Sunday, March 31, 2013

'G.I. Joe' fights off box office competition

By Lisa Richwine and Patricia Reaney, Reuters

Action movie "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" won the weekend box office battle in the United States and Canada, fighting off competition from cartoon cavemen, a Tyler Perry drama, and an alien-possessed heroine trying to save the human race.

Jaimie Trueblood / Paramount Pictures

Channing Tatum, left, and Dwayne Johnson in a scene from "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."

"G.I. Joe," a sequel starring Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, secured $41.2 million in domestic ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates.

Last week's winner, animated prehistoric adventure "The Croods," slipped to second place with $26.5 million in North America (the United States and Canada). "Tyler Perry's Temptation" landed in the No. 3 slot with $22.3 million.

"G.I. Joe" opened Wednesday evening to get a jump on the Easter holiday weekend. The cumulative box office after Sunday is estimated at $51.7 million. In international markets, the movie racked up $80.3 million, for a global haul of $132 million.

"The result is as spectacular as the look of the movie," said Don Harris, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Paramount Pictures.

"We couldn't be happier with the result in terms of both the domestic and international box office and the response from movie goers."

Inspired by a Hasbro toy, "G.I. Joe" tells the story of elite soldiers fighting the enemy organization called Cobra as well as threats from within the federal government. The sequel to 2009's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" was slated to open last summer, but the release was delayed to convert the film to 3D.

Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, MGM and Skydance Productions produced the sequel for about $130 million. Ahead of the weekend, forecasters predicted a domestic tally around $38 million for "G.I. Joe."

Domestic ticket sales for "The Croods," a Dreamworks Animation comedy about a family of cave dwellers, dropped 39 percent from its debut a week ago.

"Temptation," a departure from Perry's hit comedies, focuses on a married woman drawn to a handsome billionaire. The movie stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Lance Gross and Vanessa Williams. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian plays a small role and helped promote the film through TV appearances and social media.

Another new release, sci-fi romantic thriller "The Host," finished in sixth place with $11 million. The movie is based on a novel by Stephenie Meyer, author of the "Twilight" vampire series that became a blockbuster movie franchise.

"Host" features a love triangle centered around a young woman whose body is taken over by an alien with good intentions. The two live in the same body, first as enemies before they become friends who team up to save the human race. Irish actress Saoirse Ronan plays the lead character.

Distributor Open Road Films acquired domestic rights for "The Host" for $2 million.

In fourth place, thriller "Olympus Has Fallen" earned $14 million during its second weekend. The movie stars Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman in the tale of a White House under attack. Disney's "Oz the Great and Powerful" came in fifth with $11.6 million.

"G.I. Joe" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. "The Croods" was produced by Dreamworks Animation and released by News Corp unit 20th Century Fox. "The Host" was distributed by Open Road Films, a joint venture between theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc. Lions Gate Entertainment released "Temptation." "Olympus Has Fallen" was distributed by privately held FilmDistrict.

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Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/31/17540786-gi-joe-fights-off-cartoon-cavemen-to-win-box-office?lite

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The South: A near-solid block against 'Obamacare' (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295668105?client_source=feed&format=rss

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APNewsBreak: Gas trade group seeks fracking probe

FILE - In this file photo of Jan. 17, 2013, Yoko Ono, left, and her son Sean Lennon visit a fracking site in Franklin Forks, Pa., during a bus tour of natural-gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania. Ono and Lennon have formed a group called ?Artists Against Fracking,? which has become the main celebrity driven anti-fracking organization. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this file photo of Jan. 17, 2013, Yoko Ono, left, and her son Sean Lennon visit a fracking site in Franklin Forks, Pa., during a bus tour of natural-gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania. Ono and Lennon have formed a group called ?Artists Against Fracking,? which has become the main celebrity driven anti-fracking organization. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? A formal complaint filed with New York's lobbying board asks it to investigate whether Artists Against Fracking, a group that includes Yoko Ono and other A-List celebrities, is violating the state's lobbying law, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press.

The Independent Oil & Gas Association, an industry group that supports gas drilling, filed the complaint Tuesday with the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

The complaint is based on an AP story that found that Artists Against Fracking and its members, including Ono, her son Sean Lennon, actors Mark Ruffalo and Robert De Niro and others, aren't registered as lobbyists and therefore didn't disclose their spending in opposition to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to remove gas from underground deposits.

"The public has been unable to learn how much money is being spent on this effort, what it is being spent on, and who is funding the effort," said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York. "I understand the power of celebrity that this organization has brought to the public discussion over natural gas development, but I do not understand why this organization is not being required to follow the state's lobbying law."

The group confirmed it filed the complaint but didn't comment further.

Artists Against Fracking, formed by Ono and Lennon, says its activities are protected as free speech. The group was created last year amid the Cuomo administration's review to determine whether to allow hydraulic fracturing to remove gas from vast underground shale formations in southern and central New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues his review as public opinion has shifted from initial support based on the promise of jobs and tax revenue from drilling in economically depressed upstate New York to mixed feelings because of concerns over potential environmental and health effects.

Seven months after Artists Against Fracking was formed, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute on March 20 found that New York voters were for the first time opposed to fracking, 46 percent to 39 percent.

"There's no doubt the celebrities had an effect," Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll said. "As far as I can tell, they made all the difference."

A spokesman for Artists Against Fracking said the group and its individual members don't have to register as lobbyists.

"As private citizens, Yoko and Sean are not required to register as lobbyists when they use their own money to express an opinion and there's also no lobbying requirement when you are engaged in a public comment period by a state agency," spokesman David Fenton said.

"If the situation changes then, of course, Artists Against Fracking will consider registering," Fenton said. "Up to now, there has been no violation because they are entitled to do this as private citizens with their own money."

On its website, the group implores readers: "Tell Governor Cuomo: Don't Frack New York." Celebrities supporting the group have led rallies and performed in the song "Don't Frack My Mother," also carried on the Internet.

Ethics commission spokesman John Milgrim didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. By law, the commission doesn't confirm or deny pending investigations.

New York's former lobbying regulator, attorney David Grandeau, said he believed the group and the supporting artists, including musicians Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga and actress Anne Hathaway, should be registered and required to disclose details on their efforts to spur public opposition to gas drilling.

"When you are advocating for the passage or defeat of legislation or proposed legislation and spend more than $5,000, you are required to register," Grandeau said Friday. "Just because you are a celebrity doesn't mean that lobbing laws don't apply to you. Your celebrity status does not protect you in Albany."

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and developer Donald Trump are among the high-profile figures who clashed with the commission when Grandeau was regulator. The biggest penalty for failure to follow the lobbying law resulted in a $250,000 fine against Trump and others over casinos in 2000.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-30-Gas%20Drilling-Celebrities/id-406e52bc84db404ca1c6f1580081503b

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Filipino devotees reenact crucifixion of Christ

SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) ? Devotees in villages in the northern Philippines took part in a bloody annual ritual to mark Good Friday, a celebration that mixes Roman Catholic devotion and Filipino folk beliefs and sees some reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The crucified devotees spent several minutes nailed to crosses in Pampanga province while thousands of tourists watched and took photos of the spectacle, which the church discourages. Earlier in the day, hooded male penitents trudged through the province's villages under the blazing sun while flagellating their bleeding backs with makeshift whips. Others carried wooden crosses to dramatize Christ's sacrifice.

Devotees undergo the hardships in the belief that such extreme sacrifices are a way to atone for their sins, attain miracle cures for illnesses or give thanks to God.

Alex Laranang, a 58-year-old vendor who was the first to be nailed to a cross Friday, said he was doing it "for good luck and for my family to be healthy."

It was the 27th crucifixion for sign painter Ruben Enaje, 52, one of the most popular penitents from San Pedro Cutud village. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building.

Enaje screamed in pain as men dressed as Roman soldiers hammered stainless steel nails into his palms and feet. A wireless microphone carried his voice to loudspeakers for everyone watching to hear.

His cross was raised and he was hanged there for several minutes under the searing afternoon sun before the nails were pulled out and he was taken on a stretcher to a first aid station.

"It's intriguing and fascinating what makes people do something like this, how you can believe so much that you make yourself suffer to that extent," said Dita Tittesass, a tourist from Denmark.

Remigio de la Cruz, the chief of San Pedro Cutud village, explained that the practice began in his village in the 1950s.

Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, told the church-run Radio Veritas that the practice is "not the desire of Jesus Christ."

"We are aware that this has been practiced long before ... but we still hope that this will not be done any more," he said. "We should all concentrate on prayers."

_____

Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this from Manila.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-devotees-reenact-crucifixion-christ-093544016.html

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Most Beautiful Items: March 23-29, 2013

Between unbelievable balloon art, a scaly aluminum aquarium, and a Google Image Search art project, we have beaucoup beautiful things to show you this week. Take a second to gander at the gorgeous things we found in art, architecture, and design this week. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/v_FKQl_6Dxg/most-beautiful-items-march-23+29-2013

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Your Old Hard Drives Are DIY Cotton Candy Machines Just Waiting to Happen

What with cloud storage becoming more and more affordable, chances are you've got a stack of old hard drives just laying around somewhere. At least one. You could just throw them away, or leave them to languish, or you could throw caution to the wind and make one into a cotton candy machine. Just in time for Easter. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DUc_XxWJGc8/your-old-hard-drives-are-diy-cotton-candy-machines-just-waiting-to-happen

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Airplanes Bear High Levels of Flame Retardants

Spending about 100 hours each month in the air, new research shows that flight attendants fly along with some of the highest levels ever measured for some flame retardants


airplane Flame retardants have been found at sky-high levels in the dust of airplane cabins, but the health risks to flight attendants, pilots and cleaning crews are unknown. Image: Flickr/Global Jet

Spending about 100 hours each month in the air, flight attendants are bombarded with pesticides, radiation, ozone and any illnesses passengers carry on board. Now new research shows that they also fly along with some of the highest levels ever measured for some flame retardants.

All 19 commercial airliners in a new study had several flame retardants in their dust. And one chemical was measured at concentrations more than 100 times higher in the airplane dust than in dust collected from homes and offices.

Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist at Duke University and co-author of the new study, said they were "some of the highest measurements I've ever seen,? which ?suggests that exposure levels could be higher than one normally experiences in a car or the home environment.?

Whether flight attendants, pilots and cleaning crews face any health risks from the chemicals is unknown. But researchers worry that long hours breathing recycled cabin air could have some effects, particularly in pregnant women.

"The additional exposure to the common passenger, occurring during travels, will be minimal. A question of concern is rather personnel in airplanes,? said ?ke Bergman, an environmental chemist at Stockholm University who has studied flame retardants on airliners.

Despite the sky-high levels of flame retardants in cabin air, a small study of flight attendants and pilots suggests they don't seem to have higher levels in their bodies than the general public. However, scientists say the most prevalent flame retardant on airplanes is difficult to measure in people's bodies.

Airplanes are full of combustible materials, and a mid-flight fire could be catastrophic, so the Federal Aviation Administration requires airplanes to pass strict fire-safety tests. Items on planes likely to contain brominated flame retardants include seats, carpets, walls, overhead bins and pillows, according to the new study's x-ray fluorescence tests. Carpets contained the highest levels of bromine in the study.

Under fire in recent years, flame retardants have been building up in human bodies, including breast milk, around the world, and there is mounting evidence linking them to potential health effects, including reduced IQs, attention problems and other neurological effects in children exposed in the womb or during infancy.

Chemical companies say that flame retardants are safe and that they are necessary to protect people from fires on airplanes. An August, 2005 crash of a passenger jet in Toronto, in which all 309 people aboard survived, is a prime example of how flame retardants can help keep people safe, said Bryan Goodman, spokesperson for the American Chemistry Council, an industry group.

"This new study, which does not report on any adverse health effects from the chemistries detected, should not make us lose sight of the fact that flame retardants can provide an important layer of protection to travelers, and, like all chemicals, they are subject to review by governmental bodies in the U.S. and around the world,? Goodman said.

Victoria Day, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, an industry group, said flame retardants "are essential" for safety and to comply with "strict FAA safety regulations."

"To maintain high air quality in aircraft cabins, today's jets have highly effective filters that are designed to remove virtually all particles, including dust, from the cabin air," Day said.

But some research suggests that flame retardants may not actually slow the spread of fires and may increase emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, two poisonous gases.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=dcde02886f2021f085fc4850c97b2086

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Keep police business off Facebook, NYPD tells cops - Technology ...

The New York Police Department has begun policing how its officers use Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

An internal order made public on Thursday advises members of the nation's largest police department to be careful with what they reveal online ? even urging them not to disclose that they're on the force.

Officers "are to exercise good judgment and demonstrate professionalism expected of them while performing their official duties," the memo says. It also warns that "personal social media sites may be used against them to undermine the credibility of the department, interfere with official police business, compromise ongoing investigations and affect their employment status."

The guidelines bar officers from posting photos of themselves in uniform ? with the exception of those taken at promotion or awards ceremonies ? unless they have permission from the department. Officers could face discipline if they don't comply.

Police officials said the policy has been in the works for about two years, and arose out of concern that police officers' online postings could embarrass the NYPD or be misinterpreted as official police policy. The department punished more than a dozen officers after they made degrading remarks about revelers at the West Indian Day Parade in 2011.

"We believe these guidelines are reasonable and make sense," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday.

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which represents 23,000 police officers, declined comment. In the past, the union has cautioned its members about what they post and who they interact with on the Internet.

The NYPD edict prohibits the posting on personal websites of crime scene photos or witness statements. It also bars officers from using social media to contact witnesses, crime victims or lawyers involved in pending cases, or to contact minors who aren't part of their families.

"Such communications may be deemed inappropriate or unethical and may jeopardize an ongoing investigation," it says.

The adoption of guidelines was first reported in the Daily News.

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/keep-police-business-facebook-nypd-tells-cops-1C9143650

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Senate candidates in Massachusetts spar on abortion, gay marriage

By Scott Malone

NEEDHAM, Massachusetts (Reuters) - The five candidates running for Massachusetts' open seat in the Senate sparred on social issues on Wednesday, staking out opposing views on abortion and gay marriage in the first debate to feature candidates from both parties.

But even those who took more conservative stances tried to draw a line between their personal beliefs and existing laws, in a nod to the liberal views of many of the New England state's voters.

On the Republican side, former Boston U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan was the one candidate to express opposition both to abortion and gay marriage - the latter issue the topic of Supreme Court arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Massachusetts in 2003 became the first state to legalize gay marriage.

On the Democratic side, Representative Stephen Lynch said he opposed abortion, though he said he regarded the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized it, as "established law" not likely to be overturned.

"Attacking Roe v. Wade won't make abortions go away, it'll just change the setting ... to one that is more dangerous for women," said Lynch.

Early polls show Lynch trailing fellow Democratic Representative Edward Markey among decided voters, though they also show that a large portion of the electorate has not yet determined how they will vote in the April 30 primary and June 25 special election to fill the seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry, a Democrat.

Markey, who also holds a lead over Republican contenders in early polls, said that access to abortion "has to be protected at all costs."

Sullivan's Republican rivals, Daniel Winslow, a state representative, and Gabriel Gomez, a private equity executive, said they supported both abortion rights and gay rights, positions at odds with many members of their party.

"If two people are in love they should be able to get married. I support repealing DOMA," said Gomez, in reference to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, a law signed by former President Bill Clinton that prevented same-sex couples from obtaining federal benefits.

Sullivan called himself a "traditionalist" on marriage, telling reporters after the debate "marriage is between one man and one woman."

However, noting that he believed states should determine laws regarding marriage, he said he also supported the repeal of DOMA, adding that he believed that same-sex couples married in Massachusetts should enjoy "all the same benefits" as heterosexual couples.

Winslow supported both gay marriage and abortion.

"I am a big-tent Republican when it comes to social issues," he said, referring to party members who have an inclusive view. "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the United States and I support a women's right to choose."

One-third of the Senate is up for re-election in 2014. The Republicans now have 45 Senate seats, the Democrats 53, and there are two independents.

Massachusetts' Democratic Governor Deval Patrick in January named his former chief of staff, William "Mo" Cowan, to serve as interim senator until the election. Cowan is not running in the special election.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-candidates-massachusetts-spar-abortion-gay-marriage-012110843.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Wastewater injection spurred biggest earthquake yet, says study

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A new study in the journal Geology is the latest to tie a string of unusual earthquakes, in this case, in central Oklahoma, to the injection of wastewater deep underground. Researchers now say that the magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Okla., on Nov. 6, 2011, may also be the largest ever linked to wastewater injection. Felt as far off as Milwaukee, more than 800 miles away, the quake?the biggest ever recorded in Oklahoma--destroyed 14 homes, buckled a federal highway and left two people injured. Small earthquakes continue to be recorded in the area. The study appeared today in the journal's early online edition.

The recent boom in U.S. energy production has produced massive amounts of wastewater. The water is used both in hydrofracking, which cracks open rocks to release natural gas, and in coaxing petroleum out of conventional oil wells. In both cases, the brine and chemical-laced water has to be disposed of, often by injecting it back underground elsewhere, where it has the potential to trigger earthquakes. The water linked to the Prague quakes was a byproduct of oil extraction at one set of oil wells, and was pumped into another set of depleted oil wells targeted for waste storage.

Scientists have linked a rising number of quakes in normally calm parts of Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Colorado to below-ground injection. In the last four years, the number of quakes in the middle of the United States jumped 11-fold from the three decades prior, the authors of the Geology study estimate. Last year, a group at the U.S. Geological Survey also attributed a remarkable rise in small- to mid-size quakes in the region to humans. The risk is serious enough that the National Academy of Sciences, in a report last year called for further research to "understand, limit and respond" to induced seismic events. Despite these studies, wastewater injection continues near the Oklahoma earthquakes.

The magnitude 5.7 quake near Prague was preceded by a 5.0 shock and followed by thousands of aftershocks. What made the swarm unusual is that wastewater had been pumped into abandoned oil wells nearby for 17 years without incident. In the study, researchers hypothesize that as wastewater replenished compartments once filled with oil, the pressure to keep the fluid going down had to be ratcheted up. As pressure built up, a known fault?known to geologists as the Wilzetta fault--jumped. "When you overpressure the fault, you reduce the stress that's pinning the fault into place and that's when earthquakes happen," said study coauthor Heather Savage, a geophysicist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

The amount of wastewater injected into the well was relatively small, yet it triggered a cascading series of tremors that led to the main shock, said study co-author Geoffrey Abers, also a seismologist at Lamont-Doherty. "There's something important about getting unexpectedly large earthquakes out of small systems that we have discovered here," he said. The observations mean that "the risk of humans inducing large earthquakes from even small injection activities is probably higher" than previously thought, he said.

Hours after the first magnitude 5.0 quake on Nov. 5, 2011, University of Oklahoma seismologist Katie Keranen rushed to install the first three of several dozen seismographs to record aftershocks. That night, on Nov. 6, the magnitude 5.7 main shock hit and Keranen watched as her house began to shake for what she said felt like 20 seconds. "It was clearly a significant event," said Keranen, the Geology study's lead author. "I gathered more equipment, more students, and headed to the field the next morning to deploy more stations."

Keranen's recordings of the magnitude 5.7 quake, and the aftershocks that followed, showed that the first Wilzetta fault rupture was no more than 650 feet from active injection wells and perhaps much closer, in the same sedimentary rocks, the study says. Further, wellhead records showed that after 13 years of pumping at zero to low pressure, injection pressure rose more than 10-fold from 2001 to 2006, the study says.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey has yet to issue an official account of the sequence, and wastewater injection at the site continues. In a statement responding to the paper, Survey seismologist Austin Holland said the study showed the earthquake sequence could have been triggered by the injections. But, he said, "it is still the opinion of those at the Oklahoma Geological Survey that these earthquakes could be naturally occurring. There remain many open questions, and more scientific investigations are underway on this sequence of earthquakes and many others within the state of Oklahoma."

The risk of setting off earthquakes by injecting fluid underground has been known since at least the 1960s, when injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver was suspended after a quake estimated at magnitude 4.8 or greater struck nearby?the largest tied to wastewater disposal until the one near Prague, Okla. A series of similar incidents have emerged recently. University of Memphis seismologist Stephen Horton in a study last year linked a rise in earthquakes in north-central Arkansas to nearby injection wells. University of Texas, Austin, seismologist Cliff Frohlich in a 2011 study tied earthquake swarms at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to a brine disposal well a third of a mile away. In Ohio, Lamont-Doherty seismologists Won-Young Kim and John Armbruster traced a series of 2011 earthquakes near Youngstown to a nearby disposal well. That well has since been shut down, and Ohio has tightened its waste-injection rules.

Wastewater injection is not the only way that people can touch off quakes. Evidence suggests that geothermal drilling, impoundment of water behind dams, enhanced oil recovery, solution salt mining and rock quarrying also can trigger seismic events. (Hydrofracking itself is not implicated in significant earthquakes; the amount of water used is usually not enough to produce substantial shaking.) The largest known earthquakes attributed to humans may be the two magnitude 7.0 events that shook the Gazli gas fields of Soviet Uzbekistan in 1976, followed by a third magnitude 7.0 quake eight years later. In a 1985 study in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Lamont-Doherty researchers David Simpson and William Leith hypothesized that the quakes were human-induced but noted that a lack of information prevented them from linking the events to gas production or other triggers. In 2009, a geothermal energy project in Basel, Switzerland, was canceled after development activities apparently led to a series of quakes of up to magnitude 3.4 that caused some $8 million in damage to surrounding properties.

In many of the wastewater injection cases documented so far, earthquakes followed within days or months of fluid injection starting. In contrast, the Oklahoma swarm happened years after injection began, similar to swarms at the Cogdell oil field in West Texas and the Fort St. John area of British Columbia.

The Wilzetta fault system remains under stress, the study's authors say, yet regulators continue to allow injection into nearby wells. Ideally, injection should be kept away from known faults and companies should be required to provide detailed records of how much fluid they are pumping underground and at what pressure, said Keranen. The study authors also recommend sub-surface monitoring of fluid pressure for earthquake warning signs. Further research is needed but at a minimum, "there should be careful monitoring in regions where you have injection wells and protocols for stopping pumping even when small earthquakes are detected," said Abers. In a recent op-ed in the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, Abers argued that New York should consider the risk of induced earthquakes from fluid injection in weighing whether to allow hydraulic fracturing to extract the state's shale gas reserves.

###

The Earth Institute at Columbia University: http://www.earth.columbia.edu

Thanks to The Earth Institute at Columbia University 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127474/Wastewater_injection_spurred_biggest_earthquake_yet__says_study

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Hayden Panettiere Secretly Engaged To Wladimir Klitschko!

Hayden Panettiere Secretly Engaged To Wladimir Klitschko!

Hayden Panettiere & Wladimir Klitschko picsThey just rekindled their romance several months ago, but Hayden Panettiere and her boxer boyfriend Wladimir Klitschko are engaged! The 23-year-old “Nashville” star and the 37-year-old Ukrainian heavyweight professional boxer are reportedly set for a wedding this summer. An insider close to the couple said, “Very few people know, and she isn’t wearing her ring ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/hayden-panettiere-secretly-engaged-to-wladimir-klitschko/

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Speaking of Jim Dotson: Then there's school governance | Arkansas ...

Events today reminded me of another piece of legislation by Rep. Jim Dotson of Bentonville, who sponsored the resolution approved today affirming the legislature's support for gay discrimination in federal law and the Arkansas Constitution.

He's also lead sponsor of HB 2290, which would strip the governor of sole power to appoint the nine members of the state Board of Education and give the majority of appointments to legislative leaders ? three each to the House and Senate leaders.

The law would immediately oust the current board. What's the rush?

The Republican sponsorship might reflect nothing more than work in service to the Billionaire Boys Club's desire to take over school regulation in Arkansas, particularly by opening the door wide to charter schools. Walton money is powering the "school reform" effort. Dotson is from the hometown of Walmart heir Jim Walton, the leader of the effort to remake public schools through charter schools and other options aimed at breaking up conventional public schools, particularly in districts like Little Rock with stronger teacher organizations.

The state Board has approved most charter school applications, but has moved judiciously and toughly in recent times. The Waltons' paid lobbyists want unfettered approval of charters, arguing that the failures will become self-evident and be closed.

There's a secondary issue on this Board of Education takeover. Some opponents of the legislation suspect that the motivation is also to force Gov. Beebe to pick and choose among the existing membership, two-thirds of them his appointees, when naming three of the nine members.

Is the intent to make him NOT pick Jay Barth, the Hendrix professor, as a continuing member of the board? Barth's appointment met criticism from conservative Christian (Republican) political activists because he is gay.

I asked Dotson and Hester, also from Bentonville and also a lead sponsor, if Barth's sexual orientation is any factor in the desire to reshape the board. Dotson says no. He hasn't responded to my question about whether he had ever talked with the Family Council or anyone else about the sexual orientation of a member of the state Board of Education. I haven't heard back from Hester.

UPDATE: Dotson says he doesn't even known any of the current state Board members. His bill, he said, is a "good government bill." In response to my question, he said:

I did not discuss the bill with Family Council before introducing it, but they seem to be one of the groups who like it. You will have to speak with them directly to see why. I welcome any support for one of my bills I can find, are you suggesting I ask them to come speak for it?

UPDATE II: Hester said he presumed anyone appointed by Gov. Beebe was capable and he was "not aware" of who I might be talking about.

Sexual politics aside, this is a bad idea. It would make, I'm told, Arkansas the only state where membership of an education commission is controlled by the legislative branch. It would put an executive agency under legislative control.

Gubernatorial appointments to this particular board have worked particularly well over the years, from Clinton to Huckabee to Beebe, with many others in between. They've been an uncommon list of dedicated, hard-working and unpaid public servants, even those I've had occasion to disagree with philosophically (and, yes, I also mean to praise Luke Gordy, now a paid lobbyist for the Walton-financed school movement).

This is a bad idea on the merits; terrible if even a scintilla of homophobia is involved. School administrators and other school people formed a coalition to force a compromise on the Walton charter school regulation bill ? moving it to state Education Department employees rather than a legislatively controlled independent commission as originally tried. If they don't form similar opposition on this bill, they'll see a change in governance that will do a whole lot more than effectively put in place the legislatively controlled structure they wanted in the first place for charter school approval and review. Legislative meddling in the Education Department will become epidemic.

It's uncertain when Dotson will try to get the bill approved in committee, but it's on the Education Committee agenda.

Source: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/03/27/speaking-of-jim-dotson-then-theres-school-governance

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Supreme Court justices suggest they may avoid a major ruling on California's gay marriage ban (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Italian court ruling could extend Amanda Knox case for years

Italy?s highest court has ordered that Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend face a retrial for their alleged roles in the murder of Meredith Kercher, potentially extending a highly emotional case that has already lasted six years for many more.

The Supreme Court in Rome overturned the 2011 acquittal of Ms. Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for the 2007 murder of the 21-year-old British student in the historic walled town of Perugia.

Knox, who is now 25 and a student at the University of Washington in Seattle, said the decision was ?painful? and upsetting. She had ?thought the nightmare was over,? said her lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova.

On the opposing side, a lawyer for Kercher?s family, Francesco Maresca, said: ?This is what we wanted.?

RECOMMENDED: Amanda Knox freed: A timeline of key events

Under Italy?s painfully slow, frequently dysfunctional system, it is not unusual for cases to last years, because even after being convicted, defendants are entitled to two levels of appeal.

The retrial will be held in front of an appeals in court in Florence, in the neighboring region of Tuscany, in central Italy. It is likely to start next year.

"It was painful to receive the news," Knox said in a statement, adding that the prosecution case "has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair."

She did not say whether she would return to Italy for the hearings, but the chances are considered highly unlikely.

Knox has been living in her hometown of Seattle since her acquittal, pursuing her studies and working on a book about her experiences.

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2008 file photo, American murder suspect Amanda Knox , center, is escorted by Italian penitentiary police officers to Perugia's court at the end of a hearing, central Italy. ... more? FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2008 file photo, American murder suspect Amanda Knox , center, is escorted by Italian penitentiary police officers to Perugia's court at the end of a hearing, central Italy. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 Rudy Hermann Guede, of the Ivory Coast, appealing his conviction for murdering British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, testified Wednesday that he heard the victim arguing with American defendant, Amanda Knox, in the case minutes before she was slain. Guede's appeals process began Wednesday even as the initial trial implicating American student Amanda Knox, of Seattle, and Knox's ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, continued. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, files) less? ?

The eagerly anticipated memoir, called ?Waiting to be Heard,? is due to be published on April 30 and will coincide with her first television interview on the ABC network in the US.

But she now faces the threat of a request for her extradition from the US back to Italy for the retrial.

Under an extradition treaty agreed in 1984, the two countries are obliged to extradite anyone charged with or convicted of an extraditable offense, or any offense punishable by a prison sentence of more than one year. US law, however, prevents someone from being tried more than once for the same offense.

Rome would have to provide the American authorities with documents to demonstrate they have "probable cause to believe" that Knox was involved in the murder of Kercher.

Her lawyer, Dalla Vedova, said it was very unlikely she would turn up for the retrial. "If the court orders another trial, if she is convicted at that trial and if the conviction is upheld by the highest court, then Italy could seek her extradition," he told reporters in Rome.

It would then be up to the US authorities to decide whether to accede to the request.

The Supreme Court in Rome could have upheld their acquittals, in which case the saga would have been closed for good.

The judges? decision to order a retrial is a heavy blow for Knox and Sollecito, who was meant to be celebrating his 29th birthday on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court, also known as the Court of Cassation, ruled that the grounds for their acquittal were shaky.

The exact reasons for their decision, and the points of law that they have called into question, will not be known until the judges release their full ruling, which will take up to 90 days.

The pair had served four years behind bars when their murder convictions were overturned by a court in Perugia in 2011.

The appeals court in Perugia criticised many key aspects of the original police investigation and the prosecution?s case.

In particular, they said prosecutors had failed to establish a convincing motive for the killing and that DNA evidence relating to two key bits of evidence ? a strap from Miss Kercher?s bra and the alleged murder weapon, a kitchen knife ? was inconclusive.

But the presiding judge left many questions about the murder unanswered when he refused to rule on whether the crime was committed by a lone killer or more than one person.

In a 144-page document explaining its ruling, the appeals court said that ?it is not this court?s role to suggest how the crime actually unfolded ? nor whether there was one perpetrator or more than one.?

Prosecutors alleged that Kercher was killed by Sollecito and Knox as a result of a four-way sex game that spun horribly out of control.

They said the murder was stoked by drugs, domestic friction between Knox and her British housemate, and sexual jealousy.

The other person accused of the crime, Rudy Guede, a local drifter who was born in Ivory Coast but adopted by an Italian family, is serving a 16-year sentence having undergone a separate trial.

Knox, who stayed up until 2 a.m. Seattle time waiting for the court?s decision, said in her statement: ?The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele's sake, my sake, and most especially for the sake of Meredith's family. Our hearts go out to them.

"No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity."

Mr. Sollecito lives in Verona in northern Italy, where he is studying the use of robotic instruments in surgery. Neither he nor Knox were in court on Monday.

RECOMMENDED: Amanda Knox freed: A timeline of key events

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italian-court-ruling-could-extend-amanda-knox-murder-124444595.html

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Mysterious Pond Circles in NY Spur Talk of Aliens

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mysterious-pond-circles-ny-spur-talk-aliens-001229572.html

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Game Developers Conference: Indie sensibilities... | Stuff.co.nz

It's a time of transition for the video game industry.

With last year's launch of the Wii U, the impending arrival of the PlayStation 4 and the likelihood of a new Xbox on the horizon, the next generation of video game consoles is nearly here.

However, more than half of the attendees at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco identify themselves as indie developers and their next creations will be for smartphones and tablets. So when it comes to the next generation of consoles, the question on their minds doesn't seem to be "What's next?" but rather "Who cares?"

The schedule for this year's GDC illustrates the dramatic changes that are reshaping the gaming industry, an evolution that's as much about business models as it is about pixels. GDC organisers have added a summit on free-to-play games, plan talks on topics like crowd funding and micro-transactions, and are presenting panels with such titles as Making Money with Mobile Gaming and Why Won't FarmVille Go Away?

For the past 15 years, the Independent Games Festival has served as the Sundance of GDC, specifically honoring and highlighting the work of indie developers. But the lines have increasingly blurred between the IGF and GDC, the 27-year-old conference that serves as the largest gathering of the gaming industry in the US outside the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Simon Carless, executive vice president at UBM Tech Game Network, which hosts GDC, IGF and several other technology conferences throughout the year, said 58 per cent of developers surveyed by organisers plan to release their next game for tablets and smartphones. That's a big switch from 15 years ago when GDC was known as CGDC - the Computer Game Developers Conference.

"I think what we're seeing is that there's many more small developers," said Carless. "For example, 53 per cent of developers identify as an indie developer and 46 per cent of those surveyed work at companies with 10 employees or less. It's simply a fact that people are more excited by platforms where there's a low barrier for entry."

Sony is angling to reignite developers' enthusiasm with the PlayStation 4.

When the Japanese electronics giant announced the PS4 during a splashy press conference in New York last month, Sony boasted that the successor to the PS3 would essentially be a "supercharged PC," a platform that would make it easier for developers to create and sell games. Sony plans to detail more about the PS4's technology during a Wednesday panel at GDC.

Nintendo will also be on hand with a Wednesday session outlining easier ways for developers to make apps for the Wii U, the touchscreen controller system that kicked off the latest generation of consoles last year but has failed to catch fire the way the original Wii did when it launched in 2006.

Microsoft will likely wait to tease how it plans to succeed its Xbox 360 console and camera-based Kinect system until E3 in June, although the company has scheduled several talks at GDC this week, including how to create games for Windows smartphones and second-screen experiences for Xbox SmartGlass, its companion app that connects mobile devices to Xbox 360s.

Meggan Scavio, general manager of GDC, said 23,000 attendees are expected at this year's conference, which kicked off Monday at the Moscone Convention Center and continues through Friday. While an increasing number of game makers are more interested in creating the next Minecraft instead of the next Call of Duty, Scavio noted that so-called triple-A games continue to have a place at the conference.

"We're still talking about all the really big titles," said Scavio. "We've got talks on Dishonored, Borderlands 2 and Assassin's Creed III. Bungie is going to be talking about Destiny. The guys from The Walking Dead game are doing panels. Hideo Kojima is going to be there. It's not indie central yet."

In perhaps the most impressive indication of indie dominance, the artsy PS3 platform game Journey is up for the most awards at Wednesday's Game Developers Choice Awards, which honor the best titles of the past year and are selected by a jury of game creators. Journey was designed by thatgamecompany, a studio that went indie last year.

- AP

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Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/8478452/Indie-sensibilities-embraced-at-gaming-con

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ohio lawmakers take up wind, solar energy rule

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Battle lines are being drawn over whether Ohio should scrap its renewable energy standard, which requires power companies to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind.

In hearings last week, Ohio Senate Public Utilities Chairman Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, reopened discussions on the 2008 state law, which said utilities must produce 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2025. The law also set energy efficiency targets to be met by the companies.

A surge in shale gas drilling that's promising new domestic supplies of a traditional energy source has added a new twist to the debate.

Opponents of the mandates say they fatten electric bills in a state whose rates are already higher than some neighbors. Some also question global warming and those who use it to push for reduced use of coal-fired power plants.

Supporters of the thresholds, in place in 29 states and the District of Columbia, say the mandates help the environment by beginning to replace use of coal-fired technology while spurring economic investments and new high-paying jobs in science and technology.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a policy advisory group dominated by Republicans and targeted by liberals, is a leading force behind the push against the renewable energy targets. Ohio is among states to which the council has provided model legislation eliminating the targets for renewables, dubbed the Electricity Freedom Act.

Seitz is active in the council and Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Todd Snitchler, the state's top utility regulator, is a past member who became a guest speaker for the group after taking his regulatory appointment from Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

As evidence of the council's influence in the debate, among early witnesses called on the subject this week was James Taylor, a senior fellow with the Heartland Institute, a leading voice in promoting skepticism about climate change. The institute hosts regular conferences on the topic drawing hundreds of participants to hear dozens of speakers, according to its website.

Among the sessions at its last conference was a panel of former NASA astronauts, scientists and administrators who "described how NASA is damaging its reputation for sound science by issuing false and exaggerated predictions of future climate change."

Taylor testified during the Ohio hearing, as he has in other states, that air pollution is in a decline that will continue even without requiring power companies to use expensive wind and solar technology.

Environment Ohio, which pushed for the 2008 law passed under then-Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, issued a report following Seitz's hearing labeling the law a success story.

The review showed that between January 2009 and December 2011, Ohio's four largest utilities implemented energy efficiency programs that saved 3.2 million megawatt-hours of electricity ? enough to power 267,000 homes for a year.

It noted that 412 megawatts of wind capacity and 45 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity were added in Ohio between 2009 and 2012. That's enough to power 95,000 Ohio homes.

Policy Advocate Julian Boggs said in releasing the report that "we've only scratched the surface of Ohio's untapped potential for clean energy."

"It's the 21st century, and our energy doesn't need to pollute our air and water," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-lawmakers-wind-solar-energy-144137752.html

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Clean electricity from bacteria? Researchers make breakthrough in race to create 'bio-batteries'

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Scientists at the University of East Anglia have made an important breakthrough in the quest to generate clean electricity from bacteria.

Findings published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) show that proteins on the surface of bacteria can produce an electric current by simply touching a mineral surface.

The research shows that it is possible for bacteria to lie directly on the surface of a metal or mineral and transfer electrical charge through their cell membranes. This means that it is possible to 'tether' bacteria directly to electrodes -- bringing scientists a step closer to creating efficient microbial fuel cells or 'bio-batteries'.

The team collaborated with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington State in the US.?

Shewanella oneidensis is part of a family of marine bacteria. The research team created a synthetic version of this bacteria using just the proteins thought to shuttle the electrons from the inside of the microbe to the rock.

They inserted these proteins into the lipid layers of vesicles, which are small capsules of lipid membranes such as the ones that make up a bacterial membrane. Then they tested how well electrons travelled between an electron donor on the inside and an iron-bearing mineral on the outside.

Lead researcher Dr Tom Clarke from UEA's school of Biological Sciences said: "We knew that bacteria can transfer electricity into metals and minerals, and that the interaction depends on special proteins on the surface of the bacteria. But it was not been clear whether these proteins do this directly or indirectly though an unknown mediator in the environment.

"Our research shows that these proteins can directly 'touch' the mineral surface and produce an electric current, meaning that is possible for the bacteria to lie on the surface of a metal or mineral and conduct electricity through their cell membranes.

"This is the first time that we have been able to actually look at how the components of a bacterial cell membrane are able to interact with different substances, and understand how differences in metal and mineral interactions can occur on the surface of a cell.

"These bacteria show great potential as microbial fuel cells, where electricity can be generated from the breakdown of domestic or agricultural waste products.

"Another possibility is to use these bacteria as miniature factories on the surface of an electrode, where chemicals reactions take place inside the cell using electrical power supplied by the electrode through these proteins."

Biochemist Liang Shi of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said: "We developed a unique system so we could mimic electron transfer like it happens in cells. The electron transfer rate we measured was unbelievably fast -- it was fast enough to support bacterial respiration."

The finding is also important for understanding how carbon works its way through the atmosphere, land and oceans.

"When organic matter is involved in reducing iron, it releases carbon dioxide and water. And when iron is used as an energy source, bacteria incorporate carbon dioxide into food. If we understand electron transfer, we can learn how bacteria controls the carbon cycle," said Shi.

The project was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the US Department of Energy.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of East Anglia.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Thomas A Clarke, Gaye White, Julea N Butt, David J Richardson, Zhri Shi, Liang Shi, Zheming Wang, Alice C Dohnalkova, Matthew J Marshall, James K Fredrickson and John M Zachara. Rapid electron exchange between surface-exposed bacterial cytochromes and Fe(III) minerals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 25, 2013

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/most_popular/~3/C9b9oM-guKU/130325183900.htm

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Powerball jackpot winner says family first

PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) ? The winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot told several media outlets Monday that his first priority will be helping his family.

Pedro Quezada, 44, entered Eagle Liquors store, where the ticket was sold, late Monday afternoon. The Passaic store owner ran Quezada's ticket through the lottery machine to validate that it was a winner as a newspaper and television outlets recorded the moment.

The New Jersey Lottery confirmed that the winning ticket was validated at the store at 4:30 p.m. Monday, but officials said they didn't yet know the winner's name.

Quezada, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, told reporters in Spanish that he was "very happy" and that he intends to help his family.

His wife, Ines Sanchez, told the Bergen Record that Quezada called her with the news Monday afternoon.

"I still can't believe it," she said. "We never expected it but thank God."

The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.

The family's apartment sits at the end of a short dead end block that abuts a highway in Passaic, 15 miles northwest of New York City. Neighbors stood out in the rain Monday night and spoke with pride that one of their own had struck it rich.

Eladia Vazquez has lived across the street from Quezada's building for the past 25 years. The block has a half-dozen three-story brick apartment buildings on each side, and Vazquez says it's a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone, including what car they drive and what parking space they use.

Vazquez described Quezada and his wife as "quiet and not overly talkative" but sensed that they seemed to be working all the time.

"This is super for all of us on this block," she said. "They deserve it because they are hardworking people."

Richard Delgado, who lives down the block from Quezada's building, said the man was "a hard worker, like all of us here. We all get up in the morning and go to work."

Delgado said he got up Sunday morning and was going to take his dog for a walk when he heard the radio announce the Powerball results.

"When I heard there was one winner and it was in New Jersey, I immediately went and checked my tickets," Delgado said. "I wanted to be that guy."

When asked what it would be like to suddenly win such a large amount, Delgado said a person would have to set priorities.

"No. 1 is your health, because if you don't have that, the rest doesn't matter," he said. "No. 2 is your family. You take care of your own and live the rest of your life in peace. That's all anyone can do."

No one had won the Powerball jackpot since early February, when Dave Honeywell in Virginia bought the winning ticket and elected a cash lump sum for his $217 million jackpot.

The largest Powerball jackpot ever came in at $587.5 million in November. The winning numbers were picked on two different tickets ? one by a couple in Missouri and the other by an Arizona man ? and the jackpot was split.

Nebraska still holds the record for the largest Powerball jackpot won on a single ticket ? $365 million ? by eight workers at a Lincoln meatpacking plant in February 2006.

Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.

___

Associated Press writer Angela Delli Santi contributed to this report from Lawrenceville, N.J.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/338m-nj-powerball-winner-says-hell-help-family-005457915.html

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Roche says Japan approves new formulation of arthritis drug

CALABAR, Nigeria, March 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria, crowned African Nations Cup champions six weeks ago, needed a dramatic late equaliser to rescue a 1-1 home draw with bottom team Kenya in World Cup Group F qualifying on Saturday. Substitute Nnamdi Oduamadi, who plays for Italian second-tier club Varese, scored three minutes into stoppage time to save the Nigerians from an embarrassing defeat. It was the second draw in three games for Nigeria who have five points, level with Malawi at the top of the group. Namibia have three points from three matches and Kenya are bottom on two points. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roche-says-japan-approves-formulation-arthritis-drug-065946240--finance.html

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BracketRacket: Craft's shot, Sadler and Dunk City

Welcome back to BracketRacket, the one-stop shop for all your NCAA tournament needs.

Today, we see what happens when Ohio State hits a buzzer beater, ride shotgun with NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler and see why the cool kids are referring to Fort Myers, Fla., as "Dunk City."

But first, let's acquaint ourselves with the Sweet 16, shall we?

___

REGIONAL SEMIS SET

On a day that boasted several close-but-not-quite upset threats, Florida Gulf Coast (aka. Dunk City or Florida Dunk Coast) bucked things with a 10-point win over San Diego State to become the first No. 15 seed ever in the Sweet 16. Indiana and Ohio State beat even lower seeded teams Sunday ? and had much more stressful games.

"These guys are rock stars," TBS announcer Len Elmore said as a few Eagles players walked up into the stands at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to nab some seats during the first half of the Creighton-Duke game.

Of the 8.15 million brackets filled out on ESPN.com, just under 1 percent ? about 77,000 ? had Florida Gulf Coast making the Sweet 16.

Fewer than 3,000 have them winning the title.

They'll join No. 12 seed Oregon and 13th-seeded La Salle as the lowest seeded teams in the Sweet 16. Also in: top seeds Louisville, Kansas and Indiana, along with Duke, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wichita State, Arizona, Marquette, Miami, Syracuse, Florida and Michigan.

___

CRAFT'S MOMENT

Fans, meet Aaron Craft, the bracket-buster buster.

Minutes after Craft hit a game-winning 3-pointer over a 6-foot-7 defender to send Ohio State to the Sweet 16, the AP's Tom Withers saw the guard walking up the short ramp to a news conference area. Before he went in, Craft paused and said something just a little bit too rude for print here that showed even he was surprised by the ending.

Much of America agreed, buzzing about Craft enough to quickly make him a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, even though he told Withers he doesn't have an account.

That'll be disappointing for the 1,200 fans who clicked to follow a phony Craft handle in the three hours following the game.

Ohio State is the only top-5 seed left in the wacky West Region, where Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas State and Wisconsin have all lost in the first weekend.

As for the shot itself, Craft said the play was originally meant for Deshaun Thomas but Craft audibled because Iowa State changed defenders.

"Just made a read. If they wouldn't have switched, probably would have been a different play," Craft said. "The shot I took right before that felt pretty good. I thought I could make the next one, and was able to do so."

If you missed the play, here's the highlight: http://bit.ly/105BhHi

Note Craft waving off Thomas to seize the moment himself.

___

OH, THE AGONY

Each joyful moment in the NCAA tournament brings anguish to someone on the other side.

USA Today Sports is pulling together a photo gallery of those reactions, aptly titled "March Sadness." See it here: http://usat.ly/XyYZvu

___

CELEB ALUM: ELLIOTT SADLER

What's the best way to follow up a $29,000 racing payday? For NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler, it's apparently a Sunday partially spent watching basketball and getting a haircut.

Sadler ? a 37-year-old racer who earned a basketball scholarship at James Madison but got hurt before he could play ? placed seventh on Saturday at the Royal Purple 300, a Nationwide Series race in Fontana, Calif.

And even with busy preparations, Sadler said he still tried to catch some of the tournament.

"I definitely tried to watch as many games as I could this weekend, even being at the race track. In between practices and events at the track, I stayed in our team's hauler to catch the latest games," Sadler said.

Sadler, who's in a bracket challenge on ESPN with his fans, said his predictions are still in OK shape since he picked Louisville, Florida, New Mexico and Miami to make the Final Four. Only New Mexico is gone.

He thinks Louisville has the best shot to win it all because of good guards, strong perimeter defense and a tough schedule.

But he says the unexpected wins are what make the tournament special.

"My favorite part is that it is an even playing field," Sadler said. "It gives the underdogs, the Florida Gulf Coasts of the world, the chance to get their time in the spotlight."

___

DUNK CITY

Gotta be handy with the song covers if you want your parody video to go viral.

Making the YouTube rounds is a Florida Gulf Coast fan's reimagining of Tyga's "Rack City." The 15-seed's hoops version? Dunk City. See it here: http://youtu.be/7MWGx0x25yo

The new song includes this poetic verse: "Smashing those brackets should be illegal."

A little obvious, but definitely more effort than a Harlem Shake.

And for the inevitable Sweet 16 remix after the win over San Diego State, there's plenty of highlight B-roll to choose from, including Chase Fieler's drive and dunk over Stephens (http://bit.ly/ZiAWDJ), one of two alley-oops to Eric McKnight within a minute (http://bit.ly/13p8HbL) and Bernard Thompson's celebration throw-down in the game's final two minutes (http://bit.ly/Zm4RYk).

___

VANDY'S VINCE

Vanderbilt's women's basketball team doesn't have a big celebrity following, but being in Nashville there is the occasional sighting.

Coach Melanie Balcomb tells the AP's Pat Eaton-Robb that country star Vince Gill created quite a distraction at one game when he took a seat behind the bench.

Yes, that Vince Gill, who got a star last year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, has sold millions of albums and won 18 Country Music Association awards, including a five-year run as male vocalist of the year in the early '90s.

"We're all whispering going, 'That's Vince Gill. No it's not. It's Vince Gill, it's Vince Gill," Balcomb said.

Balcomb said there was one person on the bench, a graduate assistant from New York, who didn't understand all the fuss. She eventually screamed out: "Who is Vince Gill?"

"And that's when everything got really quiet," said Balcomb. "And, I was like, 'Oh my God, he heard it. It was the worst thing."

Vanderbilt can expect to get a few more followers if the Commodores can pull off an upset Monday in the second round against top seed Connecticut.

___

STAT OF THE DAY

A lot of talk flowed over the weekend about the Big Ten having four schools in the Sweet 16, but a pair of Big Ten teams were defeated by Florida schools on Sunday night in Austin. With Florida and Miami advancing along with Florida Gulf Coast, it's the first time three schools from the Sunshine State have reached the regional semifinals.

Florida and Florida Gulf Coast play each other in the next round.

___

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Chico, please." ? TV personality and former NBA star Charles Barkley, to cap a CBS postgame argument about foul calls in Ohio State-Iowa State with fellow analyst Kenny Smith. A few minutes later, the phrase became a trending topic worldwide on Twitter.

___

Oskar Garcia is a news editor for The Associated Press in Honolulu. Write to him at ogarcia(at)ap.org and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia

___

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

Midwest Region

Duke 66, Creighton 50

West Region

Ohio State 78, Iowa State 75

La Salle 76, Mississippi 74

South Region

Kansas 70, North Carolina 58

Florida 78, Minnesota 64

Florida Gulf Coast 81, San Diego State 71

East Region

Indiana 58, Temple 52

Miami 63, Illinois 59

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-25-BKC-BracketRacket-032513/id-9a0b55b4b211462e9cecd662114deab3

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