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The nation's heightened terror alert didn't seem to slow traffic across the U.S.-Mexico border two days before Christmas as travelers and shoppers crossed into the United States. In Reynosa, across the Rio Grande from Hidalgo, Texas, traffic on Tuesday flowed smoothly with only a 15-minute wait for cars to cross over. It was a much different scene Monday, though, the day after the nation's terror level alert was raised from "elevated" to "high." "Yesterday, it was all day," Reynosa shopkeeper Nancy Gaona said Tuesday. "By car, by foot. It's rare but there isn't a line today." Then, lines ran across the bridge and past Gaona's store, also extending several blocks into nearby Matamoros' downtown, across the river from Brownsville, Texas. On Tuesday, it was also better at the border in Tijuana, across from San Diego. Jose Corona, a 48-year-old Tijuana resident who crosses nearly every day to San Diego, said he waited only five to 10 minutes in the express lanes Tuesday, shorter than usual. "Right now, I'd say the orange alert is no problem," Corona said. Roger Maier, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (search) in El Paso, said the shorter waits could be attributed to people not crossing after hearing about the earlier delays. Also, border-crossers could be heeding advice from the agency like being prepared when they reach the check points and cleaning out trucks to expedite searches. The upgrade from "yellow" to "orange" on the terror risk scale was based in part on intelligence that Al Qaeda may soon try to pull off a coordinated attack in multiple places to cause mass casualties. At the San Diego border crossing, inspectors made full use of X-ray and gamma-ray machines to check cargo for smuggled weapons, illegal immigrants and drugs. Uniformed officers were taken off desk duties and assigned to checking some of the 55,000 vehicles that pass from Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego every day. "Everything's focused on the terrorist threat," said Vince Bond, spokesman for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. At Blaine, Wash., the busiest U.S-Canada border crossing west of Detroit, customs inspectors have been checking the trunks and under the hoods of more vehicles since the heightened terror alert, said Mike Milne, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's Northwest region. Also, he said, "we're running more name checks of occupants in a car, not just the driver." Still, even with a brisk flow of holiday shoppers and skiers heading to the mountains, heightened security has not caused traffic to back up much longer than usual, Milne said, noting that the longest wait in recent days has been an hour and 15 minutes. Maier suggested people check the agency's Web site for information on possible delays.

Two fathers who lost nine of their relatives to the city's deadliest fire in years grieved together Friday at an Islamic Cultural Center and planned the final arrangements for the victims, eight of them children. Neither man had been at the two-family home near Yankee Stadium when the fire broke out on a lower floor late Wednesday night. Moussa Magassa was on a business trip in his native Mali in West Africa and flew home to New York on Friday. Mamadou Soumare had been at work driving a cab when his wife called, screaming that the house was on fire. Soumare's wife, Fatoumata, died in the blaze, along with three of the couple's children and five of Magassa's. • Photo Essay: 3-Alarm Blaze Kills 9 in New York City "Parents should never have to bury their children," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday after meeting with the men. "It's not the logical order of things." Two Mali ambassadors joined Bloomberg and attended a prayer service for the victims. Twenty-two relatives, including 17 children, lived in the home. The families are "getting a lot of comfort from the community," said Sidi Darrah, Mali ambassador to the United Nations. Donations for the surviving family members had already topped $21,000, he said. Several mosques were leading the effort, Imam Konate Souleimane said. The tentative plan was to fly Fatoumata Soumare and her three children to Mali for burial, while Magassa's children would be buried in the New York area, Souleimane said. "These people are good Muslims," said Dukary Camara, a spokesman for Islamic Cultural Center. "They understand that what is destiny for them, there's nothing that can prevent that from happening." The fire started with a space heater and quickly climbed through the three-story house, authorities said. Inside, the adults apparently tried to extinguish the flames themselves, but those on the upper floors were trapped. Mamadou Soumare was driving his livery cab through Harlem when he got a frantic call from his wife. "She said, `We have a fire,"' he recalled. "She was screaming." "I might die with my kids," she told him. He called 911, but by the time he got home, the house was a fiery tomb. Two neighbors, Edward Soto and David Todd, had rescued a couple of children tossed from a window, but for the others it was too late. Neighbor Charles O'Neal, 21, said he saw firefighters pass along babies still clad in their pajamas and lay two dead children on sheets of white plastic. Family members identified the dead as Fatoumata Soumare, 42, her son Dgibril and 7-month-old twins Sisi and Harouma. The couple's fourth child, 7-year-old Hasimy, escaped, her father said. Family members provided different name spellings than the authorities did. Magassa lost four sons — Bandiougou, 11, Mahamadou, 8, Abudubucary, 5, and Bilaly, 1, and his 3-year-old daughter Diaba. Their mother and six siblings survived. City records and phone listings spell their surname as Magassa, although various other spellings were provided after the fire. "It's very, very, very sad what has happened," said Imam Mahamadou Soukouna, a Muslim cleric and family friend. He described Magassa, an official of the New York chapter of the international High Council for Malians Living Abroad, as "the best in our community." At least three children were among the injured. A 7-year-old girl was in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center, and a pair of 6-year-olds were upgraded from critical to good condition and transferred to Lincoln Hospital. The home had two smoke alarms, but the batteries were missing, authorities said. The family that owned the building had planned renovations, including sprinklers that would have drenched the hallways and the home's central stairwell in the event of a fire, city records show. A change to multi-family status would have also required the at least one additional fire-resistant stairwell, city buildings officials said, but the project was suspended by the city for further evaluation. The fire was the city's deadliest since the 1990 Happy Land social club blaze in the Bronx that killed 87 people, with the exception of the World Trade Center attacks. "I can't recollect a fire where we lost eight children," said Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano, who has 37 years in the department. The blaze broke hearts from the South Bronx to West Africa. All the parents had immigrated from Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world. Near the home Friday, neighbors added to a memorial of flowers, notes and stuffed animals. The family van was still parked in the driveway, its roof strewn with debris. "We are standing with them and supporting them, and we are thanking God," said Camara, of the Islamic Cultural Center. "God is the one who gives us the children and the family, and he is the one who takes them."

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," August 15, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Almost five years after the taste of an attack that took place on September the 11th, and two years after the 9/11 Commission issued its report, the two men in charge of releasing a new book about the behind the scenes event of that tragic day. Joining us now, the chairman of the 9/11 Commission, author of Bill Clinton gave the speech in Woodbury, Long Island, in 2002. In his speech he talked about Osama, how he went to Sudan. The Sudans wanted to start dealing with him. And he said at the time he had committed no crimes against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America. He said, "So I pleaded with the Saudis to take him," but he thought — they thought he was a hot potato and they didn't — that's how he wound up in Afghanistan. If we knew that he was a threat and they offered him to us and the president is admitting that, former President Clinton, why wasn't that pursued? KEAN: It should have been. We made several mistakes. That was one of them. Another time we had a chance to take him out when he was actually in Afghanistan using tribes. We didn't do it. We missed opportunities. Actually, Clinton did try to drop a missile on him at one point. He missed. We had a number of opportunities to take him out. And shame on us, we didn't do it. HANNITY: What do you think the top three things we need to do now to make this country and the American people safer? KEAN: One, I think we have to start distributing moneys according to need, not necessarily for political purposes. There's no reason to do that. We thought that was stupid to begin with. It was one of our easiest recommendations. Secondly, the thing that terrifies me and that wakes me up at night is the idea of a terrorist with a nuclear weapon. HANNITY: Scares me. KEAN: We have to do much more to contain enriched uranium at the sites, which is about 100 sites around the world. We've got to make those sites secure. We're not moving fast enough to do it. ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Governor, as I understand it, bin Laden was not offered directly to the United States. Because the Saudis wouldn't take him. We couldn't get him directly. That was the issue, as I understand it. KEAN: Well, we didn't do enough. Not just this occasion. On a number of occasions we had chances early on to get him. And we didn't do it. COLMES: But you said fighting the War on Terror and protecting the American people, those should be our top priorities, but are they? KEAN: No. COLMES: Why not? KEAN: Because I think we are really a nation easily distracted. And we're fighting two wars. That's understandable. We're fighting in Iraq. We're fighting in Afghanistan. There are priorities at home that come up all the time. And so these priorities are trying, frankly, to implement our 41 recommendations to make the people safer. These kind of things somehow start slipping in the priority. COLMES: Is Iraq a distraction in the War on Terror? KEAN: Iraq is a huge priority. And as long as you're spending that much time and money on that priority, obviously, it's going to take money from other things. COLMES: You say the Pentagon and the FAA were not honest with the 9/11 Commission. How so? How were you deceived? KEAN: They didn't tell us the truth. They testified before us publicly. They gave us timelines that weren't accurate. Our staff had to go and straighten out the record. And when we did... COLMES: What was the motivation not to be honest with you? KEAN: We have no idea. Because they didn't tell the truth we turned the matter over to inspector generals in two departments, and we're still awaiting for the results of their investigation. COLMES: Was this the issue of Flight 93 and whether or not they were going to shoot it down? And they said that they were going to, but the timeline comes out and it finds out that 93 was already down by the time that order could have been given. KEAN: Yes, they couldn't have. They couldn't have shot it down, but they said they could. They said they had 40 minutes to do it. That spawned all sorts of conspiracy theories. COLMES: Did you even consider legal action on that issue? KEAN: Well, we did. We were a commission. We were going out of existence. We didn't have time to do that. We thought the inspector generals were the proper people to do it, and hopefully, from their investigation come the right source. HANNITY: Governor, is your son going to win in New Jersey? KEAN: I think my son is going to win, and I think you'll have a great senator. HANNITY: All right. Thank you, Governor Kean. Appreciate it. Thanks for being with us today. Watch "Hannity & Colmes" weeknights at 9 p.m. ET! Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2006 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2006 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.

CAIRO -- The head of the medical team supervising Hosni Mubarak's health denies the ex-president suffered a stroke or is in a coma. Doctor Assem Azzam said Sunday that 83-year old Mubarak had suffered a bout of low blood pressure but was now stable. Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb said earlier that the ousted Egyptian president had suffered a stroke and was in a coma. However, the doctor said Mubarak only suffered low blood pressure and felt dizzy. Azzam said he was in stable condition. Mubarak has been in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April under arrest on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during Egypt's uprising. He is said to be suffering from heart trouble. Mubarak is set to face trial in August on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on Feb. 11. A conviction could carry the death penalty and activists suspect his lawyer may be using health problems as a ruse to sway public opinion and perhaps even win amnesty.

Gunmen attacked a complex housing Pakistani security agencies in the southern town of Sukkur late Wednesday, killing five people and wounding more than 30 others, an official and state TV said. Four explosions were heard in the area, where "terrorists" seized control of one government building, another building was under fire and the wall of a third had collapsed, Pakistan's PTV reported. PTV said five people had been killed and 38 injured, and that gunfire was continuing in Sukkur, more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) south of the capital Islamabad. Javed Odho, a senior police officer told AFP, that the attack took place in an area where Pakistan's premier Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, the police and paramilitary had offices. "Armed people have attacked. Apparently it is an organised terrorist attack, we have sent heavy contingent of police to the site," he said, speaking by telephone from the town. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Pakistan's ISI and government security forces are frequent targets for the country's umbrella Taliban movement waging a domestic insurgency. But Sukkur has been traditionally immune from such violence, more frequently seen in the northwest on the Afghan border or in Pakistan's cities of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. ...,/.,

Ainsley McWha The agency director called me in for a one-on-one meeting, which was uncommon, but I knew what it was about. It was February, castings for Paris's Fall/Winter fashion week had already begun and for me, they hadn't been going well. It was because of my body. I sat down in the padded leather armchair across the desk from the director, a man in his late thirties, maybe early forties. (Years spent working in the modeling industry has skewed my ability to determine people's ages.) Oversized black and white images of semi-dressed girls lined the walls, blown-up photos from fashion shoots. Outside, it was raining. A sleeping Weimaraner lay curled up in the corner, snoring, oblivious to my fate. I wrung my hands. In a thick French accent, the director told me: "Do not eat anything for the next two days. Drink only water. Go to Milan and for the next two weeks, really watch what you eat. Don't eat a lot and drink a lot of water." This was not sound advice. When I returned from Italy, he said, it would be decided whether I was thin enough to walk in the Paris shows. I was 19 years old, five feet eleven and a half feet tall and, though I cannot disclose what I weighed (due to necessary guidelines for covering eating disorders), for a woman of my height, suffice to say it was certainly not enough. At this point, I had been modeling full-time for a year and a half after placing in the top 15 of an international agency's annual contest and winning a $50,000 two-year contract. Me at the height of my modeling career The problem? Four months earlier, I had weighed far less, and the director expected me to maintain that lower weight. The previous summer when I had first arrived in Paris, girls who I lived with at the agency model apartment had been coming home announcing that they had had "the talk," and I vowed to not let that happen to me, too. I started by being selective with what I ate, and it progressed from there. I worked more, the other girls envied me and I believed I was closer to becoming a supermodel and acquiring the accompanying perks. When my old clothes didn't fit the way they used to, one of my bookers took me shopping, suggesting the new clothes I should buy to play this inevitable role. I never stopped eating altogether, but I ate very little. I was unhealthy, yet hawking the image of health. Since I lived on the other side of the world, away from family and friends, essentially alone, nobody witnessed my transformation aside from the girls I shared the apartment with and my agency. I worked every day. I left Paris before the sun came up to fly to Barcelona or Rome or Zurich or Frankfurt or Milan, returning home after dark, or staying over for a night or two then flying to the next job in another studio location. Once, but only once, I was force-fed by a photographer who wouldn't let me return to the set until I finished a bowl of pasta. That was an excruciating hour. This lifestyle was not sustainable. I learned this when the mood swings -- a frightening side effect of being malnourished and sleep-deprived -- became too much to handle. The January I was 19, I booked a shoot in Cancun, which included a week-long stay at a Club Med. At the 24-hour buffet, I ate more in five days than I had in the previous five months. Once I allowed myself to start eating, and with the endless options presented to me (Tacos! Ice cream! Pizza!), I couldn't stop. The dam had broken. I started to put weight back on, and even before the director called me in, I was dealing with the daily -- yet warped -- sensation of fatness. I showed up at castings feeling swollen and dejected. And this showed on my face, which, when you're trying to make a living off of looking happy, is bad for business. Instead of flying to Milan the day after the meeting, I flew to New York City, thinking that there, where the fashion market was slightly more forgiving of a slightly fuller figure, that I would be able to get my weight and eating under control. For the entire flight across the Atlantic, I felt like a cow and cried. I was a failure. In New York, my agent scheduled an appointment for me to meet with a nutritionist. At least this was a somewhat proactive step. But a nutritionist was not what I needed. I needed serious psychological help. Months of practically starving myself and thinking that this was not only a good idea, but also necessary, had actually resulted in me believing that I was fat and that I needed to continue losing weight -- even when there was no fat left for me to lose. Starvation will twist your thoughts like that. A fact I learned when I eventually returned home to my parents' house in the suburbs of Canada and started one-on-one counseling with a psychologist, treatment that also included a weekly group therapy session. What came next were months and months of costly rehabilitation to re-train my mind with the hopes that my body would follow. When I learned about France's recent law about hiring underweight models, I couldn't believe it. Paris has always been the strictest modeling market where weight is concerned. Meaning: Paris has always been the market that has demanded its girls be the thinnest. Any model will tell you this. The new law threatens to throw anyone hiring extremely underweight girls (with a Body Mass Index of less than 18) into jail for six months, or fine them up to 75,000 Euros. This applies to agents and clients alike. My old agency director? He could have been imprisoned for what he said to me. That was almost 20 years ago, but I will never forget his words and their after effects. Now I am 37 years old. After going through my rehabilitative counseling, I went on to college for four years to study Psychology, hoping to someday help teenage girls with the issues that I had both dealt with and witnessed during my years as a teenaged model -- poor body image, non-existent self-esteem and eating disorders -- issues that impact non-models, too. At 24, after graduation, I was scouted to model again, and I returned to the job, albeit reluctantly, thinking that it would be a decent way to make good money for a short while. Really, I needed to prove to myself that I could do it, that I could succeed in this job that is seemingly as simple as standing there to get your picture taken, which it isn't. My face and image have been featured on magazine covers and high-fashion runways, in national and international fashion and beauty campaigns, television commercials and a Times Square billboard. I like to say that my grad school program was paid for by Oil of Olay and Virginia Slims. I went on to model until this past April when, having finally decided that my life needed a major overhaul, I moved from Brooklyn, where I had lived for the previous 10 years, to rural Idaho. Removed from the modeling world, I'm amazed at how little I consider my appearance anymore -- how little I think of my weight and my body and my skin and my hair. How I looked was a daily concern for most of my life, if only because it meant a paycheck -- sometimes a big one. These days, my body has stabilized to its natural weight, which, somewhat absurdly, happens to still be under the "legal" limit. If I were trying to model in France, under the new law, I would be told to eat more. In Idaho, I write for a local magazine, and I'm finally putting my Psychology degree to use, working as a community-based counselor. My clients are all women, aged 10 to 55, all dealing with issues ranging from abuse and suicide attempts to custody and chronic pain to severe depression and anxiety to absolute poverty. And it puts everything into perspective. Still, when I read the news of France's new law, I can't help but wonder where were these crusaders when I needed them. Not just me, but hundreds (maybe thousands) of young girls who didn't know better, all promised the same thing: If you're skinny enough, you will work. Me today Body Image Heroes

Breaking News Sport Union News Sport National History shows there's been 18 hyped-up yet fruitless campaigns for the NSW Waratahs. But 2008 - precisely the May 31 Super 14 final at Christchurch's renovated Lancaster Park - stands as the one that got away. A night where the Tahs, guided by a teenage Kurtley Beale, led 12-3 and had a long-awaited title in their grasp before it all spun out of control. Michael Cheika's current Waratahs can bury enduring painful memories of that 20-12 heart-break on Saturday night by repaying the Crusaders at ANZ Stadium. Advertisement No opponent has turned NSW's Super Rugby dreams into nightmares like the Cantabrians. Eleven straight defeats in the past decade, a record 96-19 humiliation in 2002 and two triumphs in deciders - 2005 and 2008. Six years ago, with Ewen McKenzie as coach and boasting an all-Wallabies forward pack, the Waratahs more than threatened to spoil the Robbie Deans farewell party with two early tries. Young winger Lachie Turner scored both. The first from a pin-point Beale cross-kick, a premeditated plan, to attack the narrow Crusaders defence, that came off. The second came after a Phil Waugh intercept and break. Despite Turner calling for centre Tom Carter to toe ahead, Carter gave it to the speedster who chipped 45m out and regathered for a nine-point lead after 25 minutes. Turner recalls everything was going perfectly as NSW were playing with the pace and urgency that new halfback Luke Burgess had brought since his mid-season promotion. "We had such a quiet confidence about the game," Turner told AAP. "We built momentum through the season and played with great speed." But weight of possession resulted in a Crusaders try with Richie McCaw putting No.8 Mose Tuiali'i over in the corner just before halftime. Eventually the Crusaders' relentless pack, Dan Carter's goalkicking and an pivotal ankle injury to Beale ensured the hosts lifted the trophy for the seventh time. "It was hard to put into words what we felt at the end," Turner said. "It was just disbelief." Current winger Rob Horne, an 18-year-old rookie centre in 2008, can't forget how the Crusaders pack ground them down. "They came over the top of us pretty well and they backed themselves to do that," he said. While Turner also remembers a torn hamstring to Waugh being crucial to the second-half turnaround, McKenzie believed Beale's ankle injury was the turning point. "It was a frustrating game that one," the coach said. "I thought we had done enough. "Lachie Turner got a double and Kurtley was killing it ... but Carter's boot won it. "We were going gangbusters with 20 to go but Kurtley busted his ankle." It was particularly tough for McKenzie who had been sacked after seven rounds, making for a different farewell to that of Deans, who was celebrated in Christchurch before leaving to coach the Wallabies. "It was difficult," he said. "It had been a difficult year."

A fabulously harrowing mid-season finale - 4.8 - of The Walking Dead, with some scenes that will become celebrated vintage, including: The girl that Carole trained firing decisive bullets in the epic battle for the prison (including killing that stupid girl who took part in the Governor's attack). Michonne putting the knife through the Governor (though I wish she had killed him right there). Daryl killing the Governor's new sidekick (I liked the actor Kirk Acevedo in Fringe , but I was glad to see his character go in The Walking Dead ). , but I was glad to see his character go in ). Carl, in every scene he was in (and Daryl should have agreed to Carl's request and let Carl take a shot at the Governor - could have saved Hershel). Hershel's death was also momentous - but I can't say it will be celebrated, because it was tragic. Was it necessary? I suppose so, in the sense that an horrendous death of a good person - the most moral person on the show (and perfectly acted by Scott Wilson) - was necessary to get the soul-shattering attack on the prison in motion. Nonetheless, Hershel's death ranks among the worst events on The Walking Dead, right up there with Lori's. Lilly gets the honor of finally killing the Governor. But as I said above, I don't get why Michonne didn't do that. Her motive was what? Let the Governor go through the agony of becoming a "biter"? Ok, but the safe thing to do would have been to kill the Governor right there, if only to make sure that none of his people rescued him, and nursed back to psycho health. And then there's baby Judith. I don't know, but I've always been a great believer in the principle of, if there's no body in evidence, then life is still a possibility. It looks as if there was blood in the car seat she was in, but we don't know for a fact whose blood it is, so I'll continue hoping. We'll find out in February. For now, it was great to see this breath-taking conclusion to the superb Fall part of Season 4.

This is rich. Our military is bombing Iraq and Syria and going after terror targets in large parts of Africa. But somebody forgot to lock the front door at the White House, and a disturbed intruder ran inside just after President Obama left. New York also sabotages itself. The city is providing free lawyers, municipal ID cards and museum passes to illegal immigrants, even as the Police Department disbands a key part of its counter-terrorism program because it offended some Muslims. All the while, officials warn New Yorkers to be vigilant because jihadists already may be in our midst. [pullquote] Maybe we should look for them in the museums with their ID cards? Don’t you dare accuse America of consistency, foolish or otherwise. We are the land of muddled thinking and the home of half-hearted commitments. We are in a war, but the White House’s reluctance to say the W-word is just the tip of the iceberg. Islamic State, Al Qaeda and numerous other groups are trying to kill us, but much of the political class and tens of thousands of our fellow citizens are obsessed with climate change and opening the borders. To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column in the New York Post, click here. Michael Goodwin is a Fox News contributor and New York Post columnist.

**Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.** Buzz Cut: • Obama tries pivot, but voters want follow through • Mitt’s campaign swing heads to Mich., Ky. • Orman goes negative in Kansas • Crossroads’ big buy in N.H. • Never a wrong time to do right OBAMA TRIES PIVOT, BUT VOTERS WANT FOLLOW THROUGH Improbable as it may sound, President Obama today will deliver a speech in Chicago explaining why Americans are wrong about the condition of the economy. The message: You are better off than you were six years ago, you just don't know it. Not only are voters are unlikely to reappraise their dismal view of the economy, that’s not the topic they are most interested in right now. Whether it is the arrival of Ebola on our shores or the growing concerns that the war against ISIS is not making adequate headway, what Americans are really talking about – and really concerned about – are things that require action rather than explanation. Just look at the polls. [Changing attitudes - On “The Kelly File,” Charles Krauthammer discussed the sudden shift in support for U.S. ground forces in the fight against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria – Watch here.] Eye off the ball - In a new Fox News poll, 78 percent of voters expressed concern about an attack on U.S. soil by Islamist militants, which helps us to understand why, in a remarkable turnabout, 51 percent would support the use of ground forces if air strikes weren’t enough to root out ISIS. Worse, 64 percent of respondents did not believe President Obama had a clear strategy to defeat ISIS and 54 percent said it is “crazy” to announce war plans in advance. While the president stopped his summer-long slide in the polls, his job performance rating stood at 40 percent, only 2 points better than it was just before his Sept. 10 announcement escalating the war. We can’t know whether the president’s pivot is any good on the golf course, but his record at issue pivots in public is pretty dire. There’s little reason to believe that given the deepening anxieties on epidemics and Islamism that this one will be anything but a hosel shot. [WSJ looks at how, in the tight race for the governor’s mansion in Illinois, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is taking a page the Obama playbook by “casting his Republican challenger Bruce Rauner as Mitt Romney without the common touch.”] The Judge’s Ruling: Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano analyzes President Obama’s attempt to blame the rise of ISIS on U.S. intelligence under Director James Clapper :“Yet, if Clapper and his spies so miserably failed to educate the president about a threat he now claims is real, why do they still have their jobs? They have their jobs because if the president fires them, they might freely speak the truth, and the truth is the president’s enemy. They have their jobs because the president is so bad at performing his.” “I know the nature of the enemy. Anybody who kills 3,000 innocents and beheads people because of their religion or because of their point of view is dangerous. And there is a short-term strategy, which is to bring them to justice, and a long-term strategy, which is to encourage free societies to prevail so as to marginalize their ideology.” – Former President George W. Bush on “FOX & Friends” explaining his motive for urging, unsuccessfully, his successor to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after the war there ended. -- 33 days until Nov. 4 -- BUBBA BACKS GRIMES IN HIS FIRST AD OF 2014 Kentucky Democratic Senate challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes is out with a new ad featuring former President Bill Clinton, a friend and political ally of her father. “…Nobody can tell me it’s not a senator’s job to create jobs. And I choose Alison because she will work with people from both parties to do what’s right for you. Send Alison to the Senate.” Hitting the airwaves statewide today, the ad marks the first time Bubba has appeared in a Senate candidate ad this election cycle. Warren wing flapping in key states - The Hill: “A super-PAC pushing Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to run for president is staffing up in key presidential states. Ready for Warren, the group that aims to draft the senator to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, is hiring new staff in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three important early voting states, according to a report from MSNBC. MITT’S CAMPAIGN SWING HEADS TO MICH., KY. AP: “Talking to reporters Wednesday, [2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney] downplayed his role in a Republican Party that has ‘a whole series of different voices that are pulling in different directions.’ ‘My role is just as one more voice,’ he said. ‘I was honored to become the Republican nominee, so I continue to have some voice. But I'm not running for anything — just trying to run to help people who are running for something, and I'm making my effort known in the states that welcome me.’ [Today] he headlines a GOP rally in Michigan before a Kentucky fundraiser to benefit Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. It's the kind of schedule usually reserved for a political party's elite, not a twice-defeated elder statesman who insists his political career is over.” [Watch Fox: Fox News polls on 2014 midterm elections and the state of the economy and the country released tonight on “Special Report with Bret Baier” 6 p.m. ET] WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE... Invisibility has always been the stuff of fantasy and science fiction, but researchers at the University of Rochester’s Physics and Advanced Optics Departments are developing an “invisibility cloak.” John Howell, a professor of physics at the University of Rochester, and graduate student Joseph Choi used four standard lenses to bend light around objects, to eliminate them from view or “cloak” them. Real life possibilities exist for cloaking applications including allowing a surgeon to see through his hands to directly what is being operated on as well applying similar principles to for drivers to see through blind spots. Howell, Choi explain in a recently published paper, but also demonstrate their techniques in more engaging fashion (with some help from the kids) in a brief video. Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM POLL CHECK Real Clear Politics Averages Obama Job Approval: Approve – 41.9 percent//Disapprove – 53.6 percent Direction of Country: Right Direction – 28 percent//Wrong Track – 65.7 percent Generic Congressional Ballot: Democrats – 42.8 percent// Republicans – 45.7 percent ORMAN GOES NEGATIVE IN KANSAS Kansas Senate candidate Greg Orman is out with this new ad blasting Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., for being part of the mess in Washington, saying, “If you listen to Pat Roberts and his Washington buddies, they’ll tell you that President Obama and Harry Reid are the reason Washington is such a mess and you know what, they’re half right, but the other half of the mess, Mitch McConnell and Pat Roberts, the truth is both parties are more interested in political games than problem solving, and both parties are failing Kansas, that’s why I’m running for the United States senate as an independent.” Sources: Wolf to endorse Brownback - Washington Examiner: “Vanquished Republican Senate candidate Milton Wolf is expected to endorse Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback before the midterm elections, GOP sources said Wednesday…Republican sources remain doubtful that Wolf will publicly back Roberts, citing hurt feelings left over from a vicious primary. “Wolf has agreed to endorse Brownback at some point,” a Republican source said. … Kansas GOP insiders, as well as representatives from the Brownback and Roberts campaigns, have met with Kansas Tea Party leaders to mend fences. Roberts has called many of these individuals personally…” Pick Six: Dust in the wind - Republicans need to pick up six more Senate seats to take control of the upper chamber. Which blue seats are the most vulnerable in this year’s midterms? Here are the top picks among Fox News First readers: Arkansas (13.6%), Montana (13.0%), West Virginia (12.2%), Louisiana (11.8%), South Dakota (11.7%) and a tie for sixth at 8.6 percent between Alaska and North Carolina. Reader JoAnne Johnson says that despite recent polling saying Republican Sen. Pat Roberts could lose in Kansas, the magic number for the GOP remains six. “Kansas was a real concern until the GOP finally woke up and realized that Roberts had become vulnerable. Fortunately, Greg Orman peaked too soon in the campaign, and Roberts will hold the seat that had been considered safe for Republicans.” Iowa remains out of the running, but readers have been nudging the Hawkeye State race closer to the top of the crop, now with 5.7 percent of reader votes. Is Iowa moving up? Will the Alaska/North Carolina deadlock be broken? You know what to do… Share your top six picks. Email them – just your top six, please – to FOXNEWSFIRST@FOXNEWS.COM or tweet @cstirewalt. CROSSROADS’ BIG BUY IN N.H. Boston Globe: “American Crossroads, the juggernaut GOP-aligned super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove, has bought $3 million worth of TV time for the week of Oct. 14 in the New Hampshire US Senate race, according a Republican familiar with the massive TV buy. The big influx of money into the race could be a huge boon to the candidacy of Republican Scott Brown, who polls have find in a tight contest with incumbent Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. The buy, according to the Republican, is on cable and broadcast television in New Hampshire and also includes broadcast stations in the Boston media market, which reach a wide swath of residents in the southern part of the Granite State.” The Architect says don’t be “cautious, timid or unclear” - In his WSJ column, Karl Rove discusses how Senate Republicans can close the gap, saying, “Republicans have a month to close the sale. It won’t be easy, and because Democrats are desperate and loaded with cash, it won’t be pretty. The way for Republicans to extend their leads or move ahead in the final stretch is not to be cautious, timid or unclear.” GM, CHRYSLER BAILOUT TAKES CENTER STAGE IN MICHIGAN SENATE RACE Following accusations from state Democrats and Democratic opponent Gary Peters about her support of the 2008-2009 federal bailout and takeover of General Motors and Chrysler, Republican Senate nominee Terri Lynn Land is fighting back with this ad, saying “Hypocrite Gary Peters talks about standing up for American automakers but Peters backed a half billion tax payer funded loan to a company that built cars overseas, then went bankrupt before being sold to Chinese owners. With American automakers struggling, Gary Peters outsourced our money on bad loans to foreign care manufacturers using our taxes to hurt our auto industry. Peters isn’t putting Michigan first.” [Detroit Free Press “What we found is that while calling Land a liar may go too far, her campaign’s claim of support, one we cannot verify that she’s uttered before, smacks of political expediency and obfuscation if true.”] ERNST BEATS BRALEY IN THIRD QUARTER FUNDRAISING Des Moines Register: “Both Joni Ernst and Bruce Braley substantially ramped up third-quarter fundraising in their U.S. Senate race, but Ernst took in the bigger haul, according to information supplied by their campaigns. Ernst, a Republican state senator, will report raising over $4.5 million in the quarter…That haul more than doubles her second-quarter number…Braley, a Democratic congressman, will report raising $2.8 million, his best quarter to date…” Braley on defense over veterans after missing meetings - Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, under fire for having skipped key hearings on the Veterans Affairs Committee ahead of the revelation of the scandal at the VA, says veterans’ issues are very important for him in a new ad. “I get very upset when I see these ads suggesting I don’t care about veterans.” HAGAN STAYS ON EDUCATION ATTACK Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., continues to hit Republican nominee Thom Tillis on education in this ad saying, “…Speaker Thom Tillis cut 500 million dollars from our schools, increasing class sizes, leaving students without textbooks and Tillis opposed a bill to make college loans more affordable. Kay Hagan, strengthening our public schools and community colleges and took on Wall Street to pass a new law making college loans more affordable.” Court battle rages over N.C. voting rules - NYT: “A federal appeals court on Wednesday forced North Carolina officials to restore two provisions for ballot access that had been eliminated in a law passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature that civil rights groups said would disproportionately harm black voters … Josh Lawson, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said that lawyers for the state planned to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court as early as Thursday.” CASSIDY CRITICIZES LANDRIEU ON BORDER AND AMNESTY Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La., uses border security and her support for granting legal status to illegal immigrants to slam Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., in this latest ad, saying, “…Mary Landrieu voted against hiring more border patrol agents and even called a border fence dumb…no wonder Mary Landrieu favors amnesty and supports Barack Obama 97 percent of the time. Bill Cassidy supports a border fence and he opposes amnesty.” Executive action on amnesty a litmus test for Holder replacement - With news that more GOPers are signing on to Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ vow to blockade any replacement for Attorney General Eric Holder, who supports the legality of broad executive action to grant legal status to illegal immigrants, the coming lame duck session starts to look more interesting. If vulnerable Democrats are obliged to take a position on the issue, it could complicate White House plans to shove through a controversial nominee under the rewritten Senate rules. And the three names floated by the White House today – former White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli – could all face a more difficult path. DEMOCRAT PRYOR TOUTS ‘SMALLER’ GOVERNMENT Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is running a new ad touting his support to shrink the government and his opposition to EPA regulations, saying, “The EPA wanted to write a federal regulation regulating agriculture dust. Obviously, Washington knows nothing about farming…working to help make Washington smarter and smaller.” Pryor is also hitting his opponent, Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in this attack ad for voting against “equal pay for women” and against “helping women who are victims of domestic violence.” A new Baronial rule - Michael Barone updates an outdated axiom: “[Election analysts] used to have a rule that incumbents running below 50 percent against lesser known challengers would inevitably lose. Everyone knows them, the logic went, and half aren’t voting for them. That rule doesn’t seem to apply anymore, but perhaps another one does. The Real Clear Politics average of recent polls puts Democratic incumbents in [Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado and North Carolina] at 41 to 44 percent of the vote. In seriously contested races in the last six Senate cycles, starting with 2002, only two incumbents polling at that level in September ended up winning. One was appointed to an open seat and thus probably not widely known. Both ended up with less than 50 percent and won by plurality.” MORNING IN NEBRASKA Republican Nebraska Senate candidate Ben Sasse is out with this ad celebrating his “93 Days, 93 Counties, 93 Big Ideas” state-wide tour, saying, “One rickety RV, three little kids, one great wife, and 93 counties in 93 days. Not just driving through, either. Listening, Learning. Finding out that you’re just as sick of what’s happening in Washington as I am. We’re looking for someone to push parties aside and finally just fix our problems. Well, that’s why I’m running for the Senate.” BURKE SEEKS TO DEFEND FILCHED JOBS PLAN Buzzfeed: “…TV ads in closely-watched Wisconsin gubernatorial contest are battling over Democratic candidate Mary Burke’s jobs plan. Republicans in the state have seized on the large portions of plagiarized text in Burke’s jobs plan and now Burke is fighting back with a new TV ad attempting to define the issue on her own terms. ‘In August, Wisconsin lost 4,300 jobs. That’s why in September, Scott Walker is attacking my jobs plan, saying it takes ideas from other states. Well, of course it does,’ Burke says in her ad titled “September.”…Walker, likewise, has his own TV ad, “Plagiarized,” hitting Burke over the copied text. The ad features a press conference where Burke stumbled when asked to define what plagiarism was…The Republican Governors Association also announced last week their own ad “Integrity,” knocking Burke over the passages taken from other Democrats.” [A new Marquette Law School poll shows Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc., receiving support of 50 percent of likely voters with Democratic challenger Mary Burke trailing at 45 percent and 3 percent are undecided.] PELOSI PREDICTS DEMOCRATIC HOUSE TAKEOVER… IN 2016 The Hill: “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) predicted a Democratic sweep in 2016. If Republicans keep the House in November, Pelosi said they wouldn’t hold their majority for long. ‘Their days are numbered. I know that in two years, I know we’ll have a Democratic Congress and a Democratic president,’ she told reporters at her weekly press conference.” [Roll Call looks at the 10 most vulnerable House members this cycle and finds seven Democrats and three Republicans on the brink. See who made the list.] NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO RIGHT Robert Atherton, a 67-year-old engineer from Phoenix, was reliving the glory of the summer of 1964 when he and two high school buddies bought Vespas and cruised across Italy. Going through his old suitcase, though, Atherton discovered an old injustice: An unpaid parking ticket he got in the Italian village of Lerici. The Los Angeles Times reports Atherton found the ticket when went looking for a journal he kept of his Italian adventure as a 17-year-old. Being no ugly American, Atherton adjusted the $1.50 fine for inflation and sent $50 and an apology letter to town officials. Marco Caluri, the current mayor of Lerici was surprised to receive the payment and in another twist of fate, Caluri is actually the son of the police officer who wrote the original ticket. The story has taken on a life of its own in the town with Atherton receiving many notes of gratitude and appreciation from residents. AND NOW, A WORLD FROM CHARLES… “All of these agencies that we have trust in, under this administration, are showing how badly government is run. You combine them and you get a sense that things are out of control.” –Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier” Watch here. Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here. Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily "Fox News First" political news note and hosts "Power Play," a feature video series, on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on the network, including "The Kelly File," "Special Report with Bret Baier," and "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace." He also provides expert political analysis for Fox News coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections.

Ensuring all teams within your organization are working productively and efficiently requires constant vigilance and attention to detail. As a business leader, it's your goal and your responsibility to empower individual departments to work with autonomy and efficiency. But rather than hovering over your employees’ shoulders and micro-managing departments, the solution to this challenge often begins with implementing the right systems and workflow processes. According to a recent study by ADP, 55 percent of today's employees have positive feelings about automated systems replacing repetitive work. But as a leader, how do you execute automation that effectively gets the work done and satisfies your team? Related: What You Can Learn From Hollywood on Hiring and Managing Employees An easy, effective way to get started in business automation is with a reliable online form solution. Online forms can help every team in your company manage digital transactions with ease and efficiency. Below are a few ways online forms can positively impact every employee in your organization and anchor your online business in automation. Marketing team. Marketing teams and sales teams need to be able to work in unison. Online forms can make that goal a reality by allowing teams to utilize a centralized dashboard and track leads, sign ups and inquiries in an organized, shared database. Collecting and managing leads is typically a top priority for marketing departments and is most effective when automated. Using an online form to capture leads can increase sign-ups, conversions and, ultimately, revenue when effectively implemented. At Formstack, we've seen a client increase their conversion rate by 114 percent by switching their email sign-up process to an online form. Human resources team. Human resources teams are often burdened by a heavy load of administrative tasks and paperwork, especially in the way of new employee interaction and ongoing employee engagement. Eliminating email and switching to online forms for this type of employee communication can help HR teams save time and focus their limited hours on what's really important: addressing the needs of new hires and ensuring existing employees are being heard. Related: Managing the Unmanageable: The 6 Most Common Types of Difficult Employees Cutting down on hard-to-manage email threads is only one example of how HR teams can benefit from online forms. From automating annual employee reviews, streamlining PTO requests and allowing for creation of cost-effective training programs, there are dozens of ways HR teams can use online forms and business automation to work smarter. Finance team. Approving budgets, fulfilling reimbursement requests and tracking new vendor information are several functions of a finance team that can quickly become tedious and cumbersome if not streamlined into an efficient workflow. Online forms have the potential to help finance professionals keep all their critical information organized, accessible and easily shared between team members within the department. What's more, online forms can help finance teams save precious time by standardizing approval processes and automating request forms. One of our clients at Formstack minimized the time it took to approve a new customer by two full days, simply by adding online forms to their workflow. Sales team. Using online forms to automate your sales functions can benefit both your internal team's workflow and your customer's experience in interacting with your website. By using online order forms and business inquiry forms, sales teams can decrease the time it takes to make a sale and make the overall ordering process more efficient and seamless. If your sales team hasn't been using online tools to supplement its sales process at all, it's likely that you could see an increase in sales simply by adding an online order form or demo request form to your process. Related: 7 Ways to Manage Your Most Motivated and Talented Employees In addition, online forms can help your sales team manage customer memberships. By increasing the visibility of online touchpoints and making interactions with your website a more streamlined experience, online forms can lead to stronger customer retention and an increase in leads. Automating and streamlining the workflow of your company's various departments won't be an overnight project. But online forms can quickly help your teams become faster, more efficient and more organized in their day-to-day tasks. Prioritize workflow automation within your company and be prepared for positive results.

NEUBRANDENBURG, Germany — German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried on Saturday to placate the increasingly vocal critics of her open-door policy for refugees by insisting that most refugees from Syria and Iraq would go home once the conflicts there had ended. Despite appearing increasingly isolated, Merkel has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx of refugees, or to close Germany's borders. Support for her conservative bloc has slipped as concerns mount about how Germany will integrate the 1.1 million migrants who arrived last year, while crime and security are also in the spotlight after a wave of assaults on women in Cologne at New Year by men of north African and Arab appearance. Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Merkel Comforts Sobbing Refugee 1:04 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog The influx has played into the hands of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose support is now in the double digits, and whose leader was quoted on Saturday saying that migrants entering illegally should, if necessary, be shot. Merkel said it was important to stress that most refugees had only been allowed to stay for a limited period. Related: Politician Sends Busload of Refugees to Germany's Merkel "We need ... to say to people that this is a temporary residential status and we expect that, once there is peace in Syria again, once (ISIS) has been defeated in Iraq, that you go back to your home country with the knowledge that you have gained," she told a regional meeting of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Merkel said 70 percent of the refugees who fled to Germany from former Yugoslavia in the 1990s had returned. Horst Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU's Bavarian sister party, has threatened to take the government to court if the flow of asylum seekers is not cut. Merkel urged other European countries to offer more help "because the numbers need to be reduced even further and must not start to rise again, especially in spring."

Ten Super Bowl victories would be a lot. The same number of peanuts would be, well, peanuts. It’s in that numerical frame of mind that I’m underwhelmed by today’s joint announcement from Airbus and the European Commission of an aviation industry plan to use 2 million tons of biofuels by 2020. Several fuel producers and European airlines including Air France-KLM also signed on to what they called the “Biofuel Flightpath.” In a press release coinciding with the Paris Air Show they noted the plan, “Commits members to support and promote the production, storage and distribution of sustainably produced drop-in biofuels for use in aviation and to reach two million tonnes production and consumption by 2020.” Global commercial aviation last year consumed 69 billion U.S. gallons of fuel, according to the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA). That converts to 217 million tons. (It’s also the equivalent to 649 megatonnes of CO2, IATA says). With that backdrop, the Biofuel Flightpath target is pocket change. Two million tons in 2020 would represent less than 1% of 2010 consumption – 0.9% to be precise. Assuming aviation fuel consumption increases over the next decade, the biofuel percentage in 2020 would be even smaller. Even from a European perspective the 2 million ton target is fractional. Europe accounted for 29% global aviation according to IATA, so, if it consumed 29% of aviation fuel, 2 million tons would only represent 3% of European jet fuel. After a banner weekend in which two jets crossed the Atlantic using biofuel from Honeywell UOP – a Gulfstream G450 corporate jet (pictured above) and a Boeing 747-8 - today’s announcement seems droopy. After all, biofuel companies like Finland’s Neste Oil already have the capacity to make 2 million tons. However you slice and dice the 2020 figure, Friends of the Earth is not impressed. In a press release condemning biofuels, the environmental group noted that even 2 million tons “could require up to 3.5 million hectares, an area the size of Belgium, to grow, with serious environmental implications.” Added FOE campaigner Robbie Blake, “Biofuels exacerbate poverty and hunger, drive land-grabbing and deforestation, push up food prices, and threaten to make climate change worse, not better. These new biofuel targets offer a convenient smokescreen for aviation industry expansion, but not the genuine emission reductions needed.” FOE issued its statement a couple of days before today’s Airbus announcement, but that didn’t rain on the parade. “Airbus supports the speeding up of the commercialisation of sustainable biofuels for use in aviation,” said Airbus CEO Tom Enders. “Our catalyst role is to bring together stakeholders such as advanced biofuel producers, airlines and lawmakers in value chains, in order to achieve this common goal more quickly. Only by working together can we meet our ambitious target to make air transportation truly sustainable,” said Tom Enders. Let’s give this some credit. The “common goal” part of Enders’ statement is impressive. The industry is attempting to get behind biofuel in a cohesive, supply chain manner that could benefit an entire economic region – Europe – not to mention the planet’s carbon footprint. Collaborative efforts among competitors often have difficulties, so we’ll see how this on plays out. But Enders’ “ambitious” reference is an overstatement, unless he simply means that getting rivals to work together is a tall order. There’s a lot of potential for jet biofuels. The “feedstock” does not have to come from edible plants, and it does not have to compete against vital, human-sustaining, food and water. It can come from animal fat- the stuff left over after the steaks leave the slaughterhouse. It can come from fish, micro-algae, wood chips, fish oil, discarded cooking oil. Honeywell UOP has used 42 different sources in its biofuels. With all the usable waste in the world, creative, sustainable, eco-friendly “feedstock” should be achievable. Perhaps that’s the reason for the modesty of the Biofuel Flightpath. It might take until 2020 to find a sustainable, voluminous, renewable source of environmental friendly biofuel. Photo: Honeywell Related Posts: Will the real biofuel Lindbergh please stand up? Honeywell: The Lindbergh of aviation biofuels Carbon air war looms Making biofuels fly This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

A couple of months back, at IBM's annual IMPACT event, I moderated a panel of IBM executives and customers that delved into the best ways to manage the changes burgeoning cloud and mobile interactions and transactions are bringing to enterprises. We all agreed that the convergence of mobile and cloud capabilities -- that makes computing resources available to anyone who needs it, wherever they are -- mean tremendous opportunities for today's enterprises. However, a point that was of significant concern to the enterprise customers on the panel was the availability of skills to make this new world a reality. There simply aren't enough people with the right skills. Enterprises are being digitized at an enormous rate, and it's understood that the shift to digital and data-centric approaches means gaining competitive advantage. But many organizations are scrambling to find people with the skills that can make this happen. In addition, there are many smart professionals out there who can help fill these gaps, but have skills that are rapidly being outdated. And going back to school to relearn is often difficult and expensive for many mid-career professionals. (Think COBOL programmers, for example.) The rise of massive, open online courses (MOOCs) may offer a means for many professionals to pursue new skill development, while providing employers a relatively inexpensive way to upgrade their workforces. In a new post in Learning Solutions Magazine, for example, Jennifer Neibert points to one Boston-based staffing firm that has taken matters into its own hands and has built up its own online training machine that is delivering skills updates to tens of thousands of professionals. Aquent's "Gymnasium" program bases its course selections from needs expressed by clients. In Aquent's case, the staffing firm specializes in design and graphics placements, and the course curriculum is designed accordingly — offering courses on topics such as HTML and CSS, responsive design, UX design, and various front-end development tools. In her article, Niebert reports that Aquent's course on HTML5, attracted 10,000 participants in August 2012, when the agency first launched its program. The staffing firm was able to place more than 200 candidates from the course in new positions. Niebert quotes John Moore, the interactive director at Fish Marketing in Portland, Oregon, who found Aquent's MOOC to be a far more effective way to bring applicants' skills up to speed than traditional learning methods: "Moore sees MOOCs as a key link for employees who need to learn new skills for jobs that are in high demand and for others who may be looking for second careers. In Portland, where Moore is based, there is high demand for talented coders and programmers, but it can be a challenge to find good candidates. With MOOCs, Moore sees an accessible option for education that didn’t exist 18 months ago and is excited about the potential for people to learn new skills and find well-paying job opportunities." This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

Young professionals are embracing online and mobile banking technologies with open arms, but they are also worried about security and will be placing greater trust in banks that can give them peace of mind, according to KPMG. All of the major banks have been ramping up their mobile banking and payment efforts, in line with changing customer behaviour. Commonwealth Bank released an Android version of its Kaching app in July, Westpac teamed up with MasterCard for an NFC mobile payments trial a month later, and ANZ announced that it was making a major technology investment with a focus on mobile and online banking in October. ANZ is also running an NFC trial internally . Mobile and online banking has made it more convenient for people to manage their money, as well as make payments on the go, but the security aspect of new banking methods is not entirely lost on consumers, according to KPMG's Major Australian Banks Survey Year End 2012. The professional services firm surveyed more than 1300 young workers, aged 18-24 years old, employed at the company,with results showing that this group was adopting new banking technology at an alarming rate. Yet, they are wary of the security implications of online and mobile payment technologies, and will value banks that can address their concerns. KPMG decided to run the survey internally, as the company saw this group of young professionals as a good representation of the "sophisticated banking customer of the future." Key concerns from respondents were around data security and fraud. "Banks need to ensure online and mobile banking security is robust, but more importantly, ensure consumers are aware of system security, and leverage this as a competitive point of differentiation," KPMG said in its research report. Australian banks are traditionally tight-lipped about their IT security arrangements. With banks now taking an increased interest in NFC mobile payments, it is important for them to strike the right balance between security and providing a convenient way for consumers to pay for items, according to ANZ Bank . "I'm not saying [NFC] is a panacea for mobile payments, but maybe it's a good first step to start building a level of collaboration [between banks]," ANZ Bank Head of Payments John Collins said in September.

Indian telco Videocon will launch 4G services in the second half of this year using the 1800 megahertz (MHz) spectrum it acquired in 2012. In a report by The Telegraph India Thursday, the operator said while the 1800MHz band is used to provide voice services, the spectrum licenses it purchased were "liberalized" meaning it can offer services on 2G, 3G , or 4G networks. This would allow Videocon to offer services such as high-definition video blogging, video on-demand, and online games services given its faster download speeds, it added. Arvind Bali, director and CEO of Videocon Mobile Services, said in the report: "Following a successful spectrum allocation , we seek to provide subscribers with enhanced 4G network across the newly won circles in the second half of 2013 which will enable deliverance of best services and great value-for-money products to consumers." A separate report in Economic Times Wednesday noted that Videocon won spectrum licenses in the telecom circles of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujarat, east and west Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. Videocon joins other local operators such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Infotel, Tikona Digital, and Aircel in the race to offer high-speed data services, The Telegraph India noted. Airtel was the first telco in India to launch 4G services in April last year, starting in Kolkata. Tikona Digital, Aircel and Infotel will launch their 4G services in the second half of this year, it said.

John Lineker (L) says that his punching power can nab him UFC gold at 135 pounds. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Zuffa LLC After repeatedly failing to make the flyweight limit, top contender John Lineker was forced by the UFC to move up a class and fight at bantamweight, where before he entered the promotion. That's why at UFC 191, last month, the Brazilian faced Francisco Rivera. Though he believed that he'd be at a strength disadvantage against bantamweights, Lineker recently told Guilherme Cruz that he felt at home during his war against the larger Rivera. "I thought I would be weak compared to the other bantamweights in the UFC, but I felt pretty well," he claimed. Part of that might be because the 5-foot-2-inch fighter still has to drop a lot of weight to make bantamweight -- just not as much as he did at flyweight. "I still cut a lot of weight to fight at bantamweight, but it's not like it used to be, before," he explained. He also has the advantage, now, of being able to fight more frequently because he does less damage to his body by dropping less weight. "I believe I can fight more often now," he said. "I had to wait five months between fights to make 125 pounds, so I can fight more now that I'm at 135." Now that Lineker fights at 135 pounds, he also wants to shoot for a title shot, soon. Though he'd be a big underdog, the slugger believes that he can knock out the division's best, including former champion Dominick Cruz and reigning king TJ Dillashaw. "For sure," he boasted. "They move a lot but that's not a problem. They would have to get closer to hit me, and once you get closer, I'm hitting you back. I would not hunt them down. I would let them come [to me]." Lineker has won three straight fights, and seven out of his last eight, in all. Still, he has only one bantamweight win in the UFC, but he believes that if he produces more classics like he did with Rivera in September, he'll be on the short list of 135-pound title contenders. "I hope my next fight is against a top five [contender]," he concluded. "I won't pick and choose, but I hope they give me a top 5 so I can get closer to the bantamweight title. One or two more intense wins like this last one, and I think they could give me a title shot."

Queen of salsa Celia Cruz (search), who died Wednesday after a long battle with brain cancer, will be viewed and buried the way she performed — decked out with jewels, flamboyant hair and fabulous costumes. Cruz, known for her powerful voice, contagious energy and dynamic stage presence, is expected to sport different outfits at wakes in Miami and New York — her final farewell tour. "We are going to honor Celia the way she was — with fabulous clothing and beautiful hair," said the diva's publicist, Blanca La Salle. Cruz's remains will be flown today from New York to Miami, her spiritual home, for a public viewing and Mass. While the popular singer was born in Cuba, Miami had a special place in her heart. On Sunday, Cruz's body will be flown back to New York for a final public wake and Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Her longtime friend and hairstylist, Ruth Sanchez Laviera, said Cruz's outfits will be "beautiful, colorful and fabulous — the way Celia was in life. "She looks like she's in a concert." Cruz will sport a blond wig, white sequin gown and a large rhinestone necklace for her Miami viewing, according to Sanchez Laviera, the owner of El Yunque Oba on the Upper West Side. The New York costume is still being prepared, but Sanchez Laviera said it will have feathers. "I am afraid of the dead, but Celia's spirit gave me strength to get her ready," said Sanchez Laviera. "I even applied fake eyelashes." And the results: "She looks bella," gushed the stylist. Tributes poured in yesterday from superstars, including Ricky Martin (search), Marc Anthony (search) and Gloria Estefan (search) as Spanish radio played Cruz's music all day. The first viewing was a private family service held yesterday at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on Madison Avenue at 81st Street. Fans from all over the world waited outside to pay their last respects. Cruz's husband of 40 years, Pedro Knight (search), arrived at the funeral home with tears in his eyes. "I'll carry on," he said. "That's what she would have wanted." Although she underwent brain surgery in December, Cruz continued to work until recently and completed an album slated for release next month. She was always coy about her age, but she was in her late 70s.

Hey 2 screens sounds great (1:39am EST Thu Jan 22 2004) Well on a handheld I am not to sure but just say I am playing a racing game I can use that screen to see who is behind me, racing positions, where am I on the track and so on if they placed a button on that second screen for me to switch between that info. In a FPS just say i wanna look behind me no first person shooter i know has an option for me to look immidiatly behind me to see if anyone is creeping up on me. Also i can check on what guns i got, how much ammunition ect. ect. Hey imagine that this new handheld device connected to the next generation nintendo console oh man that would be hot. Just say you are playing a military sim i then i would have 2 screens that tells me where my people are at with a map instead of switching to a cumbersome onscreen map that would block my screen. The other screen can show you any other information you need like mission objectives and such or have a list of commands for your AI teammates can do. I tell you this device has unlimited potential for games and can even bring a new refreshing gaming experience to any game that so far no other game hardware developer has ever provided them. This concept is really original and I hope they can make games that can take advantage of this but from what I have seen from the gba to gc it seems like nintendo only games would take advantage of this. For third party developers it is the matter of how popular this new gameboy and the next nintendo console sells. Hey maybe they will bring back the crusin series with this new feature and if the new zelda game or mario game uses this i guess that all that matters to me. I just wish PC game developers follow their examnple and make more games that really uses 2 or more monitors now that would be hot. Nintendo original as always best to luck to them. – by Caliber fx

Originally Published at The Minority Report While I feel certain that actor Tim Robbins is equally as dissatisfied with the erosion of personal liberties under the Obama Administration as he was under the Bush Administration, he has not been afforded the opportunity to express those concerns before a national audience. That is an oversight that must be rectified. Here are his words — exactly as, I am sure, he would deliver them if he were given the chance. National Press Club — Washington, DC — April 15, 2003 “A chill wind is blowing in this nation. A message is being sent through the White House and its allies… If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications. And in the midst of all this madness, where is the political opposition?… We need leaders, not pragmatists that cower before the spin zones of former entertainment journalists. We need leaders who can understand the Constitution… The journalists in this country can battle back at those who would rewrite our Constitution… You have, whether you like it or not, an awesome responsibility and an awesome power: the fate of discourse, the health of this republic is in your hands, whether you write on the left or the right. This is your time, and the destiny you have chosen. We lay the continuance of our democracy on your desks, and count on your pens to be mightier. Millions are watching and waiting in mute frustration and hope – hoping for someone to defend the spirit and letter of our Constitution, and to defy the intimidation that is visited upon us daily… Our ability to disagree, and our inherent right to question our leaders and criticize their actions define who we are. To allow those rights to be taken away out of fear, to punish people for their beliefs, to limit access in the news media to differing opinions is to acknowledge our democracy’s defeat…” You tell them, Tim! Hillary Clinton said it best… “I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic, and we should stand up and say, ‘WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DEBATE AND DISAGREE WITH ANY ADMINISTRATION!’”

Soccer National Breaking News Sport Sport AAP Sydney FC's Houdini act against Melbourne Heart has Sky Blues coach Frank Farina feeling his players have learnt to toughen up when the chips are down. On the brink of yet another defeat, Sydney scored two goals in the final 10 minutes to escape with a dramatic 2-1 A-League win over Heart at Allianz Stadium on Sunday. Socceroos tyro Richard Garcia put the visitors in front midway through the first half with veteran Brett Emerton levelling the scores in the 85th minute and Rhyan Grant netting the winner in the 93rd. The Sky Blues were outplayed for most of the match but managed to come from behind to snatch the three points and climb off the bottom of the ladder - where they have sat for eight of the competition's 15 weeks. Advertisement Sydney are now in ninth place but equal on points with eight-placed Brisbane while the Heart remain in seventh. But far from getting carried away with the victory, his third since taking the reins in round nine, Farina says "it will count for nothing" if they can't back it up with another when they host the Phoenix next week. "I said that these next two home games we have to take maximum points," he said. "The first part of the jigsaw is in so if we can beat Wellington next week then we can maybe talk about a possible push (for the finals)." Sydney beat the table-topping Central Coast in their last home clash and came back from being behind twice to steal a point in their 2-2 draw against Perth last week. And while he admits they played "ugly" football on Sunday, Farina feels his messages might just be getting through to his charges. "I've tried to drum into these players 'you've got to play for 90 minutes and if you do that you'll always have a chance'," he said. "It's a slow process but I think they're starting to see that against Perth, against the Central Coast and again here now if they're prepared to really work hard and keep going even when you're down the rewards can come. "If they buy into that mentality, you've got a formidable side on your hands. "We ground out a result again and it was purely down to the players not dropping their heads and giving up." Farina dismissed any suggestions there may tension between his players after Ali Abbas exchanged some heated words with Alessandro Del Piero after he was substituted for Blake Powell in the 39th minute. The usually placid Iraqi International appeared furious over the decision but Farina dismissed it had anything to do with Del Piero. And while refusing to divulge what was said between the players, Farina insisted "it's all sorted; it's not an issue". "It was my call to (substitute Abbas)," he said. "It's good to see that the players can fire up over that. "I'd rather that any day of the week than people who just accept everything that happens."

National Union News Sport Breaking News Sport AAP Wallabies star Adam Ashley-Cooper has announced a new two-year deal with the NSW Waratahs to keep him in Australian rugby until at least the end of the 2015 World Cup. Ashley-Cooper said he was tempted by large overseas offers from Japan and Europe but felt it was too soon for him to leave home. The versatile outside back follows prop Sekope Kepu in re-signing this week, while Melbourne halfback Nick Phipps has also agreed to join NSW in 2014. Ashley-Cooper said coach Michael Cheika's arrival at the Waratahs had played a major role in convincing him there's a bright future ahead at NSW that he wants to be a part of. Advertisement "There's a lot of motivation behind it. I feel like I've only just got here and there's a great culture at the place," Ashley-Cooper told AAP. "I feel that what we're building is really exciting and we've got a lot of potential for the next few years. "I'm really enjoying my time here, it would have been really hard to leave." Ashley-Cooper, turning 29 next week, made 78 Super Rugby appearances for the Brumbies before linking with the Waratahs for the 2012 season. A veteran of two previous Rugby World Cup tournaments, he has represented his country in 77 Tests since making his international debut within months of debuting at Super Rugby level, back in 2005. Ashley-Cooper also has his eyes on a third World Cup and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said he hoped the re-signing would inspire other off-contract players. "It's a good indicator. The players are the most important resource the game has, and they do have other alternatives around contract time," Deans said.

Dare Obasanjo, blogger, Microsoft employee, and son of the president of Nigeria (seriously), has assembled a list of five signals that indicate a project may fail: After being at Microsoft for five years, I’ve now begun to see the signs that a project is likely to crash and burn early on. Below is a top five list of signs your software project is in trouble…: Schedule Chicken: This is typically a sign that the project’s schedules are unrealistic. Scope Creep. When things get bad is when the goals of a project are changed or increased significantly without a corresponding significant change to the expected timeframe for delivery. Underresourced: You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. So you shouldn’t expect that 3 developers and $50,000 will be able to compete with the Googles and Microsofts of the world. Second System Syndrome: Once you ship a software application, it instantly becomes legacy code. No Entrance Strategy: How do you get people to use the application? Dare’s list is home-grown, but does correspond to the issues we often discuss here on the project failures blog. He’s got a nice writing style as well, so check it out. -----

by Jeff Siegel The lip service in Washington is just getting out of control. Obama slams the oil companies, declaring that the cozy relationship between the oil industry and federal regulators is going to end. Why did we have to wait until this disaster before the President decided to make such a bold declaration? Ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Lisa Murkowski, has introduced legislation that would make sure BP meets its commitment to pay all the claims from this oil spill. Do we really need legislation for this? Should we expect BP to walk away from its obligations if there is no legislation? Give me a break. Screw legislation. If they don't pay up, arm the victims and let 'em loose on the bastards! And of course, we can't forget the gaggle of senators that put on that dog and pony show a couple of weeks ago... What I find interesting is that they didn't get around to mentioning the $8,603,375 that's been ponied up in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry this year... But not a second was wasted creating a very well-publicized lecture, complete with questions they all knew would amount to nothing more than finger-pointing. Of course, they never seem to ask the most important question of all: How many hoops do we have to jump through before we realize that our dependence on oil is destroying this country? Drill Baby, Shhhh!!! This isn't rocket science, folks. The cost of this oil spill is now expected to run as high as $12.5 billion, and I think that's a conservative estimate. Let's face it: No one really knows what the long-term effects will be to the now oil-laden ecosystems that help cycle our water and shoulder our food chain. What is the value of a wetland that can no longer support fish stocks, filter pollution or stabilize shorelines? I bet it's a hell of a lot more than $12.5 billion. There's no reliable data on that just yet, although I suspect we'll find out soon enough... In the meantime, the tone is once again changing in the U.S. when it comes to offshore oil. The echoes of "drill, baby, drill" have nearly gone silent; the anti-clean energy rhetoric has been hard to come by these past few weeks. Does this mean we could be looking at the end of domestic offshore oil exploration? Not a chance. The demand for oil is alive and well. But with this recent tragedy, you better believe that alternatives are getting another boost of momentum. And whether it's with natural gas trucks, electric cars, high-speed rail, or increased fuel economy standards, Green Chip investors have yet another opportunity now to profit from those technologies and initiatives that are helping us lessen our dependence on oil. In fact my colleague Nick Hodge has landed 4 double-digit gains in the past month — just from cleantech stocks alone. Take a look: Calgon Carbon (NYSE: CCC) – Sold for a 21.45% gain Romag Holdings (LSE: ROM) – Sold for a 17.9% gain Power-Save (OTCBB: PWSV.OB) – Sold for a 77.7% gain Cosan (NYSE: CZZ) – Sold for a 60.8% gain And he's got five more — all in double-digit territory as we speak — that he recommended earlier this week... while the Dow was tanking! Disclosure: No positions

Pop singer Michael Jackson (search) has found a friend in another celebrity who's had his own brushes with the law -- former baseball star Darryl Strawberry (search). Strawberry, a member of the Without Walls International Church (search) in Tampa, ministered to Jackson during a trip to the singer's Neverland Ranch this weekend, said Randy White, the church's head pastor, on Monday. Strawberry, televangelist Paula White and Associate Pastor Rob Mallan had been invited by Jackson after meeting members of the church at a birthday party earlier this year for his father, Joe Jackson, White said. Strawberry could not be reached for comment Monday and others on the trip did not return calls for comment. The trio attended a gathering titled "You Are Not Alone," after a Jackson song. The event drew about 600 people, including tennis star Serena Williams, rapper MC Hammer and comedian Eddie Griffin. Strawberry, 41, has been making a new career for himself, sharing his experiences and talking about how his faith helped him turn his life around since his release from prison earlier this year. The eight-time All-Star and member of two World Series winners was released a Florida prison in April after serving 11 months of an 18-month prison sentence for violating probation on cocaine possession charges. Jackson, 45, was charged Thursday with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. He maintains his innocence. Jackson has been free on $3 million bail since he turned himself in Nov. 20. Randy White, who was not on the trip, said Strawberry also talked to Jackson about dealing with media attention. Whether Jackson is guilty of molestation wasn't an issue in the meeting, White said. "If he is guilty, he needs some type of ministry and counseling," White said. "And if he's not guilty, he needs some kind of ministry and counseling with all he's been through. We are not the judge. We are waiting to see the outcome." Jackson spokesman Stuart Backerman said Strawberry was at the event, but couldn't confirm he ministered to Jackson when the two met privately.

Few of my memories from the first RedState Gathering stand brighter than getting the chance to hear Ted Cruz speak. When I originally looked at the schedule, I had no idea who he was, so I broke away from chatting with my newfound friend Neil Stevens and attended his speech out of a sense of curiosity, and on the strength of the recommendations of fellow RedState illuminati. The big name I was looking forward to at that little gathering (and believe me, it was tiny compared to what it has become) was Marco Rubio, and his speech did not disappoint. However, when I took my seat for Mr. Cruz’s speech, I had no idea just how amazed I’d be. In my post recounting the Gathering, I wrote the following: In fact, the most inspiring speech for me personally was the one given by Ted Cruz. It was fascinating to hear how he ended up where he is. His father was a Cuban immigrant who was active with the pro-Castro forces in the Cuban Revolution who escaped to the US after it was clear he couldn’t stay in Cuba any longer. He showed up in Austin, TX, with the clothes on his back, $100, and nothing else to attend the University of Texas. Ted Cruz is clearly a product of, and is living, the American Dream, but he made the point that, however, extraordinary his father’s story, this sort of thing is still quite common in America. He pointed out just how great this country has become, despite being formed mainly of the cast-offs of other countries. He also made a point of telling us how he fought for conservative causes and Texas’s interests as the solicitor general of his state. He will be a fine attorney general for his state. And from time to time, I still happen upon my copy of the bio of him by National Review that I picked up at the Gathering that year. Of course, it’s now just over three years old, but worth reading all the same. Though I can’t find a video of his speech from that Gathering, Moe Lane interviewed him afterwards, and here’s Moe’s interview from the 2011 RedState Gathering in Charleston. Now, Ted Cruz didn’t end up becoming Attorney General, but regardless, there are few people out there who I am interested in seeing further their political careers than Ted Cruz. When I saw that he would be running for Kay Bailey Hutchison, I was predictably excited. I’d love to see him as a Senator. A bona fide conservative Senator from a bona fide conservative state. So that I am enraged by the sort of tactics employed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, whom Erick has so aptly called DewCrist so much that I have to continually remind myself that isn’t actually his name. You don’t need to pay much attention to understand this about Dewhurst’s attacks: you can smell the fear. The impetus behind this post came from a National Review article called “Will Fear Decide Texas Senate Race?” by Katrina Trinko. So, just what does she find Dewhurst is up to? Check this out: At the very least, everyone has to be aware of the sway Dewhurst will have if he remains lieutenant governor. And according to state insiders backing Dewhurst’s most prominent rival, former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, it goes beyond that: They say the Dewhurst campaign has made it clear that those who want to see their legislation pass if Dewhurst remains lieutenant governor had better back Dewhurst for senate. The Dewhurst campaign denies this categorically. One source familiar with Texas politics who supports Cruz says that he knows “a number of significant donors” who also have business interests in the state and have been “told by their lobbyists in Austin, ‘Don’t dare give money to Ted, don’t endorse Ted . . . because if you do you’ll never get anything else through in Austin.’” A former head of a major industry group who supports Cruz says that the Dewhurst campaign emphasized to trade associations in the state that Dewhurst expects a donation from them. And the subtext was clear: Dewhurst was “keeping a list [of] who didn’t support him or contribute.” Dewhurst is makin’ a list, checkin’ it twice. Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. Better be nice or you might just end up with coal in your stocking and your legislative agendas quashed. Reading further, we find an interesting tidbit that might cast some light on things: “That’s why even natural allies of Ted Cruz, such as Governor Perry, have little choice but to endorse Dewhurst,” the source adds. “That’s the power of the establishment, and it’s a real test of the conservative movement’s strength.” Those who think Perry endorsed Dewhurst just because he was the man’s lieutenant governor ought to consider this. Obviously, there’s a chance it was all because Dewhurst is Perry’s lieutenant governor, similar to why Sarah Palin endorsed John McCain in 2010, but it’s still a fact that needs to be considered. Then there’s this risible assertion: The Dewhurst campaign rejects the claims. “This [is] a ridiculous allegation that doesn’t merit a response,” e-mails Dewhurst spokesman Matt Hirsch. “It’s a fantasy being cooked up by a desperate and flailing Cruz campaign.” “Desperate and flailing”? That’s a textbook case of projection if I’ve ever seen one, and I think they know it. Dewhurst knows that his best chance of securing the nomination is to win this Tuesday. To do that, he needs to get more than 50% of the vote. However, Cruz (and to a lesser extent Tom Leppert) has been standing in his way, consistently denying him that majority in the polls. Cruz has done nothing but gain support, and the extra time that a runoff would give would only give him more time to build upon what he already has. Raz Shafer explains it this way: Being forced into a runoff would be a significant blow for Dewhurst. The runoff election would take place in late July, with only a fraction of the expected voter turnout of the Primary. Making the runoff would also give the Cruz campaign, conservative activists and third party organizations the taste of political blood in the water necessary to incite an even more rigorous campaign through the heat of the Texas Summer, and set the state for another conservative U.S. Senate nomination triumph this primary season. To counter Cruz’s rising support, Dewhurst and his ilk have begun releasing reprehensible line of ads, the worst of which can be found here titled “Ted Cruz a Conservative, No Way!” However, before we get around to actually discussing the content of the ad, you ought to note who is paying for the ad. It’s the Texas Conservatives Fund. It’s a group that appears to have come into existence just recently. Their Youtube account only dates from April 12th of this year. Furthermore, take a look at their spending habits, thanks to Open Secrets.org: Click for full size That’s right, it’s all anti-Cruz, all the time. And it’s a newbie group, too. They only came into existence this cycle. Don’t let the title fool you, either. It’s not a fund for endorsing whoever happens to meet their definition of “conservative”. It’s an outfit made for Dewhurst. As the Texas Tribune reports: Back in Austin after Perry’s high-profile flameout, [Perry Campaign Manager Rob] Johnson established and is the executive director of the Texas Conservatives Fund, which he formed specifically to help Dewhurst succeed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Johnson said Perry’s former national finance director Margaret Lauderback, who also led the fundraising effort for the governor’s 2010 re-election bid, is the Texas Conservatives Fund’s finance director. But now for the substance of the ad. As this post from the Dallas Morning News notes, the facts in the ad are stretched: First, it tries to somehow make out as “un-conservative” rival GOP Senate candidate Ted Cruz’s work over the past year or so as a big-law-firm appellate lawyer for a Chinese tire-maker held liable for copyright and trademark infringement. Even Dewhurst’s ad blitz on the subject pushes the subtext — true or false — that Cruz is an unscrupulous, greedy lawyer. Being those things doesn’t make one a liberal or a conservative. Second, the ad acts as if Cruz was somehow complicit in or had control over political contributions to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign by people at his 1,200-lawyer workplace, the national firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Note: Contributions by other people, not Cruz. When Dewhurst has brought this matter up in recent months, we’ve repeatedly ridiculed it here as silly. It’s a guilt-by-association tactic, and of a type Dewhurst has expressed outrage over — when employed by Cruz. But the posting saves most of its ire for the claim that Cruz opposed lowering property taxes. The full article from the Houston Chronicle that Dewhurst used gives the proper context to Cruz’s remarks. It says: Lowering school property taxes may be politically popular but alone won’t fix the state’s school finance system, Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz told a Senate panel Tuesday. “Lowering the cap is moving backwards,” said Cruz, referring to previous plans considered by the Legislature. “What as a policy matter this body may deem attractive is not helpful legally for responding to this claim,” said Cruz. “All of the claims brought by the plaintiff school districts were at the end of the day about more money.” Even if lawmakers enact new business taxes to pay for lower property taxes, school districts will need extra state revenue to meet a Texas Supreme Court requirement that they have “meaningful discretion” in their budgets and tax rates, he said. And continues: Cruz’s remarks cast doubt on some of the “tax swap” plans lawmakers considered last year before the high court ruling. During last year’s regular and two special sessions that failed to produce a school finance plan, lawmakers wanted to lower the cap of $1.50 per $100 valuation and replace the lost revenue with a new business tax and higher sales taxes. They also considered adding several billion dollars to the education budget for teacher pay raises and other programs. Cruz reminded lawmakers that more than 300 school districts sued the state because they did not believe the Legislature had the political will to raise taxes in order to spend more on schools. “Lowering the cap is moving backwards,” he said. “The urge to lower taxes has the effect of constricting (school districts’) discretion and what the lawsuit is about is expanding it.” So, what Cruz is arguing here is that lower the taxes would have strained the local school districts and restricted their freedom to make decisions. As the Weekly Standard piece I linked to earlier notes, it’s “hardly a non-conservative position on education and local control.” But the facts don’t seem to bother David Dewhurst. We can see this again in his similarly appalling radio ad accusing Ted Cruz of supporting amnesty. You can find it here. This ad, too, shows little connection to the reality, and even if it were true, it would only be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. As Big Government notes: Establishment Texas GOP senate candidate David Dewhurst has a record on immigration and border security most conservatives would find execrable. He has supported sanctuary cities, was against e-verify, has said on record “it would not be practical” to deport illegal immigrants, is for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and has not taken a clear position on a border fence. Fortunately, for us in the Cruz camp, it’s demonstrably false, and Cruz has countered with an ad of his own. It pulls no punches. This comes on the heels of another stinging rebuke of Dewhurst’s lies by the Cruz campaign: Ouch. The attacks from Dewhurst don’t end there, either. As Erick has noted, Dewhurst has even attack Cruz for being backed by, of all groups, the Club for Growth. This attack has coincided nicely with a poll (pdf file) showing Dewhurst falling just short of that crucial 50%, garnering 46% of those surveyed. If Dewhurst wants you to believe that Cruz is the moderate squish and he’s the staunch conservative, attacking your opponent for being backed by the Club for Growth isn’t the way to go about doing it. Then there’s the endorsements. Ted Cruz has virtually every major name in the conservative movement who has bothered to weigh in on the race behind him. There’s Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, the GOA, Pat Toomey, the Club for Growth, James Dobson, Ed Meese, , the Tea Party Express, Mark Levin, Jim DeMint, and so many more. Who does David Dewhurst have? Rick Perry, Michael Reagan, Mike Huckabee (lol), a couple of right to life groups, and the names of a few organizations who know its either endorse him or get the cold shoulder. The National Review sheds some light on this with a quote from Rice University Political Science professor Mark P. Jones: “And Dewhurst is clearly an establishment conservative…He’s been a very successful lieutenant governor; he’s backed by what we often call the Austin lobby, or the principal business interests here in Texas. He’s backed by most of the GOP establishment here in Texas, but where he lacks some support is the grassroots.” David Dewhurst wants you to believe the people endorsing Cruz are nothing but Washington insiders. Rick Perry, unfortunately, has cut an ad for Dewhurst saying the same thing. Take a look at the list of Cruz endorsements again. What about them spells “full of Washington insiders”? It’s a list full of people who have made their careers challenging the establishment. It’s like I said before, you can smell the fear from the Dewhurst campaign. They know Ted Cruz presents a real threat. They know Cruz is the real conservative in the race, and that he stands in the way of Dewhurst’s career advancement. No amount of money can change that. People like Dewhurst (like Lugar, Charlie Crist, Bob Bennett, and others before him) hate what Ted Cruz stands for. He’s a real conservative fighter in a world of go-along, get-along good ol’ boy politics. Ted Cruz has had the guts to stand up for Texas before 90 nations and even a President from his own to defend the United States’ sovereignty from the World Court. He’ll do the same for Texas in Washington. He’s got what it takes to stand up for common sense conservative values in Washington, even when it means going against his own party, and he’s got the record (pdf file) to prove his credentials. We need Ted Cruz in Washington. Let’s help him out. Let’s send him to Washington. We can’t let Dewhurst buy this race from us.

A question for my non-Christian friends: Why are some of you so offended at the name of Jesus, or the cross, or any of the symbols associated with Christians? I wish I didn’t know the answer to this, but I believe I do. There seems to be a rising element of anti-Christianity which can’t tolerate any expression of Christians, and wishes to remove symbols or artifacts of faith that Christians in the past had placed in their cities, on hilltops, or roadsides, or even graves. On the surface, it doesn’t make any sense. If you don’t believe, then don’t believe. If you don’t want Christians to talk to you about Jesus, then be polite, and tell them you are not interested. The non-Christian activists who wish to remove Christian symbols really are beyond offense at things Christian. They oppose, even hate those symbols and what they represent. For people who claim to follow rationality and reason, they are quite irrational and unreasonable in their emotional head exploding hysterical episodes. Some even want to erect monuments alongside Christian symbols representing Atheism (as a religion?). What symbol would atheists use to represent their “religion”? I question that Atheism even qualifies as a religion, akin to a communist possessing a property deed, or an anarchist possessing a passport; it’s an oxymoron. For the hypothetical religion of Atheism, let me suggest a few possible symbols: how about a hammer and sickle, or a red star? Here’s my favorite: a guillotine. These all accurately represent official Atheist organizations that ruled large swaths of humanity on this planet. In fact, the only functional Atheist organization I can think of that doesn’t represent bloodshed, tyranny, and extreme intolerance is the United Federation of Planets. In real life, adherence to a worldview absent of absolute morality that transcends human frailties leads to pure human nature. As Tennyson wrote, nature, red in tooth and claw. Humans have an almost unlimited capacity for cruelty and domination, restrained only by our sense of right and wrong. Eliminate the right and wrong, and we can justify any atrocity. Why would some people rather listen to every filthiness, invective, and ugly curse instead of one name representing Christianity? In schools, when a student is asked who they admire most and they say “Jesus,” these people’s heads explode. At graduations, when a valedictorian makes a speech and mentions Jesus, kaboom. When a chaplain is invited to pray at a public or government event and ends his or her prayer in the name of Jesus, cerebral detonations galore. Tell me, what other name would a Christian pastor pray in? I can sympathize with the positions of those feeling battered under the pugilistic assaults of evangelical Christians. I was not always a Christian. But I always figured “that’s what Christians do” and never bothered to try to enforce my worldview on them. Why do so many hold Christians in contempt for doing what the New Testament commands them to do: sharing their faith? I’ve been a Christian for 14 years. As a Christian speaking to non-Christians: I respect your time and your opinion. If you don’t want to hear mine, or hear about my faith, and you tell me so, politely, I will respect your time and your wishes. Maybe there are rude Christians who insist on you listening to them, but I have never thought that to be an effective method of sharing my faith. Just because one Christian, or even a whole bunch of Christians, are rude, doesn’t mean that all of Christianity should be expunged and silenced. Having a diverse population of ideas and viewpoints is healthy for society. Groupthink never works. It leads to self-deception, cults, and domination of the weak by the strong. Why commit outrageous acts such as unplugging microphones, shouting down speakers, or repeatedly suing and suing and suing every organization imaginable to keep the name of Jesus out of the public realm, and to remove all historical Christian symbols from public land? I think I have the answer: they are anti-Christians and define themselves as such. The argument goes like this inside the head of the anti-Christian: Christians have run this country for far too long, and placed their symbols all over it. It’s time to remove all those and go back to the original founders’ intention to keep this country out of the religion business. The anti-Christians simply want this country to be empty of Christian religious symbols and speech, because they hate our Biblical morality—they could care less if the Bible is true or not, that argument is a red herring. Of course they use the “Bible isn’t true” and all kinds of arguments designed to show it is false; but that’s all a side show. They are not interested in proving the Bible false for the sake of truth. What they want is to impose their own morality on us, and they don’t want to be polite about it. Of course, like all atheistic-imposed morality, this is outrageously tyrannical. As a Christian, I cannot be silent. I can be your friend if you’re not a Christian. Really. I can. I can be polite, value your time, listen to your opinions. But too many of you don’t want Christian friends. You don’t want to associate with anyone who doesn’t believe as you do, and think as you do. Not only that, you also don’t want those with whom you disagree to be able to express their values, because you have categorized those values as evil (if evil even exists without also good existing, and to a true atheist, neither good nor evil exist at all except in their own heads). This is my main bone of contention with anti-Christians. You borrow from Biblical morality in order to frame good and evil in your own minds and worldview, but then label the source of that framework as evil. I have a similar bone with the other major anti-Christian element in the world: Islam, which systematizes Biblical errancy (corruption) while at the same time incorporating the Bible as its source of authority. You can’t build a foundation on something and at the same time claim the foundation is faulty—or non-existent. Muslims in America are not (yet) seeking to remove all references to Christianity; activist anti-Christians are. If feeding the poor, helping orphans, healing the sick, and showing love to prisoners, the helpless, and the most vulnerable among us is evil, then I must object to your definition of the word. You can’t throw away the baby with the bathwater. If Christianity is evil, then all of it must be. You can’t pick and choose those things you like about it and discard the bits you don’t. Christianity and the Bible are a package deal. Not every Christian is polite, and none of us is perfect. We are all sinners in need of a savior: in fact that’s the defining belief of Christianity. If you don’t see the evidence of forgiveness, gentleness and grace in a Christian’s life, they are probably not a Christian. Examine your own worldview toward Christians and see if that position leads to a tyranny of the powerful dominating the weak, or does it lead to some kind of utopia which occurs only after ridding the earth of the religious? There’s a third option: that religion will just fade out on its own by the force of reason and scientific evidence against it. That has never happened, and you will die waiting for it to happen—there is zero evidence that it will happen, in fact there’s plenty of evidence that supports the opposite: religion continues to grow (Google it, I won’t cite the numerous studies). Eliminate the third option from your thinking, it’s delusional and inconsistent with rational thought. If you believe either of the first two outcomes and you are truly okay with that: right now, I want you to stop reading this and pick up the phone and call the nearest mental health facility and schedule an examination, because you may be a sociopath. I can’t help you, but there’s medicine that might. For the sane and non-delusional, I ask you to see the anti-Christian movement for what it is: a power grab. Oppose it. Whether you believe in God or not, oppose it for the sake of opposing tyranny and oppression.

Later this week, two women will become the first female graduates of the elite Army Ranger School, and on Tuesday, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, said the Navy is preparing to allow women to serve on SEAL teams for the first time. "Why shouldn't anybody who can meet these [standards] be accepted? And the answer is, there is no reason," Greenert told Defense News. "So we're on a track to say, 'Hey look, anybody who can meet the gender non-specific standards, then you can become a SEAL.'" More positions have been opening up for women throughout the military since the Pentagon announced two years ago that it will lift the ban on women serving in combat roles. Military services have until the end of the year to come up with a reason why particular positions should remain closed to women. After conducting a review, Rear Admiral Brian Losey, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, recommended that women be allowed to become SEALs. It may still be some time before we see a woman join the SEALs. The six-month training program is brutal, and as the Navy Times notes, there aren't currently many women in the Navy's special operations forces: "Out of an end strength of 1,153, there are only seven female Navy divers — just .61 percent of the force. And there are only 10 women in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal community of the 1,094 total enlisted sailors."

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Bret Bielema started looking toward the future before the end of last season. The Arkansas coach will have his first true look at that future when junior Austin Allen steps under center for the first time as the No. 1 quarterback when the Razorbacks open spring practice next week. Allen, who has seen limited action in each of the last two seasons, takes over for his older brother, Brandon - the starting quarterback in each of Bielema's first three seasons at Arkansas. And while there are a host of other quarterbacks on campus with hopes of earning the starting job, Bielema has made it clear over the last few months that Austin Allen enters the spring as the prohibitive favorite to step under center when the Razorbacks open the season against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 3. ''I think Austin continues to make some really good things happen, but by no means is he perfect or close to the level that we need,'' Bielema said last month. ''I'd say he's getting close.'' Allen attempted only three passes in a backup role last season for Arkansas, though his one completion did go for a touchdown. He also completed 8 of 16 passes as a freshman in 2014, including coming in for his injured older brother and helping the Razorbacks defeat Mississippi. While he lacks on-the-field experience, Allen has benefited from three years as an apprentice to his brother - earning praise from Bielema last year for how much more seriously he took his preparation than his first two seasons. Part of that preparation began while Arkansas, which finished 8-5 last season, was practicing for its Liberty Bowl matchup against Kansas State. In the weeks before the bowl game, Bielema scheduled a handful of practices without Brandon Allen. The intent was for the younger quarterbacks - Austin Allen, sophomore Rafe Peavey and freshmen Ty Storey and Ricky Town - to prepare for life without their three-year starter. ''It was pretty cool to see that, just when those situations arose,'' Bielema said. While Allen is the front-runner for the starting position, Peavey, Storey and Town are all expected to compete - even if only for the role of backup. Peavey has shown the ability to scramble in practices the last two seasons, while Storey just finished his first season with the Razorbacks. Town is the most high profile of the on-campus quarterbacks after transferring from USC last year. However, Bielema said the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Town struggled to learn the Arkansas offense last year, leaving him with plenty to prove before the Razorbacks close spring practice with the Red-White game on April 23.

“Save us, Elon! Save us!” a man shouted at the rosy-cheeked billionaire on stage. The billionaire was Elon Musk, a passionate futurist and crusader for renewable energy. The visionary Tesla founder took to the stage at the electric car company’s Hawthorne, Calif., design studio last night to reveal the much-hyped “ missing piece” of our future. And, yes, it’s all part of his ambitious grand plan to save the Earth on his way to Mars, specifically from the environmental ills of oil and gas. As predicted, Musk spilled the details at the glitzy show-and-tell about Tesla Energy, Tesla Motors’ new brand of sustainable battery systems for the residential, business and even public utility use. The offering -- a bold detour from the world of luxury e-car-manufacturing and into the mushrooming renewable energy market -- brings forth two products. The first is the Powerwall, a home battery system, available at 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) for $3,500 or for $3,000 for 7 kWh. (Prices don’t include installation.) The second product, estimated to cost around $13,000 a pop, is the refrigerator-reminiscent, 100 kWh Powerpack, an infinitely scalable, utility-class industrial battery targeted to mid- to large-sized businesses. “The issue with existing batteries is that they suck,” Musk quipped from the event stage to raucous woots and loud applause. “They’re stinky, ugly, bad in every way.” Not only are his much better, he says, “They’re beautiful.” He has a point. They sort of are. The compact, 220-pound Powerwall models are stackable, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries encased in attractive outer shells that fittingly resemble shiny car hoods. After all, the tech inside is a derivative of the battery inside of Tesla’s Model S. Introducing #TeslaEnergy, a suite of batteries for homes, businesses, and utilities. pic.twitter.com/HD7DbGRZPW — Tesla Motors (@TeslaMotors) May 1, 2015 Powerwalls work with solar or grid power and provide backup power. Both versions, six slender inches thick, can be wall-mounted inside or outside of your house or garage. Available in white, black, gray, blue and red, the sleek, Internet-connected units are indeed pretty, but, uh, not enough to lick. Musk told reporters at a press conference held just before the red carpet launch party that he’s confident the batteries hold the power to revolutionize energy consumption at a global level. He realizes, though, that that’s no easy feat and might seem a little out there. “Our goal here is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy at extreme scale,” he said. “It’s going to seem crazy, but you’ll see what I mean.” Not as crazy, perhaps, as putting a man on Mars this decade. We asked the Canadian-American entrepreneur and serial investor to describe why the everyday homeowner would want a Powerwall battery. He pointed to its ability store energy to help users survive off the grid whenever energy is scarce or too expensive. “You’ll have the security, freedom and peace of mind of knowing you’ll always have power even if your utility goes down.” "This entire night has been powered by batteries. This entire night, everything you are experiencing, is stored sunlight." - Elon Musk — Tesla Motors (@TeslaMotors) May 1, 2015 The temperature-controlled batteries are especially beneficial for people who live in cold climates, he said, where grid power often fails during ice storms and other inclement weather. Or, if you’re ready to ditch the grid altogether, Tesla’s Powerwall can help you cut the cord, that is if you have solar panels. “If you combine the battery pack with solar, you can go completely independent,” Musk said, “so you can be just free of the grid if you want.” As for Musk himself, he’s not living off the grid just yet. Smiling and rolling his eyes, he admitted that he doesn’t own any Tesla Energy batteries yet. There are, however, several solar panels installed on his $17 million mansion in posh Bel Air, Los Angeles. The industrial Powerpack has already gone on sale to select customers, including Wal-Mart and Cargill. As for the home batteries, they’re available for pre-order now and are expected to begin shipping in three to four months. Musk said he expects the home units to reach moderate volume production later this year, then to kick into “much more serious production” next year, when manufacturing them will transition to Tesla’s “Gigafactory” in the Nevada desert.

The suspect in the Kalamazoo shootings visited a gun store on the day of the attacks and bought a jacket designed to conceal a handgun, according to the store owner. Here's what we know about Jason Dalton and his gun collection. ___ DALTON HAD A PERSONAL ARSENAL: Dalton had a personal cache of weapons that included handguns and long guns, authorities have said, but there was nothing in his past that prevented him from owning as many guns as he could afford. With no criminal history or record of mental illness, Michigan residents who follow requirements can legally acquire any number of firearms. ___ SUSPECT SEEN ON STORE VIDEO: On surveillance video, Jason Dalton was seen "laughing and joking" and gave the manager of Southwick's gun shop a "one-armed hug" before making the purchase. Owner Jonathan Southwick said Dalton did not buy a weapon there. ___ STORE OWNER RECALLS SELLING TO DALTON: The owner of another gun shop said he sold guns to Dalton but did not know if he sold the weapon used the night of the shooting rampage. Jeff Cramer of the On Target gun shop in Kalamazoo said Dalton purchased long guns from the store. He did not know if the store ever sold him a handgun.

Kimye (Kim Kardashian and Kanye West), Justin Bieber and Donald Trump. What do these four people have in common? Whether you hate to love them or love to hate them, there’s no denying these celebrities are great at what they do and can teach us a thing or two about running a successful brand or business. Related: 4 Lessons Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Donald Trump Here are three lessons learned from four people we can’t help but love: 1. Kim and Kayne make Kimye. It seemed only fair to lump Kim Kardashian and Kanye West into one; they are, after all, a couple -- a couple we hate to love. Love them or hate them, Kim and Kanye are a power couple for a reason. Individually, they are huge entrepreneurial successes, from clothing lines to multi-platinum albums. Together, they’re pretty much unstoppable. Lesson learned: Combine and conquer. Kim and Kanye are a great example of what happens when two individually successful brands merge. When it comes to starting and running a business, know when to go it alone and when to partner with other brands. Some of the most sustainable startup successes are a result of strong partnerships. Take Disney and Sphero, for example. In order to create the BB-8 droid we all know and love, Disney had to look outside of the company for help. That help was found in robotics startup Sphero. The two companies partnered to create BB-8 for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Disney got the droid they were looking for (see what I did there?), and Sphero received an investment of $120,000. Not only do partnerships between companies, brands and people open an extraordinary amount of doors, they combine the strengths of both parties to breed innovation. The key here is to know when the company needs help and who can best provide that help. And, like Kim and Kanye, you have to stay true to the original brand. Related: Branding With the Stars: Celebrity Tactics for Business Owners 2. There's nothing like the Bieb. I love a good Justin Bieber song. But you don’t have to be a “Belieber” to know that the 22-year-old singer-songwriter is the definition of business success. Not only does everything he touch turn to multi-platinum, Bieber’s net worth is currently a whopping $200 million. His run-ins with the law aside, Bieber knows what it takes to keep a brand and business alive and kicking. From his “Baby” days to his fourth studio album, Purpose, Bieber’s brand has grown and evolved as much as he has. And that kind of success doesn’t come naturally to a 13-year-old boy without the backing of an all-star team. Lesson learned: Build the right team. While there’s no doubting Bieber’s talent and work ethic, he wouldn’t be where he is without the help of his team -- a team so great that Kanye West is entrusting his music career and clothing line to Scott "Scooter" Braun, the man responsible for Bieber's rise and return to fame. The great thing about being an entrepreneur is you get to choose your team -- much in the same way that Braun chose to pursue Bieber after seeing a video of him singing on YouTube. Like Braun, use social media to find and connect with potential employees who embody the company’s mission and vision. After all, behind every great man or woman’s success is a team that won’t quit. 3. Then there's Donald Trump. I love Donald Trump, so much so that I’m still hoping to have my picture taken with him even after getting dumped to the ground by Trump security once before. Trump can do things no one else can. He can claim he’s going to build the great wall of Mexico, discuss the size of his appendages and trash talk the appearance of his female competitors better than any real housewife. Yet, he’s had a surprisingly successful presidential campaign so far. Trump knows how to be his unadulterated self, and that’s a priceless skill in business. So how can entrepreneurs follow his lead, set their personalities free and run successful businesses? Related: 5 Ways to Use the 'Trump Effect' Lesson learned: Forget the haters. From fellow candidates and politicians to political analysts, celebrities and thought leaders, everyone loves to dish out some Trump hate -- and he ignores it all. But, by ignoring the haters, Trump’s created a loyal following. He doesn’t try to change the minds of those who condemn him. He knows he’s attracted a group of like-minded people, and that’s where he focuses his attention. When business leaders and companies represent strong personalities and viewpoints, they will inevitably alienate some people. But, at the same time, they will attract similar people -- and this group should be a company’s target market and where they focus their attention. Like Trump, don’t hold back out of fear of retribution. And don’t delay taking a product to market because it may not please everyone as is. It will never please everyone. Instead, stay true to the company’s brand and the values, personalities and goals it was built on, and let those things drive the company instead.

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents who died when their SUV was struck by a fast-moving train in southern Arizona were trying to head off a group of marijuana smugglers, the agency said. Investigators have declined to speculate on what might have caused the crash but revealed Friday the SUV was moving as slow as 3 mph when it was struck. They'll examine the wreckage for any signs of mechanical problems, a Maricopa County sheriff's spokesman said. The crash happened early Thursday as another group of agents less than a mile south of the train tracks were pursuing eight undocumented immigrants who were on foot and carrying marijuana bales on their backs, Border Patrol spokesman Kenneth Quillin said. Agents Eduardo Rojas Jr. and Hector Clark were trying to cut off the smugglers as they moved north. The agents' SUV was struck at a railroad crossing in a rural farming area near the town of Gila Bend, about 85 miles southwest of Phoenix. The six undocumented immigrants were arrested. "We have individuals actively following the group, and then the assisting agents will try to corral them so they slow down and we can catch them," Quillin said. "It's basic Border Patrol operations." The westbound Union Pacific train with 75 cars was moving at about 62 mph when it hit the SUV, pushing the vehicle a half-mile to a mile (kilometer) down the tracks. The distance the SUV was pushed indicates it was moving as slow as 3 mph when the collision occurred, said Detective Aaron Douglas, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the deaths. "It would have deflected once the SUV absorbed all the energy from the train," Douglas said. "And the truck would have ended up in a different location." Douglas said he wouldn't speculate on whether the vehicle's low speed was indicative of a stall. But he said investigators will examine the wreckage of the SUV to see if there were mechanical problems. The SUV was unmarked but equipped with police lights. Before the collision, the train conductor and engineer spotted the vehicle driving on an access road alongside the tracks. They sounded a horn a quarter-mile before the crossing. Union Pacific said its crew had no warning that the SUV would turn in front of the train. The privately owned railroad crossing where the wreck occurred is marked but doesn't have railroad crossing arms or warning lights. There have been six previous accidents at the crossing dating back to 1984, but only one involved a fatality. One person died in July 2003 when a semi-truck driver failed to make a complete stop and was struck by a train. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino

Vivian Salama, a television and print journalist who has reported on the Middle East for over a decade, has been named as Baghdad bureau chief for The Associated Press. The appointment was announced Monday by Ian Phillips, AP's Middle East news director based in Cairo. Salama, 34, succeeds Adam Schreck, who is now based in Dubai and oversees AP coverage of the Gulf Arab countries as well as Iran. Salama will be the senior reporter and will lead a team of reporters, photographers, video journalists and support staff covering Iraq. "The AP is one of the few international news organizations to have maintained a continuous presence in Iraq before and after the U.S. occupation," said John Daniszewski, vice president and senior managing editor for international news in New York. "With Iraq again front and center in the news, Salama is a serious student of the region and her expertise will inform AP's reporting as the drama continues." "She is an accomplished journalist who will write with authority about the challenges facing Iraq and who understands the power of visual storytelling," said Phillips. Salama, who speaks Arabic and holds a master's degree in Middle East and Islamic Studies from Columbia University, has covered major stories overseas including Egypt's historic presidential election, the resurgence of violence in Iraq and drone deaths in Yemen. She begins her new position in Iraq at a critical time for the country as security unravels nearly three years after the U.S. military withdrew. Sunni militants have overrun several cities in northwestern Iraq near Syria, hoping to exploit the chaos to link territories they control on both sides of the border. "The fast-moving events show how important Iraq remains, with impact on surrounding countries," said Middle East regional text editor Dan Perry, who oversees AP's in-depth reporting across the region. Salama, of New City, New York., moved to the Middle East in 2003 and was a freelancer for Associated Press Television News in Cairo from 2004 to 2006. She went on to report in Pakistan, and opened the Bloomberg bureau in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Salama also has appeared as a commentator on BBC, the South African Broadcasting Corp., Voice of America and NPR, among others. She has also contributed to Newsweek, the Daily Beast and the Atlantic. Previously, she worked as a producer for NBC and ABC News in New York. In addition to her master's degree from Columbia, Salama is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey and has lectured in journalism there. She also authored a lengthy study on jihadis' media propaganda, contained in "Radicalization, Terrorism and Conflict," which was published in 2013 by Cambridge Scholars.

A Swiss museum agreed on Monday to accept a priceless collection of long-hidden art bequeathed to it by German collector Cornelius Gurlitt, but said it will work with German officials to ensure any pieces looted by the Nazis from Jewish owners are returned. German authorities in 2012 seized 1,280 pieces from Gurlitt's apartment while investigating a tax case, including works by Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. Gurlitt died in May, designating Switzerland's Kunstmuseum Bern as his sole heir. The museum's president, Christoph Schaeublin, told reporters in Berlin that the Kunstmuseum Bern had decided to accept the collection after long, difficult deliberations. "The ultimate aim was to clarify how the Kunstmuseum Bern could meet the responsibilities imposed upon them by the bequest," Schaeublin said. Shortly before he died, Gurlitt reached a deal with the German government to check whether hundreds of the works were looted from Jewish owners by the Nazis. Authorities have said that deal is binding on any heirs, and Schaeublin said the museum would undertake extensive research to determine the provenance of the works. According to an agreement the museum worked out with German authorities, a task force set up by the government will also continue to investigate the background of the art to determine if it was looted, and whom it was looted from. If no owner can be found for a looted piece, the agreement calls for the work to be exhibited in Germany with an explanation of its origins so the "rightful owners will have the opportunity to submit their claims." German officials said all works will remain in Germany until the task force finishes its work. An update on the research is expected "in the course of 2015." One of Gurlitt's cousins has also filed claim, which a Munich court said Monday would have to be sorted out before the collection goes anywhere

George Michael saw the sad side of Britain's royal wedding on Friday as he lamented the loss of Prince William's mother and late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. The "Father Figure" hitmaker celebrated William's marriage to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge on Friday at a "wedding party" in north London. The singer admits he was struck by sadness when the duchess appeared wearing a gown designed by Sarah Burton, who took over as creative director of the Alexander McQueen label after the famed couturier's suicide last February. He wrote in a post on his Twitter.com page, "The one tragic thing about the day... That Alexander McQueen never got to create a masterpiece for Kate... I loved the dress. But it's a shame he's no longer with us." Michael also became emotional at the thought of his late friend, William's mother Diana, Princess Of Wales, who died in a car accident in Paris, France in 1997 - when the young royal was just 15 years old. He adds, "Of course Diana's absence is the greatest tragedy, but it really goes without saying..." Click for more great George Michael pictures:

The Big Conversation: With the Supreme Court's health care decision still echoing through Texas, a new report from the federal government has cast an unflattering light on the state's own health care system. According to the report, released by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Texas ranks as the worst state in the nation on quality of health care. The report measured obesity, infant mortality and suicide rates and examined more than 100 other areas like disease prevention and cancer treatment efforts. Out of 100 points, Texas — already often cited as the state with the highest rate of uninsured residents in the U.S. — received 31.61, less than half that of the top-ranked state, Minnesota, which earned 67.31. The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one. The scorecard is, in part, intended to help states identify weaknesses in their own health care systems, but some Texas officials appeared reluctant to embrace the findings. "Our office is reviewing the study, but at first glance it appears to be an extremely broad report that goes well beyond the parameters of the state Medicaid program and doesn't take into account our diverse population," Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, said in a statement, according to the Houston Chronicle. Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, also noted in a statement that the report appears to include services beyond the state's Medicaid program. "But it does reinforce the need for improving access to preventive services," she said. It wasn't all bad news, though: The state fared well in maternal and child health care, for which it received a "strong" rating. Culled: As The New York Times reports, the Obama administration over the last five months has freed schools in more than half of the states in the nation from the strictest provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law, "raising the question of whether the decade-old federal program has been essentially nullified." An official vote count has confirmed Enrique Peña Nieto's victory in Sunday's Mexican presidential election. A partial recount of the votes completed late Thursday showed Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), with more than 38 percent of the vote, ahead of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the progressive alliance, who has refused to concede the election and has accused the PRI of buying votes. U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, has been cleared of wrongdoing in an investigation targeting legislators who received discounted home loans from Countrywide Financial Corp, according to The Dallas Morning News. Sessions applied for a mortgage from the now-defunct lender in 2007, but a report released Thursday said he received no preferential treatment. Must-Read: Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

Rihanna, Beyoncé, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, and Halle Berry are just a few famous ladies who have worn Stuart Weitzman's shoes on the red carpet. For the Oscars this Sunday, the shoe designer has given heels to Hollywood's top stylists, including Rachel Zoe and Kate Young. In 2002, Weitzman famously put Laura Elena Harring in a million-dollar pair of shoes for the Oscars that year. "Since that, you see shoe cams on most of the shows. The interviewer will usually mix in, 'Can we see your shoes?'" Weitzman told us over the phone from L.A. "I like to take a little credit for that. The million-dollar sandal called great attention to footwear and that has not let up since." Weitzman, who will create a special collection of the most popular styles worn by celebs on the Oscars red carpet to sell to normal people, revealed much more about what will be up with the shoes at the year's biggest red carpet on Sunday. What can we expect to see in footwear at the Oscars on Sunday? With these girls, the higher the heels — as long as they can walk — the better the shoe. We’re using platforms more than ever this year to give them that height. How high? About six and a half inches is the highest heel they’ll be offering this year. That’s basically a four-and-a-half-inch pitch with a two-inch platform. So they don't bring shoes to secretly change into? Often when they change out of their gowns for the after-parties, they change their shoes.

Savills, a global real estate services provider listed on the London Stock Exchange, has released its annual report on the role that real property plays in the investment world. Here are some of its key points: Real estate assets constitute 60% of the value of all assets worldwide; Residential real estate constitutes 75% of the value of the world's real estate - the remainder is about evenly split between commercial and agricultural uses; Of the world's high-quality commercial real estate, 45% is in North America; Cross-border activity in real estate has grown since the global financial crisis of 2008 - in this connection the author of the report, Yolande Barnes, says, "Money is becoming not only footloose but also more adventurous"; The last three years have seen a steady growth in the volume of trade in real estate. To expand on that last point a bit, the report says that volume has grown by 62% in North America during this period and by 65% in EMEA; the rate of growth in Asia Pacific has been somewhat more subdued, at 18%. Population versus Value The value of all developed real estate in the world, by Savills' count, in U.S. dollars, is $217 trillion. This is 2.7 times the world's gross domestic product. Perhaps counter to Malthusian intuitions, there is no very close relationship between the percentage of the globe's total human population to be found in a given region and the percentage of total residential real estate value there. Asia and the Pacific have 37% of the former but only 20% of the latter. There is another such disparity from the other side in North America, which represents only 5% of the globe's population, but lives in 21% of its residential rea estate by value (and shops/works etc. within 45% of the world's commercial real estate by value as noted above.) In Europe, too, there is a big gap between the population numbers and the value numbers. It represents 11% of the world's population, 24% of residential value, 28% of commercial value. Let us assume (as seems reasonable) that this will change, that the less-developed parts of the world will develop, and this development will follow a path that reduces some of that disparity. What, more specifically, can we say about that path? Click to enlarge Barnes writes that China and other parts of Asia have shown that it is possible to proceed by demolishing existing structures, making way for large-scale developments that look a lot like those of North America and Europe. This can involve what she calls "landmark, world-class 'trophy' projects often involving named 'starchitects'" which are "beloved by politicians and planners alike" and which get priority over smaller scale neighborhood developments that might integrate existing structures. As the language might subtly suggest, though, Barnes isn't enamored of the demolition-heavy, trophy project path as the way forward. It involves a lot of big-box, energy-hungry office buildings and shopping malls: these, she says with some understatement, will not be "universally preferred" as the 21st century proceeds. Monetary Conditions Indeed, loose monetary conditions made that path sustainable over the last few years and those are about to change: tighter monetary conditions are near at hand. In the post-2008 world, where central banks have worked to ensure low interest rates, Barnes observes that "equity has been searching for a home and asset price inflation has been inevitable." Even as the Savills report appeared, though, the U.S. Federal Reserve spooked markets by surprisingly hawkish language about interest rates, and in general the world seems headed toward a more normal interest-rate environment. Nobody will be throwing money at projects out of any absence of any clue as to what else to do with it. Or, in Barnes' more decorous language, highly leveraged investors will find it "increasingly difficult to compete unless there is a clear value-add component to their purchase."

Sport Breaking News Sport League News National AAP Greg Inglis' sublime form at fullback for South Sydney has opened the door for the return of the player whose centre position he initially took at the NRL club - Beau Champion. On Tuesday Souths announced Champion would join the club on a two-year deal after being granted an immediate release from his Gold Coast contract. The former representative centre was pushed out of the Rabbitohs due to salary cap pressure when Inglis joined the club prior to the 2011 season in a move from Melbourne after negotiations with Brisbane broke down. Inglis has been a revelation at Redfern, but at fullback rather than centre after coach Michael Maguire moved him into the No.1 jersey in his first year in charge last season. Advertisement Despite last year enjoying their best season since 1989, centre became a problem area for Maguire upon Queensland and Australian representative Inglis' shift to the back. Maguire said Champion would add some much needed depth to the Rabbitohs' ranks. "Beau is a very experienced NRL player ... and were very happy to be able to add a player of his ability to our squad at this stage of the pre-season," Maguire said in a statement. "Beau's inclusion to our squad increases the challenge for spots in our first grade team, which is always good for performance and team development. "Beau is South Sydney through-and-through and we're sure he will produce some of his best football with us over the next two seasons and beyond." A Rabbitohs junior Champion played 70 games for the club between 2005 and 2010 before moving to Melbourne and spending last season with the Titans. He played only nine NRL games in 2012 in an injury interrupted year. He will challenge the likes of Shaune Corrigan, Andrew Everingham, Dylan Farrell, Justin Hunt, Matt King and Chris McQueen for a spot in the centres. Champion, 26, said he was delighted to be returning to the Rabbitohs. "I'm over the moon at having the opportunity to return to South Sydney," he said. "(It is) the club where my career began, the team which I supported as a kid, and the club which I've always dreamed of playing for." A veteran of 90 NRL games, Champion represented City Origin and the Indigenous All Stars in 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, Champion's departure has reportedly paved the way for the Gold Coast Titans to launch a left field pitch for Penrith matchwinner Michael Jennings. The Sydney Roosters appear to be in the box seat for the NSW star but that has not stopped the Titans contemplating offering a three to four year deal worth $600,000 a season, according to The Courier-Mail website.

Less than two months into her tenure as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton visited Turkey and proclaimed, “We share a commitment to democracy, a secular constitution, respect for religious freedom and belief, and in free market[s], and a sense of global responsibility.” But last month, just before a visit from Pope Francis, Turkish President Erdogan said of Westerners, “They look like friends, but they want us dead, they like seeing our children die.” It was a new rhetorical low point for the estranged NATO member that was supposed to have been bewitched by Obama-Clinton magic. In fact, Turkey’s conduct has spiraled out of control in the last six years—thanks in large part to Hillary’s brand of diplomacy, which she dubiously labels “smart power.” [pullquote] For example, Turkey now plays host to some leadership elements of Hamas, the Iranian-backed terrorist group that has killed Americans, recently went to war with Israel, and runs a tyrannical Islamist government in the Gaza Strip. Turkey allows Hamas operatives to reside in Istanbul, conduct operational meetings, and even boast to local journalists about their success in murdering civilian teenagers. Turkey is also a major supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood—the Islamist political organization that seeks to subvert Middle Eastern governments and replace them with anti-American theocracies. The Brotherhood gained control of Egypt in 2012—also on Hillary’s watch—but was ousted by the Egyptian military just one year into its disastrous rule. Turkey then unhelpfully welcomed the group’s exiled international leadership with open arms. In the wake of Hillary’s version of smart power, Turkey has gone from being merely an unreliable ally to an outright opponent of American interests. To the extent that the true divide in the Middle East is between those who advocate or appease Islamist tyranny versus those who support a civilized order of secular governments, Turkey’s bosses now seem in the former camp—standing against the USA and its allies. It was not supposed to be this way. In the same way Hillary “reset” relations with Russia’s government—thinking the novelty of herself and her boss, Barack Obama, would cause Vladimir Putin to change his calculation of Russia’s national interests—Hillary also set out to change relations between the USA and Turkey. As with Russia, in her first visit to Turkey, Clinton issued an implied apology for American conduct, especially in regard to the Iraq War. She also announced that President Obama himself would soon visit Turkey—part of what Obama’s critics would later call his “apology tour.” The American embassy dutifully cabled back to Washington the most gushing of press accounts of Clinton’s visit, including one that read: “Hillary Clinton made a shining start and President Obama’s [trip] will reach the summit: This is the time to love America again.” Another quote in the cable of a “mainstream” news outlet offering advice to Washington read, “Problems should be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue; equating Islam with terrorism should end; the Palestine issue should be treated fairly...” Seldom have so many fairy tales been compacted into a single sentence—but why not if Hillary never tried to correct the record and defend America? Not only does Washington engage in dialogue ad nauseam and not equate Islam with terrorism, it hesitates even to mention Islam, or even Islamism. As for the “Palestine issue,” six successive American administrations have bent over backward for a permanent settlement to no avail. It has been “treated fairly” and then some. Far be it for Hillary to point out this fact and risk diminishing her celebrity, or take the additional step of questioning whether Israeli-Palestinian disputes really drive the security problems in the Middle East—or if the opposite may in fact be true. Had Hillary wanted to conduct real diplomacy with Turkey, she should have skipped the short-lived boost from apologizing for America—that “shining start” reported in the cable. Turkey needed tough love: a firm warning that the Turkish government’s escalating romances with Islamism and truisms that just weren’t true would strain relations with the West. With this wavering ally, Washington should have had the courtesy to tell Turkey the blunt truth in private. Instead, Hillary gave them warm, vapid pageantry—the liberal version of diplomacy and hallmark of Hillary’s tenure that is the antithesis of actual smart power. Like so many national security issues, the Obama-Clinton administration will bequeath its successor a mess with the Turkish government, which now thinks it can get away with anything. If NATO is to be a serious alliance, it cannot tolerate a member that is in bed with some of the biggest opponents of a civilized order in the world. The next American president should seek Turkey’s suspension from NATO. Time spent alone pondering an expansionist Russia and the mushrooming jihadist threat might do Turkish politics some good. The USA should also close its air base at Incirlik in Turkey, moving those military assets to at-risk and faithful NATO members like Poland or the Baltics. Last but not least, the next president should tell the truth about Turkey’s government and what really drives problems in the Middle East. Do the opposite of what Hillary did. Christian Whiton was a State Department senior advisor in the George W. Bush administration. He is author of "2003-2009. He is the author of "Smart Power: Between Diplomacy and War" (Potomac Books, 2013).

CLEVELAND (AP) — Zydrunas Ilgauskas' agent called Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry at 8:30 a.m. Monday, the first day Ilgauskas was eligible to re-sign with Cleveland. It took a little longer than expected — the deal wasn't announced until Tuesday afternoon — but Ilgauskas is back with the only team he has ever known. "If I would've left and the team won a championship without me," he said, "I don't think I could've ever forgave myself." Ilgauskas signed to play for the rest of the season in Cleveland and traveled with the Cavaliers to New Orleans on Tuesday. Coach Mike Brown said he will likely play against the Hornets on Wednesday. To make room on the roster, Cleveland waived second-year forward Darnell Jackson. "Z has been a good friend of mine and others in the organization," said Ferry, who played with Ilgauskas in Cleveland. "We're excited to have the Ilgauskas family back in Cleveland. This is where they really wanted to be." It's been a difficult season for the veteran center. He became a bench player for the first time in his career when the team acquired Shaquille O'Neal last summer, then he was upset when Brown didn't play him the night he was expected to break the franchise's record for most games played. When Ferry traded his former teammate to Washington in the three-team deal that brought Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair to Cleveland, Ilgauskas had to take a few days to calm his emotions and collect his thoughts. "It's been a strange season," he said. Washington subsequently bought out his contract before he ever played a game, making him a free agent. While multiple teams around the league showed great interest, Ilgauskas ultimately chose to return to Cleveland. He had to wait 30 days under league rules, but passed the time by working out on his own and getting rare time off with his family. He returns averaging 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds this season. Brown hasn't decided whether he'll continue to come off the bench or start while O'Neal is out for the remainder of the regular season after thumb surgery. Cleveland used its biannual exception to sign him for the rest of the season. The 34-year-old has previously hinted at retirement but has since changed his mind. His agent, Herb Rudoy, said he plans to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. "With a guy that is his size and with his skill level and ability to shoot the ball, he has a lot of years left in him," Brown said. "We only bring positives to the organization and to our team with him in the mix." Ferry warned Ilgauskas before the season he could be traded because of his expiring contract. That didn't make the emotion of the moment any easier. Ferry said his e-mail and voicemail filled up with messages from fans upset that he traded one of the most popular players in franchise history. It was those same people who brought Ilgauskas back. He said he was overwhelmed by the support of Cavaliers fans who begged him to return once he became available. "The way people in Cleveland and the fans have reacted has really humbled me in a positive way," Ilgauskas said. "Their support has been unbelievable. I'm from Lithuania and I'll always be proud of it, but this has become a home to me."

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — An American woman released from Iran after more than 13 months in custody began her journey back to the United States on Saturday after asking her supporters to "extend your prayers" to her fiance and another American man who remain in Tehran accused of spying. In a brief statement, Sarah Shourd thanked Oman — an ally of both Iran and the United States — for mediating the $500,000 bail that led to her freedom earlier this week. But she made no mention of her ordeal inside Tehran's notorious Evin Prison or any health problems — which her mother has said include a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. "Please, please extend your prayers" to the other two Americans still held — her fiance Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal — she said at Oman's international airport before boarding an Oman Air flight on the first leg of her trip home accompanied by her mother Nora and an uncle. She arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Oman late Saturday. She was next scheduled to appear at a news conference in New York on Sunday timed to coincide with the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Shourd, 32, appeared in good spirits and less gaunt than when she stepped off a private Omani jet late Tuesday after her release from Iran. She expressed special gratitude to Oman, which helped secure the $500,000 bail that satisfied Iranian authorities and apparently did not violate U.S. economic sanctions. The source of the bail payment has not been disclosed. "I'll always associate your country with the first breath of my freedom, the sweet smell of sandalwood and a chance to stand by the ocean listening to the waves," she said, wearing long-sleeve black T-shirt covered by a white top and white sneakers — a contrast to the maroon head scarf and tan button-down tunic she wore leaving Tehran. The three Americans were detained in July 2009 along the Iraqi border. Iran has issued espionage-related indictments, which could bring trials for the two men and proceedings in absentia for Shourd. Their families say that if they crossed the border, they did so unintentionally. Shourd has stayed out of the public eye since being embraced by her mother at a special royal airfield. Few details have emerged of her first days of freedom apart from going to a medical exam and a private tour Saturday of the Grand Mosque in Muscat. She said she hoped to return someday with Bauer and Fattal — adding the common phrase "Inshallah" or "God willing" in Arabic. A crowd of international media was on hand for her statement in a VIP room with chandeliers and carved wooden doors, but she did not take questions. Earlier in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said he was hopeful the United States would release several Iranians it is holding now that Shourd has been freed. Ahmadinejad has suggested in the past that the three could be traded for Iranians held in the U.S., raising concerns that the Americans were to be used as bargaining chips as the two countries face off over issues like Iran's disputed nuclear program. In December, Iran released a list of 11 Iranians it says are in U.S. custody. One of them, nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, returned to Iran in July. Iran said he had been kidnapped during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009 and taken to the United States. Washington said he was a willing defector who later changed his mind and was allowed to return home. Speaking of Shourd's release, Ahmadinejad said in a state TV interview broadcast Friday night "We hope they appreciate this job." In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters the U.S. is "absolutely committed to the return of Josh and Shane," and appealed to Tehran to let them go. "These two young men have been held without cause now for more than a year. It would be a very significant humanitarian gesture for the Iranians to release them as well," Clinton said. She also spoke with the men's parents Thursday to reassure them about efforts to bring their sons home. Iran's list of citizens it says are held in the U.S. includes three Iranians who have been convicted or charged in public court proceedings in the United States. The circumstances surrounding some of the others are more mysterious. They include a former Defense Ministry official who vanished in Turkey in December 2006 and three others who Iran says were abducted in Europe and sent to the U.S. Those involved in public court proceedings include Baktash Fattahi, a legal U.S. resident arrested in April 2009 in California and charged with conspiracy to export American-made military aircraft parts to Iran. Another, Amir Amirnazmi, is a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who was convicted by a court in Pennsylvania in February 2009 of business dealings with Iranian companies banned under U.S. sanctions. The third Iranian, Amir Hossein Ardebili, was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2009 by a court in Wilmington, Delaware, after pleading guilty to plotting to ship U.S. military technology to Iran. Iran has called it a show trial and said Ardebili was abducted in the former Soviet republic of Georgia in 2007 before being handed over to U.S. authorities in 2008. The list also includes an Iranian arrested in Canada on charges of trying to obtain nuclear technology and two others who Iran says are being held in the U.S. without charge. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

I follow a handful of writers on the Left to keep tabs on their latest pathologies (and, on rare occasions, to get out in front of stories when they actually have a point), and I must say that few of them provide such a persistent source of entertainment as Greg Sargent, formerly a paid left-wing activist employed by the Soros-funded Talking Points Memo family of sites, and now a paid left-wing activist employed by the Washington Post. While the WaPo has always been admirably even-handed in its selection of op-ed writers – unlike the New York Times, it not only gives a decent amount of airtime to conservative voices but uses talented intellectual combatants like Charles Krauthammer, not Washington Generals “conservatives” like David Brooks. The WaPo’s news coverage, however, has remained stocked with the same sorts of establishment liberals who staff all the big-city newsrooms. But hiring Sargent as a full-time blogger was something different: there’s no hiding the fact that he’s a professional activist, and many of his blog posts are uncritical reprints of Democratic press releases without even the usual effort to cloak them in the garb of a news story. It is sadly telling that the WaPo felt no need to hire a professional activist on the Right, but then most of the online Right consists of part-timers with day jobs, anyway. One of the more ironic of Sargent’s hobbyhorses, therefore, is his participation in the Left’s campaign to rid the airwaves of any remaining conservative voices or coverage of their arguments. In today’s installment, he makes the self-evidently ridiculous argument that the media shouldn’t cover criticism of the Obama Administration by Dick Cheney, who if you recall not only just completed 8 years as the Vice President of the United States, but has also served as Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff, and House Minority Whip during his decade in Congress: Politico is only the latest outlet to grant Cheney a platform to defend his legacy and to launch political attacks on the current president. The amount of airtime that has been granted by the networks and other news outlets to Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, has been nothing short of extraordinary. Why is it happening? Is Cheney a lead spokesperson for the G.O.P. on foreign policy? He’s a private citizen with no policymaking role whatsoever — leading G.O.P. Senators more properly hold that role. What’s more, Cheney’s foreign policy views are far out of the mainstream. Is he a contender for the 2012 G.O.P. nomination? Nope. He has flatly ruled out a run, and the recent Washington Post poll found that he’s not on the radar of the G.O.P. electorate at all for 2012. Is he the lead spokesperson for the previous administration? Yes, Cheney was a key architect of many of Bush’s best known and controversial national security policies. But so what? Some of the policies he’s all over the airwaves defending have been canceled and simply don’t exist anymore. Why are we even debating them, when some of the new administration’s most important national security initiatives haven’t even been announced yet, let alone been subjected to the test of time? The only conceivable justification for granting Cheney so much airtime would be to allow him to defend himself in the event of a real accounting of Bush-Cheney’s interrogation program. But that’s unlikely to happen. In any case, why not wait until it does before booking Cheney for more interviews? One might ask why Greg Sargent is more qualified to get his views in print than Vice President Cheney, but let us ask a few questions here about how things would have gone down when George W. Bush was president. What if Bush was criticized by former Vice President Al Gore, then a private citizen who signalled fairly early that he wasn’t running again in 2004? We know that Gore generated tons of headlines. We know he was given an Oscar, and Emmy and a Nobel Peace Prize as a reward for his criticisms. What if Bush was criticized by former President Jimmy Carter, a figure rejected by the American electorate as firmly as anyone in memory? Carter, too, generated scores of column-inches and was also awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. What if Bush was criticized not by a former elected official but by a left-wing filmmaker with no political standing whatsoever? Michael Moore certainly got tons of play for his bizarre rants against the Bush Administration, as indeed did numerous Hollywood figures who represent nobody but themselves. I could go on, but as usual with these kinds of “arguments” from the Left, a little examination is more than enough to get the point: during the Bush years, nobody tried to enforce Sargent’s rule that press coverage of criticisms of the Administration should be strictly limited to officeholders and potential presidential candidates. As an activist, Sargent wants to limit the universe of critics, partially to limit criticism and partially because current officeholders and future candidates always need to be more constrained in what arguments they make, more hemmed in by calculation and less free to take a stand that moves the center of public debate. Nobody who writes for the purpose of giving an honest opinion rather than activism would defend Sargent’s point with a straight face. He’s just trying to help his side.

The UK's privacy watchdog has said it will re-examine the data gathered by Google's Street View cars after the search and advertising giant admitted that it had collected passwords and emails from unsecured Wi-Fi networks around the world. Google said in a blog post on Friday that it had collected details of people's passwords, the websites they had visited and whole emails during its interception of unencrypted Wi-Fi data from Street View cars. "It's clear from... inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords," wrote Google's senior vice president of engineering and research Alan Eustace in the post. On Monday, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that it was going to take another look at the UK data collected by Google. In July, the privacy authority found that the Wi-Fi data collected by Google in the UK was not significant, after examining samples provided by the company. "Whilst the information we saw [in July] did not include meaningful personal details that could be linked to an identifiable person, we have continued to liaise with, and await the findings of, the investigations carried out by our international counterparts,‬" the ICO said in a statement. "Now that these findings are starting to emerge, we understand that Google has accepted that in some instances entire URLs and emails have been captured. "We will be making enquires to see whether this information relates to the data inadvertently captured in the UK, before deciding on the necessary course of action, including a consideration of the need to use our enforcement powers,"‬ the ICO added. Those enforcement powers would allow the ICO to refer Google to parliament if it was found to have broken UK data-protection law, a spokesman for the privacy authority told ZDNet UK. However, it would not be able to impose a fine of up to £500,000, as that sanction was granted to the ICO after its Google investigation began, he added. Deputy information commissioner David Smith will now review data collected by Google, but the ICO has not decided whether it will call for new samples or whether it will re-examine the data supplied in July. However, the July data was fragmentary, according to the office's spokesman. The data-protection authority could potentially review all of the UK data held by the company, depending on the outcome of similar investigations being carried out by the ICO's counterparts around the world. A number of countries have investigated Google over its Street View data collection. French data-protection authorities said in June that the company had collected passwords and fragments of emails, and Canada ruled in October that it had violated Canadian law. Seven countries have now concluded their investigations, according to Google. Google regrets having collected passwords and emails, the company's director of privacy Alma Whitten reiterated in a statement on Monday. "We are profoundly sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted networks," said Whitten. "As soon as we realised what had happened, we stopped collecting all Wi-Fi data from our Street View cars and immediately informed the authorities. This data has never been used in any Google product and was never intended to be used by Google in any way."

Like many people who work in large IT delivery organizations, I've been lucky enough to be designated as a mobile or home-based employee. Basically that means that the company I work for now allows me to spend an increasingly large amount of time working out of my home office, when I'm not travelling on company business and meeting my colleagues and my customers face-to-face. There are distinct advantages to being a remote worker, such the ability to be closer to one's family, to have a theoretically more flexible work schedule and spending less time travelling/commuting and more time actually working. Unfortunately, telecommuting or being a remote worker has its disadvantages. Since you're not expected to commute, you're expected to be extremely productive instead. That means that while nobody cares if you sit around all day in the same stinky T-shirt or your underwear, or if you neglect your personal hygiene for days on end until your spouse or significant other complains about your ripeness, you're still expected to respond pretty quickly to emails and phone calls and instant messages. And in lieu of face-to-face contact with your colleagues, you are also expected to attend a lot of conference calls. Now, I understand why we need periodic conference calls. It allows us to have that form of contact which would otherwise take place of in-person meetings at the workplace, and to voice concerns and set agendas and discuss deliverables and check statuses and to have that "human" element that is otherwise missing from electronic correspondence. But as I have had more and more of my travel reduced, and more and more of my work occurring at home, I've been finding that I've had to participate in more and more conference calls. I've been having conference calls that end up resulting in additional conference calls to discuss the findings of the previous conference call, and then having more conference calls that are required with another group of people because some folks got left out of the loop either purposely or accidentally and then we have to entirely or partially re-cap them... with another conference call. It doesn't matter if 20 email chains go back and forth that summarize the calls, the conferences never seem to end. Effectively, each successive conference call turns into a partial repeat of the one before it, resulting in a vicious cycle of "Groundhog Day" all week long. Do you know how I realize that conference calls are becoming a serious problem? I have three VOIP handsets that I have dedicated to my business line. It's not unusual for me to completely chain-smoke the charging on all three handsets for a 10 or 12 hour workday, of which 70 to 80 percent of that day is dedicated to conference calls. Recently I had two full days of 9 hours of non-stop conference calls. I went through 5 consecutive handsets. Let's say, for instance that I have three conference calls scheduled for that day. That's pretty much typical for me. They're each supposed to go only one hour. But now they are all going at least a half hour over, because of either unfinished business from the previous call(s) or because we've invited too many people and then some other item or person ends up monopolizing the call until we actually get down to the business that the call was supposed to be about. And because they go too long, people inevitably have to drop to go to other calls, which means they get out of the loop again and then the entire horrible process has repeat again, and again, and again. It's actually gotten to the point that the calls are going so long that they are overlapping into other scheduled calls. And that isn't counting the unscheduled, "ad-hoc" fire-fighting calls that could occur at any time. So now I'm bouncing between scheduled calls and unscheduled calls pretty much non-stop. And now my co-workers have had to make up code words for when we need to take bathroom breaks during the calls, like "I need to go make some tea". But we don't even necessarily have the luxury of interrupting a call to express our basic biological needs. I've had to learn how to set the handset on mute as second-nature, so that nobody has to hear my yucky bathroom noises because my Plantronics wireless headset is now permanently attached to my head like it's some kind of cyborg implant. Tip: Should you do need to "take care of business" unannounced during a conference call, a former executive at a large software company who shall remain nameless has suggested that one should "switch the VOIP output to the speakers on LOUD and mute yourself while you run to the bathroom." I can't possibly express the horrible, paranoid feeling of having a headset attached to your head while you are sitting in the throne room and realizing you may have not activated the mute. Like a trigger-happy gun slinger from an old Western movie, I now have my finger automatically poised on the mute button should I need to eat or engage in anything else that is embarrassingly biological, such as when I have to stuff my breakfast or lunch down my pie-hole. Unfortunately, this gets especially tricky if someone actually wants to ask me a question and I am in mid-mastication or doing some other unmentionable act. I don't have a solution to this problem other than that I think that conference calls should never, ever exceed an hour in length, and nobody should be forced to sit on them back-to back. Every call should have a set agenda with specific goals in mind, and going off-tangent should not be permitted. And there's definitely a law of diminishing marginal returns when it comes to total number of attendees. Are you too suffering from chronic conference call syndrome? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

Portuguese star signed a new megabucks deal recently, and combined with his sponsorship deals and business ventures, how much is he worth? Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) CRISTIANO RONALDO is a three-time Ballon d’Or winner, having broken the 50-goal mark six seasons in a row for Real Madrid. Until November 2016, he earnt £40million per year at the Bernabeu in salary and bonuses – but he has signed a new deal worth £43m per year until 2021. AP:Associated Press 5 Cristiano Ronaldo is the best, and most marketable, footballer in the world Keep up to date with ALL the Real Madrid news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary That does not include tens of millions more each year from modelling, sponsorship deals and endorsements. CR7 is the world’s most popular athlete with over 200 million social media followers, helping him land head-to-toe sponsorships including Nike,Tag Heuer, Sacoor Brothers suits and Monster headphones. Here SunSport tries to fathom the most glamorous footballer in the world’s worth… Getty Images 5 Cristiano Ronaldo opens his Pestena CR7 hotel in the Madeira capital of Funchal What has Ronaldo done recently? His new Real deal will see him rake in £500,000 a week, while his lifetime contract with the sportswear manufacturers Nike, which he also recently renewed since it began in 2003, is worth an astonishing £1billion in itself. If he ever leaves Madrid, the team that buys him will have to pay the club $1 BILLION, or £690.5 million, in a buy-out. Those two agreements will push the Portuguese sensation into uncharted waters as he becomes football’s first billionaire. Ronaldo’s burgeoning business empire also includes two hotels at present, underwear, CR7 blankets, facial fitness devices and shampoo, to name but a few. 5 The Portuguese is an ambassador for brands such as KFC What are some of Cristiano Ronaldo’s sponsorship deals? There are almost too many to mention, but Nike is the main one – and it is the single biggest sponsorship deal in the world for a sport star. A selection of others includes: Armani: He replaced his former Manchester United David Beckham for the endorsement of the Armani. Ronaldo modeling for the Emporio Armani men’s underwear and Jeans. Castrol: Ronaldo became the brand Ambassador of Castrol in 2009 by signing deal of £8.2m for two years. He extended his affiliation with Castrol as he renewed the contract with £5.5m. Tag Heuer: He joined the luxury watch brand Tag Heuer in 2014, as long term brand Ambassador. Others include Coca Cola, KFC, video games maker Konami and airline Emirates. Getty Images 5 Ronaldo models his new CR7 home range of underwear Does Ronaldo have his own ranges and companies? You bet he does. As well as lending his name to other brands, he his own CR7 logo is hugely popular. Named after Cristiano Ronaldo himself, it is his personal brand of underwear – but now he has expanded it with different categories like sportswear and footwear, and sock collection. As well as that, he has has his own hotels in Portugal’s capital Lisbon, and his hometown of Funchal on the island of Madeira. His hobbies are many, but mainly include cars (he drives a £207,000 Lamborghini Aventador, along with a Maserati), as well as property and to his credit, a lot of charity work. Getty Images 5 The Portuguese will be at Real Madrid until at least 2021 becoming the best paid sportsman in the world Is Ronaldo worth it? Ronaldo is the top scorer in Real Madrid’s history with 372 goals in 360 appearances since joining the Spanish club from Manchester United in 2009 for a then-record £80m million transfer fee. He led the team to two Champions League crowns, including in 2016 when Ronaldo hit the game-winning kick in a penalty shoot-out to defeat Atletico Madrid. Added to that, he won two Balloon d’Or trophies with Real, and one in 2008 when he was at United – and is widely expected to win a third in January when the 2016 results are announced. Ronaldo topped off a magical year with a Euro 2016 triumph in the summer over France for his first international trophy. Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo features in new Poker Stars advert So what is his total net worth? It is actually hard to estimate exactly, but somewhere between £210m and £230m factoring in our lack of exact knowledge into his various deals, and discrepancies in how much he earns. But what is undisputed is that he is the best paid football AND overall sportsman in the world, beating basketball start LeBron James and his Barcelona footballing nemesis Lionel Messi into second and third.

Questar (NYSE:STR) Q2 2012 Earnings Call July 26, 2012 9:30 am ET Executives Kevin W. Hadlock - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Executive Vice President Ronald W. Jibson - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Executive Officer of Questar Gas Company, President of Questar Gas Company, Chief Executive Officer of Wexpro and President of Wexpro James R. Livsey - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wexpro Craig C. Wagstaff - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Questar Gas R. Allan Bradley - Executive Vice President, Chief Executive Officer Questar Pipeline and President of Questar Pipeline Analysts Kevin A. Smith - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division Carl L. Kirst - BMO Capital Markets U.S. Christopher P. Sighinolfi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Daniel M. Fidell - U.S. Capital Advisors LLC, Research Division Operator Good morning. My name is Nick and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Questar's Second Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Questar's Corporation Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Hadlock, you may begin your conference. Kevin W. Hadlock Thank you Nick. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us for Questar's Second Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call. I am Kevin Hadlock, Questar's Chief Financial Officer. With me today are Ron Jibson, Chairman, President and CEO of Questar Corporation; Jim Livesey, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wexpro; Allan Bradley, Executive Vice President and CEO of Questar Pipeline; and Craig Wagstaff, executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Questar Gas. During this call, we will be referring to our second quarter 2012 earnings presentation that can be found on our website at questar.com. Moving to Slide 2. Before we begin, let me remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements during our call today and actual results could differ from our estimates for a variety of reasons that we describe in our SEC filings. Also, this call may reference non-GAAP financial measures, our slides in the appendix provide the reconciliations to these measures. Let's begin on Slide 4. Yesterday, we reported second quarter 2012 net income of $39.2 million or $0.22 per diluted share. This compares to net income of $40.3 million or $0.22 per diluted share in the same period of 2011. Operating cash flow was strong in the first half of 2012 totaling $271.6 million, up about 5% versus the same period last year. Overall, capital investment was $86.6 million, up more than 28% from the second quarter of 2011. As we discussed on our first quarter earnings call, we accelerated our share repurchase program in the second quarter, spending about $52 million to buy back just over 2.6 million shares. Turning to Slide 5. All 3 business units performed in line with our forecast in the second quarter of 2012. Corporate was flat compared to last year. Overall, net income in the second quarter of 2012 was down $1.1 million or flat on an earnings per share basis versus the same period last year. Year-to-date, net income is 4% higher than the same period last year. Moving to Slide 6. Questar Gas, our retail gas distribution utility, saw an increase in gross margin of $500,000. EBITDA was lower by $3.4 million and net income was down $2.7 million compared to the same period last year. Questar Gas's capital investments in the second quarter of 2012 was $41.1 million, an increase of $11.8 million over last year's second quarter. Turning to Slide 7. Wexpro, our cost of service natural gas development company, grew EBITDA to $59.6 million, up $7.4 million or 14% compared to the second quarter of 2011. Net income was up $2.1 million to $25.8 million, an increase of 9% over the same period last year. These results were driven largely by a higher average investment base, which saw a year-over-year increase of $38 million or about 90%. Wexpro invested capital of $30.6 million in the second quarter of 2012 compared to $22.6 million in last year's second quarter. Moving to Slide 8. Questar Pipeline, our interstate natural gas pipeline and storage business, delivered solid performance in the second quarter of 2012. Revenue was down slightly, driven primarily by lower natural gas liquid revenues. Net income was $16.1 million, down $500,000 compared to the second quarter of 2011. Capital investment in the second quarter of 2012 was $2 million lower than the same period last year driven by the completion of several key projects in 2011. Moving to Slide 9. With regard to costs, Questar's second quarter 2012 consolidated operating and maintenance costs were flat compared [ph] to prior year. General and administrative expenses were up by $3.7 million primarily due to higher employee related costs. Production and other taxes were $500,000 lower due to lower natural gas prices, partially offset by property taxes on higher plant investment. Depreciation in the second quarter of 2012 was up $6.6 million compared to the second quarter of 2011 due to higher capital investment. Consolidated interest expense was $300,000 higher as we replace short-term borrowings with long-term debt. Turning to Slide 10. The company continues to generate strong cash flow. For the first half of 2012, operating cash flow before working capital changes totaled about $272 million, a 5% increase over the same period last year. At June 30, Questar had net available liquidity of $310 million, in the form of unused commercial paper capacity. From a Capital Markets perspective, we are anticipating issuing long-term debt at Questar Gas in the second half of 2012 to refinance about $132 million of maturing debt and to fund a portion of the ongoing infrastructure replacement program. With that, let me turn the time over to Questar's Chairman, President and CEO, Ronald Jibson, to discuss operations and Questar's outlook. Ronald W. Jibson Good morning, everyone, and thanks, Kevin, for that summary. We do appreciate all of you joining us today. With the first half of the year behind us, we are pleased with the performance of Questar's businesses. All 3 business units executed in line with our expectations for the quarter. Let's begin on Slide 12. Questar Gas continues to demonstrate consistent performance. During the second quarter, Questar Gas's gross margin increased by $500,000 driven by $800,000 of cost recovery related to the multiyear infrastructure replacement program. The programs cost tracker allows us to earn a return as we place the new facilities into service. This program and associated tracker are extremely important for Questar Gas, our customers and our shareholders. Everyone benefits as necessary improvements are made to the distribution system without the need to file frequent general rate cases to add in the investment to rate base. Questar Gas is expected to spend about $55 million in 2012 on the infrastructure replacement program. During the second quarter, Questar Gas's investment in this program was $19.9 million compared to $14.5 million in the second quarter of 2011. Questar Gas's results also benefited from customer growth. Over the past 12 months, Questar Gas added over 10,000 new customers, an increase of 1.2%, which continues to outpace the national average. Let's move to Wexpro, which delivered impressive results in the quarter. The Wexpro model has created tremendous benefits for Questar Gas customers over the years. Most importantly, it provides a long-term hedge against natural gas price volatility. Wexpro continues to focus its operations to reduce overall finding costs. We have consolidated our focus in the Vermillion basin to our most prolific and low-cost fields of Canyon Creek and Trail. Drilling performance in these areas continues to exceed expectations. For the second quarter, Wexpro average drilling times of 4.2 days per well. These faster drilling times are also helping to keep finding cost low. In the second quarter, Wexpro's 12-month trailing average finding cost were $1.12 per Mcfe, consistent with the 2011 average. This includes both Wexpro operated wells in the Vermillion basin, as well as non-operated wells in Pinedale. With the continuing development activity, Wexpro's investment base at the end of the second quarter rose to $517.7 million, an increase of 75 -- $74.2 million compared to the end of the second quarter last year. Operationally, Wexprox's production was 15.2 billion cubic feet equivalent in the second quarter of 2012, an increase of 23% over the year-ago period. This higher production volume, combined with the low-cost natural gas coming from our current drilling program in Vermillion, has driven a $0.42 per decatherm reduction in the cost of Wexpro gas delivered to Questar Gas's customers in the second quarter of 2012 versus the prior year. Questar Pipeline, our natural gas transportation and storage business performed in line with the second quarter of 2011 and consistent with our expectations. Revenue from natural gas liquids sales was down versus last year reflecting lower NGL pricing partially offset by higher volumes. On the cost side, Questar Pipeline's combined operating, maintenance, general and administrative expenses were down despite higher labor costs. Following the quarter end on July 19, Questar Pipeline accepted the first order issuing a certificate to construct the Uinta basin high-BTU gas transportation project. While not large dollars, this project demonstrates Questar Pipeline's ability to execute on a strategy that grow as a regional market center. Now let me bring you up to date on our Questar Fueling, which we introduced a few months ago. The company was formed to provide national consulting, design, packaging and installation of natural gas vehicle fueling stations. We've made some good headway and we believe we're well-positioned to serve the transportation industry as it turns to abundant, low-cost and clean-burning natural gas. We've been meeting with key national trucking businesses. We've had discussions with regional truck stop station owners and management. We've stayed in contact with kit manufacturers and we've also met with some utilities to assess their ability to build fueling facilities within their service areas. Our experience is proving very valuable as the market increases its focus on natural gas for transportation. On the financial side, we took the opportunity to repurchase $52.2 million of Questar common stock in the second quarter. Last year, the Board of Directors approved a $100 million share repurchase program that expires at the end of 2012. So far, we have spent almost $60 million under the authorization. Let's turn to Slide 13. Over the past year, we have been working closely with Utah and Wyoming regulators to create a mechanism that would allow Wexpro to add new properties. Given the current low priced natural gas environment, we believe that Questar Gas customers and company shareholders could benefit by expanding the Wexpro agreement to include new assets for future development. We would not expect that adding properties to the Wexpro agreement would materially change our current 5-year drilling plan, but would accomplish our objective of extending the life of cost of service production. The Wexpro II agreement would provide a mechanism to acquire Rockies gas properties for future development. It is modeled on provisions of the current Wexpro Agreement. The Wexpro II Agreement is structured such that the upfront acquisition cost would earn the utilities cost of capital. All post acquisition investment and development cost would earn Wexpro's aftertax return on investment base. Wexpro would evaluate and purchase properties at its own risk and submit a property for inclusion on a case-by-case basis. The dialogue with state regulators continues to move forward. Over the past several months, we have participated in technical conferences to discuss the specifics of the Wexpro II Agreement. These technical conferences are focused on the mechanics of the agreement. We have not encountered opposition to the Wexpro II concept from any of the participating parties. We are in the closing stages of finalizing the agreement. The next step will be the signing of the agreement with the Utah Office of Consumer Services, the Utah Division of Public Utilities and the Wyoming commissions staff. And then, the subsequent filings with the Utah and Wyoming public service commissions for final approval. We hope to file the agreement in the next few weeks. Moving to Slide 14. Questar's return on equity continues to be industry-leading. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2012, we saw a consolidated return on equity of 19.7%. This superior return is supported by Wexpro, which provided an ROE of 20.5%. Questar Pipeline delivered an ROE of 11.4%, which is near its authorized return. On a financial basis, Questar Gas's return on equity was 9.9%. Moving to Slide 15. Looking at 2012, we remain confident in our guidance range in spite of lower natural gas and liquids prices, higher pension costs and property taxes. We remain comfortable that net income could range from $1.15 to $1.19 per diluted share. The outlook for growth at Questar gas remains strong. We continue to project compound annual rate base and earnings growth of 7% to 9% over the 5-year planning horizon. This growth rate reflects customer growth expectations for 2012 of 1% increasing to 2% over the 5-year plan. We are encouraged by the uptick in customer growth to 1.2% in the second quarter. Wexpro expects to invest between $550 million and $700 million through 2016. This capital program should result in compound annual earnings growth at Wexpro of 4% to 8% through the 5-year planning horizon. We continue to project capital investment of about $130 million for 2012. We are estimating long-term earnings growth of 4% to 6% over the planning horizon and targeting a dividend payout ratio of about 60%. During the remainder of 2012, we will continue to look for opportunities to execute on our $100 million share repurchase program. Let's wrap up on Slide 16. Let me conclude by emphasizing the unique strengths of Questar's business model. We have strong, integrated operations that span across the entire natural gas value chain from wellhead to burner tip. Each business is supported by constructive regulatory relationships and produces an appropriate risk-adjusted return. We have excellent organic growth opportunities at Questar Gas and Wexpro supported by strong cash flow generation at Questar Pipeline. Finally, we manage a conservative balance sheet with ample cash flow and liquidity that not only supports our earnings growth, but also an increasing dividend in our $100 million share repurchase program. With that, we would be happy to take your questions. Question-and-Answer Session Operator [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Kevin Smith from Raymond James. Kevin A. Smith - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division My first question, I guess, is on Wexpro's. Kind of surprised by how much capital you invested this quarter, especially when you talk about the movement in gas. Is there -- or how should I think about that going forward? Are you comfortable with your kind of investment level on the quarterly run rate? Ronald W. Jibson Yes, we are. I think we're quite comfortable with that proposal and our strategy. I'd like to-- maybe Jim Livesey, who heads up Wexpro, he could give you a little color on that. James R. Livsey Yes, we're -- essentially, our philosophy is to maintain a consistent drilling program and we've got 1 rig that we're operating that's drilling in our Canyon Creek and Trail fields and we've had that now for a period of time and we want to keep that rig employed as we go forward and the gas that -- the cost of service for the gas that we're developing up there in Canyon Creek and Trail is really giving our customer access to cost of service in the 350 range that will be there for decades. So we feel good that we're delivering a value proposition for the customers on a long-term basis. Kevin A. Smith - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division Okay. In the next -- I appreciate the comments on Wexpro II, and assuming everything goes as planned, how should we think about investment dollars per assets that fall into Wexpro II? Is that something that once you get the documents signed, that you hope to make immediate announcement for, or is that something that's going to be slower in developing? James R. Livsey This is Jim again. I think our view is that we'll be opportunistic should we see things that make sense in the long run for our customers. We might have an opportunity to do something in this lower gas price environment, but more importantly, as Ron mentioned and we've discussed before, that our 5-year program is solid with identifiable opportunities. What this really allows us to do is extend the life of Wexpro beyond what we've identified currently. Ronald W. Jibson Kevin, I would just add to that, that we look at Wexpro II as that opportunity right now. We see a window with low commodity prices that we believe we might be able to acquire those low-cost assets but at the, I guess, real value of Wexpro II is the fact that we would have that agreement in place for the future and when those opportunities come along at any time in the future, we'd have the ability to take advantage of those. Kevin A. Smith - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division Okay. I guess, reword my question a little bit differently, would you expect the materials that change in your capital spend in Wexpro once Wexpro II gets signed? Or do you think it's going to be more a marginal increase as new properties come along? Ronald W. Jibson No, I do appreciate the question. We would stay with our strategy as far as our capital spending. The completion of Wexpro II would really extend the life of Wexpro more than change the capital spending in our 5-year plan. Kevin W. Hadlock Kevin, one additional thought on that, this is Kevin Hadlock. To the extent we are successful in finding properties that we think fit into Wexpro II. You could do some investment dollars flow into that but in the ongoing capital program, we don't expect that Wexpro II would modify the development program materially. Kevin A. Smith - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division All right, fair enough. And then lastly, in Questar Gas, as far as the prices per DTH for residential and industrial sales, those seem to continue to kind of going the opposite directions, is that a trend that we should expect to further? or do you think industrial sales revenue is kind of bottomed out and hopefully will start growing? Craig C. Wagstaff Kevin, this is Craig and we are seeing on the industrial sales, they are flat. In reference to the commercial and residential, you're probably aware of this, but we certainly have a much more than normal 2012 compared to 2011 about 31% decrease in our volumes we saw on residential and commercial. Again, we do have great big coupling within Altera [ph]. So we have the benefit of allowing to earn margins from each of our general customers, and we are not yet impacted by usage per customer. So we're beneficial there and then also on the transportation volumes, we did see a significant increase compared year-over-year by quarter, that mostly driven somewhat by customer growth and then also, one of our major power generators, their turbine in 2011 was down. So that's why you see a bit of a shift in the transportation volumes there. Operator Your next question comes from Carl Kirst from BMO Capital. Carl L. Kirst - BMO Capital Markets U.S. Some of my questions were hit but I really just got some minor things and, Ron, you had mentioned in the prepared remarks the $0.42 reduction -- sorry, this is at Wexpro, for the cost-of-service gas and, Jim, you just mentioned $3.50 for Canyon Creek and Trail field. I just didn't know what the $0.42, sort of collectively, where we're at now on an all-in basis. Ronald W. Jibson I'll ask Jim if he'll drill down on that. James R. Livsey Yes, so on a debt-to-term basis we're in $3.80 range with the cost-of-service gas, which is a blend of the legacy cost as well as the new production that we're bringing on at that lower cost. Carl L. Kirst - BMO Capital Markets U.S. Perfect. I just want to make sure I had the benchmarks. And then this is sort of a broader longer-term question with Wexpro but it was just the peaked with or the question was peaked by looking at the second quarter volume growth up almost 25% and even on a trailing 12 months, 10%. As we continue to spend the capital that we are, you guys continue to get more efficient, obviously, Questar Gas, the demand profile is not growing quite as rapidly. So the question is when you look out several years as basically Wexpro becomes an ever larger share of, essentially, Questar Gas's supply. Is there a level, at some point, that you either don't want to go beyond or Questar Gas wants to keep certain spot, I mean how should we think of that? Ronald W. Jibson Well, certainly the Questar Gas customer base is something that we watch very closely. We've talked about moving from the 50% to 60% of the gas and supply it to those -- to our customers at Questar Gas. And at the same time, Carl, we're always looking for that additional demand and those opportunities to use more Wexpro gas in our customer base. And maybe Jim, why don't you elaborate a little bit on your 5-year plan there of what you see. James R. Livsey Yes, I think we have noted as we looked at the planning process last fall that we're going to increase the percentage of Wexpro gas as part of the supply for Questar Gas. So that's something that we've been mindful of. This 22% step change we see in the second quarter is kind of a one-time step up with our concentration on Canyon Creek and Trail. And we anticipate growth in the future but not at this level, but nevertheless, it really also creates some opportunities as we think about what kind of gas supply we can develop going forward. Carl L. Kirst - BMO Capital Markets U.S. Okay, that's helpful. And then one small question on the repurchase for Kevin. Just as we kind of when through the release, one of the phrases kind of picked up, is sort of the 175 million share level that the repurchase was kind of targeting, but considering the $40 million you still have left you could probably get below that. So I just wasn't sure which one we should be using, is kind of the 175 million really the end goal or is it to do the whole $100 million? Kevin W. Hadlock Yes, Carl, thanks for that question. As we look at the share repurchase program, the intent is to get down to the 175 million shares level we do have a number of options that will expire in February of next year that we're expecting to be exercised late in the year. And as such, we won't need the full $40 million, in order to get down to the 175 million share level, even considering some of those options exercises, but we'll need the bulk of it. And so in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, we'll continue to be opportunistic in that share buyback program. And certainly not at the pace that we saw in the second quarter but we do expect, at this point, to continue that repurchase to get down to that 175 million share count. Operator Your next question comes from Chris Sighinolfi from UBS. Christopher P. Sighinolfi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division I appreciate the color, additional color, on Wexpro II, obviously, it's been a big focus for the last year or so. Curious as it pertains to filing the plan you say next sort of several weeks, plan will be filed. What sort of timeline from that point and I guess a related question following up on Carl's question about the repurchase. Does that influence what you're planning to do timing-wise on the repurchase if things move very quickly on Wexpro II and you have an opportunity to purchase some assets, is that where the capital is going to flow versus the repurchase or how do we think about that? Ronald W. Jibson Yes, I appreciate the question Chris. I'll cover the Wexpro question, and then I'll ask Kevin to talk on that repurchase. We are going very good about the progress with Wexpro II. These procedures always take longer than, I guess, we would expect and wish we, on some things, but as I mentioned, we just have not have any opposition from the participating parties. But what we feel extremely good about is the participation from those parties. We've had a lot of involvement from the regulatory groups in Utah and Wyoming. They've been very productive discussions. We've worked through the language and really the processes of the agreement to a point where, as I mentioned, we're right at the signature phase right now. We hope very soon to be able to get back to you with the fact that we have the signatures from the parties and that we will file that document. Once we file that with commissions, then we're subject to agenda and the schedule of those commissioners. Right now, we think that it's pretty good timing. We would hope to get that filed in the next few weeks and then hopefully have a hearing date that's set fairly soon. We're still very optimistic about completing this within the next quarter or so and we're just -- it's hard to say because once it's filed, we really don't have control over that schedule with the commissioners. But all indications right now are that they're ready to move this along and we're optimistic that it will not be a long schedule out there as far as waiting for the final hearing and final decision. So we'll keep you posted as we go along in between the quarters here, if we get a major steps accomplished, we'll get that information out to you. Kevin W. Hadlock And Chris, in terms of how we think about our capital program relative to the share buyback, we're in a fortunate situation where with our balance sheet strength and given the size of properties that we would likely evaluate for Wexpro II, I really don't see the share repurchase competing with those kinds of opportunities in Wexpro II. So certainly from a balance sheet perspective, we have the capacity to raise any incremental debt that we might need in order to fund a modest or moderate Wexpro II property acquisition. Christopher P. Sighinolfi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Okay great. And I guess, Ron, I could take from your comments that the technical conferences that have happened, no material changes to sort of the frameworks that we've talked about in your Analyst Day or at the New York Investor Lunch last month. Ronald W. Jibson Yes. That's a very accurate assumption, Chris. The technical conferences proved very valuable to have good dialogue. It was mostly minor wording changes. Just making sure we had all the ends covered as far as the processes that would be associated with Wexpro II and the procedures. And right now, no new technical conferences are scheduled. So we're moving forward with the actual signature phase now. Christopher P. Sighinolfi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Okay, great. I didn't know if Allan is online, but I had a question on pipeline. You've seen some pretty strong growth in process volumes, natural gas liquid process volumes, I think this recent quarter was the highest since 2010. Obviously, these the EMP community is targeting liquids and oil in mass, but is that a function of just supply growth maybe saturating the facilities at live or reside further upstream from you guys or are there extraction enhancement type of things that you've done to capture more in the way of process volumes? Would you talk about that a bit. R. Allan Bradley It's really both, I got to complement our operators in that they're looking at ways to enhance our liquid recovery just through the operation of the pipeline system day to day. Also, I think, you're right, in certain areas, particularly the Uinta basin, we have seen sort of a backed-up of field processing, primarily cryogenic. The reason for approval of our high BTU transportation project is an example of taking that wet gas to the cryo hub at Fiddler [ph] and as we do that, we're sort of leaning out our systems. So you're right in that first observation that, over time, we're going to see less liquid being received as we go forward. So a combination of both, you were spot on. Christopher P. Sighinolfi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Okay. And in terms of the back half of the year, are we -- based on what you're seeing out there, I mean is this sort of, the Q2 run rate, something we should anticipate or do you think it'll begin moderating? R. Allan Bradley I think the 2Q run rate is probably a good way to look at the period between now and the completion of our Uinta basin transport project, which is fourth quarter, November, December timeframe. So if you let me reserve that last month, I think you will see a shift when we put the new project in service in volumes on our southern system, liquid volumes will go down. But for the most part, I think, you can assume sort of the current run rate for maybe 4 or 5 months until that project comes in service. Operator [Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Dan Fidel from U.S. Capital Advisors. Daniel M. Fidell - U.S. Capital Advisors LLC, Research Division Just 2 quick questions on our side. I guess, first, in terms of a longer-term picture on the rate case into next year. Just wondering what you're seeing in terms of, I guess, trend into next year on cost pressures there and just if the timing is still good, maybe just kind of a clean look in terms of what you'll be looking for in that case? And I guess the second quick question on Questar Fueling, certainly appreciate the detail you provided and kind of what's been going on in the last few months. What should we be looking for into the next 6 to 12 months in terms of moving that sub forward? Ronald W. Jibson Great. I appreciate the questions, Dan. Maybe I'll touch on the rate case a little and then ask Craig if he'll touch on Questar fueling. We are anticipating that rate case, again, in 2013, as you mentioned. That was part of the settlement in 2010 in our last case that we had and it was a specifically designed to review the cost tracker that we have in place for the replacement work that we're doing with our high-pressure large-diameter pipelines. The trackers work very well. It's done exactly as it was designed to do. And so we feel very good about that as we go into this rate case. The case will be filed probably in the first or second quarter of next year and then we would anticipate that the majority of that case would be focused on that cost tracker and the model and how it's working. Now, we are not anticipating right now much of a revenue type part of that case. And the other issues, obviously, we'll talk about all aspects as we do on every general rate case trends with ROE and so forth. We'll be covering those issues. So, as you know, we did see an increase in our ROE in our last case in 2010 from 10% to 10.35%. So we'd like to hope that we can continue to maintain a very competitive ROE as a result of that case. And Craig, if you want to talk about Questar Fueling? Craig C. Wagstaff You bet. Dan, this is Craig. On the Questar Fueling, certainly, what we're finding is that we're at the table with many potential customers throughout the country. It's certainly in a mode of transition here, some of them have been vehicles and, again, they continue to like the performance they're seeing in the vehicles. So now, it's a matter of timing of them kind of rotating out their current inventory of vehicles with the new engine availability. So between now and over the next 18 months to 2 years, there'll be more and more engines available for the end users depending on the output of [ph] applications. Certainly, some are available today and what we're finding, for instance in the trash haulers, in 2011, about 40% of those vehicles that were purchased for use in trash hauling were in natural gas. So that made a significant jump. Transit, a similar scenario, 63% of the transits, nationally, now are using natural gas. So still very much in transition. So have a great dialogue discussions as we meet with the potential customers on this. So it still seems to be very viable market that continues to receive additional interest and as you may have seen last week, ARPA-E awarded about $30 million of grant money out there for natural gas vehicle developments and about 13 projects were recipients of that, and that will just help continue the transition here as we discuss and move forward, not only on large fleets but also passenger vehicles. Operator There are no further questions at this time. I turn the call back over to the presenters. Ronald W. Jibson Thank you Nick. Again, thank you to all of you for taking the time this morning. We appreciate your interest in Questar and we continue to be committed to you to provide that value that you would expect from us and you've come to expect from us over the years and we look forward to the remainder of this year and moving forward. We also look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months as we get out on the road and look forward to your -- the one on one on opportunities there. So thanks again and have a great day. I appreciate it. Operator This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. However, we view them as an important resource for bloggers and journalists, and are excited to contribute to the democratization of financial information on the Internet. (Until now investors have had to pay thousands of dollars in subscription fees for transcripts.) 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Gary Patterson remembers the crazy looks he was getting in 2004 when he talked about TCU playing in BCS games. That was when the Horned Frogs were in the middle of what is still their last losing season, and the only one under Patterson. And before they were twice BCS busters, including their 13-0 season in 2010 that ended with a Rose Bowl victory. So even with the Horned Frogs (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) off their worst start since 1999, and in their second Big 12 season, Patterson still is confident about this program. "You go through cycles where you have groups of kids that grow up and play, and you don't have injuries and you don't have things, and so our cycle's going to come back," Patterson said. "I don't think there's any doubt in my mind where TCU is going to go and where we're headed and how we're going to do things. So anybody that's worried about my confidence or how we need to do it, you don't have to worry about that." The Frogs are home Saturday night to host resurgent Texas (4-2, 3-0) for the first time since 1994, when both were then in the old Southwest Conference. TCU, which has only 10 scholarship seniors this season, has been without quarterback Casey Pachall since he broke his non-throwing arm the second game this season. Defensive end Devonte Fields, the Big 12 defensive player of the year as a freshman last season, has been a non-factor because of a suspension to start the season and a foot injury. "Winning the conference is probably out of grasp, so what you're going to do is find how to win three of the last five games of your season so you can get to a bowl game, so you can get extra practices," said Patterson, 119-40 in his 13 seasons as head coach. "We're upbeat, we're working just as hard as we ever have. ... This is not a one-year deal. My whole thing is to bring a championship back to Fort Worth." TCU won in Austin last Thanksgiving night, a victory that gave the Frogs a winning regular season. With LaDainian Tomlinson still at running back, the Frogs finished the 1999 season with a five-game winning streak after that 3-4 start. Their only losing season under Patterson came in 2004, when they lost their finale against Tulane to finish 5-6. TCU was 11-1 the following season, and won at least 11 games six times over a seven-year stretch before its Big 12 debut last year. All of TCU's losses this season have been by 14 points or less to teams currently ranked 19th or higher in the AP poll, including 24-10 at Oklahoma State last weekend. TCU hasn't had five losses in the first eight games of a season since a 10-game losing streak to start 1997. "We approach every game the same, a must-win. We've got to win, it's a conference game," senior safety Elisha Olabode said. "We don't want to be 3-5. ... It's something new, but we're a good team. We're going to stick together. We know what it takes to win."

Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers really do have a lot in common. During this season's first month, the star quarterbacks of the Patriots and Packers were facing questions about their teams' slow starts. It's no coincidence New England and Green Bay are now playing at extremely high levels. Consistent, outstanding play by both QBs has their clubs on similar paths. Heading into Sunday's showdown at Green Bay's Lambeau Field, Brady's Patriots and Rodgers' Packers are riding high in their respective conferences. New England (9-2) owns the AFC's best record, coming in riding a seven-game winning streak. NFC North-leading Green Bay (8-3) has won seven of eight. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked if he saw any similarities in how they've elevated their play after the slow starts. "They both wear No. 12," he said, breaking into a grin before he left the podium. Belichick was more expansive in praising Rodgers. "It's just, he's great," he said. "He's quick, he's big, he throws the ball very accurately, has great vision down the field. He finds guys that there's not a lot of space, but he finds them and he hits them." Rodgers has thrown 30 touchdowns with just three interceptions this season, completing 66.7 percent of his passes for an NFL-leading 119.2 QB rating. Since a 1-2 start, he has 25 TDs to two INTs, matching Brady's 2007 record of four straight games of three or more TDs with no interceptions. "He's the best quarterback I've seen on tape," said New England safety Devin McCourty, who has already faced Denver's Payton Manning and Andrew Luck of Indianapolis this season. "He's the guy that commands that team," Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis said. Rodgers' run started after he told Packers fans on his radio show in September: "Five letters here, just for everybody out there in Packer land: R-E-L-A-X. Relax. We're going to be OK." He couldn't resist that answer when asked about the turnaround again this week. "I think we've been pretty relaxed," he said, smiling. Brady's season isn't much different. Following a blowout loss in Kansas City on Week 4, his ability was questioned. He was asked if time had passed him by. Instead, during the winning streak, the 37-year-old has connected for 22 TDs with only four interceptions, completing 67.3 percent of his passes. "What we went through, we went through, and hopefully we've moved past that and we're at a different point now," said the two-time MVP (2007 and '10). "Like I said, you never want to ride the ups and downs of the season. There are going to be ups, and there are going to be downs, and there are going to be long nights. There are going to be sleepless nights, and you've just got to stay true to what you're doing." When they face off for the first time in their careers as starters, don't expect a lot of interceptions. Rodgers and Brady are ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, all-time in TD/INT ratio. "Even if you're not playing your best game, if you're not turning it over, your team is probably going to be in the mix," said Rodgers, the 2011 MVP. "(If) you're being efficient and accurate and not turning the ball over, you're probably going to win a lot of games." Brady had a similar answer. "I do think not throwing interceptions and not turning the ball over is hugely important to the success of the team," he said. They've both relied on scoring a lot early in games and enter this weekend as the NFL's only two unbeaten teams in the month. Green Bay has averaged 44 points in November and leads the league with 28 first-half TDs this season. New England, second in points during the month at 39.7, is right behind the Packers with 24 touchdowns before halftime. In their last two home games, the Packers have put up 50-plus points behind Rodgers' combined nine TDs with no interceptions. "That's a big reason why they're getting ahead at home because (when) they get ahead of you, you start to press, you turn it over, they convert into more touchdowns, and it just piles on," Brady said. They both grew up in California. They say they know each other well, and Rodgers said he learned a lot watching Brady. "As a young player I liked to watch his film and study him," said Rodgers, who turns 31 on Tuesday. On Sunday, he'll try to outdo him. ___ AP Sports Writer Genaro Armas contributed to this story from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Robert Covington made four 3-pointers en route to 19 points for the Philadelphia 76ers, who snapped a six-game losing streak with an 89-69 win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. Michael Carter-Williams returned from a one-game absence to finish with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Sixers, who improved to 4-18 at home this season. JaKarr Sampson added 13 points and eight boards for Philadelphia. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute tallied 12 points and Henry Sims and K.J. McDaniels each scored 10 points. "We're getting better," said Sixers coach Brett Brown. "We try to teach these young guys to never take their foot off the pedal. We have no right to be complacent at any point, so we try to wind these guys up all day, every play, every day." Greg Monroe ended with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who have lost four in a row. Jodie Meeks had 19 points on 4-of-16 shooting against his former team. Holding a 6-4 lead, the Sixers went on a 22-4 run to take control. The Pistons missed 12 straight shots during the stretch that resulted in a 28-8 margin. "Obviously, it was very difficult. We weren't ready to play. I don't think I've ever coached a game where one team's effort was that much better than my team's effort," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said of his team's start. Detroit responded with the final eight points of the first quarter to get within 12. The Pistons then outscored Philadelphia by a 21-20 margin in the second to make it 48-37 at the half. But the Sixers led by at least nine throughout the second half. Game Notes Carter-Williams missed Monday's loss to the Pelicans with an illness ... The Pistons have dropped four straight on the road ... Philadelphia shot 47.4 percent from the field, while holding Detroit to 30.7 percent ... Jonas Jerebko had 10 points for the Pistons, who went 2-of-20 from beyond the arc.

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Charlotte Hornets will try to stem a two-game slide Tuesday night when they welcome the Detroit Pistons to Time Warner Cable Arena. After a three-game winning streak, the Hornets have dropped two in a row, one on the road, one at home. They fell in Philadelphia to the 76ers on Saturday, then lost to the Indiana Pacers at home on Sunday. George Hill's layup with 4.9 seconds left helped the Pacers complete a remarkable comeback for a 103-102 win. Indiana erased a 21-point deficit in the third quarter to get a third straight win. Hill was left alone near the left block because Cody Zeller held up to look for his man and Brian Roberts appeared to trail the play, thinking Zeller would pick up Hill. The play ended with Hill converting the open floater, and Roberts missed a desperation heave from just inside midcourt as time expired. Al Jefferson supplied 30 points with 13 rebounds and Roberts tallied 19 points for the Hornets. Gerald Henderson (13), Gary Neal (11) and Marvin Williams (10) rounded out the double-figure scorers. Charlotte led by 17 at the half, but Indiana won the third by nine to close the gap to 83-75 after three quarters. "We came out to start the third quarter with nothing," said Hornets coach Steve Clifford. "We regrouped and rebuilt the lead, then the last four or five minutes of the third was probably the worst basketball we've played all year." The Pistons have lost two of their last three and five in a row on the road. Big picture, Detroit has taken three of its previous five. On Sunday, the Pistons fell at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-101. Detroit lost to Minnesota for a 10th straight time despite getting 20 points and eight assists from D.J. Augustin. Andre Drummond totaled 17 points with 14 rebounds, while Greg Monroe, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anthony Tolliver each scored 15. Minnesota's lead was down to four points twice early in the final period, but Minnesota was able to rebuild its advantage. With five minutes to play, the Pistons were down nine when coach Stan Van Gundy was hit with a technical foul after a call on Monroe. Martin hit the technical free throw and that started a 7-0 run that restored a comfortable lead. Detroit would not get closer than eight points the rest of the way. "They're way better than their record shows," said Monroe. "We have to come out and play better." Tuesday's matchup will be the first of four this season between the two teams. The Hornets swept all three meetings last season, but the Pistons are 4-1 in their last five in Charlotte.

NEW YORK (AP) Rookie Greg Bird hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Brian Matusz in the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees rallied past the reeling Baltimore Orioles 8-6 Monday. Alex Rodriguez and John Ryan Murphy also homered for the Yankees (77-59), who overcame a 4-1 deficit and improved to 18 games over .500 for the first time since 2012. With his 29th home run this season, A-Rod got his 3,054th career hit and passed Rod Carew for sole possession of 22nd place. Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado homered for the Orioles, who have lost 15 of 18 since and faded from AL wild-card contention. Michael Pineda allowed four runs in the second inning, when Schoop hit a three-run homer on an 0-2 hanging slider. Bird, a 22-year-old who made his big league debut on Aug. 13, also connected on a 0-2 offering and sent the pitch by Matusz off the back of the Yankees bullpen in right-center. With the score 5-all, Jorge Rondon (0-1) walked Carlos Beltran leading off the seventh, Chris Young singled and Baltimore brought in the left-handed Matusz to face the left-handed-hitting Bird. Bird, playing regularly because of Mark Teixeira's injury, hit his fifth homer, giving him 17 RBIs since his callup. Justin Wilson (5-0) wasted a 5-4 lead when Machado homered in the seventh, just the second this season off the left-hander. Dellin Betances struck out the side in the eighth around three walks. When Caleb Joseph swung past a 3-2 hanging slider for the final out, he slammed his bat against the plate, splitting the wood, then snapped it apart against his right knee. Andrew Miller pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 33 chances, allowing Chris Davis' two-out single, his 101st RBI, before striking out Jimmy Paredes. New York, which began the day 1 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Toronto, improved to 58-2 when leading after six innings. Wei-Yin Chen gave up five runs - four earned - and nine hits in five innings. Young's first-inning popup dropped into shallow right field for an RBI single that put the Yankees ahead in the first. Schoop's homer, which ended an 0-for-9 skid, and Machado's run-scoring single gave Baltimore a 4-1 lead in the second. Young hit an RBI double in the third, Rodriguez homered leading off the fifth and Murphy hit a two-run drive later in the inning to put New York ahead 5-4. TRAINER'S ROOM Orioles: CF Adam Jones left in the eighth inning because of right shoulder soreness. ... C Matt Wieters (sore left wrist) missed his third straight game. ... SS J.J. Hardy (groin) is likely to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday. Yankees: CC Sabathia (right knee) is scheduled to start Wednesday night in his first appearance since Aug. 23. UP NEXT Masahiro Tanaka (11-6), who has won three of his last four outings, starts for the Yankees on Tuesday night. Kevin Gausman (2-6), slated for the Orioles, is 0-4 in his last six starts.

Four years ago, more than 1,600 State Department (search) professionals, at some risk to their careers, signed a letter protesting what they saw as deplorable conditions that permeated department headquarters and many of its almost 300 missions abroad. "We are entering the uncharted waters of the 21st century in a rusted-out diplomatic hulk that is no longer seaworthy," the letter said. It cited poor morale, an overextended staff, a crumbling infrastructure and an information technology system regarded as the weakest in the government. The situation is looking better these days, and Secretary of State Colin Powell (search), down to his final days in office, is receiving much of the credit. "Morale is robust," says a November report by the independent Foreign Affairs Council, which monitors American diplomatic operations. The study notes that when the department was looking for volunteers a year ago for the soon-to-be-opened U.S. Embassy in strife-ridden Iraq, more than 200 foreign and civil service employees asked to be considered for the 146 positions. John Limbert, head of the American Foreign Service Association (search), the union of career diplomats, says the Powell years have been extraordinary. "The reason is simple: On his first day in the department he promised to lead, and he did," Limbert says. "He restored pride to a demoralized cadre that had been coping with neglect, disrespect and severe personnel and budget cuts. Alphonse LaPorta, a retired ambassador who once headed AFSA, said Powell put his military background to use, demonstrating a "commander's responsibility to be personally involved in the well-being of the troops." For the State Department, the 1990s were a lost decade. Congress cut the State Department and international aid budget for six consecutive years. Former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., railed against the "bloated bureaucracy" of the State Department. Former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, dismissed diplomats as people who rent "long coats and high hats." But a high-morale, smooth-running State Department does not necessarily translate into support for American policies abroad. U.S. policies in Iraq have scant backing overseas, the result, says Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., of diplomatic ineptitude. Since 2001, Congress has been generous in responding to the department's funding requests. Powell's stature has helped but so has the strong sense that diplomacy counts more now than in the relatively placid '90s. Interest among young people in the diplomatic service has risen sharply. A first-rate recruitment and marketing program has fed this trend, the Foreign Affairs Council says. Some 2,000 employees have been hired above attrition rates. The State Department is also replacing unsafe U.S. embassies at a much faster rate than before. On information technology, State has replaced its hardware infrastructure and put the system on a four-year replacement schedule. Powell's personal touch also has improved morale, officials say. When in town, he has sworn in all ambassadors and classes of foreign service recruits. He routinely has met with summer interns and appeared at receptions honoring retirees. On foreign trips, he invariably has taken time to schmooze with embassy staffs. Mary Ryan, who once headed the Consular Affairs bureau, recalled the time when Powell showed up for a photo with 16 passport officials. Powell told the group how important their work was and to pass on that message to subordinates. "I was scraping them down off the ceiling, they were so excited and happy," Ryan recalled. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., has written that anti-American sentiment "is rising unabated around the globe because the State Department has abdicated values and principles" espoused by Bush "in favor of accommodation and passivity." Stuart Eizenstat, a top Clinton-era State Department official, defended the loyalty of department professionals. "They bend over backward to follow every U.S. president's leadership," Eizenstat said.

Cell phone emissions excite the part of the brain cortex nearest to the phone, but it is not clear if these effects are harmful, Italian researchers reported on Monday. Their study, published in the Annals of Neurology, adds to a growing body of research about mobile phones, their possible effects on the brain, and whether there is any link to cancer. About 730 million cell phones are expected to be sold this year, according to industry estimates, and nearly 2 billion people around the world already use them. Of these, more than 500 million use a type that emits electromagnetic fields, known as Global System for Mobile communications or GSM radio phones. Their possible effects on the brain are controversial and not well understood. Dr. Paolo Rossini of Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan and colleagues used transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, to check brain function while people used these phones. They had 15 young male volunteers use a GSM 900 cell phone for 45 minutes. In 12 of the 15, the cells in the motor cortex adjacent to the cell phone showed excitability during phone use but returned to normal within an hour. The cortex is the outside layer of the brain and the motor cortex is known as the "excitable area" because magnetic stimulation has been shown to cause a muscle twitch. The researchers stressed that they had not shown that using a cell phone is bad for the brain in any way, but people with conditions such as epilepsy, linked with brain cell excitability, could potentially be affected. "It should be argued that long-lasting and repeated exposure to EMFs [electromagnetic frequencies] linked with intense use of cellular phones in daily life might be harmful or beneficial in brain-diseased subjects," they wrote. "Further studies are needed to better circumstantiate these conditions and to provide safe rules for the use of this increasingly more widespread device." Medical studies on cell phone use have provided mixed results. Swedish researchers found last year that using cell phones over time can raise the risk of brain tumors. But a study by Japan's four mobile telephone operators found no evidence that radio waves from the phones harmed cells or DNA. The Dutch Health Council analyzed several studies and found no evidence that radiation from mobile phones was harmful.

Three Camp Pendleton Marines will face courts-martial on murder and kidnapping charges in the death of an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania, but will not face the death penalty, the Marine Corps said Wednesday. The three were among seven Marines and one Navy corpsman charged with kidnapping and killing 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad last April. Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington and Cpl. Trent D. Thomas will also face charges including conspiracy, housebreaking and larceny. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general in the case, has not announced a decision on whether the squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, will go to trial and what charges he will face. Three other Marines also have been referred to courts-martial. CountryWatch: Iraq On. Oct. 6, Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, a Navy corpsman on patrol with the Marines, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy under a deal with prosecutors. He agreed to testify at his court-martial and during upcoming proceedings about what he witnessed. Bacos said that the squad entered Hamdania on April 26 while searching for a known insurgent who had been captured three times, then released. The group approached a house where the insurgent was believed to be hiding, but when someone inside woke up, the Marines instead went to another home and grabbed Awad. Bacos said the squad took him to a roadside hole and shot him before planting a shovel and AK-47 to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Bacos was sent to 12 months confinement; murder and other charges against him were dropped. Attorneys for the Marines said they would like to get them out of confinement. Thomas' attorney, Vic Kelley, said he intended to file a motion to get his client out of the brig, where he has been held since May. Under military law, the accused has no right to bail. Pennington's attorney David Brahms said he too wanted to get his client out of confinement. Jackson's civilian attorney, Thomas Watt, could not be immediately reached for comment. The Marines Corps dropped some charges against Jackson, Pennington and Thomas, including an assault charge and a charge of wrongfully endeavoring to impede an investigation. Thomas will face an additional assault charge related to a separate incident uncovered during the probe into Awad's death. Since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, at least 14 members of the U.S. military have been convicted in connection with the deaths of Iraqis. Two received sentences of up to life in prison, while most others were given little or no jail time. Click Here for the Latest Headlines from Iraq

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" lightning rod Danielle Staub has a much more sordid past than she's copped to on Bravo's hit reality show. Staub, 46, has only admitted to an arrest and to changing her name — after she was exposed in "Cop Without a Badge," a 1995 book about her ex-husband that featured prominently on the show But according to explosive federal court records posted yesterday on thesmokinggun.com, she was far more deeply involved in a kidnapping plot, a $24,000 drug deal gone bad and an "escort service" than she admitted to on the show. Danielle has always said her criminal record — which dates back to 1986 — were the mistakes of youth. But the details of the charges against her outlined on official papers are substantial. Staub, then known as Beverly Ann Merrill — but using the alias Angela Minelli — was arrested along with Daniel Aguilar, whom she met while working for an escort service, according to the reports. Staub was a courier for Aguilar, who distributed narcotics for a Colombian drug family, the papers say, including delivering a kilo of coke to a young customer when she was ripped off by masked gunmen. Danielle was eventually sentenced to five years' probation (Aguilar got 15 years in the slammer) and was ordered into a drug treatment program, according to papers filed in US District Court in Miami. RELATED: Click here to read the full report from the New York Post. RELATED: Click here to see the court documents from The Smoking Gun.

A woman was able to talk her way past a security guard at an Illinois airport Wednesday and enter the cockpit of a private plane before she was caught and taken to a hospital for psychiatric observation, authorities said. Sauget, Illinois police say the 38-year-old St. Louis woman entered a 20-seat Global Express plane on the tarmac of the St. Louis Downtown Airport about 4 a.m. Wednesday. Detective Sergeant Vito Parisi said the woman had started driving to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport but instead wound up at the small air field across the Mississippi River and just east of the city. The plane had been disabled while it underwent maintenance. Local prosecutors are reviewing the incident to determine whether to file criminal charges such as trespassing or burglary. Officials don’t believe the incident is connected to any kind of terrorism, but the FBI, Homeland Security and federal prosecutors are involved in the investigation and the local fire department and a county bomb squad responded as a precaution. The woman surrendered without incident after her entry on the plane was caught on airport security cameras. Parisi said the woman was also familiar with airplane operations. Sauget Police Chief Patrick Delaney told the Belleville News-Democrat that the woman had packed her luggage for a short vacation. She expressed an interest in flying to both New York and China but was not a trained pilot, the chief said. The airport is owned by the Bi-State Development Agency, a two-state government entity that operates the region's light rail and commuter bus systems. Officials declined comment, but a spokeswoman said in a written statement that "security procedures are in place to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing the ramp." Parisi said that he expects the security breach to prompt more rigorous oversight at the airport. "Obviously they're going to be making some serious changes," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Authorities in Tennessee say an officer was injured during an inmate escape attempt and hostage situation at the Sumner County jail. Sheriff Sonny Weatherford tells news outlets the incident happened Wednesday evening as a Westmoreland officer was transporting 40-year-old James Richard McCutchen to the jail. Gallatin police say McCutchen got out of his handcuffs and struggled with the officer. Police say McCutchen then jumped into the officer's patrol car, but was stopped by the security gate. Police McCutchen then grabbed a shotgun from the vehicle and got out. Weatherford says McCutchen pointed the gun at officers, who fired at him but missed. Police say McCutchen ran into the jail visitation center, where he ordered about 30 people to the floor. Police say he was later taken into custody after a corrections officer and a citizen tackled him. Police say McCutchen has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and three counts of aggravated assault in addition to other charges.

Investigators involved in the desperate search for a missing 9-year-old Tennessee girl believed abducted by her uncle emphasized Wednesday the case is not a simple custody dispute and stressed that Carlie Marie Trent could be in grave danger. “We realize Gary Simpson is Carlie Trent’s uncle by marriage but we have specific – we have credible – information that Carlie Trent is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigations spokesperson Josh DeVine said during an afternoon press conference. “When we say this child is in danger we absolutely mean it.” DeVine was particularly concerned about a narrative that had developed in the week since Trent was picked up from her school by Simpson, her former guardian. Simpson, 57, had recently lost custody of Trent, who was in her father’s care before her disappearance. But DeVine was emphatic that Trent’s kidnapping was not merely the product of a guardianship battle. An Amber Alert remained in effect Wednesday, however, authorities had yet to receive a tip of any concrete sightings of Trent or Simpson. Officials believe the two may be in a campground or secluded area. Shortly before he picked Trent up at school, Simpson withdrew money from a local bank, DeVine said Wednesday. Though he wouldn’t reveal the amount of money Simpson had taken out, DeVine said police believed Simpson only had a “limited amount” left. Simpson was last seen driving a white 2002 Dodge Conversion Van with the license plate 173GPS. Officials revealed Tuesday that Simpson had purchased multiple items before taking Trent, including lipstick, a package of young girls’ underwear, a young girls’ night gown and nail polish. The two were spotted on surveillance cameras at a grocery store buying several non-perishable items just after Trent had left the school. As her former guardian, Trent had previously been authorized to remove Trent from school. The school had not yet been notified that Trent’s guardianship had changed.

CAFNR/Flickr In an attempt to address sexual assault on campus, the University of Missouri is considering drastic changes to its Greek life system, including banning women from fraternity houses during typical party hours. According to a list of proposed policy changes that leaked online last week, the university may ban out-of-town formals, prohibit hard liquor in fraternity houses and forbid female "guests" from entering fraternity houses between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The MU Fraternity Alumni Consortium crafted the proposal, which is calls "Safety of Women Students in Fraternity Houses." Founded in 2009, the consortium is an unofficial assembly of Greek alumni that acts as an advisory group for the administration. "Some [policies] still under consideration, some are not. We are very, very early in the process, and the things you are seeing are coming from a document over two months old and dated information," consortium spokesman Ted Hellman told The Columbia Daily Tribune last week. One suggested policy would have subjected all sorority and fraternity members living in Greek housing to mandatory drug testing. This proposal resulted in a torrent of criticism from the student body and has since been removed from the list, The Columbia Daily Tribune reports. The consortium showed the suggested changes to Tim Wolfe, who presides over all four University of Missouri System campuses, including MU. The school's Panhellenic Association and the Interfraternity Council then read the suggestions and wrote a letter to Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin to express concern with them. Although members of the university's Panhellenic Association have said they support policies like prohibiting hard liquor, they raised a number of concerns about administered drug testing, uniform sexual assault education for male and female students, and the designation of women as "guests" in fraternity houses, which they say would allow a pretense of male entitlement to prevail within the Greek community. "We are concerned by the very premise of this proposal," the Panhallenic Association wrote. "The goal is to address the safety of women students in fraternity houses, but the proposal was written by men who are not entrenched in daily campus, fraternity and sorority life.” Reinforcing their position, the council released a statement on Friday describing some of the polices as "ineffective and uneducated." In addition, the Twitter account @StopLoftin was created to criticize the Greek life policy proposals. Many of the tweets claim a lack of representation for the very people the policies seek to support. One post pointed out that no assaults were reported as having occurred within a MU fraternity house in the last academic year. According to campus security records, the tweet is accurate. Fair representation? A select group of alum, IFC, and university officials AREN'T the only opinions that matter. pic.twitter.com/bu4Z6yMiuv — Stop Loftin (@stopLoftin) June 3, 2015 Mr. @bowtieger, make this a bigger venue where CURRENT Greeks have the ability to be heard. #OccupyTheSummit https://t.co/8BcsK3XOn9 — Stop Loftin (@stopLoftin) June 3, 2015 Due in part to research linking members of Greek life with higher sexual violence rates, the system has been under increased scrutiny in recent years. Fraternity members are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual assault than non-fraternity members, a 2013 study found. Other research has shown that approximately 29 percent of sorority women report having been sexually assaulted in college, while the rate for non-sorority women is 7 percent. MU spokesman Christian Basi told The Huffington Post the proposals are not finalized, and are not ready to be put into effect right away. "The proposed policies ... will be discussed at an upcoming summit with MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and student leaders," Basi wrote in an email. "The purpose of the upcoming summit is to review the proposed policies and seek input from student leaders on the implementation of the policies." The Chancellor’s Summit on Sexual Assault & Student Safety in Fraternity Houses is scheduled to occur on June 20, and is only open to people who have been invited. When asked if the university would wait until more students were on campus to decide whether to implement the proposals, Basi responded, "The proposals, along with any type of implementation timeline, are part of the discussion at the summit. Because the proposals and the timeline are still under discussion, I can’t speculate on when they might be implemented." The University of Missouri Panhellenic Association did not respond to a request for comment. PHA Letter to Chancellor Loftin by Rob Fox

DFID - UK Department for International Development/Flickr A year after the 2014 Ebola outbreak, GHIA (Global Healthcare Innovation Alliances) maps the unexpectedly broad alliances formed to combat the disease and considers their implications for future global health crises. The global response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak was unusual. Mobilization of key players was relatively fast and once they entered the game these players -- and the groundbreaking web of partnerships that emerged -- accelerated the development and deployment of Ebola vaccines in unprecedented ways. GHIA at Duke University has spent the past year following the interplay between the multiple players involved in the funding, development, manufacturing and distribution of Ebola vaccines. Typically, the average approval time for a new vaccine is around 8 ½ to 15 years, at best. Licensing agreements between inventors and sellers take anywhere from 6 to 12 months to negotiate, or more. Several Ebola vaccine candidates reached the clinic in less than a year, due primarily to the synergies created by the consortia and partnerships formed by companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson. These vaccines were supported by entities including the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, developed by academic institutions including Cambridge University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and several other parties such as Doctors Without Borders and the European Union's Innovative Medicines program. Some parties played multiple roles, such as the National Institutes of Health and GSK, and companies are the manufacturers, such as Bavarian Nordic and NewLink. These numerous parties came together in a few scant months to swiftly address a growing global health crisis. Pre-existing formal and informal relationships between many of the parties set the groundwork for the rapid formation of consortia that enabled this extraordinarily fast and broad response. As fear-inducing headlines spread around the world in mid-2014, the first Ebola consortia were announced. From the beginning, it became clear that these alliances were much wider across functions and borders than responses to any previous global epidemics. The diversity of the members of these consortia had the potential to mire the negotiations and efforts in thickets of bureaucracy. However, they instead created a wave of efforts and capabilities in the pursuit of a common goal. Understanding this achievement will help global health players in addressing future disease outbreaks. The consortium led by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was itself spawned by the accidental acquisition of an Ebola vaccine. In 2013, GSK had acquired Okairos, a vaccine platform company that was already working on an Ebola vaccine, a move that put GSK in a poll position, enabling it to act quickly after the March 2014 outbreak. GSK's extensive network formed an alliance of functions around this vaccine candidate. WT has now been working for about a year with two vaccines: both Merck's and GSK's, and has provided an emergency Ebola funding package of nearly $16 million. The Trust has started a rapid response research fund to address treatments, how infection spreads, prevention and diagnostics, working with multiple partners. These broader ways of partnering are changing the race to address global health crises. With the initial Ebola vaccine, the speed of the process was unique - it took place over the course of a mere 9 weeks, and approvals were granted within 4 weeks of submission. Under normal circumstances, the number of formal agreements required to designate rights and obligations between entities like GSK or the WT and other participants in global health partnerships would normally have taken years to complete. In the Ebola case at least two major factors contributed to the unusual fast response: first, the parties began acting before the agreements were finalized given the urgency of the situations; and second, they agreed on the sharing of rights and obligations at an unheard of speed. This shows how therapies for medical emergencies can be accelerated by broad partnerships when the will is present (and, more somberly), when the developed world awakens to fear-inducing headlines about regional outbreaks in other regions of the world. Nevertheless, even these swiftly formed and relatively well funded consortia encountered social, structural, medical and scientific road blocks. Not all players were equally fast in their responses to Ebola. Global health institutions, including the World Health Organization, were loudly criticized for being less nimble in responding to the outbreak, due to funding constraints and internal bureaucracy. Structures and dynamics, associated with economic limitations, are however, not the sole obstacles that global health institutions face in efficiently responding to major health crises. The global health system suffers from various ailments, from understaffed health workforces, inefficiencies in data collection and sharing, and static partnership models, among other. Simply put, in global health crisis like the Ebola epidemic, one entity cannot provide disease-specific infrastructure, development and funding alone. Ebola is retreating to the back burner of global health concerns. So how do we turn the lessons learned from the 2014 outbreak into a map for the future? GHIA is now turning these lessons into blueprints for partnering in the fight against the next global outbreaks.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is seeking a vendor for a new taxonomy application as part of a simplified business reporting initiative led by the federal Treasury. The ABS is one of a number of government agencies, including the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), taking part in Treasury's Standard Business Reporting (SBR) initiative, a project launched in August last year aimed at reducing the regulatory reporting burden for Australian businesses. In a contract worth up to AU$500,000 the ABS is seeking the provision of a taxonomy -- or classification -- development environment as part of the initiative, which would embed various eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) taxonomies into the SBR program. "At this stage we're looking for an off-the-shelf solution, but we're obliged by the government's procurement process to go to open tender and give everyone the opportunity because of the figure attached to the contract," said an ABS spokesperson. The spokesperson added that the tender also includes options for "consultancy services" such as training in the use of XBRL, review of existing taxonomies and software modifications. The Treasury is hoping that the SBR project -- to be completed by 2010 -- will enable local business software developers to embed requirements from standard government forms such as Business Activity Statements into their applications to allow them to be auto-filled and electronically submitted when required. It will also include a streamlining of log on procedures to allow businesses to send their financial reports to various government agencies through one secure portal, rather than through separate systems run by each agency. Documents accompanying the tender also state that other Commonwealth agencies may "piggy back" on to "any resulting contract from this market approach". Tender offers will remain open until the end of the year to allow for extensive testing of the application.

In what will likely become a landmark case for the digital age, a federal appeals court has ruled that a suspect in a child pornography case is protected under the Fifth Amendment from disclosing a password that would decrypt his computer files. It is the first time a suspect has been granted Fifth Amendment protection in a case involving a password used to encrypt computer hard drives. The Fifth Amendment protects against self-incrimination. The U.S. Court of Appeals of the 11th Circuit, which is based in Atlanta, ruled that "the Fifth Amendment protects [the man's] refusal to decrypt and produce the contents of the media devices. The suspect is only referred to as John Doe in court documents. The court found that by revealing the password the man would be disclosing something he knew, i.e. testifying against himself, as opposed to producing something that he had, say a key to a safe, that could be considered evidence. "The government's attempt to force this man to decrypt his data put him in the Catch-22 the 5th Amendment was designed to prevent - having to choose between self-incrimination or risking contempt of court," Marcia Hofmann, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation said on the group's Web site. "We're pleased the appeals court recognized the important constitutional issues at stake here, and we hope this ruling will discourage the government from using abusive grand jury subpoenas to try to expose data people choose to protect with encryption. " The court wrote: "We hold that Doe's decryption and production of the hard drives' contents would trigger Fifth Amendment protection because it would be testimonial, and that such protection would extend to the Government's use of the drives' contents." The ruling in the case, which began in Santa Rosa County, Fla., and ended with an arrest in California, goes against two lower court rulings in similar cases - one in Denver and the other in Vermont. Neither court would allow the Fifth Amendment defense. In both cases, police had some knowledge of what they might find on computer hard drives and used a "forgone conclusion" argument. The woman in the Colorado case is scheduled to turn over a password on Tuesday although her lawyer says she does not know or cannot remember it. But in the 11th Circuit case, it was clear that investigators had no knowledge of the contents of two laptops and five hard drives and, therefore, could not claim a forgone conclusion as to the contents of millions of encrypted files. The court concluded that the suspect proved the three conditions that fall within the scope of the Fifth Amendment: compulsion, a testimonial communication or act, and incrimination.

One big reason small merchants have helped build up Square is its transaction models, which was a more cost-effective options for companies unwilling to pay the exorbitant fees desired by giant financial services companies. Now the company is taking further steps to make its mobile payments option more flexible for those that are starting to process more transactions: the company is adding a flat $275 monthly service fee to its payments structure. Right now, most businesses using Square pay a small fee for every transaction, about 2.75 percent per swipe. If a merchant only handles a small amount of business per month, then the old structure of per-transaction fees makes sense. But it makes sense for anyone running more than $10,000 per month through the system. “For 62 years, merchants have suffered complicated, expensive processing fees. Square is the first company to rethink electronic payment pricing with the merchant in mind. We are giving merchants affordable, predictable pricing, ” said Square CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey. “With one monthly price, merchants know that the sales they’ve processed in a day is the same amount deposited in the bank.” The new fee structure is good for businesses up to $250,000 per year. Square can be used to accept payments from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover; its Square Register solution adds the capability to track inventory and more detailed customer information. Square got a big boost a couple of weeks ago when Starbucks announced a $25 million investment – and plans to use the system at more than 7,000 locations in the United States. But the mobile payments shakeout has just begun. Personally, I'm keeping a very close eye on PayPal, because of its enormous penetration in the world of e-commerce.

Photo credit: Martin Barraud/Getty Images When you hear about the growing waistline of the United States, study after study, report after report, seems to place special focus on minority communities, particularly African Americans. According to the CDC: Nearly 60 percent of black women are obese Nearly 38 percent of black men 20 years and over are obese CDC studies also have shown that obesity rates can vary greatly by geography – for example, the highest rates of obesity tend to be in the South and in the Midwest. But why? What, or who, is really responsible for these shocking numbers that only seem to be getting worse? What exactly is obesity? According to Mayo Clinic, obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity is likely when an individual’s body mass index (BMI) is 30 or higher. Your body mass index is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in meters (m) squared. BMI Weight status Below 18.5 Underweight 18.5-24.9 Normal 25.0-29.9 Overweight 30.0-34.9 Obese (Class I) 35.0-39.9 Obese (Class II) 40.0 + Extreme obesity (Class III) What causes obesity? According to Mayo Clinic, although there are genetic and hormonal influences on body weight, obesity occurs when you eat and drink more calories than you burn through exercise and normal daily activities. Your body stores these extra calories as fat. Obesity usually results from a combination of causes and contributing factors, including: Family lifestyle. Obesity tends to run in families. That’s not just because of genetics. Family members tend to have similar eating, lifestyle and activity habits. If one or both of your parents are obese, your risk of being obese is increased. Inactivity. If you’re not very active, you don’t burn as many calories. With a sedentary lifestyle, you can easily take in more calories every day than you burn off through exercise and normal daily activities. For more information about obesity, visit www.mayoclinic.org. Also On News One:

New Mexico couple, Joshua Benavidez and Irene Enriquez, both 31 have been arrested after setting a homeless man on fire with fireworks. At the time of the July 11 incident, the parents brought their 3 children along to watch as they targeted a sleeping homeless man on a sidewalk in Alburquerque, New Mexico. The victim, identified as Native American man Ruben Abeita, remains in the intensive-care unit at a local hospital after suffering severe burns. The couple were arrested Wednesday, after police received dozens of tips. The couple according to one local report face three counts child abuse, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, aggravated battery with great bodily harm, tampering with evidence and conspiracy. They are currently being held on $100,000 bond. Upon being brought in for booking, Enriquez told the reporters gathered outside ‘we’re sorry’. Added the mother: ‘I feel really bad for the man and his family.’ In their defense, the couple said they were only trying to ‘rattle‘ the man and didn’t know that he had caught fire until Wednesday. ‘It was just a prank, it was just trying to scare him, that was it,’ added the father. Interestingly at the time of the fireworks incident, Benavidez was on probation for aggravated assault on a peace officer and tampering with evidence. The couple claimed they turned themselves in when they heard that the man was hospitalized. That said police claim the contrary, insisting that the couple went out of their way not to get caught. After receiving dozens of tips, police contacted Benavidez based on information that he owned a purple SUV similar to that caught on CCTV at the scene. When they first talked to Benavidez, the man denied any involvement, telling he had sold his Tahoe to ‘some Hispanic guy in South Valley’, and that it was white – not purple. However, neighbors said that they had seen the vehicle just a few days before and that it had been purple before being painted white very recently. Another tipster, the children’s babysitter said the boy told her that he was with his 8-year-old stepbrother and the couple the day they threw the fireworks. Police also discovered that Enriquez saw that the man had caught fire, and wanted to go back and put the flames out with water, but that Benavidez stopped her from doing so.

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) announced its first quarter earnings for 2013 on April 24. It reported revenues of $1.1 billion, a decrease of 6% year-over-year. The lower revenues were driven by a 10% decrease in year-over-year iron ore sales volume. Net income stood at $97 million compared to $376 million in Q1 2012. The stark difference in net income is primarily driven by lower income tax benefits this year. The previous year’s first quarter results included a non-cash deferred tax benefit of $213 million, primarily related to the enactment of a new Australian tax. The tax benefit this year was just $6 million. Indeed, the operating income this year was $168 million compared to the 2012 figure of $222 million, which can be explained by lower sales volume. Cliffs increased its sales outlook for the U.S. Iron Ore division, but maintained its previous expectations for other divisions. The company didn’t have anything new to report on its chromite projects. The negotiations with various stakeholders are still in progress. With regards to the Wabush iron ore pellet plant, Cliffs said that it would take steps to reduce cash cost per ton to $100. If unsuccessful, it might consider a more “permanent solution.” Performance Of Various Business Segments The U.S. Iron Ore business recorded sales volumes of 3.1 million tons, down from 3.4 million last year due to financial difficulties experienced by a specific customer. Despite 2% growth in revenue per ton, lower sales dragged total segment revenues lower from $442 million to $410 million. The Eastern Canadian Iron Ore business sold 1.9 million tons, almost the same as last year. Year-over-year revenues increased by $24.6 million to $245 million as revenue per ton rose by $15.5. The Asia Pacific Iron Ore division reported sales volumes of 2.3 million tons, down 17% from last year. Revenues fell by $89 million to $271 million due to a combination of lower sales and a price drop of $9 per ton. Prices were negatively impacted by lower than expected iron ore grade and penalties resulting from the same. The North American Coal business recorded revenue of $214 million, an increase of $26 million year-over-year. This was due to increased sales, offset partially by lower prices in line with prevailing market trends. Other Business Developments Cliffs will idle its Wabush Pointe Noire iron ore pellet plant in Canada by the end of the second quarter as the current cost structure there is not sustainable. By the end of Q2, existing commitments to pellet customers would have been met. The Wabush facility also has a concentrator and the company will transition to producing only iron ore concentrate from here in the future. However, Cliffs has maintained its 2013 sales and production volume expectations of 9-10 million tons from the Eastern Canada business segment to which Wabush belongs. As a result of idling the pellet plant, 2013 cash cost per ton in the Eastern Canadian Iron Ore segment is expected to be $95-100, down from the company’s previous expectation of $100-105. The feasibility study on the Black Thor chromite project is on schedule and is expected to be completed later this year. The company is keen to bring in more partners into the project to share capital costs and risks. Any meaningful discussion is expected to begin once the feasibility of the project is established. Due to the diverse nature of the First Nations communities and wide-ranging concerns, progress has been slow and negotiations complicated. Progress has also been tardy towards signing of a definitive agreement between the company and the Ontario government, without which production cannot begin in 2016. Outlook For 2013 Cliffs has raised its sales outlook for the U.S. Iron Ore business by 1 million tons to 21 million tons for the full year. This revision was driven by higher iron ore pellet demand from existing customers in the U.S. For the Eastern Canadian Iron Ore segment, the company maintained its sales and production volumes expectations of 9 million to 10 million tons. This includes 6.5 million to 7 million tons of iron ore from Bloom Lake and the remainder from Wabush. In the Asia Pacific Iron Ore division, it maintained the sales and production volumes at 11 million tons. Long-Term Outlook Cliffs sees economic growth in developing countries as the driving force for its future business. The company is eying the Asia-Pacific region to tap into continued strong demand. On the positive side, barriers to entry in mining are rising due to increasing costs and technological challenges associated with bringing new supplies to the market. This places incumbent players like Cliffs in an advantageous position. On the negative side, Cliffs is heavily dependent on the iron ore business. Unlike companies like Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) and Vale (NYSE:VALE), it is not a diversified mining company. Also, since it doesn’t enjoy the same economies of scale like these companies do, its cost of production is higher. Our primary concern stems from the fact that the North American iron ore and coal divisions’ revenues are highly dependent on a few customers. A loss of sales to any of these existing customers could have a substantial adverse impact on the company’s revenues and profitability. Our price estimate for Cliffs Natural Resources is $36, which will be revised shortly in view of the first quarter earnings results. Disclosure: No positions.

In an astute political move, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius on Sunday said that providing citizens with the option of government-run insurance is not essential to the Obama administration's overhaul of U.S. health care. Evidently, the administration has caved on this very important issue, leaving the door open for private health insurance companies to move forward with creative products and profits for shareholders. Of course the devil will be in the details, but at fist glance Team Obama will expand health using cooperatives similar to the public/private scheme in the domestic utility industry. Here are potential winners for investors to explore. Beware of using the insurance index ETFs as your vehicle, as the health care sub-sector is in play now, not all insurance stocks. Aetna (NYSE:AET) $28.28/$12.3b market cap/ 0.14% American Independence Corp. (NASDAQ:AMIC) $4.75/$40.4m market cap/0% AMERIGROUP Corp. (AGP) $23.98/$4.3b market cap/0% Amerisafe (NASDAQ:AMSF) $16.83/$317m market cap/0% Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) $28.20/$3.3b market cap/2.93% CIGNA Corp. (NYSE:CI) $28.82/$7.9b market cap/.14% Coventry Health Care, Inc. (CVH) $22.60/$3.4b market cap/0% Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) $14.67/$1.5b market cap/0% Humana, Inc. (NYSE:HUM) $34.69/$5.9b market cap/0% Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) $19.90/$508m market cap/ 0% Triple-S Management Corp. (NYSE:GTS) $16.45/$335m market cap/0% UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE:UNH) $28.06/$32.6b market cap/0.11% Universal American Corp. (NYSE:UAM) $9.10/$702m market cap/0% WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE:WCG) $24.85/$1.0b market cap/0% Well Point, Inc. (WLP) $52.10/$475m market cap/0% I like Molina and Health Net as they provide extensive private and government managed health care services, which may be a sweet spot to be focused upon. As we all know, things turn on a dime in politics. The "progressives" will go nuts without a public option, but it is apparent that the country just will not sanction that approach. As Democratic Senator Kent Conrad said Sunday, "There are not the votes in the Senate for the public option... To continue to chase that rabbit, I think, is a wasted effort."

Advertisement Mobile app money has turned many tech startups into multimillion-dollar firms in recent years while padding the coffers of ad agencies acting as middlemen. But the link connecting brands to apps developers via agencies is starting to look tenuous as CPGs and retailers hire their own mobile technologists, according to an informal poll of Advertising Week attendees last week. “It is a house of cards for ad agencies,” said Patrick Moorhead, vp of mobile sales at Catalina Marketing. “Brands will wake up to the thought of: ‘Why involve the [agency of record] in the conversation at all if we can save five points on the deal?’ ” In other words, mobile money is starting to stay home, similar to the way brands brought Web developers in-house a decade ago. Mondelez International brands (formerly Kraft’s snacks business) already performs some app development in-house and last week launched a mobile startups program that could bolster its abilities in this area. And Gannett told Adweek that it planned to bring all mobile app development in-house before 2013. Matthew de Ganon, vp of mobile product and operations at Gannett, predicted that companies across other sectors would follow suit. “It’s so integral to the brand that you own your destiny in mobile,” he said. The Weather Channel blazed a trail in this regard, putting the kibosh on outsourced mobile app creation three years ago. Asked if in-house mobile app building would become commonplace, Cameron Clayton, evp of digital at TWC, replied: “Totally. It’s a strategic pillar of business.” Ideeli is preparing to relaunch its mobile app in the next few weeks. It’s testing a new tech boutique after being unhappy with the performance of its last vendor. But the fashion deals site envisions a future where it develops its apps itself. “I completely see that,” said Mark Uhrmacher, CTO at Ideeli. “We are receiving 20 percent of our sales through mobile devices. People who want to have a lot of control over their customer experience will want to take control of their mobile environment.” So while none of this looks good for companies that need app cash to prosper, Geoffrey Handley, CMO of mobile shop The Hyperfactory, had a counterpoint. He said that even if a majority of brands bring apps in-house, mobile will evolve—just as the Web space has mutated in the last 10 years—and specialty firms like his will still be in demand. “We are just going to see more collaboration,” Handley said, “and we are going to see more areas of depth and specialization.”

Joevan Catron scored 18 points and Oregon beat Creighton 71-58 Wednesday night to even the best-of-three College Basketball Invitational championship at one game apiece. The Ducks (20-18) will host the Bluejays (23-15) in a deciding game on Friday night. Malcolm Armstead added 14 points for Oregon, which led by 21 points and scored 35 points off Creighton turnovers. Gregory Echenique and Jahenns Manigat each had 10 points for the Bluejays, who won the opening game of the championship series 84-76 at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Oregon coach Dana Altman left Creighton to become head coach of the Ducks this season. Altman is Creighton's all-time winningest coach, with 327 victories and seven NCAA tournament appearances in 16 years. He left the 6,000-student Jesuit school last April for a $1.7 million-a-year offer from Oregon. The move came as a big surprise to his players and Creighton fans. Altman said he had dreaded the trip back to the Qwest Center, but he got a warm reception from the CBI single-game record crowd of 12,381. He was replaced at Creighton by Greg McDermott, previously head coach at Iowa State. Wednesday night's game was a chance for Altman to show off his new digs, the $227 million Matthew Knight Arena, which opened earlier this year. The Matt, as it is known, replaced beloved but outdated McArthur Court, the Ducks' home since 1927. Oregon capitalized Wednesday night on its advantage at the Matt, with its distinctive woodsy-looking floor. The Ducks took a 15-8 lead after Jay-R Strowbridge's fast-break layup midway through the first half. But the Bluejays closed the gap to 15-14 on Josh Jones' 3-pointer. The Ducks pulled back out in front after E.J. Singler's 3-pointer, Armstead's jumper and Catron's layup made it 25-16 with less than five minutes before the break. Armstead's layup with less than a minute left gave the Ducks a 35-21 lead going into the break. Creighton Freshman Doug McDermott, the coach's son and the team's leading scorer with an average of 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, got into foul trouble early and sat for a good part of the first half. McDermott finished with six points. Oregon extended the lead to 44-23 after Garrett Sim's 3-poiner. Sim, who did not score in the first half, had seven points less than three minutes into the second and finished with nine. Sim's layup with 12:58 left made it 54-33. The Ducks got sloppy down the stretch and Creighton was able to narrow the margin to 58-46 after Kenny Lawson's jumper and four straight free throws from McDermott and Darryl Ashford. The threat was short-lived, however, and Catron's 3-pointer with 5:33 left gave the Ducks a 66-48 lead. The CBI tournament is in its fourth year. The Oregon State Beavers won the 2009 title, defeating UTEP in three games. Last year's CBI champion was Virginia Commonwealth, which plays Butler in an NCAA tournament semifinal on Saturday.

Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski (search) will formally kick off her re-election bid Monday, capping a weekend of campaign-style stops that begin on the home turf of her likely Republican opponent. State Sen. E.J. Pipkin (search), who lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore, announced his campaign weeks ago — but that may be the only area where he is ahead of Mikulski, a three-term Democrat from Baltimore. Polls give Mikulski a commanding lead over Pipkin and she had more than $1.6 million on hand as of Sept. 30, according to her latest filing with the Federal Election Commission (search). "It would be a political miracle if he wins," said WTOP Radio political analyst Mark Plotkin. But Pipkin has beaten the odds before. The freshman state senator, who made a fortune as a Wall Street financier, spent more than $500,000 of his own money to upset a longtime Democratic incumbent in 2002. While he has not yet filed a campaign report with the FEC, Pipkin's campaign manager, Steve Crim, said the Republican hopeful will report 1,200 contributors by the end of this month. Crim would not say how much the campaign has raised, however. Pipkin, who boasts that he had toured all 24 jurisdictions in the state by Dec. 24, is focusing on building name recognition across the state with touring and radio ads, Crim said. He plans to personally ask Marylanders for their votes. Even though the legislative session started this week in Annapolis, Crim said, Pipkin will simply tour more often on the weekends. An October poll by Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies (search) said 36 percent of likely voters recognized Pipkin's name, which the poll said is not a bad starting position for a challenger. But the same poll gave Mikulski a 57-26 percent margin over Pipkin. Hillary Gonzales said her firm has not done another poll on the Senate race since October, but she does not think the results have changed much since then. Paul Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland (search), said Pipkin is a typical challenger: He is not known and does not have a strong record. Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University, noted that Mikulski has always won handily in Maryland and that this race is not likely to be different. "She's unbeatable in the state of Maryland," said Lichtman, adding that Mikulski will be able to raise enough money to beat whatever Pipkin puts up. Mikulski started her campaign tour Friday and plans a campaign stop on Saturday before the formal announcement on Monday with rallies in three large communities outside Washington, D.C., said Chip Paucek, her deputy campaign manager. Pipkin will campaign on a platform of creating more and better jobs and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. But his main message against Mikulski is that she has been in the Senate for too long. "What has she done?" asked Crim. Mikulski's answer, in an interview Friday with Plotkin on WTOP radio, is that she was working for Maryland while Pipkin was on Wall Street making millions. Her Senate Web site says she has been active in health benefits, defense, jobs and some taxes, among others. Herrnson agreed that she has been effective and has influence on Capitol Hill. And Plotkin said Mikulski has beaten more well-known names in the past. "[Pipkin's] problem is not himself but a very popular, well-respected incumbent," said Plotkin. Capital News Service contributed to this report.

For the first time in 40 years, bedside exchanges between medical students and patients have come under mandatory review by the National Board of Medical Examiners (search). The country's first clinical-skills assessment test began this week in Philadelphia, one of five test sites nationwide. It's a pass/fail test the licensing board says will weed out bad doctors and protect patients. "Patients who are unhappy because they perceive their doctor isn't listening, or hasn't accurately communicated the facts, are patients who don't have good outcomes," said Laurence Gardner, chairman of the National Board of Medical Examiners (search). But the American Medical Association (search) says the new practice won't improve patient safety. The physicians' organization is openly critical of the new licensing hurdle, saying the goal is unproven and the test is redundant. "The place to do it is in medical schools where [students] can receive training, they can receive evaluation and most importantly — can receive a helping hand," said John Armstrong of the AMA. Many medical students echo the AMA's complaints and balk at the additional cost of submitting to the test. "Students are [already] anywhere between one hundred and two hundred thousand dollars in debt, and an additional one thousand to fifteen hundred for the test, plus having to fly to a test site and stay at a hotel ... it's a factor," said University of Miami med student Chad Aarons. Despite the debate, the licensing board says the test is here to stay, giving students six chances to pass and to prove what multiple-choice tests cannot — that doctors can communicate with patience. Go to the video box at the top of this story to watch a report by Fox News' Catherine Herridge.

Two children and their mother lived for about two months with the decaying body of a 90-year-old woman on the toilet of their home's only bathroom, on the advice of a religious "superior" who claimed the corpse would come back to life, authorities said Friday. The children — a 15-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy — cried hysterically Wednesday after a deputy who came to their Necedah home looking for Magdeline Alvina Middlesworth ordered them out because of the stench from her body. The children were in foster care Friday. Their mother, Tammy Lewis, and self-described "bishop" Alan Bushey remained in custody on felony counts of being a party to causing mental harm to a child. "It's a sad case, and we'll continue to investigate it and try to ascertain just what occurred up there," Juneau County Sheriff Brent Oleson said. He said he had no further information on Bushey's religious affiliation. According to the criminal complaint, Middlesworth's sister called sheriff's officials Wednesday and asked them to go to the home about 80 miles north of Madison to check on the woman, who had not been heard from for some time. When Deputy Leigh Neville-Neil arrived at the house, she encountered Lewis, also known as Sister Mary Bernadett, the complaint said. Lewis, 35, initially refused to allow the deputy to check on Middlesworth, telling her that Middlesworth was on vacation and saying she had to check with her "superior" first. But she eventually let the deputy in. The house smelled of incense and burned wood, and had religious materials everywhere and hymns playing on the stereo, according to the complaint. When the deputy opened the last closed door, she smelled "decaying matter" and noticed something piled on what appeared to be a toilet. Lewis told her it was Middlesworth's body, the complaint said. Lewis told the deputy that Middlesworth had died about two months earlier, but that God told her Middlesworth would come to life if she prayed hard enough. She said she couldn't say anything more until she spoke with her "superior" — Bushey, 57, also known as Bishop John Peter Bushey. When Bushey arrived, Lewis told the deputy that Middlesworth had appeared to pass out as Lewis helped her into her underwear. She said she propped Middlesworth on the toilet and left the room to call Bushey, who told her to leave the woman alone and pray for her, the complaint said. He said he had received signs that God would raise her from the dead with a miracle. Lewis went on to say she thought Middlesworth was still breathing when she put her on the toilet and called Bushey, instead of an ambulance. She later told a detective she put the woman on the toilet on March 4. An autopsy has been performed, but results won't be available for some time, Oleson said. "At this time we don't know what the cause of death was," he said. "Quite frankly, it might have been natural causes." He described the one-story home in the town of Necedah as in decent repair, although the residents had been using "makeshift" toilet facilities because of the situation in the one bathroom. The boy at the house told a detective he had considered running away because he was uncomfortable with the situation. He said Bushey told him that demons were trying to make it look as if Middlesworth wouldn't come back to life, and that if she were to be discovered he and the girl would have to go to public school and get jobs because Middlesworth paid the bills. The boy referred to Middlesworth as "grandmother," the complaint said. Oleson said Middlesworth was unrelated to Bushey. "She believed in the same faith as self-proclaimed Bishop Bushey, and that was the connection there," he said. Oleson said that Middlesworth and Lewis lived at the residence with the children since fall of 2004, and that Bushey lived elsewhere. Bushey and Lewis are scheduled to make an initial court appearance May 19. Aside from the felony counts, Lewis also was charged with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor. The sheriff said cash bond was set Friday at $50,000 each, but Lewis was allowed to post 10 percent for her release. Computerized state court records had no attorney listed for either suspect on Friday.

Beset by scandal, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford faced another likely setback Monday as the City Council took up a motion to snatch away many of his remaining powers in a heated council meeting. Ford called the effort a "coup d'etat" and challenged the council to call snap elections. The debate on the motion became heated after Ford paced around the council chamber and traded barbs with members of the public. The speaker asked security to clear the chamber and a recess was called. Members of the public chanted "Shame! Shame!" at the mayor. Ford himself charged at the gallery at one point and almost knocked over a woman councilor. Under the motion, already endorsed by a majority of council members, Ford would have his office budget cut by 60 percent and his mayoral staff would be allowed to join the deputy mayor. Ford would effectively have no legislative power as he would no longer chair the executive committee. The motion was revised from a tougher version to ward off potential legal challenges. Ford would retain his title and ability to represent Toronto at official functions. The city's lawyer said the proposal does not render Ford "mayor in name only." The council does not have the power to remove Ford from office, barring a criminal conviction. It is pursuing the strongest recourse available after recent revelations that Ford smoked crack cocaine and his repeated outbursts of erratic behavior. "Mayor Ford has had many choices ... would he change his behavior? Would he step aside and seek help? ...The mayor unfortunately has chosen the path of denial," Councilor John Filion said. "Now it's time to take away the keys. ... The new allegations pile up faster than the old ones can be dealt with. If many Torontonians were initially fascinated by the drama, they are now fed up with it. They want it to end." Far from being chastened, Ford has vowed to take the council to court and insists he will seek re-election next year. "It's a coup d'etat — that's all this is," Ford said as he arrived at City Hall on Monday morning. He earlier claimed on a radio station that councilors were against his agenda to save taxpayers' money. "If they want me out, they should just call a snap election," Ford told radio station AM640. Councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a former Ford ally, said it's about his conduct. "This about embarrassing the city, his involvement with gangs, his involvement with crack cocaine this about his admission that he gets behind the wheel while drinking," Minnan-Wong said. "He's the worst spokesman for the city of Toronto right now." On Sunday, Ford embraced the spotlight, giving an interview to Fox News and showing up at a Toronto Argonauts game even though the commissioner of the Canadian Football League had suggested that he not attend. He and his brother are set to debut a current events television show Monday night called "Ford Nation" for the Sun News Network. Toronto, a city of 2.7 million people, has been abuzz with the Ford melodrama since May, when news outlets reported that he had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine. Recently released court documents show the mayor became the subject of a police investigation after those reports surfaced. Ford, who denied there was any incriminating video, now acknowledges the reports were accurate. In interviews with police, former Ford staffers have made further accusations, saying the mayor drank heavily, sometimes drove while intoxicated and pressured a female staffer to engage in oral sex. On Thursday, Ford spouted an obscenity on live television while denying the sex allegation, saying he was "happily married" and using crude language to assert that he enjoys enough oral sex at home. Last week, after admitting to excessive drinking and buying illegal drugs, Ford disclosed that he is seeking medical help. But he and his family insist he is not an addict and does not need rehab. The mayor addressed some of those issues in his interview with Fox News. "I've admitted to drinking too much. Okay. So I'm dealing with it, I'm training every day, I'm in the gym two hours every day," Ford said. "I'm seeking professional help, I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a drug addict. Have I had my outbursts in the past? Absolutely. But you know what, I'm only human. I've made mistakes. I've apologized." He also added: "Yes, one day I do want to run for prime minister." Coincidentally, Prime Minister Stephen Harper — like Ford a Conservative — was due in Toronto on Monday to meet with area Parliament members from his party. Harper has been a guest at an annual summer barbecue hosted by Ford and his family, but has had little to say in public about the mayor's ongoing troubles. With Ford refusing to step aside, even temporarily, the City Council took its first steps to weaken his powers on Friday, voting 39-3 to suspend his authority to appoint and dismiss the deputy mayor and the executive committee. The council also voted to give the deputy mayor authority to handle any civic emergency. George Rust-D'Eye, a municipal law expert hired by Ford a municipal law expert, said he will not seek an injunction to block City Council from going forward with Monday's power-stripping motion. Rust-D'Eye said he will meet with the mayor to discuss what to do after the council debates. "What they are proposing to do is make him into a deputy mayor. I think they have to respect the wishes of the electorate," Rust-D'Eye said. Ford's brother and adviser, councilman Doug Ford, called him "the mayor of the people" and said the rights of those who voted for him were being trampled. Ford, 44, was elected three years ago with overwhelming support from Toronto's conservative-leaning outer suburbs, where many voters felt angry about what they considered wasteful spending and elitist politics at City Hall. He campaigned on promises to "stop the gravy train" by curbing public spending and keeping taxes low.

ADEM ALTAN via Getty Images ISTANBUL, June 21 (Reuters) - The Washington correspondent of a major Turkish newspaper said on Sunday he was under investigation for libel and allegedly insulting President Tayyip Erdogan, in what may be Turkey's latest crackdown on media coverage critical of the authorities. Tolga Tanis, a Washington-based reporter with the Hurriyet newspaper told Reuters he faces a probe from the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office after Erdogan's lawyer filed a petition accusing him of libel and attempting to undermine Erdogan's reputation in his book "POTUS and the Gentleman." Published in March, the book examines relations between Washington and Ankara with a focus on U.S. President Barack Obama - "POTUS" is an acrononym for "President of the United States" - and Erdogan, sometimes called "the Gentleman" by supporters. "I am critical of both Erdogan and Obama on several issues," Tanis told Reuters in an e-mail. "Though I don't think that Obama is considering suing me for this book." Reuters was unable to reach the prosecutor's office or Erdogan's lawyer for comment. In what opponents see as part of a campaign to muzzle dissent, Erdogan has repeatedly berated news outlets including the New York Times and Turkish daily Hurriyet, while a prosecutor last month sought to shut two TV stations, seen as opposed to the government, on terrorism-related charges. Erdogan rejects the notion that Turkey, which languishes near the bottom of international press freedom tables, has anything but a free media, declaring in January that Turkish journalists were freer than any in Europe. Erdogan suffered a rare setback on June 7 when the governing AK Party he founded failed to win enough votes in a parliamentary election to remain in power as a single-party government. He had hoped for a sweeping victory for the AKP, which would have allowed it to change the constitution and give him greater power. (Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Image Source via Getty Images With Passover and Easter coming up, young adults' thoughts turn to going home. For many, it also turns their stomach as they fear the questions well-meaning relatives will ask. They fall into four categories: housing, careers, relationships, and having children. On the one hand, it seems that there's nothing to talk about if you avoid the major basic decisions of life. On the other hand, there are many ways to connect over common interests -- have you had any good hikes recently? Read any good books? Seen any good shows? Avoid asking: 1. When are you moving out of your parents home? Are you still living in that awful apartment? Implied in these questions is you're doing something temporary or wrong. Some people love living at home. Others are making wise financial decisions to save money for a start-up or to pay off debt. And others are in transition and will move when they can. Young adults don't need you to pressure them. 2. When are you going to get a real job? When are you going to make real money? Again, you have no idea what motivates people to choose certain jobs or where they're heading in their careers. Some of the most meaningful and best jobs don't pay well, especially at the entry-level. Sometimes internships are required to open doors - even though they don't pay. Sometimes low-paying jobs are the most valuable to society. Where would we be without teachers, social workers, and government employees? Besides, all knowledge is useful. One can learn a lot from any job. Don't blame the young adult for the way society values people's labor power. 3. Are you seeing anyone? Do you plan to marry? While you as a relative may be truly interested, the young person may feel that the question is intrusive. The whole timetable has shifted, and lifestyle options have increased. These young people are working out their own expectations, even if they're not meeting yours. 4. Have you tried... changing your hairstyle, losing weight, joining a fitness club? Do we need to explain this one? Asking someone to change themselves implies that they are not adequate the way they are. 5. When are you going to have kids? Do you realize your biological clock is ticking? Are you planning to freeze your eggs or sperm? Have you thought about becoming a single parent? Reproduction is a private matter. Stay away -- you will be informed as needed. Although you may be genuinely caring, your questions may be perceived as criticisms. If you are a recipient of these questions, try to shift the conversation to something you do want to talk about. Or you can deflect the conversation by asking about their lives -- for example, asking about what the dating scene was like in their day. You can say, "Thanks for asking, but nothing's new. I am sure the grapevine will get to you if there's any big happenings." Humor is always a great relief. And if all else fails, suggest you watch the ball game together.

Rachel Garlinghouse Each Mother's Day before church, I pose for a picture with my three children. Their little, sticky hands are cupped around a shoulder and my neck. Later that day, they present me with handmade cards, a dessert and the promise of an afternoon nap. I shower them with kisses and hug them tightly. My children don't have my eyes or my husband's thick hair. Each of our children is a beautiful mix of nature and nurture, a culmination of their birth families and us, their forever family. We don't share genes with our children, but we share a life. Celebrating motherhood is something I longed for when I was told I had a chronic disease, one that would make pregnancy potentially dangerous for both myself and a baby. Immediately upon learning my diagnosis, I knew my husband and I would adopt. We waited 14 long months for our first child. When she arrived, I was beyond ecstatic. We have pictures of every single simple moment. She was our world. Adopting a child is a monumental event for any person or couple, and for us it was no different. I remember how hard my heart was pounding as we prepared to enter the courthouse to swear before a judge that we would love and protect this child for the rest of her life. It wasn't just a legal commitment, but a heart commitment. That day was the both the happiest and saddest day of my life. My daughter's birth mother entered the court room first, the heavy doors closing firmly behind her. I knew what she was doing: terminating her parental rights and allowing those rights to be transferred to us, the couple she had thoughtfully selected for her baby girl. It was a time of severing. As she exited the courtroom, we shared a short, intimate conversation. Promises exchanged. One evening while I was rocking my daughter in her nursery, watching her eyelids grow heavy, it dawned on me that I had been parenting her for the exact number of months she had been with her first mother. My eyes welled up with tears, and I realized how completely devastated I would be if I had parented my baby for 40 weeks and then handed her to someone else... forever. It was overwhelming and unimaginable, too painful to fully consider. I wept for my daughter's first mother. When our second daughter arrived two years later, we faced similar experiences: joy, empathy, and the weight of eternity. We see so much of our second child in her birth parents, not just in physical appearance, like her height and dark brown skin, but in her preferences, talents and personality. She is part-theirs and part-ours. Blended. Two years later, we adopted a little boy. Unlike with our girls, we were able to bring our son home from the hospital. We quietly entered the NICU and watched the nurses cut off his identification bracelets and gathered up papers, things that identified him as the little boy he was before he became ours. As the nurses buzzed around us, getting my son ready for his departure, he began to cry inconsolably. He had been fed and his diaper changed. Was he crying because of the bright lights? Was he crying for the mother he knew he was leaving behind? Was he already missing her? My scent, my heartbeat, my voice, all unfamiliar to this little boy. He hadn't yet started his life with us. He was in transition. The magnitude of these moments, the realizations, changed me. They still change me. My children's first mothers are on my heart every Mother's Day, and really, every day of the year. They are my children's beginnings. Their blood runs through my children's veins. My children are forever a part of their first families. I've heard, many times, what the general public thinks about women who chose to place babies for adoption. It has been concluded that these women "move on" or "move past" the placement of the child. That they "get on with their lives." As if they are a distant memory or a fad that went out of style. Dismissed. Forgotten. But I know the truth. We live the truth. I know that placing a child for adoption is a forever-loss. I know that these women never forget or "get over" the children they conceived, carried, bore and love. I know a part of the women's hearts will be broken, indefinitely. Each Mother's Day, when I pose with my children for our annual photo, I am reminded of how blessed I am to be the one they call "Mom," and how my claim to motherhood came at a tremendous cost. I am honored to have the privilege of raising my three babies. I have vowed to never forget the women who gave my children life, because I know their first mothers won't ever forget either.

Time marches on, but Marilyn Monroe will always be 36. That sadly low number, the age at which Monroe died of a drug overdose under still-debated-to-this-day circumstances, means that she remains beautiful and devastatingly sexy in our memories — and future generations will know her no differently. But today would have been the Hollywood legend's birthday and though her career was brief, it was also prolific. The enigmatic star, underrated as an actress in her day, stole every scene she was in, from her bit part as an ingenue in "All About Eve" to her Oscar-worthy role as a singer with a weakness for tenor-sax players in "Some Like It Hot." GALLERY: Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Legend And the same went for real life. Monroe made headlines whether she was singing "Happy Birthday" to the president, getting married (most notably to Joe DiMaggio and, later, Arthur Miller) or showing up late to the set. Is it any wonder starlets like Lindsay Lohan feel a connection to the late icon? Monroe's medium may have been movies, but her life was theater. What is your favorite Marilyn Monroe movie? Tell us on Facebook! Related content:

Barack Obama came to office promising universal healthcare, to end the carbon economy, and to fix education. Numbers one and two were clear enough, but we’ve never gotten too much insight into number three, beyond Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s “Race to the Top” program. (The latter is essentially a remake of No Child Left Behind.) On the finance side, the student loan industry is populated by Citigroup, Sallie Mae Inc. of Indianapolis, some other large players and hundreds of smaller ones. A year ago, Obama’s people quietly made clear to people in the industry that they could expect the government to take over their business. That meant specifically that banks and institutions like Sallie would be forced out of the business of providing subsidized finance for student loans. What’s your obvious move, faced with something like that? You scramble to convince the government that you deserve to become a servicing provider to them, giving up the financing business in favor of a lucrative (and risk-free) business originating loans and handling the payment streams. That is attractive to the government because it saves them the trouble of standing up a whole new student loan bureaucracy. They’ll still stand up the bureaucracy, of course, but now all they’ll need to do is demand lots of unreasonable reports and audits from the servicers who used to be finance providers. But why go to so much trouble, on top of kicking in the teeth of yet another private industry? Some recent reporting may shed light on that question. Obama is apparently getting ready to propose big changes in how people deal with their student loans. Today, people pay their student loans like they pay car loans and mortgages: you owe a fixed amount of money, and you pay a fixed amount per month until you the note matures. But with student loans, Obama reportedly now wants to put time and income-based limits on how much you have to pay back. Your student loan payments will be capped at no more than 10% of the amount by which your income exceeds a “basic cost of living” amount. And all your debts will be forgiven after 20 years if you work in the private sector, or 10 years if you have a government job. Higher education is like healthcare in that payments to providers are already heavily subsidized by government. Also like healthcare, the cost of education is rising every year far more quickly than the general inflation rate. Obviously, higher education is an increasingly large burden on middle-class families. But colleges and universities are also like hospitals and medical practices in another sense: with no built-in incentives to cut costs, they don’t cut costs. That’s the problem we ought to be looking to solve. Instead, Obama wants to create yet another middle-class entitlement that will quickly become permanent, and will permanently enrich a special class (educators) at society’s expense. Overall, this proposal makes extensive consumption of higher education a no-brain decision. I agree that the middle class is harmed by the skyrocketing cost of higher education. But to repeat the parallel with healthcare, people will automatically use too much of anything they don’t have to pay for. The right way to solve the problem of rampant education cost-inflation is not to shift the costs to taxpayers, but to make colleges and universities more efficient. A fuller version of this story appears at The New Ledger.

First: Those Spot-on Taiwanese Political animators are at it again. This time they NAIL Michelle Obama’s trip to Spain to comfort a friend on the US taxpayer Dime (h/t Polipundit): When is the RNC going to wake up a realize their monumental investment in GOP.com is a complete and utter failure. I honestly tell you, they should hire out the company that puts out these animations and insist that all narration remain spoken in Mandarin. That’s not a reflection on how good this Taiwan company is, but how bad the GOP online presence is. I got an Email today from “GOP.com” announcing they are finally out of “Beta phase” and now are announcing GOP.COM V1. First, nicknaming your Website after the Nazi Buzz Bomb of WWII shows an appalling lack of historical knowledge on the part of the RNC. What’s next after the V1? GOP.COM PANZERFAUST? I only mention this because the GOP, as well as my Local State Party Online presence (Republican Party Of Florida) continue to be, well, so inept. As a whole, the GOP has yet to really grasp what the Online conservative Blogging sites are: An Independent source of expertise, immediate feedback and a source of new ideas to reinvigorate the party. WE ARE NOT here to reprint and put out official party propaganda whenever an email comes in from a candidates “Internet” liaison (usually a young recent College graduate who knows what Facebook is and that is his/her sole source of expertise). I say again to my GOP Leaders and RPOF leaders..you need to loosen up and make your online presence more than just a site to post press releases… It should be one of the first go-to clicks in the morning for all political junkies on both sides of the political spectrum, with instant links to breaking news, links to interesting conservative blogposts, an active team of researchers to humiliate the MSM when they deserve it and above all, be agile and, yes, have a snarky sense of humor. As things stand right now, I strongly recommend GOP.com (and RPOF.org) just to close up shop and save the money for TV commercials… Above all, quit naming your Website after Nazi “Super Weapons” that didn’t quite pan out as planned….

Brantley Gilbert is definitely used to throwing a "Small Town Throwdown," but now he's taking his party overseas. Gilbert opened up a brief international leg of his tour this past Saturday in Oslo, Norway, as part of the Country 2 Country festival, and he'll play Stockholm, Frankfurt, Cologne and Dublin before wrapping up next Sunday with a C2C date in London. It's not the singer's first time on foreign ground, as he played on a USO tour a few years ago. "We did a thing the first time where we played some smaller venues, which really took me back to the old days," he said of his first trip abroad. "To be honest, it reminded me of the way it was over here in college towns. It was amazing to watch the crowd response be as good as it was. I didn't know what to expect. I remember walking off the stage feeling really good about what had happened and felt really accepted -- especially us, because we're a little more rock than normal, so I think it worked well." Brantley Gilbert on Getting Sober: 'Success Wasn't Punching Me in the Face' Gilbert doesn't think the audiences overseas are that different compared to ones in the States. "I don't know if it's so much different, as much as it's just a wider audience," he says, adding that he feels music -- and the message behind it -- is universal. "For me, I write some songs that are really important to me, and I've got some feedback where some of them help folks and inspire people. If there is a message there, I want to spread it as far as I can. If the songs I'm writing can offer anything to somebody, I'd like to give myself the opportunity to deliver that." The Valory Music Co. recording artist says the biggest adjustment to touring abroad is the food, but he was quick to add that nothing beats a home-cooked meal at his Jefferson County, Ga., home. "I stay on the road so much that my fiancée and I were talking the other night about what I wanted her to cook. I told her I don't even remember what a home-cooked meal is. Every place you go to, they have their own little flair. I'm kind of a steadfast guy as far as what I want to eat -- a lot of protein and that kind of thing, but it is interesting to see what every country has to offer." Gilbert -- who will be heading out on the road with Kenny Chesney soon after his return -- is proud of the success of his latest disc, Just As I Am. The album has been certified gold and also netted the singer an American Music Award for favorite country album in November. He has just released the third single from the set, the touching "One Hell of an Amen." He told Billboard that he has received a lot of reaction from the song since the album dropped in May, but even more so now that the song has been released to radio. "There was one specific reaction," he recalls. "I read about a six-page email a few days ago [from a fan] whose father fought in Vietnam, came home and actually died from a battle with cancer. She said she had this grudge towards God. She thought her father had done enough fighting, and then he comes home and has to go into another battle with a completely different ending. She said this song did for her what I hope that it does for everybody. It gives an opportunity to look at such a hard situation as loss and be able to look at in a different light -- with a sense of pride and being proud of those loved ones that we have lost to the good fight. When I say that good fight, I'm referring to 'the dash' -- you have the day you're born and the day you die, and the dash is the in between. For all those that we've lost to a good fight, I hope that it gives us the opportunity to say, 'It's not goodbye.' I'm a believer, and for me, it's just goodbye for now. They have inspired me to live my life a little bit differently. I will see those folks again one day. She said that song changed the whole way she felt about the situation. She was proud of her daddy, and she understood that he was a warrior. That's what he was put on earth to do -- to fight. It wasn't so much that the deal was unfair, but he had fought his battles on earth, and God needed another soldier. That was moving to me." Brantley Gilbert's European tour dates: Feb. 28: Oslo, Norway (C2C festival) March 1: Stockholm, Sweden (C2C festival) March 4: Frankfurt, Germany March 5: Cologne, Germany March 7: Dublin, Ireland (C2C festival) March 8: London, UK (C2C festival)

For nearly 50 days, James Tullier has barely left the Baton Rouge hospital where he's held vigil for his son, a sheriff's deputy wounded in an ambush that killed three other officers — not even when his family was hit by a second tragedy, their homes wrecked in historic flooding. Tullier doesn't have time to mourn the damage to his house, or the neighboring homes of his other two sons. Doctors initially feared that Nick Tullier had less than 24 hours to live after the shooting. "The house could have washed away. It's just not a priority to us. Nick is our priority," James Tullier said during an interview at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, where James, his wife, Mary, and Nick's fiancee take shifts at his bedside. Now, the family sees a miracle. James Tullier said his 41-year-old son is in a coma but began responding to relatives' words less than a week ago — by blinking an eye, moving toes and squeezing his mother's hand. "Medically, he's not supposed to be here," Tullier said of Nick, who has two teenage sons, Trent and Gage. Early estimates indicate more than 150,000 homes in south Louisiana were destroyed or damaged in the flooding. While tens of thousands of residents have returned to salvage waterlogged belongings and muck out their homes, James Tullier hasn't even set foot inside his. He recently stopped by the property in Denham Springs — a Baton Rouge suburb where floodwaters damaged roughly 90 percent of homes and businesses — to fix his mailbox. It's all he's seen of the damage from water that topped the light switches on the home's first floor. His 83-year-old mother is living with 10 dogs — nine of them hers, one she took in after the flooding — on the second floor of the damaged house because her trailer home flooded. James Tullier's other two sons also were displaced by the damage to their homes. Tullier, 62, is staying in a motor home parked outside the hospital, while his wife and Nick's fiancee sleep at the hospital. James has taken breaks from the bedside vigil only a handful of times: to meet with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden during their respective visits after the flooding and the officers' shootings, and to attend funerals for two of the three slain officers. The fate of his home is an afterthought, though his prayers for his son's recovery now extend to friends and neighbors who lost everything in the floods. On the morning of July 17, Nick Tullier was working the day shift and eating breakfast with another East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy when they heard a radio call about an armed man near a convenience store about a mile away. They drove to the store and stopped to check on a suspicious vehicle. It belonged to the gunman, 29-year-old Gavin Long, of Kansas City, Missouri. Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said surveillance video shows Tullier look into the car, which contained firearms, and walk back to his vehicle. That's when Long emerged from a wooded area and opened fire. "They never saw him," Gautreaux said. "He hit Nick first." A SWAT officer killed Long after he fatally wounded another sheriff's deputy and two Baton Rouge police officers. James Tullier heard about the shootings from his mother, who saw a news report. "We tried to call Nick and couldn't get him," he said. "Somebody with the department called my wife's phone number and told her we needed to get to the hospital quick." There, they learned a bullet had shattered Tullier's skull and damaged his brain. Another shot pierced his abdomen, damaging his intestines. A third ripped through his left shoulder. Nick Tullier underwent roughly a dozen surgeries, all to his abdomen, in the first week after the shootings. Doctors also have operated on his head at least twice. His external wounds are slowly healing, but the internal damage remains a concern. "He's in the hands of God," James Tullier said. "Nick is a fighter, and God is right in there with him fighting." Relatives of the slain and wounded officers met privately with Obama on Aug. 23. The president also met with the family of Alton Sterling, a black man whose fatal shooting during a July 5 altercation with two white Baton Rouge police officers sparked widespread protests. James Tullier said the president introduced him to his personal physician, who called him Monday to discuss options for transferring his son to a rehabilitation facility. The family doesn't have a timetable yet for a move. "Wherever Nick goes, we go," his father said. Tullier joined the sheriff's office nearly two decades ago, serving the past 10 years in the traffic division. "He's a professional law enforcement officer, but he's more than that," Sheriff Gautreaux said. "He knows he was called to do this." Dr. Steven Gremillion — chief medical officer at the hospital, where five of the six officers shot in the attack were taken — said Tullier's survival has lifted the spirits of staff there, too. "In some ways, even though you never want events like these, it brings you together," he said. "It's black and white. It's nurse and physician. It's everyone coming together." The night before the shootings, Nick Tullier was driving home to his fiancee, Danielle, when he stopped to help a woman with a flat tire. He used a spare from his own vehicle and followed her home. The woman's daughter posted a video of the encounter on Facebook that night, writing, "Not all cops are bad cops." Tullier's father was amazed to learn that the woman with the flat tire, Tyla Carter, is related to Montrell Jackson, one of the officers killed in the shooting. Carter is the aunt of his widow, Trenisha. At Jackson's funeral, Carter and James Tullier hugged. "Nick is a hero. He's our hero," Carter said. "We're like family now, all connected together."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently ordered preparations for launching "terror" attacks on South Koreans, a top Seoul official said Thursday, as worries about the North grow after its recent nuclear test and rocket launch. In televised remarks, senior South Korean presidential official Kim Sung-woo said North Korea's spy agency has begun work to implement Kim Jong Un's order to "muster anti-South terror capabilities that can pose a direct threat to our lives and security." He said the possibility of North Korean attacks "is increasing more than ever" and asked for quick passage of an anti-terror bill in parliament. North Korea has a history of attacks on South Korea, such as the 2010 shelling on an island that killed four South Koreans and the 1987 bombing of a South Korean passenger plane that killed all 115 people on board. But it is impossible to independently confirm claims about any such attack preparations. The South Korean presidential official did not say where the latest information came from. Earlier Thursday, Seoul's National Intelligence Service briefed ruling Saenuri Party members on a similar assessment on North Korea's attack preparations, according to one of the party officials who attended the private meeting. During the briefing, the NIS, citing studies on past North Korean provocations and other unspecified assessments, said the attacks could target anti-Pyongyang activists, defectors and government officials in South Korea, the party official said requesting anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to media publicly. Attacks on subways, shopping malls and other public places could also happen, he said. The official quoted the NIS as saying North Korea could launch poisoning attacks on the activists and defectors, or lure them to China where they would be kidnapped. The Saenuri official refused to say whether the briefing discussed how the information was obtained. The NIS, which has a mixed record on predicting developments in North Korea, said it could not confirm its reported assessment. The standoff with North Korea is not expected to ease soon, as Seoul and Washington are discussing deploying a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in South Korea that Pyongyang warns would be a source of regional tension. The allies also say their annual springtime military drills will be the largest ever. South Korea's defense minister said Thursday that about 15,000 U.S. troops will take part, double of the number Washington normally sends. The North says the drills are preparation for a northward invasion. Seoul defense officials also said that they began preliminary talks on Feb. 7 with the United States on deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, the same day North Korea conducted what it said was a satellite launch but is condemned by Seoul and Washington as a banned test of missile technology. The talks are aimed at working out details for formal missile deployment talks, such as who'll represent each side, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry. The deployment is opposed by China and Russia too. Opponents say the system could help U.S. radar spot missiles in other countries. The United States on Wednesday flew four stealth F-22 fighter jets over South Korea and reaffirmed it maintains an "ironclad commitment" to the defense of its Asian ally. Last month, it sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber to South Korea following the North's fourth nuclear test. Foreign analysts say the North's rocket launch and nuclear test put the country further along it its quest for a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

← Use Arrows Keys → The Toronto International Film Festival has come to an end, and we've been lucky to see some of the biggest names in film filter in through the Canadian city. Jennifer Aniston paired up with her costars Tim Robbins and Will Forte for a cocktail party in celebration of their film, Life of Crime, and Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney gave My Best Friend's Wedding fans a thrill when they reunited at the premiere of their new movie, August: Osage County. Reese Witherspoon made a quick trip to Toronto to debut her film Devil's Knot, and Mila Kunis showed skin in a white dress for the Third Person premiere at the festival. Plenty more stars made the trek north like Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who had fun celebrating their film, Don Jon, and Marion Cotillard, who looked glamorous to premiere her film Blood Ties. Jennifer Garner linked up with Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto to debut Dallas Buyers Club, and Chris Hemsworth was flanked by his brothers, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth, for Rush's debut. Sandra Bullock also popped up in Toronto to promote her film Gravity during the festivities. Plenty more famous faces popped up in Canada for the festival, including Labor Day stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin; Keira Knightley for her latest project, Can a Song Save Your Life?; and 12 Years a Slave stars Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The fun has come to an end until next year, so click through to see all of the stars at the 2013 TIFF!

Breaking News Sport Sport Union News National Forget Kurtley Beale, the Wallabies know this will be an old-fashioned trans-Tasman Test that's won and lost up front. A Bledisloe Cup battle decided in the engine room, not by the glamour boy backs. While much of the focus over the past week has centred on Beale's contentious selection - and retention - as Australia's five-eighth, the Wallabies acknowledge their playmaker will be powerless to stop the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday if the gold scrum is going backwards. "It starts with the set piece," said Wallabies hooker Nathan Charles. Advertisement And finishes with the set piece. Especially under French referee Romaine Poite. Poite is equally as officious at scrum time as Jaco Peyper, the South African who blew the pea out of the whistle in last Saturday's 12-12 draw against the All Blacks in Sydney. Poite is also the same referee who punished Australia's scrum during last year's series-deciding 41-16 third Test loss to the British and Irish Lions in Sydney. Australia's oft-maligned scrum held its own with the might and power of New Zealand's last Saturday, but coach Ewen McKenzie knows that critics - and referees - can be fickle. "Like all parts of the game, we've made progress (with our scrum)," McKenzie said. "But I also know one bad at the day at the office (and) the headlines come out. They all get dusted off and they come out again. "So we can't afford to have a bad day at the office." Otherwise Poite could have the Wallabies reliving a recurring nightmare. "You've got to build reputation over time," McKenzie said. "You can trash it overnight, but it takes to build and he was on the sideline (for the first Test), so he would have watched it naturally and been probably forming an opinion. "There's no doubt that the French referees at scrum time will favour scrums going forward. That's the sort of philosophical approach in French rugby, which I understand. "So you've got to make sure you aren't going backwards. You have got to be able to get parity at least and then you've got a platform to play with." McKenzie believes noises coming out of New Zealand this week indicate the All Blacks - who can retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 12th straight year with victory in Auckland - plan to get "back to the basics" and "get the fundamentals right" on Saturday. "So we know from the first minute of the game they're going to come hard and they'll do that through the forwards," McKenzie said. "They'll obviously take us on at the set piece ... pick and drive and be trying to impose themselves and getting on the front foot. "So we'll train accordingly this week. There's going to be another level of physicality up front and we have to be ready for that."

Breaking News Sport National Sport AFL News AAP Star AFL midfielder Ryan Griffen has taken over from Matthew Boyd as captain at the Western Bulldogs. Apart from making this year's All-Australian team, Griffen also won his second club best-and-fairest award. Boyd had led the Bulldogs for the past three seasons, but missed nine games this year because of injury. Griffen, 27, has played 183 games for the 'Dogs since they took him with the No.3 pick in the 2004 national draft. Advertisement "Its a huge honour to lead this club, a club I love dearly," he told the club website. "I'm extremely humbled, that the coaches, staff and my teammates nominated me as the person to captain the club." Griffen filled in as captain this season when Boyd was injured. Boyd then encouraged him to take the job full-time. "Matthew has been a great leader of this club, particularly through some challenging times over the past three years where he shouldered some enormous responsibility both on and off the field," coach Brendan McCartney said on the AFL website. "We see Ryan as the right person to help take this club forward and we look forward to seeing him continue to grow as a leader, player and person."

Everyone seems to be getting into the tablet PC game, hoping to steal some mind (and wallet) share from Apple's iPad, and that includes Sony. According to reports from PC World and the Financial Times, Sony's CFO Nobuyuki Oneda recently stated that “Sony is very much interested in this segment of the market and we have [the] necessary technology." Considering that Sony completely whiffed on its chances to compete with the iPod and failed miserably with the Mylo family of mobile communication devices (remember those?), it might not be the best competitor to take on Steve Jobs' latest creation. On the other hand, Sony's e-book readers have been well received, and the company is a major laptop player. One strike against the Japanese electronics giant: Oneda already admits that "There is no denying that we are running a bit behind" Apple's forthcoming launch. So how can Sony compete when Apple clearly has momentum (from its built-in fanboy audience, if not a more skeptical general public) and may be able to create an iPad ecosystem of customized apps that extends the successful iPhone infrastructure? It may release a tablet with its own app store, but Sony's previous attempts at these marketplaces (be it for music or otherwise) have flopped. It could create one running a version of Windows 7, though that wouldn't necessarily have apps that are specifically designed to run for the device. Let's not forget that there have been Windows-based tablets for some time now, and they've only attracted a niche audience. Is Sony the top company to challenge the iPad? If not, who else is best equipped to rumble with Apple, tablet style? And how can they beat the iPad at its own game (running simultaneous apps would be a good place to start)? Or can they? Let us know in the TalkBack Section.

The morning session at DEMOfall 07 featured companies trying to solve aspects of the meeting madness and collaboration with Web 2.0 goodness. Dimdim launched what CEO DD Ganguly called "the world’s first, free and open source Web meeting solution." He took a shot at the leader in Web conferencing, WebEx, claiming that DimDim is changing the rules of the game. "You show slides, desktops, talk and listen, broadcast webcams and chat with zero installation," he stated. So far 125,000 companies are using DimDim, Ganguly said. The software is open source (with some exceptions, such as the whiteboarding feature) and based on the Mozilla Public License. The hosted services uses Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud, which allows the company to only pay for the compute resources it needs. And, the company is well funded to take on WebEx (Cisco) and Microsoft with its conferencing solution. Dimdim’s investors are Draper Richards, Index Ventures, and Nexus India Capital. Dimdim is adding new features, such as annotations in a collaboration workspace; polls and question manager; recording and archiving; private labeling and skins; Active Directory integration; Outlook and Google calendar integration; and integration with external applications. It appears that the free version will be joined by a paid version that includes premium features and support. Yuuguu (Japanese for "fusion") also demoed a remote access service. It offers remote access to a Mac or PC for free and allows users to remotely control other computers. Yuuguu Webshare allows online meeting to be set up without any download, via a URL and pin code. Tungle is a peer-to-peer meeting coordinator that works across organizations with Outlook today and soon with Google Calendar, Lotus Notes and iCal. The user's calendar is stored on their computer along with those of people with whom they choose to share their calendar. Tungle synchronizes the calendar sharing in its P2P network. Users can create temporary Web spaces to coordinate meetings with Tungle and non-Tungle users.The free service, which includes a zero configuration plug-in, is launching in the fall and the company will introduce a premium, fee-based version that allows users to share details of their calendars with others. Vello launched a nicely simple conference calling service with both Web and mobile solutions. You select members for a conference call from a list of contacts (it works with Outlook), hit send, participants push 1 and the call gets underway with toll-quality audio. Vello charges 15¢ per minute per person, with an introductory rate of 12¢ minute through December 31, 2007 (new customers receive 200 free minutes).

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Q3 2011 Earnings Call October 31, 2011 10:00 am ET Executives Thomas F. Motamed - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Member of Awards Committee, Member of Proxy Committee, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Finance Committee D. Craig Mense - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Executive Vice President Nancy M. Bufalino - Assistant Treasurer Analysts Ron Bobman - Capital Returns Management Robert Glasspiegel - Langen McAlenney Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research Jay A. Cohen - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division Operator Good day, and welcome to the CNA Financial Corporation's Third Quarter 2011 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Nancy Bufalino. Please go ahead. Nancy M. Bufalino Thank you, Katie. Good morning, and welcome to CNA's third quarter 2011 earnings call. Hopefully, you've had an opportunity to review our press release, which was released early this morning along with our financial supplement. Both can be found on the CNA website at www.cna.com. On the call this morning are Tom Motamed, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Craig Mense, our Chief Financial Officer. Following Tom and Craig's remarks about the quarterly results, we will open it up for your questions. Before turning it over to Tom, I would like to advise everyone that during this call, there may be forward-looking statements made and references to non-GAAP financial measures. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made during this call. Information concerning those risks is contained in the earnings release and in CNA's most recent 10-K and 10-Q on file with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements speak only as of today, Monday, October 31, 2011, and CNA expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements made during this call. Regarding non-GAAP measures, reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures have also been provided in our most recent 10-K and 10-Q, as well as the financial supplement. This call is being recorded and webcast. During the next week, the call may be accessed again on CNA's website. Now I will turn the call over to CNA's Chairman and CEO, Tom Motamed. Thomas F. Motamed Thank you, Nancy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Before Craig provides you with details of our operating and financial performance, I would like to share with you some of the reasons I am so optimistic about many of the initiatives we have underway at CNA. Everyone knows the third quarter was yet another quarter of significant natural catastrophe losses for the industry. Despite that fact, CNA delivered a combined ratio of 99.1%, which included only 3.1 points of catastrophes. Catastrophes are part of the business, and we continue to believe we are effective in managing these exposures. The operational strategies and people we put in place a few years ago are beginning to pay off. We are delighted that our net premiums -- net written premiums grew 8% in the quarter, 10% in Commercial and 6% in Specialty. Exposure growth for the quarter was positive for both Commercial and Specialty. We are seeing additional audit premiums in Commercial as opposed to return premiums a year ago. Rates were slightly positive in Specialty for the second quarter in a row and Commercial rates continue their climb for the fourth consecutive quarter. In addition to rate actions, we continue to shed lower quality risks to improve our underwriting margins. Favorable prior year development lowered our third quarter combined ratio by 5 points. Our track record of favorable development now extends over 19 consecutive quarters. Excluding the impacts of favorable reserve development in catastrophe losses, our combined ratio improved to 101% in this year's third quarter from 103.7% in last year's comparable period. This margin improvement was driven by the continued improvement in our net accident year noncat loss ratio in commercial lines, down fully 3 points from a year ago to 69.8%. The ratio for the first 9 months of 2011 was 70.1%, 2 points below full year 2010. With that, I will now turn it over to Craig. Craig? D. Craig Mense Thanks, Tom. Good morning, everyone. In the third quarter, CNA's net operating income was $91 million and operating return on equity of 3.4%. Operating income available to common shareholders was $0.34 per common share. All the year-over-year comparisons are favorable, given that last year's results included the impact of the asbestos and environmental pollution Loss Portfolio Transfer with National Indemnity Company. The quarter's -- this quarter's earnings were significantly influenced by our limited partnership investment results and, to a lesser extent, catastrophe losses. There's one other small item I would also like to bring to your attention related to our agreement to sell our 50% ownership share in First Insurance Company of Hawaii. Because of the timing of the transaction, which affects the tax treatment applied to those undistributed earnings, we increased income tax expense by $22 million, which reduced third quarter operating EPS by $0.08 per common share. On anticipated closing in the fourth quarter, we would expect to record a modest realized capital gain. The quarter's results do reflect our continued progress towards our longer-term goals of improved margins, scale, earnings consistency and financial stability. Third quarter net income was $75 million and included after-tax realized capital losses of $16 million. The realized capital losses included impairment losses of $50 million after-tax and were driven by intent to sell decisions, which are part of our ongoing portfolio management. We continue to build on the strength of our balance sheet and improve our financial flexibility. All key capital adequacy metrics remain at or above our target levels, and our liquidity profile remains strong. Book value per common share increased 2% from the end of the second quarter of 2011 to $43.85 per share. The increase was driven by earnings and improvement in the market value of our investment portfolio. At the end of the third quarter, our investment portfolio's pretax net unrealized gains stood at approximately $2.6 billion, an increase of approximately $750 million from the end of the second quarter. Approximately 3/4 of the quarterly change in our unrealized gains was generated by the longer-term assets supporting our Life & Group segment. A substantial portion of these mass portfolio gains were offset by additional reserves also recognized in other comprehensive income. Our common shareholders' equity excluding other comprehensive income was $10.9 billion or $40.56 per common share at September 30, 2011, up slightly from the end of this year's second quarter. Our statutory surplus was $9.8 billion as compared to $10.1 billion at the end of this year's second quarter. The decrease was largely driven by $150 million repayment of the $1 billion surplus note originally issued in 2008. This latest surplus note repayment leaves an outstanding balance of $250 million at the end of the third quarter. Our primary insurance company continues to maintain approximately $1 billion of dividend capacity. Cash and short-term investments held at the holding company level increased to slightly over $320 million. The full $250 million of our credit facility also remains available to us. In the third quarter of 2011, operating cash flow excluding trading activity improved to approximately $400 million. Additionally, we received approximately $600 million of cash principal repayments through paydowns, bond calls and maturities. We continue to sustain our disciplined reserving practices. Our Property & Casualty business segment benefited from $90 million of pretax favorable prior year development. Favorable development in Commercial was driven by noncash property in accident years 2008 through 2010. In Specialty, favorable development was driven by medical professional liability in accident years 2008 and prior. Net operating income during the third quarter included pretax net investment income of $394 million as compared to $581 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to our limited partnership investments. These investments produced third quarter pretax losses of $93 million in 2011 as compared to pretax income of $68 million in 2010. Our LP losses were driven by negative equity market returns, widening credit spreads and overall capital market volatility. I would point out that while the loss is disappointing, these investments continue to perform as we would expect and bring diversification to the overall portfolio with less volatility and higher absolute returns on equities. As an aside, these investments produced third quarter negative return of approximately 4%, while the S&P 500 total return was a negative 14%. Year-to-date, our LP investment return was approximately 1% as compared to a negative 9% for the S&P 500. Over the last 10 years, our LP investments have produced an annualized return of approximately 8%. This compares to 3% total returns for the S&P 500. Fixed maturity security income declined 3% as compared to the third quarter 2010, reflecting today's lower market yields. With respect to our holdings, you will notice that we have included information in our financial supplement outlining our European sovereign debt, financial institution and overall exposure. Securities in this category are in a net unrealized gain position with no significant concentration in countries with troubled economies. We made relatively minor changes to our investment portfolio sector allocations this quarter. Overall, our investment portfolio remains well-diversified, liquid, high-quality and aligned with our business objectives. The current allocation of the asset is in line with our established longer-term targets. The average credit quality of the fixed maturity portfolio remained at A. The fixed income assets, which support our long-duration life-like liability, had an effective duration of 11.4 years at quarter end, essentially unchanged for the end of this year's second quarter and in line with portfolio targets. We did act to further shorten the effective duration of the fixed income assets which support our traditional P&C liabilities to 4.0 years at quarter end, down from 4.4 years at the end of this year's second quarter and 4.5 years at 2010 year end. Our capital management activities included the previously mentioned agreement to sell our 50% ownership interest in First Insurance Company of Hawaii to Tokio Marine. We expect the sale to close in the fourth quarter with proceeds of approximately $165 million. Finally, we announced a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.10 per share in line with the past 2 quarters. With that, I will turn it back to Tom. Thomas F. Motamed Thanks, Craig. All in all, the third quarter was marked by continued improvement in the fundamentals of our core Property & Casualty Operations. The highlights were: net written premium growth of 8%, driven by rate increases and new business in targeted customer segments as well as exposure growth and positive audit premiums; improvement in our Commercial segment's net accident year non-cat loss ratio, driven by rate increases, shedding lower quality risks and mixed shifting to more profitable business; continued attractive returns from our Specialty business; manageable catastrophe losses in a quarter of heavy industry-wide losses through the continued disciplined catastrophe management process; a steady run rate expense ratio with increased efficiencies, funding our investments to drive growth and profit. With that, we'll take your questions. Question-and-Answer Session Operator [Operator Instructions] We'll go first to Jay Cohen with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Jay A. Cohen - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division A couple of questions. The first is on the change in price, premium rates on the Commercial side, up 2% you had mentioned, I guess, which is consistent with what you had been seeing earlier in the year. Did you get any sense during the quarter if things progressively change, hopefully got better during the quarter? Because others have mentioned that. I'm wondering if you had seen that. Thomas F. Motamed Yes. I think, Jay, the first thing is if you look at the first quarter in Commercial, rates were up 1.2%, in the second quarter 1.8% and this quarter, 2.4%. So we see rates continuing to get stronger in Commercial. All of our U.S. businesses by line at positive rate in this quarter, we had slightly negative rates in Canada and Europe. But overall, very solid and we think it's building, developing, whatever you want to describe that. But we're pretty pleased with what's happening on with rates now. Exposure has picked up as well, so we had positive exposure. So we report pure rate, some companies report price. So if you took the rate and exposure to it, it's more near 3.5 points. So we think it's moving in the right direction. Jay A. Cohen - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division And then I guess, the question was September hopefully was better than what you saw in July, let's say? Thomas F. Motamed Yes, that would be true. And August is kind of a low month. It's not a big premium month. So you have variability by month. Jay A. Cohen - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division Right. On the portfolio, I'm wondering on the mortgage side if you're seeing prepayments play a role in how it shapes your portfolio at all. Richard Waldo Scott Yes, this is Richard Scott. Let me respond to that. Within the agency portfolio, we made a decision relatively early in the game that we would avoid height[indiscernible] coupons. And so the bulk of what we own at this point is 3.5, 4, 4.5 at most type coupons. Secondly, a lot of our agency exposure is actually in CMO forms, where we have at least an added element of prepayment stability. So if you look at prepayment rates, they picked up a little bit generally across the industry with absolute rates being very low, but we have not had a significant impact on the portfolio from that to date. D. Craig Mense So Jay, this is Craig. If you're look at fixed income, there is a small tick down as a result of -- that you're seen in fixed income as a result of prepayment, but it's a pretty small number. Operator We'll take our next question from Bob Glasspiegel with Langen McAlenney. Robert Glasspiegel - Langen McAlenney With you starting to show some premium growth, wondering where we should be thinking about the expense ratio trending from 31.9% level of Q3? Is that a good run rate? Or are we still investing for growth? Or do we have the infrastructure where you want it? Thomas F. Motamed We'll try to answer those. First of all, we do believe we have the investments in place relative to growing our business, so we don't expect to invest a lot more in that area, number one. Number two, when you look at the expense ratio, and I think Craig has said this on prior quarters, you got to think of a little higher, it's probably in the 33% range as the run rate. But clearly as we keep our controllable expenses in line and we grow the business, you will expect that the expense ratio naturally will go down. So yes, we believe -- we have never believed that we have an expense problem. We always have believed that we had a growth problem. And we think we are dealing with the growth problem in a measured way and we believe that over time the expense ratio will go down. Robert Glasspiegel - Langen McAlenney Okay. You did a really good job of matching your portfolio on the life side to what's happened. On the long-term care business, there's still this sort of ongoing cash flow, which is tough to match[indiscernible]. What does the current interest rate environment play to that business and... D. Craig Mense Bob, this is Craig. I mean, if you look at that at the life business in total, you can see that we're adding about $200 million to invested assets a quarter. And certainly, the current investment environment produces more of a long-term threat than any kind of immediate threat, so we're -- the portfolio is very well-matched and we're above the hurdles there [indiscernible] and the liabilities at present. It's really more of a question for ourselves than others to answer about how long do you expect the current environment to persist. But it's not an immediate issue. Robert Glasspiegel - Langen McAlenney So what's your current spread there? D. Craig Mense We haven't disclosed that, Bob. Robert Glasspiegel - Langen McAlenney Okay. But you said you're in a comfortable spread. Was that the word or positive spread? How did you characterize it? D. Craig Mense I'd say comfortable. Operator We'll take our next question from Amit Kumar with Macquarie Capital. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research Just going back to the discussion on pricing, can you talk about new pricing versus renewal business pricing? And what is your expectation of margin improvement in both Specialty and Commercial going into 2012? Thomas F. Motamed Well, no one can predict the future, but clearly, we are going to continue to push rates. As I said earlier, we've seen very good rate improvements in Commercial. And Specialty now has 2 quarters of positive rates, so we will continue to push on that. When we get to pricing, what I'd say, first of all, we're talking about the U.S. And Specialty in the third quarter, what we found was new business pricing was slightly stronger than our renewal pricing. Now it varies by product, but in the aggregate, it was stronger. So I think we're pretty pleased with what we're seeing in the Specialty area. One thing to remember, if you look at the D&O business, I think that has been a pretty tough road for every carrier out there. But we have a very diverse Specialty business between all the professional services, healthcare, et cetera, so we have an advantage there and we think, overall, we're able to get price stronger than our renewal book. Once again, in Commercial, it does fluctuate. We would say it's a little bit less for new. And I mean, a little bit. But the other thing you have to look at is the quality of the new business that we're bringing in is far better than the old renewal book that I inherited a few years ago. So clearly, you cannot make an exact comparison because we have changed the mix. We have changed the customer segments. We've done a lot to re-profile the book in Commercial, so I'm not concerned that the pricing might be a little bit less than the renewal book. The renewal book needs more rates. But the new business that we're bringing on, we believe, we're bringing on at better pricing, better terms and conditions. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research All right, that's actually helpful. Just on the flip side, on the capital management issue, in terms of capital allocation and excess capital, I know we've talked about a special dividend in the past. And at that time you had said that, that's a fourth quarter discussion topic. I'm just wondering where do we stand on that discussion now and does the change in the market condition -- the rates we're getting now, is it more likely now that you might deploy the capital? Or are we still talking about revisiting the special dividend question later on? D. Craig Mense Well, Amit, this is Craig. I'd say, first, I'll just remind you that we don't comment on future capital actions on the call until we make a decision. Second, all those capital discussions that we've had in the past on these calls whether they're increasing, and I do this kind of in order of preference here, increasing the common shareholder dividend, whether it's considered a special dividend. Although I think we said on previous calls is that one-time special dividend we didn't think has that significant of an impact. So it has a lesser importance to increasing the common shareholder dividend. I know we talked about buying back shares and why we didn't think that was a realistic option, given the float and the ownership. We still continue to look at things we might do with the runoff businesses. And of course, we have strategic options with potential acquisitions that might help scale, strategic bolt-on that might help scale. So at the moment, all those things are open to us and at the moment, we feel happy to have them remain open. And I think then the other thing is to just reemphasize that we're really more focused on improving the numerator than anything. So what's most important is improving the earnings in the Property & Casualty business and acting to continue to mitigate it, if not eliminate the losses from the Life & Group runoff. As I'm sure you can appreciate all those things, then would give us more confidence to act on all the capital options. Thomas F. Motamed Amit, this is Tom. I'd just say that Craig gave you a very thorough response to your question. The good news here is we have many more options today than we had a few years ago, so we will be judicious about what we choose to do. And quite honestly, as Craig said, we have been focused on getting the P&C operational piece in an improvement mode, so it's great to have options. And we'll choose some of those options at the right time. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research Got it. And just one other numbers question. On Page 11 of your supplement in the prior year development section, can you remind us why the prior year premium development number is so high compared to past quarter? D. Craig Mense It's really a reevaluation in the Specialty business this quarter of the reserves. They were associated with some of scale business in the medical liability product. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research And this is a one-time? Okay, that's very helpful. Operator [Operator Instructions] We'll take another question from Ron Bobman with Capital Returns. Ron Bobman - Capital Returns Management First question today. I actually have a question and a comment. What renewal policy retention is due for Commercial and Specialty this quarter as compared to the preceding quarter? And I had a comment. Thomas F. Motamed In Commercial, the retention was 78.6% compared to the third quarter of 2010, it was 80.9%. We are pleased with that. We will even continue to sacrifice retention to get more rates. So the number going down to us suggests we're pushing rate harder and the numbers support that. If you look at Specialty third quarter, the third quarter, basically, it's flat, 86% this year in the third quarter, 86.3% last year's third quarter. Ron Bobman - Capital Returns Management How about compared to the second quarter this year? I'm sorry I don't have it on my fingertips. Thomas F. Motamed Yes. Second quarter, Commercial was 78.8%. This quarter, 78.6%. And Specialty was 85.9% in the prior quarter, 86% this quarter. Ron Bobman - Capital Returns Management And my comment is I think that the -- just as a comment. You get what you pay for. I think the valuation on the stock [indiscernible] multiple is it's fairly pathetic. And I think given the capital position of the company, that you should ignore the significance of the float and the magnitude of the valuation discount is just too severe to prioritize the magnitude of the float. And I guess, I would just say the valuation discount is too severe given the progress that's been made with this company and the caliber of management for you to ignore a more aggressive capital action with respect to buying back your stock. It's just too compelling. Operator We'll take a follow-up from Amit Kumar with Macquarie Capital. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research Just a set of cleanup questions. First of all, can you talk about the DAC adjustment, if any, you should expect going into 2012? D. Craig Mense You shouldn't expect anything significant. And when you see the Q, you'll see that we actually do have some disclosure there. So we haven't completed our work. But we would expect when we do conclude, that we would adopt it retrospectively. And the one-time charge to equity would be something in the $50 million to $85 million after-tax, so $0.20 to $0.30 a share. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research Got it. That's helpful. And the only other question is just on the broader discussion on LPs and investment income. Is there any lag? Or just based on the market rally or, I guess, the turnaround we have seen, does the this $93 million, does a part of it reverse? Or is there any lag in the reporting of LP investments? D. Craig Mense No, I think what you should expect, and what we said in the past, is that our LPs, our alternative investments, are largely hedge funds and they largely reflect current market value. So something like 85% of those investments are on a 1-month or less lag. So that means that the third quarter's results, that $93 million loss reflects the third quarter market. And the fourth quarter likewise ought to reflect the fourth quarter market. So we would expect some bounce-back given the current environment. But this is early on, all right, before we get there. So I think I'd refrain from speculating. But it is important to note that they're very much on a current reporting. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research Basis. Okay, that's all. And just one other thing, was there any reinsurance adjustment? Or did you renew your reinsurance treaty in Q3? D. Craig Mense No. Our next big treaty is a cat, which is in the fourth quarter. I think maybe what you're seeing, which is definitely helping the growth in commercial lines, is that you recall that we said one of the big improvements we made was to property underwriting when Tom got here. Well, that's also improved our ability to reduce our cost of reinsurance on property, which has pretty meaningful impact to net written premium this quarter. So we're getting the benefit of those reduced reinsurance costs. Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research And your treaty renews in Q4. Is that what you said? D. Craig Mense I'm sorry, say that again, Amit? Amit Kumar - Macquarie Research The reinsurance treaty, it renews in Q4? D. Craig Mense January 1. Operator With no additional questions in the queue, that does conclude CNA Financial's Third Quarter 2011 Earnings Conference Call. We appreciate your participation. Thomas F. Motamed Thank you. Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. However, we view them as an important resource for bloggers and journalists, and are excited to contribute to the democratization of financial information on the Internet. 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By Andrew McDonald, Ph.D., Ning Yang, Ph.D. Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ:ZIOP) is a biopharmaceutical company that employs molecular and synthetic biology techniques to develop cancer therapies. Its lead compound is palifosfamide (ZIO-201), which targets patients with soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Palifosfamide is currently being studied in two Phase III trials. PICASSO 3 is an ongoing Phase III trial evaluating palifosfamide in conjuction with doxorubicin for the front-line treatment of patients with metastatic STS, whereas MATISSE is an adaptive Phase III trial evaluating palifosfamide in combination with carboplatin and etoposide as a treatment for patients with extensive-stage SCLC. Results for PICASSO 3 trial is anticipated in 2H2012. Ziopharm currently has total cash of $110.39M, a market cap of $406.34M and an enterprise value of $286.52M (August 15, 2012). With two Phase III trials ongoing, we look to possible inflection points in late-2012 and beyond, and believe that Ziopharma's stock will be volatile following the release of positive PICASSO 2 overall survival and PICASSO 3 progression-free survival (PFS) data. PFS is the primary endpoint of both trials. Palifosfamide Palifosfamide is a novel DNA-targeted alkylating agent which bypasses drug resistance mediated by aldehyde dehydrogenase, an enzyme associated with cancer stem cells. Ziopharm claimed that palifosfamide was carefully design to have similar efficacy compared to other in-class agents with significantly improved safety profile. Intravenous (IV) palifosfamide is currently being evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III trial (PICASSO 3) for first-line metastatic STC indication and also in a pivotal Phase III trial (MATISSE) for first-line metastatic SCLC indication. In addition, Ziopharm is developing an oral formulation for palifosfamide. The Investigational New Drug Application for the oral formulation was approved in February 2012. Ziopharm has obtained Orphan Drug Designation for palifosfamide in both the U.S. and EU for the treatment of STS. The company has been granted three patents covering palifosfamide's pharmaceutical composition in the U.S., with two scheduled to expire in 2029 and one in 2020. Three foreign patents have been issued in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, with 47 foreign patent applications pending. Soft-Tissue Sarcoma is cancer of soft tissues (including fat, muscle, nerve, and nerve sheath, blood vessels, and other connective tissues). In the U.S., the annul incidence of STS for 2012 is estimated to be about 11,280 cases, with an overall mortality rate of approximately 3,900 cases per year, including adults and children.[1] According to the company, there are approximately 100,000 patients worldwide who are initially diagnosed with STS every year. Metastatic STS arises when the disease has reoccurred and surgery is no longer an option. Doxorubicin is the only FDA-approved front-line therapy in the U.S. for the treatment of metastatic STS. PICASSO 2 Phase II Trial Ziopharm has been developing palifosfamide in conjunction with doxorubicin to treat patients with metastatic STC. The company initiated a randomized, open-label, cross-over, Phase II trial (PICASSO 2) in 2H2008, to compare palifosfamide + doxorubicin to doxorubicin alone in patients with front- or second-line metastatic or unresectable STS. Sixty-seven patients were enrolled in the study with 62 patients eligible for evaluation. The median PFS for the palifosfamide + doxorubicin arm is 7.8 months as compared to 4.4 months for the doxorubicin arm. The hazard ratio for the PFS is 0.427 (95% CI: 0.191, 0.951) favoring the palifosfamide + doxorubicin arm (p-value = 0.019). Response rate was 23% for the palifosfamide + doxorubicin arm as compared to 9% for the doxorubicin arm. In addition, the company reported that both arms had clinically similar safety profiles. However, little details in toxicity were provided. Preliminary OS data released in February 2012 also indicated a hazard ratio of 0.78 favoring the palifosfamide arm (with a 2-year survival rate of 40% compared to 30%). The study continues to track OS events and final results are expected to be reported in 2H2012. PICASSO 3 Phase III Trial In 2Q2012, Ziopharm completed enrollment in the pivotal Phase III trial (PICASSO 3) for first-line metastatic STS. PICASSO 3 is an international, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial with 424 patients randomized 1:1 to receive palifosfamide + doxorubicin or doxorubicin + placebo. Outcome in PFS, the primary endpoint of the study for accelerated approval, is anticipated in 4Q2012, and OS data is expected to be reported one year later. Small Cell Lung Cancer is the most aggressive form of lung cancers. It spreads much more quickly than non-small cell lung cancer. In 2012, it is estimated that approximately 33,900 new cases of SCLC will occur in the U.S.[2,3] The estimated annual incidence worldwide is 200,000 patients.[4] China annual incidence alone has grown to over 150,000 patients.[5] Almost all cases of SCLC are due to cigarette smoking. Platinum + etoposide is the current standard of care for front-line setting, and topotecan is only FDA-approved second-line therapy. Phase Ib Trial was a multicenter, open-label, dose escalation study of IV palifosfamide in combination with etoposide and carboplatin in patients with SCLC and other selected cancers. A total of 22 patients (11 females and 11 males) were enrolled in the study (7 with SCLC, 3 with non-SCLC, 3 with ovarian cancer, 1 with germ cell tumor and 8 with other cancers). The maximum tolerated dose of palifosfamide was 130 mg/m2 along with 90 mg/m2 etoposide and carboplatin. The dose limiting toxicity was neutropenic fever. Of the 6 patients with SCLC evaluable for efficacy, 2 showed partial response, 2 stable disease, and 2 progressive disease. MATISSE Phase III Trial Ziopharm is currently enrolling up SCLC patients who have not received initial chemotherapy in an adaptive, multi-center, open-label, randomized, adaptive, Phase III trial, MATISSE, evaluating palifosfamide in combination with etoposide and carboplatin. Up to 548 patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive palifosfamide + etoposide + carboplatin or etoposide + carboplatin. The primary endpoint of the study is OS, and the secondary endpoints are PFS, objective response rate, quality of life, and disease related symptoms. On June 11, 2012, Ziopharm announced dosing of 1st patient in the trial. Other Clinical Trials for Metastatic Soft-Tissue Sarcoma We have conducted our due diligence on the competitive landscape for metastatic STS (see Figure 1). Overall, metastatic STS is a disease with significantly unmet medical need. The only FDA-approved (in 1974) front-line chemotherapy, doxorubicin, has yielded disappointing results in advanced STS.[6] Ifosfamide, composed with doxorubicin, although resulting in consistent response rate ranging between 10-25%, does not yield any survival advantage. [7] Imatinib, branded as Gleevec, was granted accelerated approval in February 2002 by the FDA for the adjuvant treatment of patients with Kit-positive unresectable and/or metastatic malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumor, a subgroup of STS. On December 19, 2008, the FDA approved imatinib for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients following complete gross resection of Kit positive GIST, followed by regular approval on January 31, 2012. The drug, developed and marketed by Novartis (NYSE:NVS), was designed to target the activating mutations of stem cell factor, c-Kit, and the platelet derived growth factor. In multiple Phase II and III trials, Imatinib has produced high overall response rates and exceptionally good PFS for patients with unresectable and/or metastatic GIST, and has yielded objective responses in more than 50% of the patients.[8,9,10,11] Sunitinib malate, marketed as Sutent by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), is an oral, small-molecule, multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The drug was approved by the FDA in 2006 for the treatment of GIST after disease progression on or intolerance to imatinib. Its approval was based upon a two-arm, international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with GST who were intolerant of imatinib. Three hundred and twelve patients were randomized 2:1 to receive imatinib or placebo. The PFS for the imatinib arm was 24.1 months as compared to 6.0 months for the placebo group [HR = 0.33 (95% CI: 0.24, 0.47; p<0.0001)], while the objective response rate was 6.8% (95% CI: 3.7, 11.1) as opposed to 0%.[12] On April 26, 2012, the FDA approved pazopanib tablets, branded as VOTRIENT by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), for the treatment of patients with advanced STS who have received prior chemotherapy. Pazopanib is a multi-targeted angiogenesis inhibitor. The approval was based on a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial in patients with metastatic STS who had received prior chemotherapy, including an anthracycline. Three hundred and sixty-nine patients were randomized 2:1 to receive pazopanib 800 mg orally daily or placebo. The median PFS was 4.6 months for the pazopanib arm as compared to 1.6 months for placebo arm [HR = 0.35 (95% CI: 0.26, 0.48; p<0.001)]. The objective response rate was 4% for the pazopanib arm as opposed to 0% in the placebo arm. The median OS was 12.6 and 10.7 months for the pazopanib and placebo arms, respectively (HR=0.87; 95% CI: 0.67, 1.12). Common adverse events (AES) (>20%) included fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, weight loss, hypertension, decreased appetite, vomiting, tumor pain, hair color changes, musculoskeletal pain, headache, dysgeusia, dyspnea and skin hypopigmentation. Ridaforolimus is a potent mTOR inhibitor co-developed by Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARIA). In a randomized Phase III trial, 711 patients were randomized 1:1 to receive ridaforolimus or placebo. According to the FDA's analysis, the median PFS was 16.1 weeks for the ridaforolimus arm as compared to 14 weeks for the placebo arm [HR=0.74; 95% CI: 0.63-0.88; p = 0.0006]. The median OS data was not statistically significant. Due to marginal improvement in PFS and safety concern, ridaforolimus was rejected by the FDA. Trabectedin (Yondelis) is an antitumor agent of marine origin produced by chemical synthesis. It binds to minor groove of the DNA and results in cell apoptosis. The drug received market authorization from the European Commission (EC) for the treatment of advanced or metastatic STS in 2007 and is currently marketed by Zeltia in the EU and by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) worldwide. Trabectedin has shown objective responses in two independent, multicenter, Phase II studies performed in the U.S. for patients with unresectable STS. A total of 72 patients were enrolled with 36 patients for each study. Confirmed objective response rates were 14% (95% CI: 5-30%) and 8% (95% CI: 2-23%) in chemotherapy -naïve and pretreated patients, respectively. 12-month PFS was 18% (95% CI: 4-32%) and 11% (95% CI: 2-24%) for the two patient groups, respectively. 12-month OS were 49% (95% CI: 20-78%) and 55% (95% CI: 35-75%). The most common grade 3-4 toxicities included neutropenia and transiently increased transaminase concentrations. [13] The drug is currently in a multicenter, open-label, single-arm, Phase III trial in the U.S. in patients with advanced or metastatic STS (excluding leiomyosarcoma and liposarcoma) that has relapsed or refractory to standard treatment options. The study is expected to be completed by December 2012. Trabectedin has been granted an orphan drug by the EC and the FDA for STS. TH-302 is a nitroimidazole prodrug of the cyotoxin, bromo-isophosphoramide mustard (Br-IPM). The drug is activated in hypoxic conditions and Br-IPM is released to alkylate DNA. In a Phase 1/2 trial, 91 patients with previously untreated advanced STS were treated with doxorubicin + TH-302. Among 89 patients available for evaluation, 2% had a complete response, and 34% had a partial response. The median PFS was 6.7 months (95% CI: 6.2-8.1 months), whereas the 3-month and 6-month progression-free rates were 83% and 63%, respectively. The median OS was 17.5% (95% CI: 16.1-not reached), with 6-month survival rate of 93% and 12-month survival rate of 70%.[14] TH-302 is currently in a randomized, multicenter, open-label, Phase III study comparing the efficacy of TH-302 + doxorubicin vs. doxorubicin alone in patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic STS. The primary end-point of the study is OS within 2 years of time frame. The study is expected to be completed in 2015. For more information about Threshold, please see our recent Seeking Alpha note. Eribulin (branded as Halaven) is a non-taxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor developed by Eisai Co. The drug was approved by the FDA in 2010 for metastatic breast cancer indication. In an open-label, Phase II trial, 128 patients with advanced STS received IV eribulin. The progression-free rates at 12 weeks were 31.6%, 46.9%, 21.1%, and 19.2% for leiomyosarcoma patients, adipocytic patients, synovial patients, and other sarcoma patients, respectively. The drug is currently in a randomized, open-label, Phase III to compare the efficacy and safety of eribulin with dacarbazine in patients with advanced STS. The study is expected to be completed by 2015, with a primary endpoint set as OS and a secondary endpoint as PFS. Figure 1: Clinical Trials for Advanced or Metastatic Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Generic Name (Brand Name) Description Company Formulation Approval Status Trials & Efficacy & Safety Doxorubicin (Rubex) Anthracycline antibiotic Bristol Meyers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) IV Approved since 1989 Response rate: up to 9% Imatinib (Gleevec) Inhibitor of the receptor tyrosine kinases for platelet derived growth factor and c-Kit Novartis Oral; Tablet Approved as an adjuvant treatment since 2002 for unresectable or metastatic GIST; approved as an adjuvant treatment since 2008 for patients following complete gross resection of Kit positive GIST Trial 1: 1) Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 713 c-Kit positive GIST pts; 2) hazard ration for 12-month recurrence-free survival (RFS): 0.398 (95% CI:0.259, 0.610), p < 0.0001; 3) 31% in imatinib group vs. 18% in placebo group experienced AEs of >grade; 4) discontinuation: 17% vs. 3% mostly associated with edema, gastrointestinal disturbances, fatigue, low hemoglobin, and rash. Trial 2: 1) Randomized, multicenter, open-label, Phase III, 397 patients with c-Kit positive GIST following surgical resection, two-arm (12-month or 36-month imatinib treatment); 2) 36 months prolonged RFS (hazard ratio of 0.46 (95% CI: 0.32,0.65), p < 0.0001) and OS (hazard ratio of 0.45 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.89), p = 0.0187) compared to 12 months; 3) discontinuation: 8% for 12-month vs. 14% for 36-month Sunitinib malate (Sutent) Multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Pfizer Oral Approved since 2006 as second-line therapy for metastatic GIST 1) Two-arm, international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 312 pts; PFS: 24.1mo vs. 6.0 mo [HR = 0.33 (95% CI: 0.24, 0.47; p<0.0001)]; 2) Objective response rate: 6.8% vs. 0% (95% CI: 3.7, 11.1); 3) AEs (>10%): diarrhea, hypertension, bleeding, mucositis, skin abnormalities, altered tastes Pazopanib (VOTRIENT) Multi-targeted angiogenesis inhibitor GlaxoSmithKline Oral Approved for patients with advanced STS who have received prior chemotherapy since April 2012 1) Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, 369 pts randomized 2:1 to pazopanib/placebo; 2) PFS: 4.6mo vs. 1.6mo [HR=0.35(95% CI: 0.26,0.48; p<0.001)]; OS: 12.6mo vs. 10.7mo [HR=0.87(95% CI: 0.67,1.12)]; 3) AEs (>20%): fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, weight loss, hypertension, decreased appetite, vomiting, tumor pain, hair color changes, musculoskeletal pain, headache, dysgeusia, dyspnea and skin hypopigmentation; 4) Others: hepatic toxicity, arterial and venous thrombotic events, hemorrhage, gastrointestinal perforation and fistula formation, pneumothorax and left ventricular dysfunction. Ridaforolimus Potent mTOR inhibitor Merck & Ariad Pharmaceuticals Oral Rejected by the FDA on March 20, 2012 1) Randomized, double-blind, two-arm (ridaforolimus vs. placebo), 711 pts.; 2) median PFS: 16.1 wks vs. 14 wks [HR=0.74; 95% CI: 0.63,0.88; p = 0.0006]; median OS: 20.8 months vs. 19.6 months [HR=0.93; p=0.46]; 3) discontinuation rate: 14% vs. 2%; grade 3-4 AEs: 64% vs. 25%; grade 1-4 AEs (>20%): stomatitis, asthenia/fatigue, infection, rash, cough, diarrhea, nausea, decreased appetite, headache, edema, abdominal pain, dyspnea, and fever. Trabectedin (Yondelis®) Antitumor agent of marine origin produced by chemical synthesis Zeltia, Johnson & Johnson IV Approved in the EU for advanced or metastatic STS in the EU and in Phase III trial in the U.S. 1) Two independent Phase II trial, 72 pts in total; 2) objective response rate: 14% (95% CI: 5-30%) for chemotherapy-naïve group and 8% (95% CI: 2-23%) for pretreated group; 3) 12-month PFS: 18% (95% CI: 4-32%) vs. 11% (95% CI: 2-24%); 12-month OS: 49% (95% CI: 20-78%) vs. 55% (95% CI: 35-75%); 4) AEs (grades 3-4): neutropenia and transiently increased transaminase concentrations. Trabectedin did not cause alopecia, mucositis, cardiotoxicity or neurotoxicity TH-302 Nitroimidazole prodrug of the cytotoxin, bromo-isophosphoramidemustard Threshold Pharma (NASDAQ:THLD) IV In a Phase III trial; primary completion date: June 2014 1) Phase 1/2 trial, 91 patients with previously untreated advanced STS treated with TH-302 + doxorubicin; 2) median PFS: 6.7mo (95% CI: 6.2-8.1mo); 3-month PF rate: 83%; 6-month PF rate: 63%; median OS: 17.5mo (95% CI: 16.1-not reached); 6-month survival rate: 93%; 12-month survival rate: 70% Eribulin (Halaven) Non-taxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor Eisai Co. IV In a randomized, open-label, multicenter, Phase III trial to compare the efficacy and safety of eribulin with dacarbazine in subjects with advanced STS 1) Open-label, single-arm, multicenter, Phase II trial, 128 patients (37 had adipocytic sarcoma, 40 had leiomyosarcoma, 19 had synovial sarcoma, and 32 had other sarcomas); 2) progression free rate at 12 wks: 31.6% in leiomyosarcoma pts, 46.9% in adipocytic sarcoma pts, 21.1% in synovial sarcoma, 19.2% in other sarcomas; 3) grade3-4 AEs: neutropenia (52%), leucopenia (35%)15 Click to enlarge Source: LifeSci Advisors [15] Other Clinical Trials for Small Cell Lung Cancer Small cell lung cancer represents is an aggressive form of lung cancer with no new front-line therapies in decades. Unlike STS, chemotherapy is an essential component of appropriate treatment for all patients with SCLC.[16] Figure 2 summarizes current standard chemotherapies and compounds in late-stage clinical trials. The initial chemotherapy regimens were primarily the combination of cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and vincristine (CEV), which has been replaced by etoposide + cisplatin (EP) as current FDA-approved front-line therapy. In a large randomized trial with 436 patients, EP resulted in a median OS of 14.5 months as compared to 9.7 months for CEV therapy in patients with limited-stage disease (p = 0.001).[17] With less haematological toxicity and better efficacy, EP in combination with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy is recommended for patients with limited-stage disease. Relapse rate for SCLC patients after initial treatment is high. Single-agent topotecan is the only FDA-approved second-line therapy. In a randomized Phase III trial, IV topotecan showed similar response rates and survival but better safety, as compared to combination regimen of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and vincristine.[18] In another Phase III trial, oral topotecan + best supportive care (BSC) improved OS as opposed to BSC alone.[19] Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) sponsored a randomized, open-label, multinational Phase III trial comparing amrubicin versus topotecan in patients with SCLC after failure of first-line chemotherapy. 637 patients were enrolled and randomized to amrubicin or topotecan arms. The study was completed in 2011 and no significant improvement in efficacy was found for amrubicin therapy. The median PFS was 4.1 months as opposed to 3.5 for the topotecan arm (p = 0.02), while the OS was 7.5 months as opposed to 7.8 months for the topotecan arm (p = 0.17). Figure 2: Chemotherapies (in Development or on Market) for SCLC Generic Name (Brand Name) Description Company Formulation Approval Status Trials & Efficacy & Safety etoposide + cisplatin topoisomerase inhibitor; platinum Generic IV + IV Approved as first-line therapy since late 1970s In a randomized trial, 426 patients were assigned 1:1 to EP or CEV arm: 1) In limited-stage pts: 2- and 5-year survival rates: 25% and 10% vs. 8% and 3% (p = 0.0004); OS: 14.5 months vs. 9.7 months (P = 0.001); 2) In extended-stage pts, no significant survival difference between the two arms. Topotecan (HYCAMTIN) Topoisomerase I inhibitor GlaxoSmithKline Oral Approved for relapsed SCLC indication since April 2007 Trial 1: 1) Phase III, randomized, two-arm (topotecan vs. cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + vincristine), 211 pts; 2) response rate: 24.3% vs. 18.3% (p=0.285); median PFS: 13.3 wks vs. 12.3 wks (P = 0.552); 3) median OS: 25.0 wks vs. 24.7 wks (P=0.795); neutropenia: 37.8% vs. 51.4% (p<0.001) Trial 2: 1) Randomized, open-label, two-arm (topotecan + BSC vs. BSC), 141 pts; median OS: 25.9 wks vs. 13.9 wks (p = 0.0104) Amrubicin Topoisomerase II inhibitor Celgene IV Key Phase III trial did not meet primary endpoint 1) Randomized, open-label, multinational, two-arm (amrubicin vs. topotecan), Phase III trial; 2) median PFS: 4.1 months vs. 3.5 months (p=0.02); median OS: 7.5 months vs. 7.8 months (p=0.17) Click to enlarge Source: LifeSci Advisors Investor Concerns PICASSO 3 Trial Design One big concern regarding PICASSO 3 trial design is that its primary endpoint is PFS instead of OS. Is positive PFS data good enough for the FDA approval? To answer this question, we looked at the recent FDA-approved pazopanib and -rejected ridaforolimus (see above Other Clinical Trials for Metastatic Soft-Tissue Sarcoma session for more details). Note that pazopanib's approval was solely based upon 3-month improvement in PFS with no significant difference in OS data when compared to placebo. Ridaforolimus, on the other hand, was rejected due to only 2.1-week improvement in PFS as opposed to placebo. We think that good PFS data alone with similar toxicity might be sufficient for the FDA approval. PICASSO 2 Data Investors should be cautious in interpreting PICASSO 2 PFS data. Although the median PFS was improved for 3.4 months for the palifosfamide + doxorubicin arm when compared to the doxorubicin arm alone, the fact that the study was open-label and had cross-over provision made the PFS data more prone to bias. However, preliminary OS data released in early 2012 indicated a hazard ratio of 0.78 favoring the palifosfamide + doxorubicin arm, which suggest that the PFS improvement is real. The final OS results are expected to be reported in 2H2012. The company claimed that both treating arms had similar safety profiles. However, little details were provided. A more compressive safety profile needs to be established in the ongoing PICASSO 3 trial, which can be a key for assessing the risk benefit ratio for the FDA approval. Competitive Landscapes Trabectedin, TH-302 and eribulin (see above Other Clinical Trials for Metastatic Soft-Tissue Sarcoma session for more details) are three drug candidates in late-stage clinical trials currently competing with palifosfamide for metastatic STS indication. Trabectedin's trial, although expected to be completed by December 2012, is for second-line treatment of metastatic STS. Both TH-302 and eribulin are in open-label, Phase III trials with primary endpoints as OS. Ziopharm will be at least one-year ahead in the FDA NDA submission if positive PFS data is obtained in the ongoing PICASSO 3 trial. For SCLC space, no new drug compounds are in late-stage clinical trials. Other Compounds Other than palifosfamide, Ziopharm is also investigating DNA-based anti-cancer therapeutics. In January 2011, Ziopharm announced that it will partner with Intrexon to utilize Intrexon's genetic engineering platform to work on two potential drug candidates: Ad-IL-12 and DC-IL-12, both of which are DNA IL-12. Both are currently in Phase I study, and Phase II study is expected to initiate at the end of 2012. Preliminary clinical studies have shown that therapy with IL-12 was well-tolerated and achieved an overall disease control rate of 50% in 8 evaluable patients with Stage III or IV melanoma. Partnership with Intrexon to explore the controlled production of therapeutic antibodies widens Ziopharm's research focus, and if the results prove to be of clinical benefit, it will imply the development of a promising technology with broad applications. Stock Valuation Ziopharm's quarter-over-quarter cash burn was $14.2M (4Q11), $11.5M (3Q11), $6.0M (2Q11), and $8.4M (1Q11), resulting in an annual burn rate of $40M. With total cash of $110.4M, the company can continue operating through 2014. There is possibility that the company will raise more cash in 2013 for palifosfamide FDA submission and commercialization based upon positive PICASSO 3 trial data. We assume that palifosfamide will obtain 50% market share if approved as first-line therapy for metastatic STS. With annual incidence of over 10K patients in the U.S. alone and estimated annual cost of $80K per patient, we estimate that the sales of palifosfamide will reach $250M by 2018 if approved in 2014. With a discount rate of 30% and top-line multiple of 5, one can estimate a firm value of $414M, which is significantly higher than the current EV of $286.5M (August 15, 2012). Note that in our estimation, we have ignored the EU market and the SCLC indication. Overall, we think that this stock will go significantly higher (~2x) based upon a positive PICASSO 3 outcome. We do note, however, that oncology Phase III trials are notoriously challenging and significant risk of missing the primary endpoint exists. References [1] Siegel R. et al. CA Cancer J.Clin.2012; 62(1):10-29. [2] Oberg K. et al. Ann Oncol 2010; 21:220-222. [3] Govindan R. et al. J. Clin. Oncol. 2006; 24:4539-4544. [4] SEER, Globocon. [5] Liu et al. BMJ. 1998; 317:1411. [6] Bramwell V.H. et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003; (3):CD003293. [7] Loehrer P.J. et al. J. Clin. Oncol. 1995; 13: 2594-2599. [8] Demetri G.D. et al. N Engl J Med 2002; 347:472-480. [9] Blanke C.D. et al. J Clin Oncol 2008; 26:620-625. [10] Verweij J. et al. Lancet 2004; 364:1127-1134. [11] Gleevec Label, 2012. [12] Sutent Label, 2006. [13] Demetri, G.D. Anticancer Drugs 2002; 12: Suppl 1: 7-9. [14] Chawla S. et al. ASCO Annula Meeting, June 2012. [15] Schoffski P. et al. Lancet Oncol. 2011; 12:1045-1052. [16] NCNN SCLC Guideline 2012. [17] Sundstrom S. et al. JCO 2002; 20(24): 4665-4672. [18] von Pawel J. et al. J. Clin. Oncol. 1999; 17(2): 658-667. [19] Topotecan Label, 2007. Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Not this time, Tim Tebow. Not with Tom Brady on hand. Brady threw for two touchdowns, ran for another and the New England Patriots shut down Tebow's late-game heroics and clinched a playoff berth with a 41-23 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. "It was a really good day for us," Brady said. "Very emotional game. It was really rocking early. We showed some mental toughness." The Patriots (11-3) won their sixth straight game and another AFC East title by bouncing back from an early 17-6 deficit and an awful first quarter in which they were outgained on the ground 167 yards to 4. This time, there was no last-minute magic from Tebow, who had guided the Broncos (8-6) to four straight fourth-quarter comebacks and six straight wins. Instead of another slow start followed by a fantastic finish, the Broncos started fast and then fizzled. They scored on their first three possessions and then were done in by a trio of turnovers in the final 8½ minutes of the second quarter. "We did have things going pretty well early, scored on the first three possessions and felt like we were moving the ball good and then we put it on the ground," Tebow said. "That's something you can't do against a great team and Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. "Besides that, we were right there with them." Champ Bailey had said the Broncos needed a big game against a big QB to prove to themselves and others that they were not just a curiosity but a contender. They didn't get it on this day. "We showed today that we're not ready to go to the playoffs and make a push," Bailey said. "We've got to get better and we only have two or three weeks to do it. If we don't, then we'll be sitting home." For a sixth straight season. With their first loss since Oct. 30, the AFC West-leading Broncos face a tougher path to the playoffs, with a trip to Buffalo next week followed by a season finale against Kansas City, which ended Green Bay's 19-game winning streak Sunday behind Kyle Orton, the player Tebow replaced in Denver. "I definitely feel like we're all right," said Tebow, now 7-2 as Denver's starter. He threw for 194 yards and ran for 93 yards and two scores but was sacked four times, including a 28-yard loss in the fourth quarter. "I thought he improved," coach John Fox said. "He'll continue to improve. This was a setback, no doubt about that. But sometimes setbacks are setups for bigger things to come." After all, the last time Tebow lost, to Detroit on Oct. 30, he was put on notice that his starting job was a week-to-week proposition, and Tebow won his next six starts. The one thing Tebow and the Broncos haven't been able to do is keep up with the league's elite passers. Denver has faced four QBs currently ranked in the top-10 in yards passing — Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers (twice) and Brady. They're 1-4 in those games. Asked if Tebow & Co. can keep up with the league's top passers if they make it into the playoffs, Fox said: "I can't predict that. He's gotten better every week. Six or seven weeks ago, people said he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. He does that. I think he can do that. I don't think that was why we lost the game tonight." Brady was. "He's still the best out there, in my opinion," Bailey said. "And you make mistakes against a guy like that, he's going to make you pay. That's pretty much what happened all day." Safety Brian Dawkins missed the game with a neck injury and the Broncos missed him as they had to rely on rookies Quinton Carter and Raheem Moore. "You can't expect to get the same results when you lose a guy like that," Bailey said. "But, at the same time, guys have to step up as professionals. You can't play like that and expect to get wins." Brady was 23 of 34, including his first scoring toss to Chad Ochocinco. His TD run was his first of the year. Brady made up for another bad day by the Patriots' defense to beat the Broncos for the second time in eight career starts — the only team with a winning record against the three-time Super Bowl champion. The Broncos' 167 yards rushing in the first quarter — 11 more than their league-leading per-game average — represented the biggest output in any quarter of the Belichick era in New England. But they would manage just 85 more. After the Patriots fell behind 16-7, they went to the no-huddle and Brady threw a 1-yard TD strike to Aaron Hernandez, who set career highs with nine catches for 129 yards. The Broncos' ball-control offense stumbled after that. Lance Ball, who earlier scored his first TD in the NFL on a beautiful 32-yard scamper, fumbled at his own 19 and linebacker Rob Ninkovich recovered, leading to Stephen Gostkowski's 21-yard field goal put the Patriots up for good at 17-16. Then, defensive end Mark Anderson, subbing for Andre Carter, who seriously injured his left knee earlier in the game, forced and recovered a fumble by Tebow at the Broncos 40. Six plays later, Brady took it in himself from a yard out to make it 24-16. Brady celebrated his eighth career TD with a masterful spike. "I don't get in the end zone very often," Brady said. "Maybe once a season. So, when I do I get pretty excited." The Broncos' bumbling ways — which included a bad snap on an extra point attempt — continued when punt returner Quan Cosby tried to field a punt on the run and muffed it with three seconds left. Dane Fletcher recovered for New England and Gostkowski trotted out for a 34-yard field goal to make it 27-16 at halftime. Tebow's 2-yard keeper with 8:41 left pulled the Broncos to 34-23 and had the crowd thinking comeback again, but Brady led the Patriots on another 80-yard scoring drive, this one culminating in BenJarvus Green-Ellis' 1-yard TD run. "The more we fight, the better this team gets," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "We knew they were going to come out fighting. They were going to come out fast and explosive. Our main goal was to weather the storm." Notes: The Patriots qualified for the playoffs for the 13th time since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994. ... The Broncos haven't won seven straight since 1998. ... New England hadn't won in Denver since 2003. ... Brady's last TD run was Nov. 14, 2010, at Pittsburgh. ___ Connect with AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

The Chicago Blackhawks seem to have figured out how to fix their scoring woes. Kris Versteeg scored twice, and Corey Crawford made 28 saves in his 11th NHL shutout as the Blackhawks ended a two-game losing streak with a 5-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. "It was nice to see some bounces go our way," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "We had some good chances the last little while and didn't get some bounces, but we stayed positive and it worked out good." The Blackhawks were 2-5 in their previous seven games in which they outshot opponents by wide margins but couldn't get many pucks in the net. That changed against the Canadiens (8-4-1), who are winless in three games and 1-3-1 in their last five. Montreal absorbed a second straight lopsided defeat at home, following a 6-2 loss to Calgary on Sunday. Jonathan Toews, netted his 200th NHL goal, and Brad Richards and Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago (7-5-1), which came off a 1-0 home loss to Winnipeg on Sunday despite holding a 33-27 edge in shots. In the Blackhawks' previous game, they outshot Toronto 47-27 and lost 3-2. Chicago beat goalie Carey Price with five of its 32 shots. "It's a good feeling in here right now," Keith said. "We know we've been struggling to score goals lately, and I thought we did a good job of playing all five guys together on the ice and working as a team. "We had guys going to the net and we kept it simple — throw it at the net." The win might have come at a cost for Chicago as forward Patrick Sharp was helped off the ice six minutes into the third period after a solid, but legal hit into the boards by Alexei Emelin. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Sharp sustained a lower-body injury and would be evaluated in the next couple of days. He called it a "tough break" and said Sharp will be "out for a bit," but didn't elaborate. "We have some guys with skill who want more ice time," Quenneville said. "We'll see how it works out." The Canadiens had a solid first period but seemed to come unglued after Versteeg gave Chicago a 2-0 lead 9:57 into the second. "Usually we show character after that happens, but this time we didn't," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "We only played a half a game. "Our transition game is not there. It's like a relay race — if you don't get the baton, you can't race." It was the first shutout of the season for Crawford, a Montreal native. "There's nothing that's been ailing us," Crawford said. "We've been playing good hockey and creating chances. We just weren't getting the bounces. "Nobody got frustrated in here. We kept playing hard. We created some chances tonight and buried them." Montreal's P.A. Parenteau, David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher all missed early chances before Toews put Chicago ahead with a power-play goal at 11:19. The Blackhawks captain deflected in Keith's point shot. The Blackhawks then scored when Versteeg's pass from the corner went off Rene Bourque's leg and in on the short side. Richards was at the doorstep to deflect Sharp's pass into the top corner 2:22 into the third period to make it 3-0. Four minutes later, Sharp was helped off the ice after he was hit by Emelin. Kane fought off a check from Dale Weise to finish a feed from Toews at 12:31. Versteeg scored his second of the night into an open side off of Bryan Bickell's pass. Price made a spectacular save late in the first when he got his stick down to thwart Jeremy Morin on the doorstep, and then pushed a puck hovering in the crease over the net with his glove. NOTES: The Blackhawks hadn't won in Montreal since Dec. 3, 2001. ... The Canadiens have allowed the first goal in 11 of 13 games and haven't held the lead after the first period this season. ... Chicago D Niklas Hjalmarsson played in his 400th NHL game. ... Michael Bournival played his first game of the season for Montreal. ... The Blackhawks juggled lines, putting Toews and Kane on the same unit.

Frank Kimmel says he's a distant relative of outlaw Jesse James and has a six shooter with JJ carved into the revolver that is a prized family heirloom. Turns out, the infamous gang member wasn't the only one in the family tree who could pull a trigger. "I met him when I was 8 years old," NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski said of Kimmel. "We used to call him the big kid because he was a big guy, right, and he would walk around with squirt guns and squirt us as kids. We'd play with him back and forth and we had a grand old time." Keselowski's father and Kimmel were both stars in the ARCA series. The relationship forged in the early 1990s would lead to a moonlighting gig decades later for Kimmel — from the big guy to the big sitter. When Keselowski and his girlfriend needed a break over Brickyard weekend in July, they asked Kimmel and his wife to watch their infant daughter. "He had a good time," Keselowksi said, laughing. Kimmel has had a good time — and forged a great career — for 26 years as one of the great champions in the ARCA series. Kimmel is a 10-time series champion in the stock car series and is closing in on 500 career starts. Kimmel makes his 499th career start Sunday in Springfield, Illinois, before No. 500 on Sept. 7 in the Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. The 53-year-old Kimmel will be only the second series driver with that many starts. Iggy Katona, who won a race in 19 straight seasons, made 630 starts. "I never thought I could do it at this level for this long," Kimmel said. "Thank goodness I found (owner) Larry Clement that liked me, had faith in me and was able to put money behind me and get me going." Kimmel holds ARCA records for career wins with 80, money won in a season ($496,368 in 2001), most consecutive seasons with a top-10 finish (22) and was the oldest series champion at 51 when he won his 10th title in 2013. He is winless this season in eight starts driving for team owner Bill Venturini. Kimmel has watched the series, which often runs as a support race on NASCAR weekends, evolve through the years and raced fender-to-fender against NASCAR drivers such as Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch. "When I first started doing it, it was a crash and burn and bang type of place," Kimmel said. "There was a lot of old guys like me doing it. But as I've gotten older and the field's gotten younger, it's kind of a setting stone. Our races are generally clean now." Kimmel, an Indiana native, has been involved in the sport from a young age. His father, Bill Kimmel Sr., won three ARCA races. His brother Bill is the crew chief/owner of Kimmel Racing and won some late model track championships. Kimmel's son, Frankie, is winless in a handful of ARCA races. And his nephew, Will, made his Sprint Cup debut earlier this year. Kimmel, married 30 years with two adult children, certainly tried racing in the big leagues. He made 14 starts in the Truck Series, one in Xfinity and seven starts (six in 2002) in NASCAR's Cup series. He never finished better than 26th driving for team owner Travis Carter. "I wish I could have done it better across the board," Kimmel said. "We had a really short budget. They brought the best equipment they could." Kimmel, though, said he had no regrets about making his mark in relative anonymity driving stock cars in ARCA instead of NASCAR. "You take money out of what they get, (NASCAR drivers) would rather do what I do," Kimmel said. _____ INDYCAR HEATS UP: Juan Pablo Montoya holds a nine-point lead over Graham Rahal and a 34-point margin on Scott Dixon for the IndyCar championship with two races left in the season. Up next, Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway where Montoya is the defending winner. Dixon won on the tri-oval track in 2014 when the series returned to Pocono after a 24-year absence. The top 10 drivers in points are still mathematically eligible for the title heading to Pocono. Defending series champion Will Power is in fourth place. Power, with one win this season, needs a bit of good luck — and checkered flags — if he has any chance of defending his championship. "I feel I have a pretty good chance if I win my last two races," Power said. _____ GO-GO KESELOWSKI: Gogo Inc., a global aero communications service provider, has reached a partnership with NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski. The company is involved with in-flight Internet, entertainment, text messaging and other communications related to the commercial and business aviation markets. Keselowski currently owns and operates a Learjet 45 business aircraft with a full suite of Gogo capabilities. "For me, the airplane is a business tool, it's a time machine, and the ability to take my entire digital lifestyle with me when I fly is simply invaluable," he said.

Graduate transfer Vernon Adams Jr. made quite the first impression on the Oregon coaches simply by using his natural instincts. However, as the days have gone by, he's struggled at times to adjust to Oregon's offense. Offensive coordinator Scott Frost has liked what he's seen, but admits that Adams' progress slowed a bit as he tried to absorb the offense. "He had a great first day," Frost said Thursday, calling Adams' Aug. 14 practice, according to Andre Greif of The Oregonain. "I don't think he really knew what he was doing. He just played. Then it slowed down for him a little bit because his head was swimming a little." While Adams may have gotten lost at moments, Frost went on to say that he's been making strides and has not stopped making plays. "Every day since he's been progressing forward, knowing what to do and being a playmaker on top of that." When redshirt junior Jeff Lockie was asked about Adams' progress, he said that Adams is doing well. "He's been doing, once again, a really good job, and asking the right questions," Lockie said. "Me and Taylor we know a lot about this offense. When he comes in and asks questions we do a good job explaining it." (h/t The Oregonian)

Although the New York Mets hope to have clinched the NL East before they face the Washington Nationals next week, they've set up their aces to take care of business in case the division isn't sealed by then. On Tuesday, manager Terry Collins revealed the Mets' upcoming rotation for their final road trip of the season. After veteran Bartolo Colon pitches on Wednesday, lefty rookie Steven Matz will start on Thursday to open a four-game series in Cincinnati, and will be succeeded by fellow rookie Noah Syndergaard on Friday, Matt Harvey on Saturday, and reigning NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom on Sunday. When the Mets head over to Philadelphia on Tuesday, Jonathon Niese will begin the three-game series, followed by Colon and then Matz on Thursday. Assuming the Mets adhere to the same rotation to cap off the regular season, Syndergaard, Harvey, and deGrom will take the ball when New York hosts the Nats from Oct. 2 to 4. While the Mets currently possess a 6 ½-game lead in the NL East with a magic number of six, they have hit a recent snag and lost three of their last four while Washington has won seven of its last nine. (h/t ESPN)

This is a partial transcript of "Special Report with Brit Hume", May 21, 2004 that has been edited for clarity. Watch "Special Report With Brit Hume" weeknights at 6 p.m. ET (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AHMED CHALABI, MEMBER OF IGC: I am America's best friend in Iraq. If the CPA finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the CPA and Iraqi people. (END VIDEO CLIP) JIM ANGLE, GUEST-HOST: Well, it wasn't an armed attack. It was a search, and the CPA, of course, is the Coalition Authority (search). That is Ahmed Chalabi (search), a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, who fought a long battle against Saddam Hussein, and was seen as a key ally during the war, and in the efforts since to build a new Iraq. But now his offices have been raided by Iraqi police in a corruption investigation. U.S. officials also say they are certain, "that he gave sensitive intelligence to the Iranians." Chalabi has turned on the coalition now and says it's out to get him. What's behind this fall from U.S. graces? And what does it mean for the transition to a new government? For the answer to those and other questions we turn to Dennis Ross, former envoy to the Mid East, and a Fox foreign affairs analyst. Dennis, this is a -- I wouldn't say it was quick because there's been a lot of discussion and different views about Chalabi in the administration, but this is a pretty dramatic fall from grace. DENNIS ROSS, FMR. U.S. ENVOY: No question. First of all, this is a man who was at the State of the Union Address sitting behind the first lady. This is a man who clearly had major support within the administration. It's no secret that some people in the White House, and certainly in the Pentagon, were very big promoters of the his believing that, in fact, one day he might be the president within Iraq. He also had his detractors in the administration for some time. People in the CIA and in the State Department were clearly negative. I can tell you at one point, one senior person in the administration said to me, he won't last 24 hours once he goes back. And another one said he will lead, basically, a kind of people's revolution once we have him on the ground. Well, I think it's fair to say that both of those assessments turned out not to be right. ANGLE: Now, obviously, we'll get to the investigation in a minute, and there are a lot of allegations about corruption. But I think we should say at the outset, he does deserve some credit for having been in the wilderness all those years, fighting and trying to organize defense Saddam Hussein. ROSS: Well, there's no question that he was a focal point of resistance to Saddam on the outside. He organized not just the United States, but also many around the world to focus on the evils of the regime, the need to take it on. Some people now want to say he fed us a lot of bad intelligence. In the end, you can't blame him for the bad intelligence. You know, the fact of the matter is we had to evaluate it. ANGLE: Right. And a lot of peep -- people do say that he saved a lot of lives. ROSS: I suspect that certainly is the case. If he is the one who helped to produce the change, which in some sense, I'd think you'd have to say that probably is the case, there are a lot of people who are alive today who might not have been alive were it not for him. ANGLE: Now, there are a lot of allegations about corruption, about using intelligence information to blackmail former Baathist Party members to essentially siphon money out of things, like the currency exchange in Iraq, to steal cars, to bribe ministry officials who were investigating him for corruption. Does all of that ring true to you? ROSS: It's hard to know. I mean let's look at the reality there. There are not any real ground rules for how people are going to operate, which is not a way of justifying what may well be misdeeds that he has been responsible for. But let's recognize where it's -- I think I can say with some degree of certainty that he didn't do what he said he would do. He has been getting money from us, and actually, quite a significant amount of money from us for some period of time. He was supposed to be sharing intelligence with us. He was supposed to be collecting it internally and sharing it with us. What's pretty clear is a lot of what he was supposed to be sharing with us, he was holding back. Now, was he not sharing with us and sharing it with the Iranians? Was he using it international internally to gain leverage over others? I think that's probably a fair assumption. ANGLE: Now, a senior official has told us that they are certain that he shared very sensitive, U.S. intelligence with the Iranians. No question about that in the minds of some officials. What kind of relationship did he have with Iran? And why would he want to share U.S. intelligence with the Iranians? ROSS: You know, it's very interesting. He is known, above all else, as being a secular Shiia. And I think one would not have assumed that he would develop this kind of relationship with the Iranians. But I think, again you have got to put in perspective probably what has happened. In his case, he did not generate this huge groundswell of support when he went back to Iraq. In fact, one of the scenarios was that when he was put on the ground, with about 800 people, they would go from village to village, and their ranks would swell. And suddenly you would see a very strong leader beginning to emerge. Well, that clearly didn't happen. Something Stalin said about the pope. How many divisions does he have? As it turns out, Chalabi didn't have as many divisions as perhaps he needed. He began to look for ways to build his power. One of the ways to build his power was to create a relationship with the Iranians. Did he end up trafficking in certain kinds of information that may well cross the line with us? I wouldn't be surprised. If he was using the Iranians to build his leverage, build his power among the Shiia within Iraq generally, then it wouldn't be surprising to me that the Iranians would be saying look, we need to know the following. And he may well have provided it. ANGLE: Now, less than a minute left. Clearly he has some vision of being a political player in Iraq. New government is about to take over. It seemed fairly clear he wasn't going to be in it, though Brahimi, the U.N. envoy, said it's not for politicians. It's for an interim government to set up elections for those who do want to be in politics. ROSS: Brahimi has focused on principally on having technicians in there. As a way of saying these are neutral, these are not people presuming anything or preempting anything. It's clear that many members, not just to be fair -- not just Chalabi, many members of the Governing Council fear that once they're out, they're out. And they would like to have a continuing political base within the government. He is certainly is one of those who feels that. ANGLE: OK. Dennis Ross, thank you very much. Always a pleasure to have you.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have retreated to Los Angeles where they are patching things up after a bumpy period in their marriage, her father-in-law says in a magazine interview released Tuesday. "L.A. seems to have helped them. It's easier out there because there is less pressure. They seem to have left the bumps they were having over here behind them," John Ritchie was quoted as saying in an interview with Closer magazine. Reports of a rift in the marriage circulated recently, especially after the 47-year-old pop star didn't include her film director-husband in her "thank yous" after winning a Brit Award in February. "You can never know that things will work, but they do seem to be fitting into each other more," John Ritchie was quoted as saying. "They have put everything behind them and have gone to L.A. to enjoy themselves. They're able to go home at night and be together. They both want to see the children. They are going to have a good time out there and be a family." Ritchie, 37, and Madonna have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9. "It's the children that will keep them together. The children are everything to them," John Ritchie told the magazine.

This is a rush transcript from "America's News HQ," November 19, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. JON SCOTT, HOST: A two-time drunk driving offender with a criminal past strikes again. And get this: He's not even in this country legally. Daryush Omar has been charged with manslaughter and drunk-driving after slamming into a livery cab in Queens, New York over the weekend. Driving with a blood alcohol rate more than twice the legal limit, he apparently ran a red light killing the driver of the limo and her passenger, an outrage especially because Omar has a previous DUI conviction. Meantime, we told you about an investigation that revealed thousands of illegals in Texas prisons, many convicted of violent crimes are often released right back out on to the streets without any deportation at all. • Video: Watch Jon Scott's interview Our next guest is calling for an investigation into how immigration officials screen illegal prisoners in jail, not only in Texas, but really across the country. Texas Senator John Cornyn has written a pretty scathing letter to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division. What are you pushing for, senator? SEN. JOHN CORNYN, R-TEXAS: Well, I want to know what the problem is, Jon. We've supplied all the resources we believe that are necessary in order to have the Department of Homeland Security, and specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement screen these dangerous criminals at the county jail facilities. And what's happened is, as you have described, too often, because of the shortage of manpower or some other problem that we're trying to get to the bottom of, they're simply released back into the community. And these folks are a threat to the immigrant communities where they live, and not just the public at large. SCOTT: Talking about a shortage of manpower, though, didn't ICE ask for $150 million? I mean, didn't you in Congress give ICE $150 million more than they asked for in the last budget go-around? CORNYN: Absolutely. I think the mood in Congress is whatever the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement need in order to enforce the law, in order to protect the community, we're going to provide that resource. But unfortunately, they haven't spent it, and we have been — asked for a report to get to the bottom of this problem. Because it looks like either there is a lack of resources, a lack of actually executing on the plan that Congress has laid out or just pure incompetence. And I can't figure out yet which it is. SCOTT: Because there are some cases in which illegal aliens are thrown in jail and they actually are released on bail to face whatever charges, you know, they were thrown in jail for, even though they're here illegally. Does that make any sense? CORNYN: Well, it gets even worse than that. After someone who's here in the country without the proper visa has served their time, let's say it's a short jail term, they cannot be detained by the authorities beyond six months because of a Supreme Court decision if their country of origin will not take them back. So we've got a lot of problems, and part of it is a need to update our laws. The other part of it is just sheer bureaucratic incompetence, it appears, in actually doing what Congress wants them to do, which is actually to protect the public by keeping these people locked up. SCOTT: You've also got a lot of problems among the Republicans in the Senate, namely, you don't have many of them, or not as many as you used to have. And you just found out today that Ted Stevens lost his race in Alaska. Maybe that's not such bad news for Republicans in that particular case. But you're the guy in charge of trying to win back Senate seats among Republicans. How do you do that? CORNYN: Well, my job starts January the 1st, but we're getting ready, and you're right. That's my job to try to make sure that we win some elections and get back in the majority. It's about policy. It's about the right sort of message, but it's also about going out and being competitive when it comes to winning those elections. It means recruiting good candidates to run against Democratic incumbents, because a good candidate can go a long way in winning those elections. But it also means becoming more competitive. The Democrats outspent Republicans by huge margins nationally and in local elections all across this country. And of course, Obama was a phenomenon unto himself, and it turned out a lot of new voters. So we've got to get back in the game. And that's going to be my job come January the 1st. SCOTT: Texas Senator John Cornyn. Thanks. CORNYN: Thank you, Jon. Content and Programming Copyright 2008 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2008 ASC LLC (www.ascllc.net), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and ASC LLC's copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation

By Scott Pesznecker, Herald Writer You must sign in or register to continue reading content. Chris Nandor quickly went from YouTube sensation to centerstage at the Republican party’s presidential debate on Wednesday night. The bearded Arlington man made a humorous YouTube video of himself wearing a black T-shirt and a baseball cap, strumming a guitar and singing about the Republican presidential candidates. The video has already generated more than 450,000 views on the popular video-sharing site. “The Dems have just one candidate; Republicans have eight,” he sings in the video. So, YouTube paid to fly Nandor to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the nationally televised CNN/YouTube debate where he sat near the families of presidential candidates Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee. He also said in an e-mail that he sat behind actor and Huckabee endorser Chuck Norris. The network opened the debate by playing Nandor’s music video. CNN debate moderator Anderson Cooper stumbled trying to pronounce Snohomish County, but the video drew laughter from the audience and grins from the candidates. In the YouTube-style debate format, which Democrats used earlier this year, the Republican candidates answered questions asked by people through YouTube videos. Topics included immigration issues and the war in Iraq. The debate was streamed live online. Nandor, who is chairman of the 39th District Republicans, submitted several videos with questions, such as whether candidates would spend money from the Social Security trust fund. None of his questions were shown during the debate for candidates to answer. Nandor also is a musician with dozens of YouTube videos, but this one is the most viewed. He made headlines in 1999 when at age 25 and living in Massachusetts he stuffed an online ballot box with as many as 40,000 votes for Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in the Major League Baseball All-Star contest. Officials caught him and invalidated the extra votes. He regularly weighs in on the Sound Politics political blog. Nandor posted a video of his tour of the CNN broadcast van, and in an e-mail Wednesday afternoon said he didn’t know what would happen at the debates that night. “I have no idea whether any of my videos will be used,” Nandor said. “We’ll find out soon!” Reporter Jeff Switzer contributed to this report. Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.