Justice Department aide knew of earlier botched gun sting (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A senior Justice Department official learned last year about a bungled 2006 operation that failed to track guns to Mexican drug cartels, but did not issue an edict to halt the tactic, which was repeated in a later sting, the agency disclosed on Monday.

Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division, was briefed in April 2010 about an operation called "Wide Receiver," in which as many as 500 guns were allowed to illegally cross the border to Mexican cartels between 2006 and 2007 without being tracked.

Breuer directed his staff to brief Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives leaders about the matter, but Justice Department officials said no one took action to ensure the tactics were not being used in other operations.

At that point, another sting was already under way by ATF and prosecutors in Arizona, dubbed "Fast and Furious". Agents were again trying to track guns to the Mexican cartels, but failed to watch the weapons as they crossed the border.

"I regret that I did not alert others within the leadership of the Department Justice to the tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver when they first came to my attention," Breuer said in a statement.

The Obama administration has been under scrutiny by congressional Republicans questioning who allowed such tactics to be used; who within the Justice Department, ATF and the White House knew about them; and when they knew.

Officials had hoped the sting operation would lead them to senior Mexican cartel members. Instead, some guns have been found at crime scenes on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been upset because weapons from the Fast and Furious operation were found at the crime scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was gunned down. It was not clear if those weapons fired the fatal shot.

BREUER TO TESTIFY

Republicans have focused on Attorney General Eric Holder, slated to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. But attention will likely turn to Breuer who is scheduled to testify to a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday.

Breuer was tapped to head the department's criminal division. He worked previously with Holder at the prestigious private law firm Covington & Burling. Breuer also worked in the White House counsel's office in the Clinton administration.

The Justice Department sent up roughly 600 pages of documents to congressional investigators in response to a subpoena from the House of Representatives Oversight Committee and made about 100 pages available to reporters.

In one email, Breuer deputy Jason Weinstein wrote in April 2010, regarding Operation Wide Receiver, that ATF "should/will be embarrassed that they let this many guns walk -- I'm stunned ...." He set up briefings with senior ATF officials.

Justice Department officials, who would only speak on the condition that they were not further identified, told reporters that beyond those briefings, no one took action to ensure the tactics were not being used in other operations.

The Wide Receiver case was shelved during the Bush administration, though it was not immediately clear why.

A prosecutor in the Obama administration agreed to pick it up and pursue the charges against those allegedly involved.

Weinstein said in an April 30, 2010 email to Breuer that ATF agents only were able to arrest the initial gun purchasers "and didn't recover many guns. Some were recovered in MX (Mexico) after being used in crimes."

Weinstein and other Justice Department officials also recommended to Breuer that details of the case be quietly released to try to avoid scrutiny of the botched operation, according to the documents.

Only when Holder learned about the botched "Fast and Furious" operation earlier this year did he issue an edict to ensure no guns were allowed to cross the border as part of a sting case unless they were fully tracked.

Republican Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned why no one in the Justice Department intervened after the revelations about the 2006 investigation.

"The criminal division has a great deal of culpability in sweeping the previous Wide Receiver strategy under the rug and then allowing the subsequent Operation Fast and Furious to continue without asking key questions," he said.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111031/us_nm/us_mexico_usa_guns

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One step closer to dark matter in universe

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2011) ? Scientists all over the world are working feverishly to find the dark matter in the universe. Now researchers at Stockholm University have taken one step closer to solving the enigma with a new method.

The universe is still a mystery. We know what about 5 percent of the universe consists of. The rest is simply unknown. Researchers have gotten as far as knowing that a major portion, about 23 percent of the universe consists of a new kind of matter. No one has seen this matter, and no one knows what it consists of. The remaining roughly 72 percent of the universe is made up of something even more enigmatic, called dark energy. Jan Conrad and Maja Llena Garde are scientists at Fysikum, Stockholm University and the Oskar Klein Center for Cosmoparticle Physics, and they are part of the international research team that has taken a giant step toward finding dark matter with the help of a new method.

"With our new method, for the first time we have been able to exclude models regarded by many as the most natural ones. Previous attempts did not achieve the same sensitivity. What's more, our results are especially reliable," says Jan Conrad.

"We can't see dark matter because it doesn't interact with the matter we know about. Nor does it emit any light. It's virtually invisible. But we can determine that it affects the matter we're familiar with."

"We see how the rotation of galaxies is affect by something that weighs a lot but is invisible. We also see how the gas in galaxy clusters doesn't move as it would if there were only visible matter present. So we know it's there. The question is simply what it is. Many theoretical models have been developed to predict particles that meet the requirements for being identified as dark matter. But experiments are needed if we are to determine whether any of these models are correct," says Jan Conrad.

Since dark matter is invisible, we can only see traces of it, and one way to do this is to look at light with extremely high energy, so-called gamma radiation. With the help of the satellite-borne Fermi Large Area Telescope, scientists can study gamma radiation and look for traces of dark matter.

"We've looked at gamma radiation from dwarf galaxies. These galaxies are small and dim, but extremely massive, so they seem to consist largely of dark matter. Unfortunately we still haven't detected a gamma signal from the dark matter in these objects, but we are definitely getting closer. Our new method involves looking at several dwarf galaxies at the same time and combining the observations in a new way, which yields excellent results. This is an exciting time for dark matter research, because we're getting closer and closer," says Maja Llena Garde.

"This is truly a giant step forward in our pursuit of dark matter," says the director of the Oskar Klein Center, Lars Bergstr?m. "With my colleague Joakim Edsj?, I've studied these processes theoretically for more than ten years, but this is the first time important experimental breakthroughs are being seen. Now we just hope that Jan, Maja, and the Fermi team will continue this exciting quest using their new method."

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Journal Reference:

1. The Fermi-LAT Collaboration: M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Albert, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, D. Bastieri, K. Bechtol, R. Bellazzini, B. Berenji, R. D. Blandford, E. D. Bloom, E. Bonamente, A. W. Borgland, J. Bregeon, M. Brigida, P. Bruel, R. Buehler, T. H. Burnett, S. Buson, G. A. Caliandro, R. A. Cameron, B. Canadas, P. A. Caraveo, J. M. Casandjian, C. Cecchi, E. Charles, A. Chekhtman, J. Chiang, S. Ciprini, R. Claus, J. Cohen-Tanugi, J. Conrad, S. Cutini, A. de Angelis, F. de Palma, C. D. Dermer, S. W. Digel, E. do Couto e Silva, P. S. Drell, A. Drlica-Wagner, L. Falletti, C. Favuzzi, S. J. Fegan, E. C. Ferrara, Y. Fukazawa, S. Funk, P. Fusco, F. Gargano, D. Gasparrini, N. Gehrels, S. Germani, N. Giglietto, F. Giordano, M. Giroletti, T. Glanzman, G. Godfrey, I. A. Grenier, et al. Constraining dark matter models from a combined analysis of Milky Way satellites with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Physical Review Letters, 2011 [link]

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://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111031081920.htm

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'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' Trailer: Tom Cruise On The Run!

Ethan Hunt's mission, should he choose to accept it, is to go rogue.


The latest -- and most insightful -- "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" trailer hit the web courtesy of Yahoo! Trailers. And, for those of us who are excited for this movie for its whole cast instead of just Tom Cruise's continued participation, this [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/10/28/mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-trailer-2/

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'Bling Ring' celeb burglar sentenced in L.A.

Since getting busted for burgling Audrina Patridge's house two years ago, Rachel Lee has had a lot of time to think.

And, according to Lee, she has since seen the error of her ways.

"I wanted to let you know that I am very sorry for what I did," the accused Bling Ring member wrote to L.A. Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler before he sentenced her to a maximum four years in prison for felony burglary. "I am sorry to the people I have hurt and for all the trouble I have caused."

So, what now? Besides sit in jail, that is?

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READ: Jermaine Jackson's Jewelry Heist ? The Work of the Bling Ring?

"I have learned so much from this life journey," Lee continued. "The last two years of my life has changed me from an irresponsible and childish drug and alcohol addict towards becoming a responsible adult.... I was really messed up from so much substance abuse as well as poor choices of friends."

Read the letter

Lee was one of six people linked to a series of burglaries of celebrity homes, including those of Patridge, Orlando Bloom, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, Ashley Tisdale and Rachel Bilson. The culprits made off with millions of dollars worth of jewelry, clothing, watches, electronics, firearms, etc., only some of which has been returned to the celebrity owners.

"Pretty Wild" star Alexis Neiers spent 30 days of a six-month sentence in jail for her role in the Bloom burglary, while the rest of Lee's alleged accomplices ? Nicholas Prugo, Diana Tamaya, Courtney Leigh Ames and Roy Lopez Jr. ? have pleaded not guilty and are due in court for a pretrial hearing Nov. 18.

Lee pleaded no contest to residential burglary, after which one felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary and two counts of receiving stolen property were dismissed.

"As I prepare to serve my time," Lee's letter to Fidler continues, "I am now planning what I can do during my jail term as far as education, training and service to our community so that I can come back to my family and society as a productive person. If possible, I would like to serve my time in a facility where I can receive education, counseling and job training."

READ: "Pretty Wild" Star Alexis Neiers' Rehab Plan: Drug-Counselor Training!

"Thank you very much for reading this letter," Lee concluded. "I hope to never stand before you in another case and I am going to work very hard to make that happen."

Fidler sentenced Lee to state prison and the type of rehabilitation opportunities offered depend on the facility where she ends up.

GALLERY: Mug-Shot Mania

Her probation report, dated Oct. 25, stated that Lee had never before shown any remorse for her crime, nor did she return any stolen property to the police, hence a recommendation that Fidler give her the maximum sentence.

"Although the defendant is somewhat youthful and has a limited criminal history," the report states, "there are significant factors that support a recommendation for state prison; among them are her leadership in a sophisticated burglary ring that took property in excess of two million dollars and her refusal to cooperate with police detectives."

? 2011 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45074078/ns/today-entertainment/

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Boat In Fatal Race To Mackinac Island Accident Was Unstable, Sailing Group Says

CHARLEVOIX, Mich. ? A sailboat that capsized in a storm during the annual race from Chicago to Mackinac Island, killing two crew members, was not suited for the competition because its sails were too big for its weight, a sailing group says.

U.S. Sailing's report criticized the design of the WingNuts boat, saying its sail area was too large for its weight under the conditions of the long Great Lakes competition.

The Kiwi 35-foot sport boat overturned July 18 in Lake Michigan off the northwest Michigan coast near Charlevoix, killing skipper Mark Morley, 51, and crew member Suzanne Makowski-Bickel, 41. A competing vessel rescued the other six crew members from the Saginaw-based yacht.

"WingNuts was a highly inappropriate boat for a race of this duration, overnight, without safety boats, and in an area known to have frequent violent thunderstorms. Her capable crew and preparation could not make up for the fact that she had too little stability, which led to her being blown over by a severe gust," said the report, which was requested by the Chicago Yacht Club, the race organizer.

Greg Miarecki, rear commodore for the Chicago Yacht Club, said officials had reviewed the WingNuts' stability but it didn't raise concerns. He said the report concluded that the stability index that had been used may not have been the best indication of whether the boat was too unstable to be in the competition.

"Looking at the report, it appears that there's now some discussion about having a stability index that's different or additional," he told the Chicago Tribune (). "We would certainly welcome that." http://trib.in/vwm5sE

Organizers say 355 boats and roughly 3,500 crew members took part in the annual race, which finishes off Mackinac Island in the straits where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet. The first race was in 1898, and organizers began holding it every year starting in 1921.

The U.S. Sailing report praised WingNuts' crew and the boat's preparation before the storm, and it also praised the crew of Sociable, the boat that rescued WingNuts' survivors and coordinated the search and rescue.

The Charlevoix County medical examiner determined that Morley and Makowski-Bickel drowned after severe head trauma made them incapable of saving themselves. Earlier this month, county Sheriff Don Schneider said his 11-week investigation found that the crew acted properly and no one was at fault in the accident.

The report will also be studied by Detroit's Bayview Yacht Club and could bring changes to another race next summer, the Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, which runs up Lake Huron from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, according to 2012 race chairman Greg Thomas.

"I am sure we're going to have requirements about stability and righting moment and who we permit to race," Thomas told the Detroit Free Press (). "Whatever we have to do to improve the safety of our race, I can promise you it will get done. It's not going to go ignored." http://j.mp/sHLInE

Thomas said such accidents have inevitably led to safety improvements in the sport of sailing.

"How many hundreds of boats have sailed in the 190 Mackinac races these two lakes have put on over the years, and this was the first fatality," Thomas said. "Something's been working right."

___

US Sailing report: http://j.mp/uRTZBa

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/30/boat-in-fatal-race-to-mac_n_1066267.html

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Human Waste to Revive Haitian Farmland?

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Verizon updates: Pre-order Droid Razr, receive updates about Galaxy Nexus (Digital Trends)

Verizon users up for renewal, you have a tough choice on your hands. Do you want the incredibly thin Motorola Droid Razr with its 12.5 hour battery life or the not-quite-as-thin Samsung Galaxy Nexus with its massive screen and the brand new Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system? Today, you have a choice. Pre-order the Droid Razr or sign up for updates on the Galaxy Nexus. Both 4G LTE phones will likely cost $300 with a two-year contract and both will probably be released around Nov. 10.

The signup page for the Galaxy Nexus has gone live. You can now sign up for an email alert. Some bloggers believe that the URL (which has an 11 and a 10) on the signup page indicates a Nov. 10th launch, but we aren?t sure yet.

The pre-order page for the Droid Razr is a bit more definitive. It promises that the phone will be released no later than Nov. 10.?

So which one should you get? Well, that?s a tough one. We compared the hardware specs of both phones and have held the Razr, but we haven?t yet had any hands-on time with the Galaxy Nexus. Be sure to check out our hardware overview video and Smart Actions & MotoCast demo?to learn more about the Droid Razr. As for GalNex, everything we know is here.

Which phone, if either, are you leaning toward? ?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111027/tc_digitaltrends/verizonupdatespreorderdroidrazrreceiveupdatesaboutgalaxynexus

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Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel Back Next-Generation Digital Book Publisher Hyperink

Hyperink, a next-generation digital book publishing platform, has raised $1.2 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Lerer Ventures, Launch Capital, Cyriac Roeding, Jack Abraham, and others. Simply put, Hyperink, which was a graduate of Y Combinator's Winter 2011 class, wants to disrupt the book publishing world. The startup is a digital book publishing platform and full-service agency that will help any aspiring author write, design, publish, market, and sell a book without any up-front fees. Hyperink wants to represent the long-tail of book demand.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/MJUe9CVfTMk/

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Video: Herman Cain's Economic Message

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45074711#45074711

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Rain could allow Cards' Carpenter to start Game 7

/

By RONALD BLUM

updated 9:30 p.m. ET Oct. 26, 2011

ST. LOUIS - Bruce Hurst was in his room at the Grand Hyatt in New York when he got the call exactly 25 years ago. Because of a rainout, Boston Red Sox manager John McNamara was switching to him as his starter for Game 7 of the World Series against the New York Mets.

"It's what you prepare for your whole life," Hurst said Wednesday after Game 6 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers was postponed. "If you can't get ready for that, nothing can get you ready to pitch."

If the Cardinals force a seventh game, now scheduled for Friday, ace Chris Carpenter could find himself in the same situation as Hurst: pitching baseball's biggest game on short rest. Asked about his possible Game 7 starter, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa avoided a direct answer and instead joked about which pitcher he would send to the interview room Thursday before Game 6.

"If Bob Gibson is there, we'll send Bob," La Russa said of the 75-year-old Hall of Famer.

Jokes aside, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan must decide whether to bring back Carpenter on short rest for only the second time in his big league career. He would be the first pitcher to make three starts in one Series since Arizona's Curt Schilling in 2001.

"I was told by Carp that he would be ready to go," La Russa said. "I think I mentioned to somebody he's very competitive, and he'd pitch Game 7 had we played today. I don't think that'll change tomorrow if we win."

The Mets and Red Sox were tied 3-all in the 1986 Series when rain forced Game 7 to be pushed back a day. Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd originally was slated to start for Boston, and he had tears in his eyes when McNamara informed him of the change.

Hurst, the Game 1 and Game 5 winner, took a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning against Ron Darling, who was pitching on regular rest but also making his third start of the Series. Hurst then allowed a two-run single to Keith Hernandez and an RBI groundout by Gary Carter, and didn't get a decision as the Mets won 8-5.

"Adrenaline takes over, but that burns out pretty quick and then you're left with what you have," Hurst said.

Darling allowed three runs in 3 2-3 innings, giving up second-inning homers to Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman. The extra rest was harmful instead of helpful.

"It gave me 48 hours instead of 24 hours to mentally get ready for the game. By the time we got to Game 7, I was mentally exhausted," he said Wednesday. "I literally grinded down my teeth in those 48 hours."

Since that night, only Minnesota's Frank Viola (1987) and Jack Morris (1991) and Schilling have made three starts in one World Series. Chances are, La Russa already has shared his thoughts with Carpenter if not the public.

Trailing 3-2, the Cardinals will start Jaime Garcia against Colby Lewis in Game 6 on Thursday night. La Russa's Game 7 choice comes down to Carpenter, Game 3 starter Kyle Lohse on five days' rest or Game 4 starter Edwin Jackson on regular rest.

"You can't look for Game 7 before you look at Game 6," Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols said. "I bet you the players aren't thinking about that. Our job is to be ready to face whoever is on the mound."

On the last night of the regular season, Carpenter helped St. Louis win the NL wild card, tossing a two-hit shutout and throwing 106 pitches in an 8-0 win at Houston as Atlanta lost to Philadelphia. Coming back on three days' rest, he lasted just three innings and 65 pitches in Game 2 of the NL division series against the Phillies.

That was the only time in his major league career that the 36-year-old Carpenter, who has overcome several arm injuries, started on three days' rest.

He allowed three runs in the first and one in the second, then was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fourth as the Cardinals began to rally for a 5-4 victory. It was the shortest outing of the year for Carpenter, whose 237 1-3 innings led the NL during the regular season.

During the last two decades, starters on short rest are 9-8 with a 2.78 ERA in the World Series, with their teams going 12-15, according to STATS LLC.

Texas manager Ron Washington isn't hedging on his decision for a potential Game 7. He'll bring back Matt Harrison on five days of rest rather than Derek Holland on regular rest.

Holland took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning for a 4-0 victory in Game 4. Harrison, let down by his defense, managed only 11 outs in a Game 3 loss.

"It means a lot. I'm glad he has that trust in me," Harrison said. "I'll treat it like any other day."

Rain has caused some switches over the years.

In 1962, three straight days of wet weather pushed back Game 6 in San Francisco, but both teams stayed with their scheduled starters and Billy Pierce pitched a two-hitter to beat the Yankees and Whitey Ford 5-2. Then, in a rematch of Game 5, New York's Ralph Terry pitched a four-hitter to defeat Jack Sanford and the Giants 1-0.

In 1975, Boston's Bill Lee and Cincinnati's Jack Billingham were scheduled to start Game 6 at Fenway Park before a three-day storm. By the time play resumed, Boston brought back Luis Tiant, who won Games 1 and 4, and Cincinnati went with Game 3 starter Gary Nolan. Billingham relieved in the third inning, and the Red Sox went on to win one of baseball's greatest games, 7-6 on Carlton Fisk's 12th-inning homer. Lee started Game 7 against Don Gullett, and neither got a decision as the Reds won 4-3.

When rain hits, managers get to tinker. Asked whether he would use Carpenter in relief for Game 6, La Russa immediately replied: "No chance."

A moment later, he revised his response.

"Little chance."

Then he stated the No. 1 thought on his mind.

"We've got to get to 7," he said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Hamilton hurting for Rangers

??SportsTalk: Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton is clearly hurting. Does he have a heroic moment ahead of him in the World Series?

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45055427/ns/sports-baseball/

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Divine intervention for a 'Survivor' tribe?

In perhaps the most religiously fundamentalist Christian episode of Survivor ever, God intervened and caused Coach?s tribe to win, leading Ozzy to have a vision and sacrifice himself. Whether it was due to another intervention of a higher power in a CBS reality series or just the game play and work of the producers, it was another strong episode in a time in the season when episodes tend to slump a little.

Instead of being awesomely blindsided, as happened the last time he played the game, Ozzy handed over his idol to a fellow competitor and told his tribe to vote him out to Redemption Island, so he could beat Christine and keep their tribe dominant should the tribes merge after that duel.

Yes, this entire strategy assumes the two tribes will merge, and, of course, that Ozzy will win against Christine, who has had a streak of duel wins and is also gaining confidence; when Probst told her, ?You?re becoming a legitimate force,? she replied, ?I?ve always been a legitimate force.?

Jeff Probst pointed this out at Tribal Council, suggesting that Ozzy could ?go out a bigger fool than you did last time? if he loses to Christine. I am so excited about that possibility I can barely wait for next week. Ozzy acknowledged that this will be either one of the ?stupidest? or ?one of the most iconic moves in Survivor history?; he told Probst it is ?the ballsiest move that I could possibly think of.? And for someone who?s already shown his balls and more on a sex reality TV show, that?s saying a lot.

I am glad Ozzy gave himself credit was pretty awesome in an episode where God credit for the other tribe?s behavior. It started off innocuously, with Coach doing his tai chi thing while the editors superimposed images of the sun and screaming eagle sound effects. Coach decided that his team needed a morale boost, so he decided to pretend to find the hidden immunity idol, a lie to cover his other lie (he led Brandon to believe that the idol was still hidden).

So the tribe prayed for help finding the idol. Yes, once again, God was called upon to intervene in a reality TV show, which is so ridiculous I cannot even start to digest it. Of course, Coach praying along with Brandon for help to find the idol that he had in his possession was, as Sophie said, ?icky,? though Coach went on to ask for more help (?I ask you to give us a victory in this next challenge, in Jesus? name we pray?). As a godless heathen, I don?t believe in an interventionist god, but some people do, obviously. How is it possible for a smart person like Coach to believe that God would actually intervene here while letting people die in war or famine or genocide, or just suffer miserably while some yahoos win a challenge on a reality show? It?s absurd.

God may have actually doled out punishment to Coach for this blatant attempt at misuse of heavenly power by giving Coach?s tribe the win, so they had to suffer through their ?reward,? emphasis on the scare quotes. It was a screening of Adam Sandler?s new movie Jack and Jill, in which Adam Sandler plays a female character, too, because it?s 2011 and he wanted to do something creatively challenging and totally new.

The reward was one thing, but horrifyingly, the producers let the movie basically buy the challenge, so Jeff Probst had to try to explain who the challenge mirrored the movie?s plot using a pretty thin analogy. Luckily, it was a specious connection, and nowhere near what, say, Big Brother would have done in the same position. But remember how quaint it was when Probst offered Mountain Dew as a reward and people freaked out about that?

The challenge was a version of the challenge where tribe members guide others who are blindfolded, only this time it was through an obstacle course that included water. It?s always entertaining to watch people bump into things and fall while blindfolded, especially because it?s ostensibly someone else?s fault, so it was great fun?and another strong challenge (even tainted by Adam Sandler).

During the challenge, as the lead ping-ponged between the tribes, Coach prayed for help, and then, when his tribe won, he literally forced them all to their knees in a circle for a group prayer. That?s about the time I would have said, ?The only way I?m getting on my knees is for a different kind of group activity, so stand up and take some credit for your own actions and effort, you simpletons.?

Source: http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/survivor_south_pacific/2011_Oct_27_ozzy-sacrifice-god-episode

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Business Group Opposes $3.4B Cobell Settlement - The BLT: The ...

A conservative think tank that advocates for free enterprise and limited government is challenging the $3.4 billion settlement in a Native American class action in Washington, saying the judge in the high-profile case should not have certified a class.

The non-profit public interest group Competitive Enterprise Institute, represented by McGuireWoods, submitted a brief supporting opponents of the landmark settlement who are challenging the merits of the deal. The case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

?The proper administration of class actions is vital to the functioning of the free market and the rule of law,? the institute?s brief (PDF), lodged Tuesday, said. ?Large settlements?including large class-action settlements?are rarely isolated events; instead they signal to future litigants (or future class-action lawyers) that the rules underlying litigation have changed, and that they should continue to push the boundaries of the legal system.?

The suit, filed by the late Elouise Cobell in 1996 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, demanded an historical accounting of money the government held in trust for thousands of Native Americans. The settlement, which required congressional authorization, will pay potentially hundreds of thousands of class members.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute said the presiding Washington trial judge, Thomas Hogan, who approved the deal between the plaintiffs and the government, should have conducted a more ?rigorous? inquiry before certifying a class for purposes of the settlement.

At issue, in the eyes of the free enterprise group, is the scope of the rule of civil procedure that governs class actions.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently offered guidance on the rule in the high court?s decision in the Wal-Mart sex discrimination case. In that matter, the Court rejected a potential class of current and former female Wal-Mart employees.

CEI?s attorneys, Anand Ramana and Andrew Trask of McGuireWoods? office in Washington, said ?relaxing the demanding standards of Rule 23 in order to accomplish settlements is a constant temptation for courts.?

The congressional authorization of the settlement, the lawyers said, improperly set aside the requirements of the class action rule, which include an analysis of shared traits among potential class members. Congress, CEI?s attorneys said, had the power to set up a claims process, to compensate individual Indians, as an alternative to a class action.

CEI?s lawyers said the certified class ?was anything but homogeneous.? The case covered a range of allegations, including charges the government failed to maintain adequate records of individual Indian trust accounts and charges the government lost or mismanaged trust funds.

?[T]he superhuman efforts to resolve this litigation involves superhuman efforts to sidestep the requirements of Rule 23,? the CEI brief said.

A lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Dennis Gingold, a Washington solo practitioner, called the CEI brief a ?non-event,? saying it repeats arguments critics unsuccessfully made in the trial court. The Center for Class Action Fairness, representing a class member, is also challenging the merits of the settlement.

Gingold also said the CEI brief was filed late. There is no certainty the court will take it into the record. The advocacy group said "simple computer issues" prevented a punctual electronic filing.

The D.C. Circuit has not set an argument date, but the case could be heard early next year.

Updated 4:11 p.m.

Source: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/10/business-group-files-opposition-to-34b-cobell-settlement.html

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Longevity's secrets sought in DNA of 100-year-olds

In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 photo, Marie Eberhardt helps her husband George Eberhardt, 107, of Chester, NJ. after they both got their annual flu shot in Mendham, N.J. George Eberhardt turned 107 in September 2011, and scientists would love to know how he and other older folks like him make it that far. So he's going to hand over some of his DNA. He is taking part in one of two projects announced in October 2011 that will examine some of the oldest citizens with one of the newest scientific tools: whole-genome sequencing, the deciphering of a person's complete collection of DNA. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 photo, Marie Eberhardt helps her husband George Eberhardt, 107, of Chester, NJ. after they both got their annual flu shot in Mendham, N.J. George Eberhardt turned 107 in September 2011, and scientists would love to know how he and other older folks like him make it that far. So he's going to hand over some of his DNA. He is taking part in one of two projects announced in October 2011 that will examine some of the oldest citizens with one of the newest scientific tools: whole-genome sequencing, the deciphering of a person's complete collection of DNA. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

This Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 photo shows George Eberhardt, 107, of Chester, NJ. after being given his annual flu shot in Mendham, N.J. Eberhardt turned 107 in September 2011, and scientists would love to know how he and other older folks like him make it that far. So he's going to hand over some of his DNA. He is taking part in one of two projects announced in October 2011 that will examine some of the oldest citizens with one of the newest scientific tools: whole-genome sequencing, the deciphering of a person's complete collection of DNA. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

NEW YORK (AP) ? George Eberhardt turned 107 last month, and scientists would love to know how he and other older folks like him made it that far. So he's going to hand over some of his DNA. He's one of 100 centenarians taking part in a project announced Wednesday that will examine some of the oldest citizens with one of the newest scientific tools: whole-genome sequencing, the deciphering of a person's complete collection of DNA.

Scientists think DNA from very old healthy people could offer clues to how they lived so long. And that could one day lead to medicines to help the rest of us stay disease-free longer.

By the time you reach, say, 105, "it's very hard to get there without some genetic advantages," says Dr. Thomas Perls, a geriatrics expert at Boston University.

Perls is helping find centenarians for the Archon Genomics X Prize competition. The X Prize Foundation, best known for a spaceflight competition, is offering $10 million in prize money to researchers who decipher the complete DNA code from 100 people older than 100. The contest will be judged on accuracy, completeness and the speed and cost of sequencing.

The contest is a relaunch of an older competition with a new focus on centenarians, and it's the second sequencing project involving the elderly to be announced this month.

Genome pioneer J. Craig Venter says the centenarian project is just a first step in revealing the genetic secrets of a long and healthy life.

"We need 10,000 genomes, not 100, to start to understand the link between genetics, disease and wellness," said Venter, who is co-chairing the X Prize contest.

The 107-year-old Eberhardt of Chester, N.J., played and taught tennis until he was 94. He said he's participating in the X Prize project because he's interested in science and technology. It's not clear his genes will reveal much. Nobody else in his extended family reached 100, and he thinks only a couple reached 90, he said in a telephone interview.

So why does he think he lived so long? He credits 70 years of marriage to his wife, Marie. She in turn cites his "intense interest in so many things" over a lifetime, from building radios as a child to pursuing a career in electronics research.

But scientists believe there's more to it, and they want to use genome sequencing to investigate. Dr. Richard Cawthon of the University of Utah, who is seeking longevity genes by other means, says it may turn up genetic features that protect against multiple diseases or that slow the process of aging in general.

Protective features of a centenarian's DNA can even overcome less-than-ideal lifestyles, says Dr. Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. His own study of how centenarians live found that "as a group, they haven't done the right things."

Many in the group he studied were obese or overweight. Many were smokers, and few exercised or followed a vegetarian diet. His oldest participant, who died this month just short of her 110th birthday, smoked for 95 years.

"She had genes that protected her against the environment," Barzilai said. One of her sisters died at 102, and one of her brothers is 105 and still manages a hedge fund.

Earlier this month, Scripps Health of San Diego announced a different genome project involving the elderly. The Scripps Wellderly Study will receive the complete genomes of 1,000 people age 80 and older from a sequencing company.

A complete genome reveals not only genes but also other DNA that's responsible for regulating genes. It's "the full monty," showing DNA elements that are key for illness and health, says Dr. Eric Topol, who heads the Wellderly Study.

Participants in that study have an average age of 87 and range up to 108, and they've never had diabetes, heart disease or cancer, or any neurological disease.

"Why are these people Teflon-coated?" Topol asked. "Why don't they get disease?"

The ability to turn out lots of complete genomes is "the new-new thing" in trying to find out, he said.

"There's been too much emphasis on disorders per se and not enough on the people who are exceptionally healthy," to learn from their genomes, Topol said. "Now we have the powerful tools to do that."

___

Online:

X Prize competition: http://genomics.xprize.org/

Wellderly Study: http://bit.ly/pHFHDj

___

Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://twitter.com/MalcolmRitter

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-26-US-MED-Elderly-DNA/id-0819a250ddb54e7393115349c4ce330c

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ROTC programs return to Ivy League

NEW HAVEN, Conn.?? Yale sophomore Andrew Hendricks has gotten used to receiving strange looks when he crosses the Ivy League campus in his Air Force uniform.

Hendricks, the only Air Force cadet at Yale, wears the uniform on days he drives to the University of Connecticut to train with the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, a program that had been barred from his university until faculty agreed to welcome it back beginning next fall. Judging from the reaction of Yale students, he does not expect much of a stir when cadets start conducting drills amid the Gothic buildings in New Haven.

"I never get anything negative," said Hendricks, 19, of Fairfax Station, Va. "I think it's mainly that people are really curious because they don't see a lot of military influence on campus."

Four decades after Vietnam War protesters cheered the departure of ROTC programs from some Ivy League universities, their return is bringing little more than a symbolic change to campuses where a new generation of students is neither organizing against them nor lining up to enlist.

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Yale, Harvard and Columbia all signed agreements this year to bring back ROTC. The antagonism with elite universities faded with the end of the draft, and much of the lingering opposition to the military dissolved with last year's repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the policy that banned gays from serving openly in the armed services. The universities said the policy violated non-discrimination rules for campus organizations.

A tiny number of students at these schools pursue ROTC ? a total of three at Yale and five at Columbia do so through off-campus arrangements ? and those numbers are not expected to rise dramatically anytime soon. But the agreements to revive ROTC are important to the schools, which once produced many of America's most decorated military officers, and the armed services, which are regaining a presence at some of the country's best-known universities.

Officials are excited about ROTC because it offers students another path to national leadership, the dean of Yale College, Mary Miller, said in an interview. She said the administration was influenced by appeals from President Barack Obama, who used his State of the Union address to call on universities to engage more directly with the military, and a survey by Yale's student government that found support for ROTC.

"We hope by making a path to military leadership available on campus, that students will pursue it in part because the opportunities for that leadership come so early in military careers. It has a strong youth culture component, which has been quite striking to me," Miller said.

The ROTC program, which was founded in 1916, has 490 host units, most of them concentrated in the South and Midwest. Students receive scholarship money in return for agreeing to military service after graduation.

In the years surrounding World War II, thousands of soldiers and sailors trained on Ivy League campuses. But last year, only 53 students from the conference's eight universities were commissioned through ROTC programs.

Yale has agreed to host Naval and Air Force ROTC detachments next fall. Air Force officials say it is too early to assess how many might enroll, and Navy officials say they are hoping at least 15 freshmen, from an incoming class of about 1,300, will attend Yale next year on Naval ROTC scholarships.

The change is likely to be even less visible at Harvard and Columbia, where Naval ROTC gained formal recognition but students are expected to continue training at nearby campuses. At Harvard, which has nine midshipmen training at other Boston area schools, the Naval ROTC director said it would not make sense to create a new detachment.

"You need some type of sufficient numbers to be able to have a battalion and meaningful leadership roles, and nine does not cut it," Capt. Curtis Stevens said. "You can barely man a color guard with nine."

Regardless of the numbers, he and other advocates said it is important to the military to be represented on elite campuses.

"Symbols matter, and the symbolism of America's leading universities declaring or even implying that there is something illegitimate about serving your nation in uniform was shameful. Fortunately, we've now gotten over it," said Graham Allison, director of Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense.

Stanford University's faculty also voted this year to invite ROTC back to campus, but it has not reached agreements with any of the service branches. Other prominent schools including Princeton, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania already host units.

But there is still some resistance in the Ivy League. Brown University's president, Ruth Simmons, said this week that she continues to back the school's policy of denying ROTC recognition as an academic program.

A music professor at Brown, Jeff Todd Titon, said many on the faculty feel there is no place for the military at a liberal arts college.

"The military is a chain of command organization where obedience is required, and that's just antithetical to our ideals and goals," he said.

Susanna Kotter, a Yale junior from Boston, has concerns about sexual violence in the military, but she said having future officers on campus could help her learn about an institution that is not part of her daily life.

"If that will elicit more conversation about the Army, I'm OK with it," she said.

The bans' reversal marks a renewal of long military traditions at Yale, which had 25 graduates serve as generals for the Union Army during the Civil War, and Harvard, which has produced more Medal of Honor recipients than any institution outside the service academies.

Hendricks is looking forward to dropping the three-hour weekly commute to Storrs when ROTC comes to New Haven, and he also thinks it will make him feel more at home on his own campus.

"Knowing that I'll be doing this for Yale, I'll feel more school pride," he said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45006571/ns/us_news-life/

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Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.: Obama vs. Cain: Intellectual Rigor vs. Intellectual Rigor Mortis

Herman Cain is running for the office of President of the United States. In a match-up between President Obama and Mr. Cain, it would be a glaring matter of intellectual rigor (Obama) verses intellectual rigor mortis (Cain). Watching a debate between Obama and Cain would be like watching a boxing match between Ali and Urkel. Beauty and brains against bigotry and bias. Truffle against trifle. You get the point. Obama does his homework and is not afraid of facts. But taking a look at Cain's political positions, there is a consistent pattern of obstinate wrongheadedness.

At one time Cain was the CEO of Godfather's Pizza. Let's look at a pizza pie analogy. Cain's personal pizza is comprised of the following ingredients: walloping dollops of white dough (and I mean the bankable kind of dough), leavened with fried dogma, generously slathered with layers of belligerent anti-LGBT and anti-woman hostility sauce. Cain pizza is topped with the cheese of right-wing Christian supremacy, biblical literalism and warmed-over leftovers from Alan Keyes. His personal pizza leaves a sharp, acrid aftertaste of bitter intolerance. It comes wrapped in a box of rigid ideology. Cain pizza is delivered with all the charm of a day in the life of Robert Mugabe.

Linguistically, President Obama may drop the g's from his gerunds, but intellectually, "I-don't-have-the-facts-to-back-me-up" Cain drops logic, facts, and empirical evidence from his pronouncements. And he is not interested in finding them. It is as if he gets his information from the reading of the entrails of pizza.

Mr. Cain's ideas on education, Muslims, climate change, the environment, debt, energy, immigration, foreign policy, nuclear weapons, unions, welfare and unemployment are frightening enough, but let's look at just three ideas to illustrate why this man should not be elected to any position of power over anyone. Ever.

LGBT/Science Concerns:

Mr. Cain has referred to gay people as "godless." He is waiting for the science to come out to declare that being LGBT is not chosen. Apparently, "science" is just another a left-wing propaganda scheme for Cain. He does not believe in evolution. He does not believe in climate change. Yet if there were any evidence of intellectual rigor -- I would settle for intellectual honesty -- Herman Cain would know that the argument over homosexuality being a choice has been settled. The proposition that the earth is 4.2 billion years old has been proven. Evolution is as settled a fact as the theory of gravity. There is no controversy except for those for whom facts are not relevant.

Mr. Cain thinking he's entitled to an opinion on a matter of scientific fact is quaint at best. When one considers that he's a member of an oppressed minority group turning around and contributing to the oppression of another minority group, Mr. Cain's bigotry seems tragic, hypocritical, and profoundly sad. When one remembers that Herman Cain is seeking the office of the Presidency of the United States, it becomes a cause for alarm. His dangerously unscientific views about LGBT people render him unfit for that office.

--John M. Becker of Truth Wins Out (Oct. 20, 2011)

Women:

Cain does not believe that women (and girls) who are raped should have access to an abortion. That alone disqualifies him to be seriously considered for any job except Torquemada's life coach. Although Cain has said that it's not the government's role to make that decision, his position is that there should not be abortion under any circumstances.

He believes that life begins at conception. It doesn't. If he had a rudimentary understanding of biology, he would know that life continues at conception. Dead sperm cells don't merge with dead eggs. Living sperm and living eggs continue the progression of life. It is the entrance of the soul into the life potential that makes it sacred. Men and men's laws cannot determine when the soul enters the womb. Women's moral agency and free will demand that they own and control their bodies and destinies.

Race:

As an African American, I am more concerned with Mr. Cain's views regarding African Americans than I am about Rick Perry's n-word rock of racism. Cain ran an ad in 2004 and 2006 from the America PAC in which he does a voice-over talking to a supposed black man about his "hos," his infidelity, his refusal to join the army, etc. Remember, this is Cain's attempt to win votes:

This ad is so offensive and demeaning to African Americans that even the RNC is reported to have said it was racist.

Cain is a demagogue who is a demigod with the Tea Party because he is their favorite kind of Negro: the type who despises blacks as much or even more than they. They viscerally know that Herman Cain is Clarence Thomas on meth. Cain possesses a punitive personality that is ready to punish (i.e., death by electric fences). How else do you explain his meteoric rise among conservatives? The ones who applaud executions, call for the death of the comatose and boo an American soldier on the battleground? They organically relate to his callousness and his cluelessness.

Cain has accused African Americans of being "brainwashed" because the majority of blacks vote for the Democratic Party. Here is the gist of the reality of black voters: African Americans have been the most sophisticated voting block in American history (with the disgraceful exception of when they vote against rights for gays and lesbians -- but white funders and white-voting majorities place those issues on the ballot, energize them and get them passed). For black people, the vote is too important a deal to be trifled with. We died for the right to vote. We are not brainwashed when we consistently vote for our own interests.

Herman Cain refers to himself as the "black walnut." From the continuing statements he makes and the stances he takes, I think he should just drop the first three letters of the word "walnut" and go on with his life. I agree with Harry Belafonte, who stated that Cain is "the latest incarnation of what is totally false for the needs of our community and the needs of our nation."

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sylvia-rhue-phd/herman-cain_b_1029456.html

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China sentences two officials to jail for leaking data (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China has sentenced two officials to jail terms of up to six years for leaking economic data, the Supreme People's Procuratoriate said in a statement on Monday, citing the need to protect the government's credibility.

Economic data is usually market-sensitive information and the figures are routinely leaked before their official release, sometimes circulating among investors days before they are announced by the government.

"Since May last year, China's macro-economic data have been leaked on a number of occasions, arousing close attention from the central leadership," according to the statement, released to reporters before a media conference.

To serve as a deterrent, China sentenced Sun Zhen, a senior secretary at the National Bureau of Statistics, to five years in jail for leaking 27 statistical figures to the securities industry, the statement said.

It added that Wu Chaoming, a researcher at the People's Bank of China, was sentenced to six years in jail for leaking 25 items to 15 employees of the securities industry.

Neither sought to appeal the sentences, it said.

The National Bureau of Statistics has recently sought to release its regular data as early as possible to reduce the opportunities for such leaks.

For example, it has narrowed the time between when it collects the data for sensitive economic indicators such as consumer and producer prices and when it makes the data public.

"The leaking of macro data harms economic operation, prevents fair market competition, and affects government credibility," the statement said.

"We will continue to strike hard on such cases, efficiently investigate all cases involving the leaking of secrets whenever they are uncovered," it added.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Ken Wills)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/wl_nm/us_china_data_crime

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World Series Game 3: Cardinals Beat Rangers 16-7, Albert Pujols Hits 3 Home Runs (VIDEOS)

ARLINGTON, Texas ? Albert Pujols began the game hoping to shake his slump and maybe get a hit.

He did that, and a whole lot more: He produced the defining game of his monster career, and perhaps the greatest hitting performance in World Series history.

Pujols launched three long homers, drove in six runs and finished with five hits ? tying Series records with each accomplishment ? as the St. Louis Cardinals romped past the Texas Rangers 16-7 on Saturday night for a 2-1 edge.

"Just pretty special," he said.

The three-time NL MVP matched Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson for the most home runs in a game, connecting on fastballs from three different pitchers. Pujols added two singles and set a Series mark with 14 total bases.

"Hopefully, at the end of my career, I can look back and say, 'Wow, what a game it was in Game 3 in 2011," Pujols said.

And to think, his night began with a groundout that left him 0 for 7 against Texas

"I mean, with Babe and Reggie, that's pretty good company right there," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

The outburst by Pujols came a day after he was barbed by the media for not sticking around to talk about a Game 2 error and loss. This time, everyone was talking about him.

"When the opportunity presents itself to put him on the bag, I'm not going to let him swing the bat," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "But tonight, we just couldn't get the ball out of the middle of the plate and up, and he just didn't miss.

"I saw him on TV but I'll tell you, tonight was something special."

The Cardinals mashed their way to the highest-scoring game in their storied postseason history, breaking away after first base umpire Ron Kulpa's admitted blown call.

After two taut games in St. Louis, this suddenly turned into a messy slugfest. Pujols, the most feared slugger in the majors, was right in the middle ? he became the first player in Series history to get hits in four straight innings.

So much for any worries about Pujols making a dent.

"I was hitting the ball hard, but I wasn't getting any hits," he said. "But all it takes is one good game. I got five hits, what are they going to say about it?"

Texas fans booed after Kulpa's miss helped the Cardinals score four times in the fourth for a 5-0 lead. The crowd at Rangers Ballpark went silent when Pujols started swinging for the fences, and beyond. His three-run shot in the sixth rattled the windows of the club level high above left field.

Game 4 is Sunday night, with Derek Holland starting for the Rangers against Edwin Jackson. It will be the back half of a St. Louis-Texas style doubleheader ? earlier in the day, the Rams play the Dallas Cowboys right across the parking lot.

This game had an NFL score, too. The teams combined for 23 runs and 28 hits ? at Busch Stadium, they teamed for eight runs and 23 hits in two games.

"You leave a ball up in this park it's going to carry a little more than it does in St. Louis," Pujols said.

Pujols joined Ruth, who hit three homers in games against the Cardinals in 1926 and 1928, and Jackson's three-homer show against the Dodgers in 1977.

"It's an honor to be named in the same category as those guys," Pujols said.

Pujols' six RBIs matched Bobby Richardson in 1960 and Hideki Matsui in 2009. He tied the Series mark for hits in a game set by Paul Molitor in 1982.

Good-luck charm Allen Craig homered for St. Louis and Yadier Molina drove in four runs. The Cardinals broke it open by scoring four times in the fourth, three more in the fifth and four in the sixth.

Adrian Beltre kept delivering for Texas, getting four hits. Nelson Cruz hit his seventh homer of the postseason and Michael Young also connected for the Rangers. But after Ian Kinsler popped up with the bases loaded to end the fifth with Texas trailing 8-6, the Cardinals pulled away.

Pujols, however, showed exactly why he is the most prized free agent of all going into this winter.

The big slugger connected off Alexi Ogando in the sixth, hit a two-run drive to left-center off Michael Gonzalez in the seventh and tagged Darren Oliver for a solo shot to left-center with two outs in the ninth.

"When Pujols is at the plate, that's the first time he did damage. We fought back pretty good, the next thing you know he's up there batting with guys on base and brings them in," Oliver said. "That's what he does. That's why he's the hitter he is."

By the end, Rangers president Nolan Ryan was rubbing his forehead and it was hard to keep track of all the hits. Balls were rolling into the corners, sailing over the fence and going most everywhere.

In the seventh, a fan wearing a Rangers shirt threw a Wiffle ball toward St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday as he was preparing to catch a routine fly. The Rangers said the young man and his friend were ejected.

Early in the game, it appeared Kulpa's call would be the focal point.

The Cardinals led 1-0 when Pujols led off the fourth with a single. Holliday followed with a perfect double-play ball, but was ruled safe by Kulpa at first. Replays clearly show part-time first baseman Mike Napoli caught second baseman Kinsler's high toss and slapped a tag on Holliday before he reached the bag.

Kulpa said he thought Holliday beat the tag. The Rangers argued, to no avail.

"Well, he missed the play and I knew he missed the play when I went out there," Washington said.

After the game, the umpire issued a mea Kulpa.

"I saw a replay when I walked off the field, and the tag was applied before his foot hit the bag," he said.

The Cardinals quickly scored four times, helped when Napoli threw wide to the plate for an error that let two runs cross. Texas fans booed as replays of the bad call circulated ? they won't be happy to learn, either, that Kulpa was born, raised and lives in the St. Louis area.

"Has nothing to do with it," Kulpa said.

For the Cardinals, perhaps it was a little evening up, albeit many years later. The call came four days before the anniversary of umpire Don Denkinger's missed call at first base in the 1985 World Series that severely cost St. Louis.

Starters Kyle Lohse of St. Louis and Matt Harrison were both pulled in the fourth inning. Soon after, it was clear that no pitchers were going to be too effective.

Lance Lynn earned the win with 2 1-3 innings of relief and Harrison took the loss.

NOTES: La Russa earned his 68th postseason victory. He moved ahead of Bobby Cox into second place. Joe Torre leads with 84. ... Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki threw out the first ball. The 7-foot Nowitzki fired a fastball from the mound that Young scooped. There has never been a 7-foot major leaguer, though 7-1 pitcher Loek Van Mil is in the Angels' system.

2011 World Series Game 3 - Texas Rangers v St Louis Cardinals

1?of?11

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 22: Albert Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a solo home run in the ninth inning for his third home run of the night during Game Three of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on October 22, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. The Cardinals won 16-7. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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2011 World Series Game 3 - Texas Rangers v St Louis Cardinals

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 22: Albert Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a solo home run in the ninth inning for his third home run of the night during Game Three of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on October 22, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. The Cardinals won 16-7. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/23/world-series-game-3-cardinals-beat-rangers-pujols_n_1026961.html

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Dostana 2 back on track

For all those who are eagerly awaiting the sequel of 2008 hit rom- com ?Dostana?, here is some scoop. Reports are zooming in from high quarters that the director of the movie Tarun Mansukhani has finally penned down an ideal script for ?Dostana 2?. It is now ready and the film will roll out some [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newslatest/~3/ggBeIE3vLGE/3374.html

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Automation Technology: Emerson Building Trust, Investing in ...

By Walt Boyes, Editor in Chief

Steve Sonnenberg, business leader for Emerson Process Management, put forward strong relationships built on trust, together with industry-leading technology, as key to the continued mutual success of the company and its customers.

"We want to earn your trust and become a 'listening organization,'" Sonnenberg said to a record crowd of some 2,850 attendees at the 2011 Emerson Global Users Exchange this week in Nashville. And to help build that trust, Emerson is investing in its people around the globe. "Double-digit growth in all world regions has allowed us to make those investments everywhere."

Indeed, the more than 4,000 people hired by Emerson Process Management in the past year include some 1,800 in Asia Pacific, 200 in the Middle East and Africa, 350 in Latin America and more than 1,000 in North America. "We weren't even able to fill all the open positions," Sonnenberg said, "because we refuse to let you down by relaxing our standards. There just aren't enough technically trained people to fill all the jobs in this industry. But we will never compromise on talent. We believe that our talent is a key differentiator."

The company also has invested in acquisitions and in new technologies, Sonnenberg said. Recent acquisitions include Canadian gas detection and safety system supplier Net Safety. New products include down-hole, multiphase flowmeters and wireless annular monitoring systems from Roxar and the extension of Emerson's CHARMs input/output platform to provide single-channel intrinsic safety.

Sonnenberg also discussed the company's renewed focus and commitment to helping its customers save energy and reduce emissions through efforts big and small?from advanced control strategies to the new Rosemount 708 wireless monitor for detecting steam trap leakage.

"We are not shy about investing in good times and bad," Sonnenberg said. "We have made lots of investments in technology to serve you."

Source: http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2011/emex11-10.html

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