomnia symptoms were significantly associated with higher odds of developing posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.

"One of the more interesting findings of this study is not only the degree of risk conferred by pre-deployment insomnia symptoms, but also the relative magnitude of this risk compared with combat-related trauma," says Gehrman. "The risk conferred by insomnia symptoms was almost as strong as our measure of combat exposure in adjusted models."

The researchers also found that short sleep duration (less than six hours of sleep per night), separate from general insomnia, was associated with new-onset PTSD symptoms.

"We found that insomnia is both a symptom and a risk factor for mental illness and may present a modifiable target for intervention among military personnel," says Gehrman. "We hope that by early identification of those most vulnerable, the potential exists for the designing and testing of preventive strategies that may reduce the occurrence of PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

The research team says that additional study is needed to investigate whether routine inquiry about insomnia symptoms and application of appropriate early, effective interventions reduces subsequent morbidity from mental disorders. They note that in a military population, assessment of insomnia symptoms could easily be incorporated into routine pre-deployment screening.

###

The Millennium Cohort Study is funded through the Military Operational Medicine Research Program of the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

---

[ | 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/2013-06/uops-pil062713.php

Girls Love Beyonce gun control Patton Oswalt Outside Lands washington post revolution Family Guy Boston Marathon

U.S. boss held hostage now free

BEIJING (AP) ? An American boss detained nearly a week by his company's Chinese workers left the Beijing factory Thursday after he and a labor representative said the two sides reached agreement in a pay dispute.

Chip Starnes, who said he was "saddened" by the experience, told The Associated Press a deal was reached overnight to pay the scores of workers who had demanded severance packages similar to ones given to laid-off co-workers in a phased-out division, even though the company said the remaining workers weren't being laid off.

Remaining workers at the medical supply plant in Huairou district, on the outskirts of Beijing, had said they believed the entire factory was shutting down, that the company owed unpaid salary and that they saw equipment being packed and itemized for shipping to India.

Starnes said the workers' demands were unjustified. Neither he nor district labor official Chu Lixiang gave details of the agreed compensation. Chu said all the workers would be terminated, and Starnes said some of them would be rehired later.

"It has been resolved to each side's satisfaction," Chu told reporters at a conference room at the plant in late morning. She said they had been sorting out paperwork until 5 a.m. and that 97 workers had signed settlement agreements.

Starnes, a co-owner of Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, had quietly departed the factory grounds by the time Chu spoke, returning to his hotel in Beijing.

"Yes!! Out and back at hotel," Starnes wrote in a text message. "Showered... 9 pounds lost during the ordeal!!!!!!"

Police in Huairou district had made no moves to halt the labor action but guarded the plant and said they were guaranteeing Starnes' safety while local labor officials brokered negotiations.

It is not rare in China for managers to be held by workers demanding back pay or other benefits, often from their Chinese owners. Police are reluctant to intervene, as they consider it a business dispute, and local officials typically are eager to see the matter resolved in the way least likely to fuel unrest.

The labor action reflected growing uneasiness among workers about their jobs amid China's slowing economic growth and the sense that growing labor costs make the country less attractive for some foreign-owned factories.

About 80 workers had started blocking all exits starting last Friday, and Starnes had spoken to reporters in recent days through the barred window of his factory office.

Earlier Thursday, he said in a telephone interview that he had been forced to give in to what he considered unjustified demands. He summed up the past several days as "humiliating, embarrassing." At the beginning of his captivity, workers had deprived him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on windows of his office, he said.

"We have transferred our funds from the U.S.," he said. "I am basically free to go when the funds hit the account here of the company."

Starnes told the AP he planned to get back to business, and even rehire some of the workers who had been holding him. "We're going to take Thursday off to let the dust settle, and we're going to be rehiring a lot of the previous workers on new contracts as of Friday," he said.

Starnes previously said the company had been winding down its plastics division, with plans to move it to Mumbai. When he arrived in Beijing last week to lay off the last 30 people, workers in other divisions started demanding similar severance packages.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-boss-held-china-leaves-plant-payout-044656354.html

florida state meghan mccain wilson chandler bristol motor speedway prometheus grand canyon skywalk tonga

The Court Got Baby Veronica Wrong

Veronica and her biological father Dusten Brown on April 11, 2013

Photo by Jeremy Charles/Washington Post/Getty Images

Yesterday the Supreme Court decided Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl and although it is not clear whether it will result in a ?win? for the Adoptive Couple, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, there is no question it is a win for adoptive couples in general.

Baby Girl involves an Indian child, Veronica Capobianco, who was placed for adoption with the Capobianco?s at birth. Her biological father, Dusten Brown, never agreed to the adoption?he says he gave up his parental rights without knowing that the child?s biological mother was going to give her up for adoption. Upon receiving notice of the pending adoption, Brown immediately contested it. Brown is an enrolled member of the Cherokee tribe of Oklahoma and he argued that the termination of his parental rights was invalid under a federal statute known as the Indian Child Welfare Act, which aims to strengthen and protect Indian families by preventing their unnecessary break up.

One of the ways ICWA protects Indian families is by forbidding the involuntary termination of Indian parents? parental rights. Under the statute, such terminations are forbidden in the absence of a heightened showing that serious harm is likely to result from the parent?s ?continued custody? of the child. Brown based his argument on this statutory provision and won in South Carolina. After two years of living with the Capobiancos, Veronica was turned over to her biological father. But now, in a 5?4 decision, the Supreme Court has said that the South Carolina courts were wrong.

The court based its ruling on a very literal meaning of ?continued? (they even cited the dictionary) and found it only applied in instances where the objecting parent had previously exercised physical or legal custody of the child. In this case, because Veronica was placed with the Capobiancos at birth, the court found this provision did not apply to Brown and thus, the court found that Brown?s parental rights could be involuntarily terminated. However, since the lower court believed it did not have this power, it never terminated his parental rights. As a result, the case will now be remanded back to the South Carolina family court.

Although the family court now has the authority to terminate Brown?s rights, there is good reason to think they won?t. Veronica has been in the care of her biological father for almost two years. He is her father, he loves her, and he wants to raise her.? Hopefully, these facts will matter to the family court, but it is pretty clear they meant very little to the majority.

According to the majority opinion, written by Justice Alito, the five justices? biggest concern with ICWA and the provision that prevents the involuntary termination of Indian parents? rights is that it might ?dissuade? potential adoptive parents from seeking to adopt Indian children. Well duh, that?s the point!?

ICWA was passed to make the adoption of Indian children harder and that is precisely what the majority is objecting to. As Justice Sotomayor states in her dissent, ?the majority openly professes its aversion to Congress?s explicitly stated purpose in enacting the statute.? Instead of protecting Indian parents, the majority opinion is an ode to the virtues of adoption. In fact, the majority likes adoption so much they suggest that instead of seeking to prevent the termination of his parental rights Brown should have tried to adopt Veronica!

The above statement is made in the context of a separate section of ICWA, section 1915(a), which delineates preferences for Indian children placed for adoption. According to this section, extended family members should be given top priority when an Indian child is placed for adoption. In his briefs, Brown relied on this section to argue that even without ICWA?s prohibition on involuntary terminations, his status as Veronica?s biological relative gave him preference over the Capobiancos in any adoptive placement. The court however, disagreed.

The majority held that ?[b]iological father is not covered by [this section] because he did not seek to adopt Baby Girl.? According to the court, if Brown had truly wanted to be considered a potential parent to Veronica he should have done so as an adoptive parent rather than a biological one. So a biological parent is not preferable to a potential adoptive parent and in fact, it is only by seeking to adopt that the biological parent becomes worthy of custodial consideration? This is a shocking statement and one that, as Scalia notes in his dissent, ?needlessly demeans the rights of parenthood.?

This disagreement over the importance of biology is at the heart of the Baby Girl case and it is why this case should matter to more than just Indian families and their advocates. For the majority, biology is insignificant, but as Scalia notes, ?it has been the constant practice of common law to respect the entitlement of those who bring a child into the world to raise that child.? More importantly, this recognition of parental rights is not arbitrary. It is a recognition that biology matters. As Justice Sotomayor wrote, ?the biological bond between a parent and child is meaningful.? I have no doubt that the Capobiancos also have a deeply meaningful bond with Veronica, and I cannot imagine their pain since losing her last year. But Dusten Brown is Veronica?s biological father, he loves her and wants to raise her. This should matter.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/06/baby_veronica_indian_adoption_case_the_supreme_court_got_it_wrong.html

cape breton bowling green marysville tornados dr. seuss the temptations rush limbaugh sandra fluke

Explosions, fire clear downtown St. Louis building

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? One of the largest office buildings in downtown St. Louis has been evacuated amid a fire and a series of explosions in the street outside in an area where construction work has been underway.

Occasional fireballs shot out from a hole in the pavement Tuesday evening as firefighters battled flames that appeared to come from underground. The cause was not immediately known.

There were no reports of injuries. The blasts happened just before 5 p.m. outside the One US Bank Plaza building, located across from the St. Louis Convention Center.

Several hundred people work in the office building, including bank employees, lawyers and other professionals.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/explosions-fire-clear-downtown-st-louis-building-230251887.html

johnny depp John Zawahri Suki Waterhouse apple apple Sagrada Familia Animal Crossing New Leaf

Windows 8.1: Everything You Need to Know (Updating)

Microsoft rolls out the next version of windows, 8.1, at its annual Build developers conference today. It's a big deal. Windows 8 was a crazy ambitious step, what follows is just as important. This is what Microsoft's taken from your months of feedback (or just, yelling).

Almost everything coming in 8.1 seems like a genuine improvement. The question, then, is exactly how much improvement. It's not so much good news/bad news as good news and wait that's all the good news? That's part of Microsoft's plan, though, as it's focusing on smaller, faster releases.

We'll be updating this post throughout Microsoft's keynote (refresh to see the latest updates), but we've started you with an overview of what's going into the update. You can watch the keynote live here.

To Start

Welp, you can boot to desktop now. You can also boot basically anywhere else you want, too?the All Apps screen, individual apps, the Start Menu.

The Start button also returns, but it only flings you into the Start Screen?no old school Start menu.

There are also some new tile sizes: The smaller square tiles (like Windows Phone 8's), which let you cram more stuff onto your homescreen, and the gigantic square tile, which can display a bunch of information, like emails or calendar appointments.

You can select a group of tiles at once and drag them into their own group, which you can name, like a folder.

Swiping up from the Start screen brings up All Apps, which can now be sorted in more ways. This is a nice improvement from the swipe-then-tap required to bring this up in Windows 8.

The start screen can be customized to more colors and has some "motion accents" that move as you scroll through the metro tiles. Or, blessedly, you can just put your desktop wallpaper behind the Start screen.

As a whole, the changes to the Start screen are pretty indicative of the update as a whole. A few functional improvements, some of which are highly anticipated, but just as much window dressing and little flourishes.

Wider Customization

Microsoft's big push for 8.1 is to make Windows feel more customizable, and that goes beyond the Start screen.

All your Modern/Metro apps will get automatic updates through the Windows Store in 8.1.

The most visible change is the tweak to multitasking. "Snap View", or the ability to pin a Metro app to either side of the screen, has been changed to let you drag to resize the apps. Meaning: If you want to have, say, Mail on the left side and a browser on the right, you can have each app take up 50 percent of the screen, or drag the divider around to your liking.

The new snap features open new Metro apps automatically, but we still aren't sure how this works with forcing an app to default to open in its own window.

In addition to this, you can have up to four apps snapped as vertical columns on your screen. All screens can take four apps, but obviously you're going to want a larger monitor to handle them (16:9 or 21:9 being ideal).

IE11 in Metro can now open more than one window, and can have infinite tabs.

Microsoft has looked into allowing you snap apps as horizontal rows?either at the top and bottom of the screen, or within columns created by snapped apps?but that's not currently possible. Yell about this some more and maybe it'll show up in an update down the road.

The lock screen can now be a moving collage of photos from your PC, SkyDrive, and Phone. You can also do things, like answer Skype calls, from the lock screen as well.

Mail will be updated in an upcoming build to have some new features like "sweep", which gets rid of all of the same spammy emails of a type. So, LivingSocial: you can get rid of every LS app at once, or only keep the oens from with the past 10 days or so.

Music got a new auto-generating playlist feature that makes a whole playlist from a selected artist.

Gestures

The on-screen keyboard has some new gestures. You can slide up from any key that has a number as a secondary key, and the number will be inserted automatically, instead of having to switch to a different panel.

You can use hands-free swiping to scroll through apps, which is allegedly helpful for stuff like the new Food and Drinks app, which is more or less a huge cookbook.

Multi-Monitor

We know you'll be able to keep the Start Screen pinned to one screen permanently now, but we'll have more specifics soon, hopefully.

Each monitor will now have its own scaling factor, meaning that you can zoom in with a high DPI monitor, and then move the app to a lower DPI screen without it being huge and awful. The app just resizes on its own.

SkyDrive

SkyDrive features more prominently in 8.1. You can decide in all your apps whether to view files on your PC or on SkyDrive, and where things are saved. We'll add further features as they're announced.

Settings

We're going to see a lot of new APIs today that will allow developers to make apps more customizable. We're also told that the first party Microsoft apps will have more options as well. We'll have more details as the specific APIs are announced.

Search

Search is a big addition for Windows 8.1. Well, "change" is probably more appropriate.

In Windows 8, Search was broken down to search by applications, on the web, in the store, through your files. You decided which you'd see.

In 8.1, Search is universal. Searching for any term will bring up a "hero" display if you press enter, showing you results from the web, in your files, and anywhere else, which you scroll through.

If you just type into the field, though, the pane on the right hand side of the screen will display results in real time, a lot like Apple's Spotlight. This is a good thing, in theory, but we still want to see how it works in a day to day setting.

Apps

Performance is supposed to be faster for all apps in 8.1. We'll let you know if we see the difference.

For devs, there are new performance analysis tools in Visual Studio 2014 to test network health, battery life effects, and other variables with app performance.

There's also a new tool to make push notifications easier to put into apps. So for users, notifications should be better in the apps you use.

The Store is totally remodeled, with new lists that make it easier to find things.

3D Printing

Microsoft is partnering with Makerbot, 3D Systems, Form Labs, Autodesk, and several other software and hardware companies to add 3D printing support to 8.1.

Windows Phone 8.1

Apparently we're going to be hearing about Windows Phone, too, which is unexpected. We're going to be adding details about it as we have them.

Business

Microsoft is also pushing new enterprise features, like better and easier encryption. Obviously, Windows 8 wasn't a huge hit for that sector, so this is sorely needed. More details to come here.

Good thing? Bad thing?

Windows 8.1 brings good stuff to the table. The question isn't really if it's good, but if it's good enough. A lot of that will depend on how the new developer tools are implemented going forward, and how much developer support overall improves this year.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/windows-8-1-everything-you-need-to-know-585637162

marco rubio marco rubio Zero Hour Funny Valentines Chris Kyle Russian meteor Meteor Hits Russia

Correction: Manning-WikiLeaks story

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) ? In a story June 25 about Army leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning, The Associated Press reported erroneously that attorneys for Manning did not object to the judge temporarily closing his court-martial to the public and press to protect classified information in written witness statements to be read aloud in court. On Tuesday, defense attorneys did not object having the judge read those portions of the statements to herself, negating the need for courtroom closures.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Manning defense OK with plan to avoid court closure

Manning defense raises no objection to judge silently reading witness statements to avoid court closure

By DAVID DISHNEAU

Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) ? Lawyers for Army leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning raised no objection Tuesday to a proposal to have the military judge in the case silently read written witness statements to protect their confidentiality.

As the trial entered its fourth week, defense attorney David Coombs told the military judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, he had no objection to the plan. Classified material in the statements would be protected if the statements are not read aloud, which would mean the courtroom would not need to be closed while they are read.

Prosecutors have said they expect to present as many as 17 such statements this week. The statements, called stipulations of expected testimony, may include evidence about more than 250,000 State Department diplomatic cables Manning is accused of stealing from a classified computer database.

Manning denies the theft charge but has acknowledged he sent the cables, along with hundreds of thousands of classified war logs and some Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield videos to the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks. The former intelligence analyst has said he leaked the material to expose wrongdoing by American service members and diplomats.

The trial at Fort Meade, near Baltimore, is to determine whether Manning is guilty of espionage, theft, computer fraud and aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence.

If Manning is convicted at the bench trial, his future will be determined by a different general than the one who ordered the court-martial.

On Monday, Maj. Gen. Jeffery S. Buchanan succeeded Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington as commander of the Military District of Washington. In the military justice system, court-martial verdicts and sentences can be thrown out or reduced by the convening authority ? the commander who ordered the court-martial. Upon a change of command, that authority passes to the new commander.

Buchanan's last job was as deputy commanding general of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Before that, he directed strategic efforts of U.S. forces in Iraq and served as their chief spokesman there from July 2010 to December 2011.

Linnington has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and a Pentagon job as military deputy for readiness in the defense secretary's office.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/correction-manning-wikileaks-story-142838001.html

los angeles kings timothy leary jonathan frid pujols watchmen hitch justin beiber

Pro football player Hernandez charged with murder

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) ? New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in the shooting death of a friend prosecutors say had angered the football player at a nightclub a few days earlier by talking to the wrong people.

Hernandez, 23, was taken from his North Attleborough home in handcuffs just over a week after Boston semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd's bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park about a mile away.

Less than two hours after the arrest, the Patriots announced they had cut Hernandez, a 2011 Pro Bowl selection who signed a five-year contract worth $40 million last summer.

Lloyd was a 27-year-old athlete with the Boston Bandits who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. He was shot repeatedly in the back and chest, authorities said.

Hernandez could get life without parole if convicted.

"It is at bottom a circumstantial case. It is not a strong case," his attorney, Michael Fee, said at a court hearing during which Hernandez was ordered held without bail on murder charges and five weapons counts.

Lloyd's family members cried and hugged in the courtroom as prosecutor Bill McCauley outlined the killing. Two relatives were so overcome with emotion that they had to leave the courtroom.

McCauley said the crime stemmed from a night out at a Boston club called Rumor on June 14. He said Hernandez was upset about certain things, including that Lloyd had talked to some people Hernandez "had troubles with."

Two days later, McCauley said, on the night of June 16, Hernandez texted two friends from out of state and asked them to hurry back to Massachusetts.

Surveillance footage from outside Hernandez's home showed him leaving with a gun, and he told someone in the house that he was upset and couldn't trust anyone anymore, the prosecutor said.

The three men picked up Lloyd at his home around 2:30 a.m., according to authorities. As they drove around, they discussed what happened at the nightclub, and Lloyd started getting nervous, McCauley said.

Lloyd texted his sister, "Did you see who I am with?" When she asked who, he answered, at 3:22 a.m., "NFL," then, a minute later, "Just so you know."

Within a few minutes after that, people working the overnight shift at the industrial park reported hearing gunshots, McCauley said.

Investigators did not specify who fired the shots and did not identify the two other people who were with Hernandez.

In arguing unsuccessfully for bail, Hernandez's attorney said the athlete is unlikely to flee, is a homeowner, and lives with his fiancee and an 8-month-old baby. He also said Hernandez had never been accused of a violent crime.

As he was led from his home in the morning, Hernandez was wearing a white V-neck T-shirt, with his arms inside the shirt and behind his back. He spit into some bushes on his way to a police cruiser.

Later, as he was taken from the North Attleborough police station to court, two dozen supporters cheered, some yelling, "We love you Aaron!"

"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation," the Patriots said in a statement announcing he had been cut.

The team added: "We realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing. We support their efforts and respect the process. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do."

The Patriots drafted Hernandez, who is originally from Bristol, Conn., in 2010 out of the University of Florida, where he was an All-American.

During the draft, one team said it wouldn't take him under any circumstances, and he was passed over by one club after another before New England took him in the fourth round.

Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a drug test in college ? reportedly for marijuana ? and was up front with teams about it.

In other off-the-field troubles, a Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club in February.

And The Boston Globe reported that Hernandez lost his temper and threatened a teammate during an argument in the team's weight room shortly after he was drafted.

Hernandez became a father on Nov. 6, and said he intended to change his ways: "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things."

___

Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Boston and Howard Ulman in North Attleborough contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pro-football-player-hernandez-charged-murder-204828502.html

matt jones whitney houston in casket photo resolute national enquirer whitney houston casket photo jk rowling qnexa kingdom of heaven

In 1996, these members of Congress stood up against discrimination (video) (Americablog)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315149176?client_source=feed&format=rss

Jodi Arias Jane Wicker Snowden Nik Wallenda Doc Rivers Under the Dome Naked and Afraid