Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry poses for pictures after a campaign meet and greet at The Button Factory restaurant on December 21, 2011 in Muscatine, Iowa.
A week before Iowa?s January 3 caucuses, the outcome of the Republican contest is hard to predict: Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney all stand a chance at winning. But something else already seems clear: Iowa has blown its special claim as the first state to vote in presidential contests.
Iowa?s first-to-vote-status dates to 1972, when a quirk in Democratic Party rules scheduled its caucuses ahead of the New Hampshire primary, which had opened the presidential nominating process since 1920. Republicans followed suit four years later. Iowa?s political establishment quickly found that it enjoyed all the attention and economic activity that came with going first, and enshrined into state law a mandate that Iowa vote at least eight days before any other state.
Iowa seems to have gotten away with this leap to the front of the line in part thanks to its folksy all-American image as a heartland state home to honest, common-sense rural folks. But with every passing decade, Iowa?s electoral character grows more out of step with the reality of the United States. Iowa is an unusually homogenous ? that is, white ? and rural state in an increasingly diverse and urban nation. And it?s long been a custom of presidential politics to see the candidates extol the virtues of expensive farm and ethanol subsidies with precious little economic rationale.
In response, Iowans insist that their state has special virtues that make for sound presidential vetting. The state Republican Party?s website, for instance, boasts that Iowa?s small size, along with the intangible virtue of its people, justifies its exalted position:
Iowans take the caucuses very seriously and respect their position as First in the Nation. Many Iowans meet candidates personally and ask them detailed questions about particular policies. Some presidential candidates have noted that Iowa voters ask some of the most sophisticated and nuanced policy questions they receive while on the campaign trail.
Sounds nice, but that rationale doesn?t withstand much scrutiny. Iowa may take the caucuses seriously, but wouldn?t we expect any other state to do the same? And while Iowa voters sometimes ask great questions, so do voters elsewhere. I?ve also heard Iowa voters ask some really silly and uninformed questions. The idea that geography determines political aptitude is more than a little dubious.
Here?s where the experience of 2012 should be most damning for Iowa?s privileged place. The mythology of the caucuses is based on close personal contact between voters and candidates. In theory, the candidates traverse the state?s plains and cornfields to let voters size them up at close range, to test them and take their measure in coffee shops and meeting halls where people live plain and simple ? and political spin just doesn?t fly.
But the candidates who have spent the most time and effort on the state, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum (who has famously visited each of the state?s 99 counties, the poor man), are reaping precious few rewards in the polls. The caucus frontrunners, by contrast, haven?t really played by Iowa?s rules. Mitt Romney spent most of 2011 avoiding the state. Newt Gingrich campaigned there sporadically until his surge, and even then has showed his respect by leaving at critical moments. Then there?s Ron Paul, who may win the caucuses with a small plurality while peddling a foreign policy message totally unacceptable to most of the state?s Republicans.
So why have these candidates risen to the top? Because the entire Iowa campaign has tracked the national one. Iowa?s procession of frontrunners ? Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Gingrich, Paul ? has roughly mirrored the boom-and-bust pattern found in national polls. It seems unlikely that these fluctuations have been driven by the ?sophisticated and nuanced policy questions? of Iowans. More likely, they reflect the drama of the televised debates and national media events like Herman Cain?s string of female accusers. (Cain, by the way, leapt to first place in the state at a time when he was paying it no visits at all.) What?s the point in having Iowa go first if its voters are simply reacting to the same debate zingers as the rest of the country?
And by the way, remember the Ames straw poll in August? That contest was supposed to tell us important things about the candidates? true strength and appeal in the state, and to winnow the field in ways that would make it stronger. But the straw poll?s victor, Michele Bachmann, promptly tanked, and the candidate whose third-place finish drove him from the field ? Tim Pawlenty ? looks in hindsight like the credible Mitt Romney alternative for whom the party has spent the past six months searching. It?s been six months in which Iowa has played along with the hyping of one candidate after another.
Iowa is a lovely state packed with wonderful, thoughtful and good people. But is this really the picture of an unusually discerning and responsible electorate? And if not, why in the world should Iowa continue to get the first say?
Romney in Cedar Falls, Iowa (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
MASON CITY, Iowa--If there was any mystery about whether Mitt Romney is competing to win in Iowa, it's been ended by the candidate's schedule in the coming days.
The former Massachusetts governor, who is set to wrap up a bus tour of the state with a rally tonight in Ames, heads to New Hampshire Friday but will return to Iowa a little more than 24 hours later. Between Saturday and Tuesday, Romney will hold nine campaign events across the state before finishing with a caucus night rally in Des Moines.
At a town hall here on Thursday, a voter told Romney some people are skeptical about his bid for the Republican presidential nomination because the candidate hasn't competed here as heavily as he did four years ago.
"I want to win Iowa, " Romney insisted. "Everybody does."
At one point, an eight-year-old boy asked Romney, "Is it hard running for president?"
Romney grinned.?"Yes and no," he laughed. "Sorry. That sounds like a politician. I apologize."
He touched on the grind of political life: "It's hard in terms of getting up early in the morning, sleeping in a strange bed almost every night, one hotel after the other ? And sometimes you don't sleep so well."
The night before last, Romney said, he awoke throughout the night because trucks kept honking at his campaign bus, which was parked in a hotel parking lot near a major interstate.
"But the best part of campaigning is doing what I am doing now: it's meeting people across the country and making friends," Romney said. "The measure of a person's life is not how much stuff they have. It's how many people they love; how many friends they have."
He called running for president "the greatest opportunity" he's had.
"So if you get the chance to do it," he said, "make sure and do it. Win or lose, it's a good thing to do."
Other popular Yahoo! News stories:
Want more of our best political stories? Visit?The Ticket or connect with us?on Facebook and follow us?on Twitter.
Our local city editors chose their favourite stories of the year
Earlier this year in March, Dazed & Confused and Swatch unveiled this brand new website dedicated to daily, exclusive stories from the world?s most exciting cities and new creative hubs. If you're checking in now and know what we do, a huge thanks for the support. If this is your first time, then it's time to introduce Satellite Voices, led by our local city editors on the ground across Tokyo, Paris, Shanghai, Moscow, Munich, Rome, Santiago and Dubai, celebrating each region?s fresh, emerging talent alongside homegrown cultural icons.
As a round up of 2011, our city editors pick their favourite Satellite Voices stories in fashion, music, art, film, photography and culture.? ? Chosen by Valerio Mannucci
Music: Paolo Di Nola & Goblin Since 1975, the band Goblin has been a pivotal part of the pop imagery of the capital of Italy. If you are into cult horror movies you know Dario Argento and if some of those gory scenes from his movies are still stuck in your head it's also because of the creepy soundtrack written form the band. This is an exclusive two art interview with Goblin?s Claudio Simonetti.
Music: NO=FI Recordings Toni Cutrone, the Roman music noise don behind the DalVerme drinking den, NO=FI Recordings and one of our awesome Satellite Voices guest editors has put together a fresh new mix that represents his label and musical outlook. The curator of the acclaimed Bogata Boredom compilation that represents the scene of the same name - the emerging Roma Est noise movement.
Chosen by Flavia Ferrucci
Art: JB Rock JB Rock's graffiti first appeared on Roman streets in the early 90s. One of the most important names of Rome's street art scene, his style has evolved over the years, and next to his usual graffiti work he now experiments with different techniques. Whether he's exploring the life of the suburban outskirts or investigating a woman's body, his use of decorative styles and images is outstanding.
Art: Scarful Alessandro Maida aka Scarful was born in 1968 and is a Rome-based artist and graphic designer. In the 90s he started working as a graphic artist and gave birth with other Roman writers and artists, the Hateful Graphic Vandals collective. Along with artits Joe, Nico, Pane and Stand he's also part of the WhyStyle collective, participating at events and exhibitions since 2002.
Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
Passer cette ?tape
Connexion
Connexion
Rejoignez Twitter !
NewsStock Latest NewsStock.in - NTCA to conduct tiger census in India annually -: The National Tiger Conservatio... bit.ly/vkCdRlIl y a environ 1 heurevia twitterfeed
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo prefers Spain's La Liga over the English Premier League because he says it allows individual players to shine.
Ronaldo, who played for Manchester United for six years before joining Real Madrid, said he "learned the elementary and basic rules of football, especially discipline" while in England. But he said La Liga was the best league in the world because it "relies on players' skills and techniques."
Ronaldo spoke Wednesday at the Dubai International Sports Conference.
Ronaldo is the Spanish league's top scorer this year and says he has no intention of leaving Spain. While insisting he could adapt to any league, Ronald said he wants to stay at Real Madrid, adding "frankly I'm just enjoying the moment."
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
advertisement
More newsVi-Images / Getty Images Contributor
Ajax-Alkmaar to be replayed
The cup match between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar that was halted after a fan ran on to the pitch and attacked AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado will be replayed in full next month.
Off-field woes
Football in 2011 was dominated by events off the field rather than on it.
ScienceDaily (Dec. 25, 2011) ? A global team of neuroscientists, led by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida, has found the gene responsible for a brain disorder that may be much more common than once believed. In the Dec. 25 online issue of Nature Genetics, the researchers say they identified 14 different mutations in the gene CSF1R that lead to development of hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids (HDLS). This is a devastating disorder of the brain's white matter that leads to death between ages 40 and 60. People who inherit the abnormal gene always develop HDLS. Until now, a definite diagnosis of HDLS required examination of brain tissue at biopsy or autopsy.
The finding is important because the researchers suspect that HDLS is more common than once thought and a genetic diagnosis will now be possible without need for a brain biopsy or autopsy. According to the study's senior investigator, neurologist Zbigniew K. Wszolek, M.D., a significant number of people who tested positive for the abnormal gene in this study had been diagnosed with a wide range of other conditions. These individuals were related to a patient known to have HDLS, and so their genes were also examined.
"Because the symptoms of HDLS vary so widely -- everything from behavior and personality changes to seizures and movement problems -- these patients were misdiagnosed as having either schizophrenia, epilepsy, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, or other disorders," says Dr. Wszolek. "Many of these patients were therefore treated with drugs that offered only toxic side effects.
"Given this finding, we may soon have a blood test that can help doctors diagnose HDLS, and I predict we will find it is much more common than anyone could have imagined," he says.
Dr. Wszolek is internationally known for his long-term efforts to bring together researchers from around the world to help find cases of inherited brain disorders and discover their genetic roots.
Dr. Wszolek's interest in HDLS began when a severely disabled young woman came to see him in 2003 and mentioned that other members of her family were affected. The diagnosis of HDLS was made by his Mayo Clinic colleague, Dennis W. Dickson, M.D., who reviewed the autopsy findings of the patient's uncle, who had previously been misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, and subsequently, Dr. Wszolek's patient and her father. All members of the family had HDLS.
Dr. Dickson had identified other cases of HDLS from Florida, New York, Oregon and Kansas in the Mayo Clinic Florida brain bank and knew of a large kindred in Virginia with similar pathology, based upon a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neuropathologists. With concerted efforts, Dr. Wszolek and collaborators at University of Virginia were able to obtain DNA samples from the Virginia kindred. Dr. Wszolek also sought other cases, particularly those that had been reported in the neuropathology literature, and he was able to obtain samples from Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, and other sites in the U.S. He and his team of investigators and collaborators have since published studies describing the clinical, pathologic and imaging characteristics of the disorder, and they have held five international meetings on HDLS.
In this study, which included 38 researchers from 12 institutions in five countries, the study's first author, Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D., led the effort to find the gene responsible for HDLS. Her laboratory studied DNA samples from 14 families in which at least one member was diagnosed with HDLS and compared these with samples from more than 2,000 disease-free participants. The gene was ultimately found using a combination of traditional genetic linkage studies and recently developed state-of-the art sequencing methods. Most family members studied -- who were found to have HDLS gene mutations -- were not diagnosed with the disease, but with something else, thus emphasizing the notion that HDLS is an underdiagnosed disorder.
The CSF1R protein is an important receptor in the brain that is primarily present in microglia, the immune cells of the brain. "We identified a different CSF1R mutation in every HDLS family that we studied," says Dr. Rademakers. "All mutations are located in the kinase domain of CSF1R, which is critical for its activity, suggesting that these mutations may lead to deficient microglia activity. How this leads to white matter pathology in HDLS patients is not yet understood, but we now have an important lead to study."
"With no other disease have we found so many affected families so quickly," says Dr. Wszolek. "That tells me this disease is not rare, but quite common." He adds, "It is fantastic that you can start an investigation with a single case and end up, with the help of many hands, in what we believe to be a world-class gene discovery."
The study was funded by a Mayo benefactor and the Mayo Foundation. Additionally, Mayo Clinic in Florida is a Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Mayo Clinic.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Rosa Rademakers, Matt Baker, Alexandra M Nicholson, Nicola J Rutherford, NiCole Finch, Alexandra Soto-Ortolaza, Jennifer Lash, Christian Wider, Aleksandra Wojtas, Mariely DeJesus-Hernandez, Jennifer Adamson, Naomi Kouri, Christina Sundal, Elizabeth A Shuster, Jan Aasly, James MacKenzie, Sigrun Roeber, Hans A Kretzschmar, Bradley F Boeve, David S Knopman, Ronald C Petersen, Nigel J Cairns, Bernardino Ghetti, Salvatore Spina, James Garbern, Alexandros C Tselis, Ryan Uitti, Pritam Das, Jay A Van Gerpen, James F Meschia, Shawn Levy, Daniel F Broderick, Neill Graff-Radford, Owen A Ross, Bradley B Miller, Russell H Swerdlow, Dennis W Dickson, Zbigniew K Wszolek. Mutations in the colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) gene cause hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids. Nature Genetics, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/ng.1027
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.
Montgomery officials hope that the state does no harm Washington Post Titled ?Montgomery County's Priorities for the 2012 Session,? it read more like a municipal leader's worst fiscal fears. A $200 million drop to income tax revenue. A $45 million drop to non-education state aid. A 10 percent reduction in county ?
PARIS ? European shares eked out modest gains Tuesday despite an earlier retreat in Asia, amid hopes of a solid Christmas trading period around the world, but Italian shares dipped as the country's key borrowing rate ratcheted up to worrisome levels.
Indicators out of the U.S., which can drive market sentiment the world over, have been stronger than expected, and there have been signs in Europe too of a solid trading. However, with the debt crisis in Europe still raging and growth expected to slow in China, investors have plenty to worry about.
A run of strong data from the U.S. ahead of the long holiday weekend had buoyed investors around the world but particularly on Wall Street ? the Dow Jones index closed last Friday at a five-month high last Friday.
In Europe, stock markets have recovered some ground of late too but most are still down on the year.
On Tuesday, France's CAC-40 rose 0.3 percent to 3,110 while Germany's DAX was up 0.2 percent at 5,891. The FTSE index of Britain's leading shares remained closed.
One market bucking the trend was Italy's FTSE MIB, which was trading 0.5 percent lower as the yield on the country's ten-year bonds struck 7 percent once again ? a level that is considered unsustainable in the long-run and eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal into seeking outside financial help.
Italy is the eurozone's third-largest economy and is considered to be too big to save under current bailout facilities. Mario Monti, the coauntry's new premier got Parliamentary approval last week for a big austerity package that is intended to save the country from financial disaster.
Markets have grown increasingly fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion).
Despite ongoing worries over the spread of Europe's debt crisis to Italy, the euro remained relatively well-supported, trading 0.1 percent higher too at $1.3070.
Ahead of Wall Street's open, Dow futures were flat at 12,222 while S&P futures were also broadly unchanged at 1,260.
The narrow ranges across stock markets reflect light holiday trading conditions. Markets in Europe and the U.S. were closed Monday and trading is expected to be light most of this week though there could be some year-end movements on Friday as investors look to lock in any gains they may have made.
Earlier in the day, Asian shares fell after a disappointing profit performance by Chinese companies and a warning that Japan faces "significant downside risks" due to Europe's debt problems. That warning came from a Finance Ministry representative at a November Bank of Japan meeting, the bank said Tuesday.
Tokyo lost 0.5 percent to 8,440.56 while Seoul's Kospi shed 0.8 percent to 1,842.02. Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta also declined. Hong Kong and Sydney were closed.
China's benchmark Shanghai index dropped nearly 1.1 percent to 2,166.21 after the country's government reported that profit growth slowed at its major industrial companies. Total profit in the January-November period rose 24.4 percent over a year earlier, down 0.9 percent from the growth rate for the first 10 months of the year.
Oil markets were fairly subdued ? benchmark crude for February delivery was up 29 cents at $99.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
___
AP Business Writer Joe McDonald contributed to this report from Beijing.
The traditional eight-hour workday may soon be the exception rather than the rule. New evidence shows that we?re reaching a tipping point in terms of workplace flexibility, with businesses seeing the wisdom of allowing employees ? young ones especially ? to work odd hours, telecommute and otherwise tweak the usual 9-to-5 grind.
One of the?top 12 trends for 2012 as named by the communications firm Euro RSCG Worldwide is that employees in the Gen Y, or millennial, demographic ? those born between roughly 1982 and 1993 ? are overturning the traditional workday.
The Business and Professional Women?s Foundation estimates that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be Gen Y. As early as next year, this group of younger Americans will comprise 60% of the employees at companies like Ernst & Young. And increasingly, companies are creating workplace-flexibility programs because it makes good business sense, not in the least because that?s what their employees are demanding.
(GALLERY: 9 Jobs of of the (Near) Future)
Gen Y-ers are spearheading this change because they don?t want the same work environment their parents had. Between new technology and global workplace dynamics, companies are implementing flexible work arrangements for everyone, inclusive of Gen Y. A recent Vodafone U.K. survey illustrates that 90% of employers enable work flexibility instead of sticking to traditional hours.
Leading the charge in the shift toward allowing employees to work anywhere around the world, at any time they want, are companies such as Ernst & Young, Aflac and MITRE, which all realize that they need to accommodate employees? personal lives if they want to retain them. ?This notion of an eight-hour day is rapidly disappearing, simply because we work so virtually and globally,? says Maryella Gockel, Ernst & Young?s flexibility-strategy leader. By understanding Gen Y-ers? need for workplace flexibility, companies are better able to recruit and grow young talent for the future.
Aside from the early adopters of workplace-flexibility programs, many other companies are hesitant because of the traditional ?command and control? approach laid out for older generations. The challenge these companies face is letting go and trusting their young employees ? even when they are telecommuting or using Facebook regularly at work.
(LIST: 10 Money Moves to Make Before 2012)
Many companies fear that, without structure, employees will be distracted, not as engaged and less productive. In fact, the opposite is often true. A trusting work environment breeds more-loyal employees and increases efficiency. Here are three reasons for companies to embrace workplace-flexibility programs:
1. Gen Y workers won?t accept jobs where they can?t access Facebook. Cisco?s ?Connected World Technology? report shows that more than half of Gen Y employees prioritize social-media freedom over a higher salary when evaluating a job offer. Furthermore, more than half say the Internet is an integral part of their lives. Gen Y-ers wants to be connected to their friends and families, not just their co-workers, throughout the day. Although some companies ban social media at work, other companies have embraced it as long as employees use it professionally. ?We do want people to use social networks in order to keep in touch with their colleagues and contacts,? explains Gockel, whose company has no formal social-media guidelines or policies.
(MORE: The Blackberry Moral, Or: The Trouble With Too Many Options)
2. Gen Y-ers value workplace flexibility over more money. More than one-third (37%) of Gen Y workers would take a pay cut if it meant more flexibility on the job, reports a study by Mom Corps. Flexibility motivates these workers to be more productive and loyal to their companies because they feel like they are respected. An employer that allows flexibility in the workplace also demonstrates that it understands the evolving modern-day work environment, which bodes well for the future.
3. Gen Y workers are always connected to jobs through technology. Technology has made the traditional 9-to-5 model blurry ? for all workers, of all generations, really. No one is ever out of touch or off the clock. When workers go home, they?re still working because who they are personally and professionally have become one and the same. Workers are always representing the company, and more and more, it seems, work e-mail doesn?t stop for anything or anyone. By no means does time away from the office equal less work getting done.
Schawbel?is the managing partner of Millennial Branding LLC, a full-service?personal-branding?agency. He is the author of? Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future, founder of the blog Personal Branding and publisher of? Personal Branding magazine.?
KHARTOUM (Reuters) ? Sudan's armed forces claimed Sunday to have killed the head of the western Darfur region's most powerful rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
"The armed forces clashed in a direct confrontation with Khalil Ibrahim's rebel forces, and were able to eliminate Khalil Ibrahim," Al-Sawarmi Khalid, Sudan's armed forces spokesman told state television.
Ibrahim's death, if confirmed, could represent a serious blow to the rebel group, although tightly restricted access to Darfur and Sudan's other conflict zones makes it almost impossible to accurately gauge the real strength and internal unity of insurgent groups.
The armed forces spokesman said Ibrahim and other leaders had been trying to enter South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended a separate, decades-long civil war.
JEM could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mainly non-Arab insurgents in Darfur took up arms against Khartoum in 2003, claiming the central government had neglected the remote region and was favoring local Arab tribes.
The United Nations has said as many as 300,000 people may have died in the Darfur conflict. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
JEM - now considered the most powerful rebel group in terms of military strength - said in a statement Saturday its fighters had clashed with government militias in parts of the North Kordofan state and planned to advance on the capital Khartoum.
The group said in September that Ibrahim had returned from Libya where he had been since May 2010, when neighboring Chad refused him entry.
JEM has refused to sign a Qatar-brokered peace agreement which Sudan signed with the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), an umbrella association of smaller groups.
In November, JEM said it had formed an alliance with other insurgents in Darfur and in two of Sudan's conflict-stricken border states.
(Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Michael Roddy)
LONDON ? The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.
Anonymous boasted of stealing Stratfor's confidential client list, which includes entities ranging from Apple to the U.S. Air Force to the Miami Police Department, and mining it for more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords and home addresses.
"Not so private and secret anymore?" the group taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.
Anonymous said the client list it posted was a small slice of the 200 gigabytes worth of plunder it stole from Stratfor and promised more leaks. It said it was able to get the credit details in part because Stratfor didn't bother encrypting them ? an easy-to-avoid blunder which, if true, would be a major embarrassment for any security-related company.
Austin, Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos.
Lt. Col. John Dorrian, public affairs officer for the Air Force, said that "for obvious reasons" the Air Force doesn't discuss specific vulnerabilities, threats or responses to them.
"The Air Force will continue to monitor the situation and, as always, take appropriate action as necessary to protect Air Force networks and information," he said in an email.
Miami Police Department spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz Jr. said that he could not confirm that the agency was a client of Stratfor, and he said he had not received any information about a security breach involving the police department.
It soon became clear that proprietary information about the companies and government agencies that subscribe to Stratfor's newsletters did not appear to be at any significant risk, and that the main threat was posed to individual employees.
Hours after publishing what it claimed was Stratfor's client list, Anonymous tweeted a link to encrypted files online with the names, addresses and account details.
"Not as many as you expected? Worry not, fellow pirates and robin hoods. These are just the "A"s," read a message posted online that encouraged readers to download a file of the hacked information.
It also linked to images online that it suggested were receipts for charitable donations made by the group manipulating the credit card data it stole.
"Thank you! Defense Intelligence Agency," read the text above one image that appeared to show a transaction summary indicating that an agency employee's information was used to donate $250 to a non-profit.
One receipt ? to the American Red Cross ? had Allen Barr's name on it.
Barr, of Austin, Texas, recently retired from the Texas Department of Banking and said he discovered last Friday that a total of $700 had been spent from his account. Barr, who has spent more than a decade dealing with cybercrime at banks, said five transactions were made in total.
"It was all charities, the Red Cross, CARE, Save the Children. So when the credit card company called my wife she wasn't sure whether I was just donating," said Barr, who wasn't aware until a reporter with the AP called that his information had been compromised when Stratfor's computers were hacked.
"It made me feel terrible. It made my wife feel terrible. We had to close the account."
Stratfor said in an email to members that it had suspended its servers and email after learning that its website had been hacked.
"We have reason to believe that the names of our corporate subscribers have been posted on other web sites," said the email, passed on to The Associated Press by subscribers. "We are diligently investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been obtained."
The email, signed by Stratfor Chief Executive George Friedman, said the company is "working closely with law enforcement to identify who is behind the breach."
"Stratfor's relationship with its members and, in particular, the confidentiality of their subscriber information, are very important to Stratfor and me," Friedman wrote.
Repeated calls to Stratfor went unanswered Sunday and an answering machine thanked callers for contacting the "No. 1 source for global intelligence." Stratfor's website was down, with a banner saying "site is currently undergoing maintenance."
Wishing everyone a "Merry LulzXMas" ? a nod to its spinoff hacking group Lulz Security ? Anonymous also posted a link on Twitter to a site containing the email, phone number and credit number of a U.S. Homeland Security employee.
The employee, Cody Sultenfuss, said he had no warning before his details were posted.
"They took money I did not have," he told the AP in a series of emails, which did not specify the amount taken. "I think 'Why me?' I am not rich."
One member of the hacking group, who uses the handle AnonymousAbu on Twitter, claimed that more than 90,000 credit cards from law enforcement, the intelligence community and journalists ? "corporate/exec accounts of people like Fox" news ? had been hacked and used to "steal a million dollars" and make donations.
It was impossible to verify where credit card details were used. Fox News was not on the excerpted list of Stratfor members posted online, but other media organizations including MSNBC and Al-Jazeera English appeared in the file.
Anonymous warned it has "enough targets lined up to extend the fun fun fun of LulzXmas through the entire next week."
The group has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on companies such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, as well as others in the music industry and the Church of Scientology.
____________
Associated Press writers Jennifer Kway in Miami, Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, Texas and Daniel Wagner in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
_____________
Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd
Recently I read a post by Chuck Frey where he highlighted nine information maps for managers and I was struck how mapping uniquely helps teams be more agile. But, before I get into that, for those who haven?t been introduced to the concept ? what do I mean by being more agile?
Agile is typically software development term, but the method is increasingly being applied across business functions. Here?s a pretty good excerpt from CIO Magazine breaks it down.
Agile programming breaks down an application development project into small modularized pieces. Each piece, addressed one at a time in a very short time frame, adds to the application and represents a complete part of the functionality.
Each piece is an iteration that lasts from one to four weeks. As a result, you know immediately when a particular piece of an application proves troublesome. That lets you work through the issue immediately.
Each iteration is like a mini-project by itself.
Here?s how Agile practices work outside of engineering. For example, you have a marketing outreach campaign that runs for 13 weeks and incorporates several executions that include email, banner ads and direct response. By building a map you can then use it as a dynamic road map- providing strategy, an outline of your tactics, for note taking and then as report on the campaign?s success.? For each ensuing week you can iterate and improve upon your campaign with the knowledge that you?ve acquired along the way.
With Agile business practices you can affect change much earlier so your results are optimized. Beyond marketing and development, Agile can lend itself to strategic planning, HR and talent management, business development and sales management.
After reading Chuck?s post it?s clear that information maps are the perfect complement to the Agile process.? Why?
They assist in planning to help teams collectively decide what they can do and what?s necessary to achieve the immediate goal.
Maps can be leveraged as a team dashboard. They provide a visual recording of the plan, discussion and direction. Team members can track status, keep notes and quickly move from high level goals and/or drill down into minute details as required.
They are a real-time resource that provides a snapshot for team members to review, learn and improve.
Team members can leverage online maps to share progress, information and files regardless of location.
Maps are dynamic.? As such they can be easily updated to incorporate the latest thinking, success metric or resolution.
If you want to check it out the Chuck?s complete report, Mind Maps for Leaders & Managers report, click here.? Got other tips to make your business more Agile?? Let us know!
Yes, Sony Ericsson has already gone about communicating its intention to deliver Android 4.0 to its Xperia smartphone collection, but the company is now sharing further details about the pending arrival. So, we thought you'd like to be in on the know. For starters, the first devices to receive the upgrade will be the Arc S, Neo V and Ray, each of which are on-track for a late March / early April rollout. Then, beginning in late April / early May, Sony intends to deliver Ice Cream Sandwich to the Active, Arc, Mini, Mini Pro, Neo, Play and Xperia Pro handsets. Even the Live with Walkman is set to receive a new lease on life during the time frame. In each case, the latest version of Android will be rolled out in phases, over the course of a few weeks. Now, let's just hope that Sony Ericsson is able to keep to its schedule.
To lift the lid on the lives of turkeys, naturalist Joe Hutto became a full-time "mother" to a brood of poults. What did he learn?
You lived with wild turkeys in rural Florida for over a year. How did it all begin? I had been experimenting with the imprinting phenomenon - in which young animals become attached to the first moving object they encounter - for years, with many types of birds and mammals. Wild turkeys are difficult to come by, so when I lucked upon some wild turkey eggs I decided: OK, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
These turkeys regarded you as their mother. Was that a lot of responsibility? It was, because wild turkeys are precocial - they are born fully alert and ambulatory and don't stay in the nest. They have to imprint at birth so they know who mum is, and they can't be left alone at all. I realised that if I was going to do this project then it was going to be a 24-hour-a-day commitment, which I was willing to do.
What did being their mother mean in practice? I had to be with them before daylight so that when they flew down from the roost their mother was there waiting, and I had to remain with them until after dark. If I tried to leave before it was completely dark they would fly down and try to follow me, and then they were left on the ground, where they were vulnerable to snakes or weasels.
Was your research scientific? It started out as a science project but it became more than that to me. I found it impossible to avoid a very personal involvement, so a certain scientific empiricism and detachment was immediately lost in the process.
Were there any specific skills you had to teach the turkey poults? Not at all. Their innate understanding of ecology was complete. They knew everything from birth, and the knowledge is very specific. That was one of the most surprising things about the study. From birth they knew exactly which insect they could eat and which was dangerous. I didn't have to intervene and say: "No, no, don't try to eat that wasp." They knew not to eat the wasp.
Did you learn to talk "turkey"? They sort of taught me their language. Researchers had identified 25 to 30 calls in wild turkeys that I was familiar with. But I learned that wild turkey vocabulary was much more complex than I had realised - within each of their calls were different inflexions that had specific meanings. For example, they had an alarm call for dangerous reptiles, but what I learned was that in that call there were specific inflexions that would identify a species of snake. Eventually when I heard a certain vocalisation I knew without question they had found a rattlesnake.
So turkeys are not as stupid as their reputation suggests? No. But I think the first thing we do when we domesticate an animal is breed the fine evolutionary edge out of them. They lose that well-honed razor's edge of survival that causes them to be clever, independent and a survivor. In some sense we breed the brains out of them.
Profile
Joe Hutto is an ethologist. As well as turkeys, he has studied Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and has spent the past six years living with mule deer. My Life As A Turkey, a documentary on his time with turkeys, came out on DVD last month
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
Vaccines with broader reach might be made by stimulating specialized immune cells to recognize foreign cell membrane proteins that are shared across bacterial species, say researchers from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a report published online today in Immunity. The approach could be particularly beneficial in preventing infection by multi-drug resistant organisms.
The genetic heritage of organisms such as oysters, frogs and fish indicate that a family of cell-signaling molecules called interleukin-17 (IL-17) arose in evolution before the advent of T cells, one of the main arms of the immune system in humans. The human IL-17 gene is turned on in a specialized group of immune cells in the T helper-cell lineage, known as Th17 cells, explained senior author Jay K. Kolls, M.D., professor of pediatrics and immunology, Pitt School of Medicine, and vice chair for translational research, Department of Pediatrics, and director, Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
"That development led us to think that perhaps Th17 cells confer some immunological advantage for eliminating infectious organisms beyond the antibody strategy that we typically employ when we make vaccines," he explained. "We wanted to better understand what role Th17 cells play."
The research team exposed mice to Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, a common cause of lung infection, and re-exposed them several weeks after they recovered from the first pneumonia. They found that the presence of the germ in both instances led to increased numbers of Th17 cells in the lungs and spleen. But when they blocked IL-17, they found the mice still developed immunity to infection. The antibody response, which is controlled by B cells, did not require IL-17 to become established.
Next, they infected mice bred to lack B cells, which make antibodies, with the bacteria. They found that the animals could become immunized against repeat infection as long as IL-17 was unblocked, allowing Th17 cells to develop an immunological memory of the Klebsiella bacteria.
The researchers determined also that while antibodies react to sugar complexes called polysaccharides in the bacterial coat or capsule, Th17 cells respond to protein complexes in the cell membrane. Those proteins, which are integral to the structure of the cell membrane, tend to be similar across bacterial strains, unlike the capsular polysaccharides, which are variable, Dr. Kolls said.
"Some current vaccines require generating a response to a number of these capsular sugars for effective immunization," he said. "An approach that harnesses the stability of the Th17 cell response to common proteins has the potential to simplify vaccination and provide a broader spectrum of coverage. This strategy may be particularly useful against bacteria that have diverse capsular sugars or multi-drug resistant organisms."
###
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences: http://www.upmc.com/Pages/default.aspx
Thanks to University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
CAW President Ken Lewenza is calling on the federal government to immediately conduct a full review of U.S. based Caterpillar's purchase of Canada's only locomotive manufacturing facility - Electro-Motive - in London, Ontario.
In a December 21 letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Lewenza said the future of the plant and the 800 good jobs it provides is in peril. "Government inaction and ineffective foreign investment rules could result in the end of more than sixty years of high value-added manufacturing and the loss of 800 good jobs..," Lewenza states.
CAW Local 27 represents production workers at Electro Motive in London.
Under the Investment Canada Act, notification of the acquisition of Electro-Motive was filed with the Minister of Industry, which was reviewed and approved. A receipt was issued in September 2010 declaring the investment required no further review.
Caterpillar bought the London plant in June 2010, but within less than a year of the purchase three other locations in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil are slated to build EMD locomotives. The company is now demanding massive wage cuts from the London workers and the elimination of the pension. Lewenza said it increasingly looks like the company is trying to force workers out on the street, "providing convenient cover for any plans to move production out of Canada."?
"There is broad agreement among industry experts that Caterpillar's long-term interest in Electro-Motive centers on plans to acquire long-sought after technology and to bring production to the U.S. to gain access to State government incentives."
Lewenza stressed that Canada doesn't need another job-destroying failed foreign investment.
"Will you instruct the Minister of Industry to use his powers under the Act to issue a demand and retroactively order a full review of this acquisition?" Lewenza asked Harper.? "Will you instruct your Minister to issue a demand to Caterpillar requiring them to declare their intentions for the London operations? Will your Minister negotiate investment and employment undertakings with Caterpillar to safeguard the future of these operations?" ? To read Lewenza's full letter to the Prime Minister please visit http://www.caw.ca/en/10811.htm
The benefits of cardiac resynchronisation therapy in heart failure Public release date: 18-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: ESC Press Office press@escardio.org 33-049-294-8627 European Society of Cardiology
Substantial improvements in symptoms and survival
However, large-scale clinical trials have highlighted the beneficial effect of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) in the improvement of symptoms and reduction of mortality, and CRT is now recommended in the major European and American guidelines for the treatment and prevention of heart failure.(1)
Clinical trials, however, are performed in carefully selected subjects and their results are not always applicable to the general population. Large-scale registries or surveys, on the other hand, capture data from a much more heterogeneous population and are closer to everyday clinical practice (although the applicability of the sample may be a concern).
Now, the European CRT Survey, whose follow-up results are published today in the European Journal of Heart Failure, suggests that CRT does indeed reduce rates of death and re-hospitalisation among heart failure patients.(2) Indeed, at one-year follow-up most patients who had received a CRT device considered their symptoms were better than their pre-implant assessment.(3)
The survey - a joint initiative of the Heart Failure Association and European Heart Rhythm Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) - gathered information on more than 2000 patients at 141 centres in 13 European countries. Its aim was to assess the effect of CRT on symptom severity, cardiovascular re-hospitalisation, and survival. The study population included subjects poorly represented in clinical trials but commonly admitted as heart failure patients - including the very elderly, those with atrial fibrillation, and those previously treated with a pacemaker or other cardiac device.
Analysis of the survey data showed that at, one year (average) follow-up, 81% reported a self-assessed improvement in their symptoms (with 16% no change and 4% a deterioration).
The survey also found that almost 25% of the subjects had died or been re-hospitalised within the 12-month follow-up period. This poor outcome (whose rate is consistent with that found in clinical trials - was directly associated with the diagnostic severity of the heart failure, the pre-existence of atrial fibrillation (or other heart disease), and the type of resynchronisation cardiac device implanted. Patients implanted with a pacing device only (CRT-P) had higher rates of mortality than those whose device had an additional defibrillator (CRT-D).
First author Dr Nigussie Bogale from Stavanger University Hospital in Norway said: "This is the largest study reporting a difference in outcome between CRT-D and CRT-P. Most patients with an indication for CRT have also an indication for a defibrillator. So unless they have contraindicating co-morbidities, it is now our belief that these patients should be considered for CRT-D implantation."
The use of advanced CRT devices has gained increasing acceptance in recent years and they are now being implanted on a large scale as an adjunct to conventional drug treatment. Indeed, some reports have described the two types of devices (CRT-P and CRT-D) as a revolution in heart failure. One important study cited in the most recent guidelines on heart failure suggested implantation of an ICD was associated with a 23% reduction in all-cause mortality.(4)
One study reporting in 2009 found that throughout 15 European countries the number of CRT implantations increased substantially, from 46/million in 2004 to 99/million in 2008, an increase of 115%. This was mainly explained by an increase in use of CRT-D devices. One study cited by many recent guidelines (MADIT-CRT) found that CRT-D decreased the risk of heart-failure events even in relatively asymptomatic patients (with a 34% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality or heart failure).(5) This European CRT Survey now suggests that benefits of this nature - in both symptoms and survival - can be replicated in routine everyday practice.
However, despite the benefits and the recommendations, other studies show there is still a wide gap between those who meet the criteria for CRT and those who actually have a device implanted.
###
Notes to editor
(1) Cardiac resynchronisation pacemakers (CRT-P) and defibrillators (CRT-D) for treating heart failure, which have evolved from conventional pacemakers, aim to correct abnormal contractions of the heart's ventricles. More than half of the mortality associated with heart failure is because of sudden cardiac death - and the most important predictor of SCD is left ventricular dysfunction, the underlying cause of heart failure. The use of CRT aims to correct dyssynchrony and prevent sudden cardiac death.
(2) Bogale N, Priori S, Cleland JGF, et al. The European CRT Survey: 1 year (9-15 months) follow-up results. Eur J Heart Fail 2011; doi:10.1093/eurjhf/hfr158.
(3) The main symptoms of heart failure are breathlessness (dyspnoea), tiredness and weakness, and oedema (swelling in the legs and ankles).
(4) Moss AJ, Hall WJ, Cannom DS, et al. Cardiac-resynchronization therapy for the prevention of heart-failure events. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 1329-1338.
(5) Van Veldhuisen DJ, Maass AH, Priori SG, et al. Implementation of device therapy (cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator) for patients with heart failure in Europe: changes from 2004 to 2008. Eur J Heart Fail 2009; doi:10.1093/eurjhf/hfp149.
* The European Journal of Heart Failure is a journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
* Heart failure is by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission. Around 30 million people in Europe have heart failure and its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more people are living to an old age, and more are surviving a heart attack but with damage to the heart muscle.
The 2010 Focused Update of ESC Guidelines on device therapy in heart failure can be seen in various formats
More information on this press release and a PDF of the paper is available from the ESC's press office
press@escardio.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The benefits of cardiac resynchronisation therapy in heart failure Public release date: 18-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: ESC Press Office press@escardio.org 33-049-294-8627 European Society of Cardiology
Substantial improvements in symptoms and survival
However, large-scale clinical trials have highlighted the beneficial effect of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) in the improvement of symptoms and reduction of mortality, and CRT is now recommended in the major European and American guidelines for the treatment and prevention of heart failure.(1)
Clinical trials, however, are performed in carefully selected subjects and their results are not always applicable to the general population. Large-scale registries or surveys, on the other hand, capture data from a much more heterogeneous population and are closer to everyday clinical practice (although the applicability of the sample may be a concern).
Now, the European CRT Survey, whose follow-up results are published today in the European Journal of Heart Failure, suggests that CRT does indeed reduce rates of death and re-hospitalisation among heart failure patients.(2) Indeed, at one-year follow-up most patients who had received a CRT device considered their symptoms were better than their pre-implant assessment.(3)
The survey - a joint initiative of the Heart Failure Association and European Heart Rhythm Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) - gathered information on more than 2000 patients at 141 centres in 13 European countries. Its aim was to assess the effect of CRT on symptom severity, cardiovascular re-hospitalisation, and survival. The study population included subjects poorly represented in clinical trials but commonly admitted as heart failure patients - including the very elderly, those with atrial fibrillation, and those previously treated with a pacemaker or other cardiac device.
Analysis of the survey data showed that at, one year (average) follow-up, 81% reported a self-assessed improvement in their symptoms (with 16% no change and 4% a deterioration).
The survey also found that almost 25% of the subjects had died or been re-hospitalised within the 12-month follow-up period. This poor outcome (whose rate is consistent with that found in clinical trials - was directly associated with the diagnostic severity of the heart failure, the pre-existence of atrial fibrillation (or other heart disease), and the type of resynchronisation cardiac device implanted. Patients implanted with a pacing device only (CRT-P) had higher rates of mortality than those whose device had an additional defibrillator (CRT-D).
First author Dr Nigussie Bogale from Stavanger University Hospital in Norway said: "This is the largest study reporting a difference in outcome between CRT-D and CRT-P. Most patients with an indication for CRT have also an indication for a defibrillator. So unless they have contraindicating co-morbidities, it is now our belief that these patients should be considered for CRT-D implantation."
The use of advanced CRT devices has gained increasing acceptance in recent years and they are now being implanted on a large scale as an adjunct to conventional drug treatment. Indeed, some reports have described the two types of devices (CRT-P and CRT-D) as a revolution in heart failure. One important study cited in the most recent guidelines on heart failure suggested implantation of an ICD was associated with a 23% reduction in all-cause mortality.(4)
One study reporting in 2009 found that throughout 15 European countries the number of CRT implantations increased substantially, from 46/million in 2004 to 99/million in 2008, an increase of 115%. This was mainly explained by an increase in use of CRT-D devices. One study cited by many recent guidelines (MADIT-CRT) found that CRT-D decreased the risk of heart-failure events even in relatively asymptomatic patients (with a 34% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality or heart failure).(5) This European CRT Survey now suggests that benefits of this nature - in both symptoms and survival - can be replicated in routine everyday practice.
However, despite the benefits and the recommendations, other studies show there is still a wide gap between those who meet the criteria for CRT and those who actually have a device implanted.
###
Notes to editor
(1) Cardiac resynchronisation pacemakers (CRT-P) and defibrillators (CRT-D) for treating heart failure, which have evolved from conventional pacemakers, aim to correct abnormal contractions of the heart's ventricles. More than half of the mortality associated with heart failure is because of sudden cardiac death - and the most important predictor of SCD is left ventricular dysfunction, the underlying cause of heart failure. The use of CRT aims to correct dyssynchrony and prevent sudden cardiac death.
(2) Bogale N, Priori S, Cleland JGF, et al. The European CRT Survey: 1 year (9-15 months) follow-up results. Eur J Heart Fail 2011; doi:10.1093/eurjhf/hfr158.
(3) The main symptoms of heart failure are breathlessness (dyspnoea), tiredness and weakness, and oedema (swelling in the legs and ankles).
(4) Moss AJ, Hall WJ, Cannom DS, et al. Cardiac-resynchronization therapy for the prevention of heart-failure events. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 1329-1338.
(5) Van Veldhuisen DJ, Maass AH, Priori SG, et al. Implementation of device therapy (cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator) for patients with heart failure in Europe: changes from 2004 to 2008. Eur J Heart Fail 2009; doi:10.1093/eurjhf/hfp149.
* The European Journal of Heart Failure is a journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
* Heart failure is by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission. Around 30 million people in Europe have heart failure and its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more people are living to an old age, and more are surviving a heart attack but with damage to the heart muscle.
The 2010 Focused Update of ESC Guidelines on device therapy in heart failure can be seen in various formats
More information on this press release and a PDF of the paper is available from the ESC's press office
press@escardio.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
(Reuters) ? Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it is selling more than one million Kindle devices a week, an unusual disclosure from the largest Internet retailer that comes in the wake of some negative reviews of its new Kindle Fire tablet.
Amazon said customers are buying "well over" one million Kindles per week. This level of sales has occurred for three straight weeks, it added in a statement.
The sales numbers include the Kindle Fire tablet and all the versions of the Kindle e-reader. The company did not break out sales numbers for the Fire tablet alone.
However, Amazon executive Dave Limp said Kindle Fire sales increased week over week for each of the last three weeks.
Amazon previously said it sold "millions" of Kindles, but the company has never before given a sales number for a week, according to a spokeswoman.
The disclosure comes after a spate of negative reviews of the Kindle Fire that focused on issues such as slow response from the user interface and Web browser, the need for more privacy and child settings, and the lack of external volume control.
"The press release was very bullish and clearly a response to the few high-profile negative articles," said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie.
Amazon shares climbed 1.1 percent to $182.18 at mid-afternoon on Thursday. The stock fell to almost $170, its lowest level since March, on Wednesday.
Recent reviews and articles have been "overdone," partly because they often compare the $199 Kindle Fire to Apple Inc's iPad, which starts at $499, the analyst added.
"That's like comparing a $20,000 car with a $50,000 car," Schachter said. "These reviews certainly hurt because people read them. Will it work as well as the iPad? No."
Despite the negative coverage, Schachter is sticking to his forecast of about five million Kindle Fire sales in the fourth quarter.
Amazon said earlier this week that it plans a software upgrade to the Kindle Fire in coming weeks that will "improve performance, touch navigation, and give customers the option to choose what items display on the carousel."
The carousel refers to windows that appear on the home display of the Kindle Fire showing what applications ran most recently. Some users have complained that exposing what they last did with the device is a privacy problem.
"It's a new product that can be improved," Schachter said. "We don't think any of the problems discussed are deal breakers."
(Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Gunna Dickson and Richard Chang)
OKLAHOMA CITY ? An Oklahoma prosecutor said Friday he "fully expects" more young victims to emerge in the case of a former third-grade teacher accused of making child pornography involving her students and sharing it online with a retired college professor in Pennsylvania.
Former McLoud school teacher Kimberly Ann Crain, 48, and retired Pennsylvania professor of early childhood development Gary Doby, 65, were charged Thursday in the case in which prosecutors allege Crain took photographs of as many as 14 young girls while they were changing in her classroom and at her home and shared them with Doby. Crain also is accused of setting up video chats on her school computer between her students and a man named "Uncle G," who authorities say was Doby.
"Any person who has a child that's been a student of Mrs. Crain has been on pins and needles wondering if their child is a victim," said Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon. "We've had at least three or four more parents contact us. Potentially there are many more victims.
"Until we have identified every victim, the investigation will continue."
Crain, who resigned in November, was charged with 23 felony counts, including eight counts of manufacturing juvenile pornography, 10 counts of lewd molestation and aggravated possession of juvenile pornography. Doby, who was arrested Thursday outside his Bloomsburg, Pa. home, was charged with eight counts of manufacturing juvenile pornography and one count of conspiracy to manufacture juvenile pornography.
Crain and Doby were being held Friday on $1 million each. If convicted on all counts, Crain could be sentenced to life in prison, while Doby could face up to 170 years, Smothermon said.
Doby was being held in Columbia County Prison near Bloomsburg University, the state-owned school about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia from which he retired in 2008. Pennsylvania court officials said Friday they have no record of an attorney for Doby and that an extradition hearing hadn't been scheduled.
A not-guilty plea was entered on Crain's behalf during her arraignment Thursday in Pottawatomie County. Her attorney, Cregg Webb, did not return a phone message Friday left at his office in Shawnee.
Smothermon said he's also discussing the possibility of federal charges, but that Oklahoma statutes carry lengthier sentences.
"We want to make sure we can get the maximum amount of time that we can," he said.
The case first came to light in November when the parents of a 9-year-old girl contacted police after their daughter attended a pizza party at Crain's McLoud home. The girl told police Crain had several girls change into Christmas-themed bras and panties and then took pictures of them decorating a Christmas tree and made a video of them doing a cheer dance, according to a police affidavit.
Police later uncovered more than 100 sexually explicit photographs of young girls from Crain's cellphone, computers and digital cameras, authorities said.
Officers who interviewed Doby at his home in Pennsylvania earlier this week said he admitted his relationship with Crain and that he communicated with her via Skype and received photos of young girls in their underwear, according to the affidavit.
Crain and Doby apparently met when she was a student and he was a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee between 1985 and 1987, Smothermon said. Although Smothermon did not disclose the nature of their relationship, court records show investigators found evidence of numerous "sexual chats" between the two on Crain's computer.
"Our community is distressed by the alleged crimes," Marty O'Gwynn, assistant to the president at OBU said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families."
George Wright, an attorney for the families of some of the alleged victims in the case, said both parents and the children are "traumatized."
"They're horrified daily," Wright said. "It seems like every day we hear something that was worse than the day before. It's an onslaught."
___
Associated Press writer Joseph Mandak in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
newsstock 
is breed the fine evolutionary edge out of them. They lose that well-honed razor's edge of survival that causes them to be clever, independent and a survivor. In some sense we breed the brains out of them.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 18-Dec-2011
Share ]