Friday, December 21, 2012

Restorative Yoga: Yoga Poses to Relax and Calm - Shape Magazine

The holidays are a time that is supposed to be full of joy, family, giving, reflection, and positivity. Trying to cram all of the good stuff into a short span of time, however, tends to make people a bit on edge and maybe even a little cranky.

Any time you feel overwhelmed, take a few moments for you: Breathe, reset, and take care of yourself so that you can then in turn be your best self for everyone else. Here a few yoga moves to completely relax and restore your body and mind. Do each?or any?of these any time you feel a Grinch moment coming on, and your most calm, magnanimous self will emerge.

?

Supported Child?s Pose: From kneeling, widen your knees so they?re a little wider than your hips. Rest a bolster, pillow, or blanket rolled up like a burrito between your thighs and lie down on it, allowing your head to rest completely (make your support higher by adding another item if needed). Allow your arms to relax to the ground, reaching a bit forward. Close your eyes and breathe here for 10 deep breaths.

?Thread the Needle: From all fours, reach your right arm underneath your body, allowing your right shoulder and temple to release to the ground. Your left hand can stay where it is, or crawl a bit to the right over your head. Breathe here for 10 deep breaths, then repeat on the other side.
?Pigeon: From down dog, sweep your right shin toward the front of your mat, right knee toward your right wrist and right ankle toward your left wrist. (If your right hip is elevated, set a rolled blanket or firm pillow underneath it.) Crawl your hands forward until your head is on the ground (or prop your head up with soft blocks or blankets), and breathe here for 10 deep breaths. Repeat on the left.
?Happy Baby: Lie on your back, bend your knees, hugging them in toward your chest, and then take the outer edges of your feet in your hands, reaching your knees toward your armpits. (If this is too much, take your hands to the back of your thighs.) Rock softly from left to right if that feels nice, and stay here for 10 deep breaths.
?Restorative Fish Pose: Sit down with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Place one yoga block (preferably foam, which is softer than cork) behind you where you think your shoulder blades will rest when you lie back and place the other where you think your head will rest comfortably. (Adjust the setting of the blocks for what your body needs right now. You can start with both blocks on the lowest setting, perhaps increasing the shoulder block one setting at a time as your body allows.) Gently release your back onto the shoulder block so that your shoulder blades are just above the block (the block will be at your middle back). Release your head to the second block so that it is comfortable for your neck, adjusting the block height as needed. Once comfortable, take your feet together and knees apart, allow your arms to relax on either side of you, and breathe here for 10 deep breaths.
?Plow: Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor and arms on either side of you. Soften your knees and press your arms into the ground to reach your feet up toward the ceiling and then back behind you any amount that feels good on your neck. Take your hands to your lower back for support and breathe here for 10 deep breaths.
?Legs Up the Wall with Support: Roll up a blanket and place it long ways next to a wall. Sit sideways next to the wall on the blanket, then lie down on your side, facing away from the wall with your butt touching the wall and propped up on the blanket. Using your arms, lift your legs up the wall as you roll over onto your back and onto the blanket. Allow your arms to fall on either side of you, palms up for openness or down for an extra level of grounding. Stay here for at least 5 breaths or as long as you like.
?Savasana with Leg Support: While seated with your legs long in front of you and just a bit apart, roll up a blanket and place under your knees. Lie down on your back, allowing your legs to separate with your feet about hip-distance apart and your arms to relax on either side of you. Breathe here for at least 20 deep breaths or as long as you like.

Photos: Vera Boykewich

Source: http://www.shape.com/blogs/working-it-out/restorative-yoga-ultimate-relaxation

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' 'Matrix' - NBC News Entertainment

AP

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" movie poster.

By Brett Zongker, Associated Press

"Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Dirty Harry" and "A League of Their Own" will be preserved for their enduring significance in American culture at by the Library of Congress, along with "A Christmas Story" and some pioneering sports movies.

They are among 25 selections the library is inducting Wednesday into the National Film Registry. Congress created the program in 1989 to preserve films for their cultural or historical significance. The latest additions bring the registry to 600 films that include Hollywood features, documentaries, independent films and early experimental flicks.?

The newest film chosen for preservation is 1999's "The Matrix," noted for its state-of-the-art special effects and computer-generated animation with a style that drew on Hong Kong action films and Japanese anime to change science fiction filmmaking, curators noted.

The oldest film being preserved, "The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight," dates back 115 years to 1897. Film curators said the boxing movie helped establish the film industry as a successful business, drawing on the sport's popularity and controversy to generate $750,000 in income. Boxing was illegal in many states at the time but recently had been made legal in Nevada, which hosted the fight. The film, with a running time of about 100 minutes, became the longest movie ever produced at the time, showing the full course of the fight.?

Another pioneering sports film, "They Call It Pro Football" from 1967 was chosen for how it changed the way football was portrayed on screen. Before then, football films were mostly highlight reels. National Football League commissioner Pete Rozelle decided the success of the NFL depended on its television image, to capture the struggle of the sport and not just the end result on the scoreboard.?

The Librarian of Congress makes the selections each year after conferring with members of the National Film Preservation Board and receiving public nominations. To be considered, the films must be at least 10 years old.?

"These films are not selected as the 'best' American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture," said Librarian of Congress James Billington in announcing the selections. "They reflect who we are as a people and as a nation."

They also include some unforgettable characters. Audrey Hepburn landed the lead in 1961's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" even though writer Truman Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe for the part. Film critics and the audience decided Capote was wrong and hailed Hepburn's portrayal.?

"A League of Their Own" from 1992 received many public nominations for the film registry over the years. With a cast that included Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell, it told the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.?

Numerous public nominations also were received for "Born Yesterday" from 1950 and "A Christmas Story" from 1983. Both were chosen this year. Other Hollywood features on the list include "Anatomy of a Murder" from 1959 and "3:10 to Yuma" from 1957.?

Each title named to the registry will be preserved in the library's Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, built partially in a bunker in Culpeper, Va., or through collaborations with other archives or studios.?

Documentaries chosen this year include "The Times of Harvey Milk," made in 1984 about San Francisco's first openly gay elected official who was assassinated in 1978, and "Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia" from 1990 about the struggle to rebuild after Pol Pot's rule.?

This year's selections include some firsts in film history. The 1914 film "Uncle Tom's Cabin," based on the anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, had been adapted earlier for movies with white actors in the lead roles. This was the first feature-length U.S. film to star a black actor when Sam Lucas was chosen for the part.?

The library will also preserve the first "Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Tests" from 1922. The two-color film features leading actresses posing and miming for the camera to demonstrate the new color film. Before then, to show film in color, black and white images either had to be hand-painted or colored with a stenciling process. Inventors, including scientists at Kodak, began experimenting with ways to create true color film.?

The Kodachrome test shown at Paragon Studios in New Jersey was the first publicly demonstrated color film that would attract interest from the American film industry. Later Technicolor would become the industry standard.?

"Most every major Hollywood film from 1922 through the end of the silent era would have either a Kodachrome color sequence in it or Technicolor color sequence as a way of attracting audience interest," said Pat Loughney, chief of the library's audio visual preservation campus. "It's a technical, historical achievement, but it's important to the progress of inventive work that made motion pictures successful."?

Related content:

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Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/19/16016896-breakfast-at-tiffanys-matrix-among-films-added-to-us-film-registry

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Amicus treatment for Fabry disease fails in study

NEW YORK (AP) -- A potential treatment from Amicus Therapeutics and GlaxoSmithKline for Fabry disease, a rare disorder, missed its goals in late-stage testing, triggering a sell-off in Amicus' stock in after-hours trading.

Fabry disease is an enzyme disorder caused by the buildup of a type of fat in the body's cells. The fat can cause pain and damage the kidneys and nervous system, among other problems.

Amicus said Wednesday that six-month results from a late-stage study of migalastat missed the primary endpoint, but Amicus and its partner will continue to analyze the data and look forward to receiving 12-month results in the first half of next year. They intend to meet with the Food and Drug Administration once they have those additional results.

No drug-related serious adverse events related to the drug were observed.

The companies are also testing migalastat in a second late-stage clinical trial.

In July, Amicus of Cranbury, N.J., and GlaxoSmithKline, based in London, announced they were expanding their partnership for the drug, giving Amicus commercial rights to market any migalastat products in the U.S., while GlaxoSmithKline will market the drugs in all other countries. GlaxoSmithKline then agreed to pay Amicus $30 million upfront and up to $170 million if the drug advanced through clinical development, was approved, and reached sales targets.

Amicus Therapeutics shares plunged in late-trading, shedding half their value to $2.85, after closing at $5.77.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amicus-treatment-fabry-disease-fails-003604123.html

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

California minor arrested in Bieber, Kutcher 'swatting' hoaxes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A minor was arrested on suspicion of placing hoax calls claiming gunshots were fired at the home of Justin Bieber and that people had been shot at actor Ashton Kutcher's house, police in Los Angeles said on Tuesday.

Police said the unnamed minor is suspected to be behind the hoaxes that resulted in dozens of emergency responders being dispatched to the homes of Kutcher and Bieber in October. Neither the actor nor the singer were at home during the pranks.

The false emergency calls are known as "swatting" because SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers are often sent to such purported crime scenes.

The Los Angeles Police Department would not release the name or gender of the minor, but said the suspect was arrested on December 10 and lived in the Southern California region. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is reviewing whether to file charges.

In the Kutcher incident, dozens of emergency personnel were sent to the Hollywood home of the "Two and a Half Men" star after a call claiming that people were in his home with guns and explosives, and that several people had been shot.

First responders were also dispatched to Bieber's Los Angeles-area home after a false emergency call said gun shots had been fired on the property.

Singer and actress Miley Cyrus has also been targeted by a swatting prank, but police said the Cyrus case has not been linked to the Kutcher and Bieber incidents. (Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Rditing by Jill Serjeant)


'; } } s+=adStr; document.write(s); return; } google_ad_client = 'ca-money_test_js'; //2008-03-05 : News Internal 300x250 google_ad_channel = "5088647641"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '2'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_image_size = '468x60'; google_language = 'en'; google_encoding = 'utf8'; google_safe = 'high'; google_kw_type = 'broad'; google_ad_section = 'default'; google_page_url=document.location.href; // -->

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/california-minor-arrestedbieber-kutcher-swatting-hoaxes_796975.html

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Controller: Employees overpaid at California parks

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? More than 200 state employees were overpaid more than $500,000 by managers who deliberately broke state rules at the troubled California Department of Parks and Recreation, according to a report Tuesday by the state controller.

The report is the latest blow to a department where employees were found last summer to have kept $54 million hidden in two special funds for more than a decade, even as dozens of parks faced closure. Results from additional investigations by the Department of Finance and state attorney general are expected in coming weeks.

The controller's office found that managers broke rules and regulations to pay 203 employees about $520,000 in extra pay over three years. Several dozen other employees were also overpaid more than $63,000 because they worked more hours or in higher-paying positions than allowed.

"The deliberate disregard for internal controls along with little oversight and poorly trained staff resulted in improper payouts to Parks' employees," Controller John Chiang said in a statement. He called for tighter security and authorization requirements to correct a lax standard that "invites the abuse of public funds."

Department spokesman Roy Stearns said the department agrees with much of the criticism and is taking steps to comply.

There aren't enough records to say how many of the overpayments were legal, according to the controller. But auditors found that employees were paid extra money for extra duties for more days than were allowed by state rules or collective bargaining agreements. One employee was shuffled between assignments three times to keep getting the additional pay.

The additional pay is supposed to be awarded only under limited circumstances, for a limited number of days and only with proper documentation. But managers "circumvented rules and regulations" to allow the extra pay, according to the controller. The auditors examined three years ending June 30, about the time the scandal broke.

Other problems involved temporary employees who worked more hours than allowed, as well as employees who did not take a required 5 percent pay cut while they were out of work on leave.

The department said in its official response that the employees who received extra pay were eligible to do so, but that proper procedures weren't followed. It disagreed with several of the controller's findings.

Former parks director Ruth Coleman resigned last summer, a senior official was fired and another quit before he could be disciplined. Three others have been disciplined and more could face penalties as the investigations continue, Stearns said, though he noted that some employees thought they were acting properly as directed by their supervisors.

"For the majority of weaknesses noted, we have already implemented improvements," he said.

Problems at the department first surfaced in July with the disclosure that dozens of parks employees were improperly allowed to sell unused vacation time back to the state.

The controller found that about 90 percent of the buybacks were allowed by two managers who altered payroll records without proper authority.

Source: http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Controller-Employees-overpaid-at-California-parks-184020421.html

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Video: 'I want to be part of the solution'

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50218963/

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

EUWI Africa Newsletter Discusses Joint Africa-EU Strategy Review

December 2012: The EU Water Initiative (EUWI) Africa December 2012 Newsletter discusses progress on the review of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, a study on financing transboundary water management in Africa, and the EUWI activities held in parallel with World Water Week, held in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2012.

The newsletter features stories on: using the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) model for the Caribbean region; signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between AMCOW and France pledging French support for improving access to water and sanitation in Africa; presenting an EUWI study during World Toilet Day celebrations; holding the World Water Week seminar on ?Focus Africa ? Water Security ? Opportunities for the 21st Century;? and celebrating the 10th anniversary of the EUWI at World Water Week.

The EU Water Initiative has worked since 2002 to facilitate progress on water-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in developing countries, including through the Africa Working Group (AWG). [Publication:?EUWI AWG Newsletter December 2012]

Source: http://africasd.iisd.org/news/euwi-africa-newsletter-discusses-joint-africa-eu-strategy-review/

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Plumes across the Pacific deliver thousands of microbial species to North American West Coast

Dec. 17, 2012 ? A surprising number of microorganisms -- 99 percent more kinds than had been reported in findings published just four months ago -- are leaping the biggest gap on the planet. Hitching rides in the upper troposphere, they're making their way from Asia across the Pacific Ocean and landing in North America.

For the first time researchers have been able to gather enough biomass in the form of DNA to apply molecular methods to samples from two large dust plumes originating in Asia in the spring of 2011. The scientists detected more than 2,100 unique species compared to only 18 found in the very same plumes using traditional methods of culturing, results they published in July.

"The long-range transport and surprising level of species richness in the upper atmosphere overturns traditional paradigms in aerobiology," says David J. Smith, who recently earned his doctorate at the University of Washington in biology and astrobiology. He's lead author of a paper in the current issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"It's a small world. Global wind circulation can move Earth's smallest types of life to just about anywhere," Smith said.

It's been estimated that about 7.1 million tons (64 teragrams) of aerosols -- dust, pollutants and other atmospheric particles, including microorganisms -- cross the Pacific each year. The aerosols are carried by wind storms into the upper reaches of the troposphere. The troposphere, the layer of air closest to earth up to about 11 miles (18 kilometers), is where almost all our weather occurs.

Co-author Daniel Jaffe, professor at UW Bothell, has previously documented especially large plumes of aerosols in the troposphere making the trans-Pacific trip in seven to 10 days. The recent findings are based on two such plumes, one in April and the other in May of 2011, detected at Mount Bachelor in the Cascade Mountains of central Oregon.

Most of the microorganisms -- about half were bacterial and the other half fungal -- originated from soils and were either dead on arrival or harmless to humans. A few fungal species have been associated previously with crop wilt but scientists had no way of determining if any crops were affected during either plume event.

Most of the species in the plumes can be found in low, background levels on the West Coast. The plumes, however, brought elevated levels of such organisms leading the scientists to say that it may be useful to think about microorganisms as air pollution: microorganisms that are unnoticed in background levels might be more relevant in concentrated doses.

"I was very surprised at the concentrations. One might expect the concentrations of cells to decrease with altitude based on fallout and dilution," Smith said. "But during these plume events, the atmosphere was pooling these cells just as it does with other kinds of air pollution."

Interestingly, Smith says, two of the three most common families of bacteria in the plumes are known for their ability to form spores in ways that they can hibernate safely during harsh conditions, making them especially well adapted to high altitude transport.

"I think we're getting close to calling the atmosphere an ecosystem," Smith said. "Until recently, most people would refer to it as a conveyor belt, or a transient place where life moves through. But the discovery of so many cells potentially able to adapt to traveling long distances at high altitudes challenges the old classification."

Cells also can interact with their high-altitude environment, for example, becoming the nucleus for rain drops and snow flakes and influencing the amount of precipitation that falls. Other scientists estimate that 30 percent of global precipitation stems from microbes.

On the other hand, scientists have yet to see evidence of metabolism or growth of microorganisms while aloft and there's a limited amount of time that any organism might reside there.

Sampling the upper troposphere for microorganisms in the past has been a spotty effort using aircraft and balloons, Smith said

"Because it is so difficult to get samples, I argue it's probably the last biological environment on the planet to be explored," he said.

Mount Bachelor, like many other mountains in the Cascades, has a peak tall enough to pierce the upper troposphere. Unlike other mountains in the Cascades, however, the top of Mount Bachelor is a far more accessible place for an observatory because a ski area exists there. There's power and bringing equipment and personnel to the observatory is not a major undertaking, you just take the ski lift.

Funding for the work came from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, NASA's Astrobiology Institute, the UW's NASA Space Grant Consortium and the UW Department of Biology.

Other co-authors are Peter Ward and Hilkka Timonen with the UW and UW Bothell respectively, Dale Griffin with the U.S. Geological Survey, Michele Birmele and Michael Roberts with NASA and Kevin Perry with the University of Utah.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington. The original article was written by Sandra Hines.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. D. J. Smith, H. J. Timonen, D. A. Jaffe, D. W. Griffin, M. N. Birmele, K. D. Perry, P. D. Ward, M. S. Roberts. Intercontinental Dispersal of Bacteria and Archaea in Transpacific Winds. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2012; DOI: 10.1128/AEM.03029-12

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/JX4mwBex4Yc/121217152711.htm

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Web TV service Hulu books $695 million in annual revenue

(Reuters) - Hulu, the privately held Internet streaming TV service, will generate about $695 million in revenue in 2012 and finish the year with more than 3 million paying subscribers, the company's CEO said on Monday.

The company's revenue increased 65 percent from 2011, Chief Executive Jason Kilar said in a blog post on the company's website. Subscribers to its paid service, Hulu Plus, doubled from a year ago to 3 million. Hulu Plus costs $7.99 a month, the same price as the Internet streaming service offered by its biggest rival, Netflix.

The company said it invested more than $500 million in content in 2012 and now offers 50,000 hours of video. It also said it has more than 1,000 advertisers. The company said it tripled its paying subscribers for its TV service in Japan without providing specifics.

"We are closing on a big 2012," Kilar said.

A company spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the company was profitable.

Hulu is owned by media companies Walt Disney Co, News Corp and Comcast NBC Universal. Private equity firm Providence Equity Partners said in October it had sold its 10 percent stake.

Hulu started five years ago primarily as a free site for users to catch up with many of their favorite shows on broadcast television. It is now building its own library of original content in a bid to stand out from competitors such as Netflix Inc and to attract advertising dollars. Netflix, the current leader in Internet movie and TV streaming, said it had 25.1 million U.S. subscribers at the end of September.

Hulu put itself up for sale in 2011, with suitors including Google Inc, Amazon.com Inc, DirecTV Group Inc and Dish Network Corp, Reuters reported at the time. But the talks collapsed over the price of the deal.

(Reporting By Liana B. Baker; editing by Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tv-hulu-books-695-million-annual-revenue-182915743--finance.html

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Monday, December 17, 2012

How All the Fantastical Creatures From The Hobbit Come To Life on the Screen

48 FPS or otherwise, The Hobbit features a wealth of stunning, unreal creatures like any good fantasy movie should. The magic behind it all—of course—is CGI, but motion capture and a variety of augmented reality shooting techniques makes the work behind the scenes almost as cool as the finished product. It's second only to actually rounding up some real-life trolls and goblins. [The Daily] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BcRx_MH4r4A/this-is-how-all-the-fantastical-creatures-from-the-hobbit-come-to-life-on-the-screen

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Saturday, December 15, 2012

How To Photoshop Yourself Holding... Yourself

Over on PetaPixel photographer David Talley has put together a fantastic—and fairly simple—tutorial on how to create an awesome image of you holding yourself. If you're new to Photoshop it's a great way to improve your skills. And if you're not, with the addition of a Santa hat this is the perfect way to awesome-up your Christmas card this year. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fWAaOJwIJcA/how-to-photoshop-yourself-holding-yourself

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New Facebook for iOS app lets you upload photos to albums

7 hrs.

Facebook released an update for its iOS app on Thursday. The latest version of the social network's app is pleasantly snappier, loads your Timeline faster, and finally lets you upload photos to albums.

Yes, the ability to upload photos to albums is a minor feature addition?? but it's a pretty big deal for obsessive shutterbugs who want to keep everything organized on the go.

You can download the new Facebook for iOS app???version 5.3, in case you're wondering???from the Apple App Store right now.?And if you're an Android user, you should probably peek at the Google Play store, because Facebook's Android app also got a nice speed?boost recently.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/speedier-facebook-ios-app-finally-lets-you-upload-photos-albums-1C7611042

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Friday, December 14, 2012

Lawmaker probes arrest of sex offender Hill intern

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Republican congressman asked the Obama administration Friday why it delayed for weeks the arrest of a registered sex offender who was living illegally in the U.S. and working for a Democratic senator.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of a House oversight subcommittee on homeland defense, asked the Homeland Security Department whether politics played any role in the decision not to arrest Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaletahim, 18, until after the Nov. 6 election.

The Associated Press reported earlier this week that the department ordered immigration agents not to arrest Sanchez, an unpaid intern working for Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., until after Election Day. The department said it did not order such a delay and said it followed standard procedures. Menendez advocates aggressively for pro-immigration policies and was re-elected in November with 58 percent of the vote.

Chaffetz's inquiry was the first from Capitol Hill on the matter. He called the situation "disturbing" in a letter dated Thursday to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Chaffetz asked that officials brief him and his staff by Jan. 3 and provide answers in writing.

Authorities in Hudson County, N.J., notified U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in early October that they suspected Sanchez was an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender and who may be eligible to be deported. ICE agents in New Jersey notified superiors at the Homeland Security Department because they considered it a potentially high profile arrest, and the department instructed them not to arrest Sanchez until after the November election, one U.S. official told the AP. ICE officials complained that the delay was inappropriate, but the department directed them several times not to act, the official said.

ICE agents arrested Sanchez on Dec. 6 in front of his home in New Jersey, two federal officials said. Sanchez, who entered the country on a now-expired visitor visa from Peru, is facing deportation and remains in custody. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of Sanchez's immigration case. Menendez said his staff learned of this on Dec. 10 but he personally found out about the case through AP's reporting.

During the final weeks of President George W. Bush's administration, ICE was criticized for delaying the arrest of President Barack Obama's aunt, who had ignored an immigration judge's order to leave the country several years earlier after her asylum claim was denied. She subsequently won the right to stay in the United States after an earlier deportation order.

In that earlier case, the Homeland Security Department imposed an unusual directive days before the election requiring high-level approval before federal agents nationwide could arrest fugitive immigrants including Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father. The directive from ICE expressed concerns about "negative media or congressional interest," according to a copy of that directive obtained by AP. The department lifted the immigration order weeks later.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmaker-probes-arrest-sex-offender-hill-intern-164700724.html

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Chicago Muslims aim to reclaim meaning of 'jihad' from extremists

New ad campaign on Chicago buses, launched Friday, aims to raise awareness of how most Muslims experience 'jihad' ? as personal struggle, not 'holy war.'

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / December 14, 2012

Starting Friday, 25 Chicago buses carry ads that aim to give a more positive sense of the meaning of the word, 'jihad.' A Muslim-American group is behind the campaign.

CAIR-Chicago

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An Islamic-American advocacy group is trying to reclaim the word ?jihad,? one city bus at a time.

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Starting Friday, 25 Chicago buses will carry exterior signs that promote a more positive interpretation of jihad, as expressed by moderate Muslims who say the term has been widely misrepresented by both Muslim extremists and anti-Muslim critics.

?We are taking ownership of our faith and taking it back from Muslim and anti-Muslim extremists, which both have hijacked the conversation, one through bloody actions and the other with extreme rhetoric,? says Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The ads feature photographs of young Muslims alongside personal testimonials ? ?My Jihad is to stay fit, despite my busy schedule,? ?My Jihad is to not judge people by their cover,? "My Jihad is to march on despite losing my son,? and ?My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle? ? that positions the meaning of jihad as a personal, internal struggle and not a ?holy war,? an interpretation that is widely used by terrorists and related media coverage.

The statements were culled from a social media experiment Mr. Rehab created about two months ago, after asking his Facebook followers about how jihad personally related to their lives. When answers started posting on his page, he then created a hashtag on Twitter (#MyJihad) and asked his followers to submit their answers there.

Thousands of responses followed and Rehab realized he could shape them into a campaign to raise awareness about how the majority of Muslims experience jihad and also to empower Muslims who may have felt demoralized during the past decade, as their faith became increasingly linked to terrorist acts.

?It seems like people were yearning for something like this, where they can express themselves, because those on the extreme are often looked on as representative of everybody,? he said.

One of the people his outreach attracted was Sadaf Syed, a Chicago photojournalist whose book, ?iCover,? documenting the everyday lives of Muslim women living in the US, prompted an invitation from the White House in 2010 for an interfaith gathering.

Ms. Syed volunteered her time to take studio photographs of the participants, all of whom she said had stories that were universally relatable.

?Our hope is when people do see these images, they can see themselves in them, too, and can understand the word is not a scary word, although it may be a 'Arabic' word. The definition of it is so close to home,? she says. ?What we wanted to do is truly celebrate that word because it?s a beautiful word.?

Through a branded website (MyJihad.org), Rehab solicited donations to raise money for the public advertising. To date, he has raised $6,000, which covers five different ads over 25 buses. He says future campaigns are being scheduled in New York City, Washington, San Francisco, Houston, and Seattle.

The campaign can be seen to counteract a similar effort by conservative activist Pamela Geller and her group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which has purchased advertising on subway platforms in New York, Chicago, and Washington that equates Muslims and Palestinians with terrorism.

One ad posted this week, according to the Associated Press, reads, ?In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.? Another depicts the twin towers in New York City engulfed in flames, with the message: ?Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers,? which they attribute to the Quran, the Islamic holy book.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/lvS_pRqlxzQ/Chicago-Muslims-aim-to-reclaim-meaning-of-jihad-from-extremists

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Antidepressant could do double duty as diabetes drug, study shows

Dec. 13, 2012 ? University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered that the commonly used antidepressant drug paroxetine could also become a therapy for the vascular complications of diabetes.

The scientists made their discovery after screening 6,766 clinically used drugs and pharmacologically active substances.

"We developed this assay and used it to test literally every single existing drug and a good selection of other biologically active compounds," said UTMB professor Csaba Szabo, senior author of a paper on the research published online by Diabetes. "We were quite surprised when paroxetine came out as an active compound -- a result, we later determined, of what seems to be a completely new effect unrelated to its antidepressant actions and not shared by any other known antidepressant drug."

The initial screening process tested the ability of different compounds to protect the cells that make up the inner linings of blood vessels from the destructive effects of the high sugar levels produced by diabetes, known as hyperglycemia. In people with diabetes, hyperglycemia causes these endothelial cells to generate toxic molecules known as reactive oxygen species (ROS), which ravage blood-vessel linings and lead to diabetic endothelial dysfunction, the key factor in such destructive diabetic complications as heart attacks, strokes, retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy.

In subsequent test-tube studies, researchers found that paroxetine -- which is sold as an antidepressant under the trade name "Paxil" -- prevents hyperglycemia-initiated ROS damage to endothelial cells in two ways. First, it directly reduces concentrations of superoxide, a powerful ROS. Second, it suppresses superoxide production by mitochondria, tiny structures whose real job is making the energy-transfer molecules needed for most cellular processes. In a hyperglycemic environment, mitochondria are cells' biggest source of superoxide. According to the researchers' findings, paroxetine inhibits this activity without interfering with the mitochondria's vital normal function.

Further experiments yielded still more evidence that paroxetine protects endothelial cells under hyperglycemic conditions. Reactive oxygen species cause significant damage to DNA, RNA and proteins, but cell-culture experiments showed that paroxetine significantly reduced this effect. The drug had similarly beneficial results when tested on rat "aortic rings" -- small pieces of blood vessel kept alive with tissue-culture techniques. When treated with the vasodilator acetylcholine, these rings dilated just as if they were still part of a functioning circulatory system; endothelial dysfunction caused by diabetic hyperglycemia normally interferes with this function, but paroxetine restored it.

Finally, the researchers tested paroxetine in rats that had been injected with streptozotocin, a chemical that induces diabetes. The animals given paroxetine developed hypoglycemia, but like the aortic rings, their arteries retained the ability to dilate -- an indication that the drug had prevented damage to their epitheliums.

"The future potential of this study is that we may be able to 're-purpose' paroxetine for the experimental therapy of diabetic cardiac complications," Szabo said. "We'll need to carefully characterize its safety profile in diabetic patients, but I think there's definite potential here."

Other authors of the Diabetes paper include instructor Dr. Domokos Ger?, research fellow Petra Szoleczy, postdoctoral fellow Kunihiro Suzuki, postdoctoral fellow Katalin M?dis, faculty associate Dr. Gabor Ol?h and postdoctoral fellow Ciro Colletta. This research was supported by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the American Heart Association and the James W. McLaughlin Endowment.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. D. Gero, P. Szoleczky, K. Suzuki, K. Modis, G. Olah, C. Coletta, C. Szabo. Cell-Based Screening Identifies Paroxetine as an Inhibitor of Diabetic Endothelial Dysfunction. Diabetes, 2012; DOI: 10.2337/db12-0789

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/q2ALSHJ-LDs/121214091616.htm

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Airlines: 2013 profits to rise thanks to cost cuts

An airport worker walks away from an SAS Boeing 737 aircraft after it was pushed back from the terminal at Arlanda airport, north of Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Struggling Scandinavian airline SAS AB, which last month announced an aggressive cost-cutting plan in a final desperate attempt to avoid bankruptcy, reported a 3 billion kronor ($450 million) full-year loss on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Scanpix, Johan Nilsson) SWEDEN OUT

An airport worker walks away from an SAS Boeing 737 aircraft after it was pushed back from the terminal at Arlanda airport, north of Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Struggling Scandinavian airline SAS AB, which last month announced an aggressive cost-cutting plan in a final desperate attempt to avoid bankruptcy, reported a 3 billion kronor ($450 million) full-year loss on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Scanpix, Johan Nilsson) SWEDEN OUT

(AP) ? Airlines' profits will improve to $8.4 billion in 2013, mainly reflecting cost cuts and restructuring measures taken to compensate for stalling economic growth, the global industry's trade group forecast Thursday.

For 2012, the industry anticipates net profits of $6.7 billion based on strong second and third quarters ? particularly for larger carriers with bigger economies of scale ? despite high fuel prices and weaker demand.

But the 2013 results would still be below the $8.8 billion earned in 2011 and $15.8 billion in 2010. The net profit margin, at 1 percent, would also be well below the 7 to 8 percent officials say is needed to recover capital costs.

The International Air Transport Association's annual review focused on the impact of annual world economic growth falling below 2 percent and Brent crude oil trading at $109.5 a barrel.

"Airlines have adjusted to this difficult environment through improving efficiency and restructuring," said Tony Tyler, chief executive of the Geneva-based global trade group.

Tyler told reporters in Geneva that airlines' financial performance hinged partly on their size.

"Economies of scale are helping larger airlines to cope much better with the difficult environment than small and medium-sized carriers which continue to struggle," he said.

IATA, whose 240 member airlines carry 84 percent of all passengers and cargo, said the industry's overall revenue in 2013 is expected to rise to $659 billion from $637 billion this year, while costs will go up to $640 billion from $623 billion.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-13-EU-Airlines-Outlook/id-f49be211998b41bab3fe56d080ee6373

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Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy: Not Happy Together

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/bethenny-frankel-and-jason-hoppy-not-happy-together/

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Sports Digest: Warriors Win in Basketball, Gymnastics - Deerfield, IL ...

Boys? Basketball?

The Final Score:????????Deerfield 68, Wheeling 49?

Warriors Star Performer:????Eric Porter?led Deerfield with19 points on 80 percent shooting from the field.

Other Notable Warrior Performances:?????? Michael Alfieri, Tony Shapiro and Jon Heiser chipped in nine points each.?Alfieri also grabbed six rebounds and stole the ball twice. Heiser had a pair of assists and rebounds while Shapiro hauled down two rebounds, dished out an assist and stole the ball once. Alexander Glantz contributed six points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Who?s Next:?? The Warriors entertain Maine East at 7:30 p.m. Friday.?

Bottom Line:? Deerfield took control early with a 15-9 first quarter lead before outscoring Wheeling 23-9 in the second period to take a 38-18 lead into intermission. Wheeling narrowed the gap in the third quarter before the Warriors dominated the fourth quarter to put the contest away. The victory evened Deerfield?s season record at 4-4.?

Gymnastics?

The Final Score:??????? Deerfield 132.2, Highland Park 107.6?

Warriors Star Performer:????Christine Stitcher?won all four events?vault, uneven parallel bars, balance beam and floor exercise?as well as the all around competition.

Other Notable Warrior Performances:?????? Ally Perbohner took second in the all around competition as well as runner up honors in the vault and bar while placing third on the beam and floor. Leslie Ross tied for second in the vault with Perbohner while Nikki Katz grabbed second on floor. Ross was third on the bars.?

Who?s Next:?? The Warriors compete in a quadrangular meet at 6 p.m. Friday in Lake Forest.?

Bottom Line:? In winning all events, Stitcher compiled an all around total of 36.15 including a 9.4 on the beam, a 9.1 on floor, a 9.0 in the vault and an 8.65 on the bars.?

For more complete Warrior sports results, "like" us on?Facebook?or follow us on?Twitter.

Source: http://deerfield.patch.com/articles/sports-digest-warriors-win-in-basketball-gymnastics

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Recreation And Sports: Hunting Report Classification - Page 110 ...

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Source: http://floralwhite.w3bookmarks.com/technology/recreation-and-sports-hunting-report-classification-page-110/

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Absolutely free Laptop or computer Certification Instruction | It ...

Laptop or computer or info know-how certification teaching can vary in price from no cost to hundreds of pounds and often can go in the 1000?s. Students of data technology and laptop restore want the very best achievable IT certification schooling out there for the lowest feasible expense. Value is important but they Gonzalo D Stevensusually do not wish to sacrifice to the high quality of personal computer certification coaching.

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Ways to pass your details technological know-how certification exam? Babette F Foster This can be the query all computer college students need to be inquiring. Owning the teaching and competencies about computer systems and data technologies is nice for the awareness. Getting your information and facts engineering certification exam instruction will profit you more since you might be willing to pass your certification test. Your understanding will not likely get you the task. Acquiring your certification can provide you with a large shelling out place.Linda S Schrantz

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Source: http://ittrainerstips.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/absolutely-free-laptop-or-computer-certification-instruction/

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Source: http://iaurygesy.posterous.com/absolutely-free-laptop-or-computer-certificat

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The Government will tag you like a dog ? News that matters

You can not buy and sell animals who have not got the microchip. Likewise you will be electronically tagged by the Government.

This cat has been tagged with a chip on the top of his leg.

This cat has been tagged with a chip on the top of his leg.

Some weeks ago I spoke to a former farmer in Norway. He had also transported sheep and cows to the slaughterhouses.

?- You can not buy and sell without having these animals electronically tagged. They have all got the microchip.? If you do not put, you have broken the law and Governmental instructions, my Christian brother explained.

If you have made the best pickle in the World, put it on glasses, and approached the Super market chains, you will receive the same message.

Without tagging the product with a bar code, you will not be permitted to put it into the official economy.

Likewise, all human beings will be electronically tagged. The Government will enforce this system, for ?our own best?.?

We will be told that there are so many advantages being ?chipped? by the authorities.? One of them is that you can never get lost. They will always know where they can find you.

You can not bring a cow to be slaughtered who is not electronically tagged.

You can not bring a cow to be slaughtered who is not electronically tagged.

This is what Wikipedia has recorded:

?Animal shelters, animal control officers and veterinarians routinely look for microchips to return lost pets quickly to their owners, avoiding expenses for housing, food, medical care, outplacing and euthanasia. Many shelters place chips in all outplaced animals.

Microchips are also used by kennels, breeders, brokers, trainers, registries, rescue groups, humane societies, clinics, farms, stables, animal clubs and associations, researchers, and pet stores.
Microchips can also activate some pet doors[1] programmed to recognize specific animals.

Yesterday you tagged your dog. Tomorrow you will curse and tag your children.

Yesterday you tagged your dog. Tomorrow you will curse and tag your children.

Some countries require microchips in imported animals to match vaccination records.

Microchip tagging may also be required for CITES-regulated international trade in certain rare animals: for example:

Asian Arowana are tagged to limit import to captive-bred fish.

In New Zealand, all dogs first registered after 1 July 2006 must be microchipped.

In April 2012 Northern Ireland became the first part of the United Kingdom to require microchipping of individually licenced dogs.

The United States uses the National Animal Identification System for farm and ranch animals other than dogs and cats.

Revelation 13:16-18

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man?s number. His number is 666.

The U.K., which has a system for tracking such adverse reactions and has chipped over 3.7 million pet dogs.

Neither your dog nor your child will ever again get lost.

Neither your dog nor your child will ever again get lost.

Tagged like a dog, and getting ready for the slaughterhouse.

Tagged like a dog, and getting ready for the slaughterhouse.

Most people who rejects the Bible, and have become friends of the World, will delight in the Governmental scheme of ?full protection?. The government of the antichrists will have an easy match.

Written by Ivar

Source: http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/the-government-will-tag-you-like-a-dog/

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Experts: Station's royal hoax call may be illegal

SYDNEY (AP) ? The Australian radio station behind a hoax phone call to the London hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was being treated could face criminal charges for airing the conversation, legal experts said Tuesday.

Last week's prank was widely condemned days after it aired, after the still-unexplained death of a nurse who answered the phone and helped two DJs get confidential information about the former Kate Middleton's health. But when it comes to a potential criminal case, the question is not about the death; it's whether a private conversation was broadcast without the permission of the participants.

Violators could be sentenced to prison, but it's unclear who at radio station 2DayFM or its parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, made the decision to air the call. The DJs have said executives above them made the decision, but a former 2DayFM host who orchestrated many pranks for the station said DJs were always involved in such decisions while she was there.

Southern Cross Austereo has said the station had tried five times to contact the hospital, but privacy law expert Barbara McDonald said that could prove to be an inadequate defense.

"Seems to me that saying, 'We tried to call,' shows that they knew they should, and they've made a decision to go ahead knowing that they have not got permission," said McDonald, a law professor at the University of Sydney. "I don't know whether it makes the situation better, or worse."

The New South Wales state Surveillance Devices Act prohibits the broadcast of recorded private conversations without participants' permission, with violations punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to 55,000 Australian dollars ($58,000).

McDonald said the Commercial Radio Code of Practice has a similar ban, but she added that even if Australia's media watchdog found violations, the most extreme punishment ? loss of license ? is almost unheard of.

Australian authorities have said little about any possible investigation. State police have said only that they've been in contact with their London counterparts and are ready to assist them in any British investigation.

Radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian called London's King Edward VII Hospital last week. Pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, they asked for word on the Duchess of Cambridge, who had been suffering from severe morning sickness. Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who answered the phone, put them through to the ward, and the duo received confidential information on the duchess' condition that was later aired.

The radio station trumpeted the prank call until Friday, when Saldanha was found dead. Police have not disclosed the cause of Saldanha's death, but many have assumed it was related to the stress from the call. An autopsy was to be held Tuesday.

Grieg and Christian tearfully apologized for the prank in televised interviews Monday, after days of condemnation in countless Internet posts around the world.

Southern Cross Austereo also has apologized, and stopped running any advertising on 2DayFM following Saldanha's death. On Tuesday it issued a statement announcing that ads would resume Thursday, with all profits for the rest of December to be donated to "an appropriate fund that will directly benefit" Saldanha's family. The company said it would donate at least 500,000 Australian dollars ($525,000).

Austereo has repeatedly insisted that it followed the law. The company said in a statement Monday that the segment underwent an internal legal review before it was broadcast.

The company "does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code," Austereo said, adding it would cooperate with any investigation.

On Monday, Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran said 2DayFM had tried five times, without success, to contact the London hospital to discuss the prank before it aired. The King Edward VII Hospital denied its management had been contacted by 2DayFM.

Media law expert Mark Pearson said that even if the station had tried to contact the hospital, that isn't enough under the law. He said permission must be granted by the person involved.

If the case went to court, it is possible that a judge could decide that an attempt at getting permission was sufficient, but only if the lawyers could prove that any "reasonable person" would agree that enough was done, said Pearson, a journalism professor at Bond University in Queensland state. He considered such a ruling to be a longshot.

"I think lawyers would be hard-pressed to argue that a few unprovable phone calls was enough to show that there had been a reasonable attempt to get permission," he said.

The case also could be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the country's media watchdog. McDonald, the University of Sydney professor, said that stations found in violation generally are given warnings or told to train staff in proper procedures.

The authority has said it has received complaints about the hoax call and is looking into the case, but has not yet launched an official investigation.

Greig and Christian's comments Monday about higher-ups making the decision to air the call only raised more questions for Wendy Harmer, who hosted a morning show at 2DayFM from 1993 until resigning in late 2003.

Harmer said that when she was a DJ, she played an integral role in those decisions, and personally approved the many on-air pranks that she was responsible for.

The program producer, program manager and station manager needed to approve segments as well, Harmer said. She added that some segments were brought even higher to the group station manager for approval.

"If you're a DJ, and you're in front of the microphone, this is a very powerful medium and you should be absolutely apprised of all your responsibilities and all the rights of the audience," Harmer said. "And so to hear a couple of DJs who didn't seem to understand what those were was, I must say, alarming."

She added the company's statements that it had sought permission five times, and that the hoax call underwent legal review, are signals that the company knew "there's something big going down."

"I would say, 'If we have to bring the lawyers in, I'm not going to do it.' But I can say that with hindsight," she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/experts-stations-royal-hoax-call-may-illegal-093538496.html

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