The openness revolution will not be trivial

It has been a big week for the project to make science more open. On Tuesday the UK government's Finch Committee came out strongly in favour of making research results freely available to all. Today the Royal Society releases its long-awaited report on all aspects of openness, Science as an open enterprise.

The report rightly points out that science is undergoing an "openness revolution" as important as that triggered by the creation of the first scientific journals. The internet has created unprecedented opportunities for scientists to communicate and collaborate with one another and the public. How should we respond?

As expected, the broad thrust of the Royal Society's report is that openness is a good thing and that there ought to be more of it. Scientists should routinely release their data and methods; universities and funders should support and reward those who do; even industry should be more open with its data. In short, openness should be everybody's default position unless there is a compelling reason, such as privacy or commercial sensitivity.

One of the motivations for the Royal Society's report was the so-called "Climategate" episode of November 2009, where hundreds of climate science emails were hacked and leaked. Subsequent inquiries cleared the scientists involved of any wrongdoing, but encouraged them to consider how they might communicate their results more openly and transparently. So as a climate scientist I can offer a personal perspective on the Royal Society's recommendations.

Broadly speaking, they are to be welcomed. Science thrives on openness and we should encourage it. But this worthy aspiration glosses over some practical problems that merit discussion.

Archiving

Meteorology and climate science generate vast amounts of data from weather stations, balloons, aeroplanes and satellites across the globe, and computer models. These are generally very well curated by the meteorological agencies, and fairly easily accessible. However, particular problems can arise with data from individuals or small groups of researchers. The handling of these data has, until recently, been somewhat ad hoc, with only colleagues of the data "owner" likely to have access to them. This is not a desirable state of affairs.

But maintaining an archive is not trivial. The data have to be searchable and easily retrievable. Limitations or quirks ? often well-known to the data owner but likely to trip up the unwary ? need to be made clear. All this requires skilled people and money to support them. In harsh financial times, such funding is difficult to identify.

Another problem is that academics are under increasing pressure from funders to produce trailblazing research or results of high societal impact. This militates against the more mundane demands of data curation. There's a need ? recognised in the report ? for papers on data acquisition to be equally valued. But this is at odds with prevailing practice. Perhaps the rise of the new data journals will provide a way forward.

An issue not addressed by the report is whether the computer programmes used to turn data into results and conclusions should also be made open. Such programmes range from simple number-crunching packages to hugely complex models that have taken millions of hours of labour to produce. Without these, many of the results would not be testable. It is not obvious whether, or where, a line should be drawn.

Finally, a problem with all data analysis is how to present statistical uncertainty. This is particularly important in climate science when explaining, for example, why the dreadful summer weather in the UK is not inconsistent with global warming, and why predictions of future climate change are not precise.

The desire to communicate the findings of climate science more effectively in open and transparent ways has led the UK's Royal Meteorological Society to set up a Climate Science Communications project. It has also launched an open access journal, Geoscience Data Journal, which publishes peer-reviewed scientific data in a way that allows the reader to fully understand when, how and why the data were collected.

It is my sincere hope that these sorts of activities will contribute to addressing the problem.

Joanna Haigh is professor of atmospheric physics and head of the department of physics at Imperial College London, and president-elect of the Royal Meteorological Society

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Childhood CT Scans Linked to Leukemia and Brain Cancer Later in ...

Children and young adults who undergo multiple computed tomography (CT) scans have an increased risk of leukemia and brain tumors in the decade following their first scan, according to the results of a study published in The Lancet.

CT scans are a common diagnostic tool used for imaging body tissues and organs. A CT scan takes a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body taken from different angles. The pictures are created by a computer linked to an X-ray machine. A CT scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other structures that cannot even be seen in conventional X-rays.

Children who suffer head injuries or who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness might undergo one or more CT scans during the diagnostic and treatment process. The risk with CT scans is that they deliver a dose of ionizing radiation to the area of the body being scanned. Even at low doses, ionizing radiation can cause damage that may increase the risk of cancer. Children typically face a higher risk of cancer from ionizing radiation exposure than do adults exposed to similar doses.

The use of CT scans in children has become more common since their introduction 30 years ago. Scans performed in 2012 can have approximately 50 percent lower doses of radiation compared to scans from the 1980s and 1990s; however, the amount of radiation delivered during a single CT scan still varies greatly and is often nearly 10 times higher than the radiation delivered with a conventional X-ray.

To evaluate the risks and benefits of CT scanning in childhood, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at the Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, England conducted a retrospective cohort study of more than 175,000 people under age 22 with no previous cancer diagnoses. All subjects had undergone CT scans at British National Health Service hospitals between 1985 and 2002.

Investigators used data from radiology departments across Britain as well as data for cancer incidence, mortality, and loss to follow-up from the NHS Central Registry from 1985 to 2008. Approximately 60 percent of CT scans were of the head.

Using the data, the researchers estimated the cumulative dose of radiation received by each patient and then assessed the subsequent risk of cancer for 10 years after the first scan. They found a clear relationship between increase in cumulative dose of radiation and increase in cancer risk. Radiation dose was measured in milligray (mGy), a unit of estimated absorbed dose of ionizing radiation.

The results indicated that children and young adults who received a cumulative absorbed dose to the head of 50 to 60 mGy had triple the risk of brain tumors compared to those from a control group who received a dose of less than 5 mGy. Those who received the same dose to the bone marrow had triple the risk of leukemia compared to the control. As a point of reference?using current scan settings, two or three CT scans of the head would yield a dose of 50 to 60 mGy to the brain and five to ten CT scans of the head would yield that same dose to the bone marrow in children under age 15.

Both of these cancers are relatively rare and the actual number of additional cases caused by radiation exposure from CT scans is small. In fact, the researchers estimate that for every 10,000 CT scans of the head performed on children age 10 or younger, there would be one case of leukemia and one brain tumor linked to the radiation exposure in the decade following the first scan. In other words, the risk is quite small and the benefits of CT scans may outweigh the risks. CT scans can be useful diagnostic tools; however, it?s important to justify their use and strive to keep radiation doses as low as possible.

Reference:

Pearce MS, Salotti JA, Little MP, et al. Radiation exposure from CT scans in childhood and subsequent risk of leukaemia and brain tumours: a retrospective cohort study. The Lancet, Early online publication: June 7, 2012. Available at: doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60815-0

More news and in-depth Brain Cancer information.

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The Last Becoming the First at Home | DIY Home Improvement

[unable to retrieve full-text content]In rating the importance of the different rooms in the house wherein five is the highest and one the lowest, the living room or the bedrooms usually get the highest rating and the bathroom the lowest. The bathroom used to be ...

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Greece's New Democracy seeks bailout coalition

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's centre-right New Democracy party will try to form a coalition on Monday to back the country's international bailout after a narrow election victory that eased fears of a sudden exit from the euro.

European stocks and the euro briefly opened higher after Sunday's vote, and the Athens streets were quiet after New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras pledged to move swiftly to form a government. He was due to meet Greek President Karolos Papoulias at 12.30 p.m. (0930 GMT).

The once-mighty Socialist PASOK party, now reduced to third place, indicated it would support former coalition partner Samaras but had not yet decided whether to join the government or just offer parliamentary backing.

In deep recession, crushed under its huge public debt and facing rising social tensions, Greece faces a daunting struggle to restore a near-bankrupt economy, and a new government could face a new wave of protests after taking office.

"The crisis has been postponed, not necessarily averted," said Theodore Couloumbis, political analyst and vice-president of Athens-based think-tank ELIAMEP.

"For this government to last it has to show results. You can't continue with 50 percent youth unemployment and a fifth straight year of recession," he said.

The radical left SYRIZA bloc, which had promised to tear up the bailout deal signed in March with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, scored strongly in the election, and party leader Alexis Tsipras promised to continue its opposition to the painful austerity measures demanded of Greece.

"I don't think anything good will come out of these elections," said Dinos Arabatzis, a 56 year-old taxi driver who voted for New Democracy.

"Whoever is in power now will get burned. Samaras will get burned, and Tsipras will come out much stronger if we go to elections again - that's what worries me," he said.

MILITANT OPPOSITION

With nearly 100 percent of ballots counted, New Democracy had won 29.7 percent of the vote, ahead of SYRIZA on 27 percent, and PASOK on 12.3 percent.

A 50-seat bonus automatically given to the party that comes first would give a theoretical New Democracy-PASOK alliance 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament, enough for a majority broadly committed to the 130-billion-euro ($164 billion) bailout.

"The result showed people want the euro, but society remains divided. SYRIZA will be a militant opposition, possibly complicating the new government's efforts," a senior New Democracy official said on condition of anonymity.

"The new government must deliver a positive development soon - an easing of the bailout terms or a positive sign in the economy - or people will lose trust in a week."

In the markets, trust had an even shorter shelf life. Though the FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.1 percent at the open, the index had shed all those gains before two hours were up, as the underlying problems in the euro zone brought investors back to earth. The euro's rise also evaporated.

SUPPORT

PASOK officials told Reuters that a meeting on Monday would decide how they would support Samaras - whether by participating fully in government, or by voting with the coalition in parliament. The smaller, anti-bailout Democratic Left party was also due to decide on Monday whether it would back the conservatives.

The White House said it hoped the election outcome would lead to the swift formation of a new government that would make "timely progress" on economic challenges.

"We believe that it is in all our interests for Greece to remain in the euro area while respecting its commitment to reform," said President Barack Obama's press secretary Jay Carney.

The new government may get some help from euro zone peers relieved that SYRIZA had not won, setting Greece on course for a euro exit with incalculable consequences for the rest of the 17-member bloc.

However, they have offered no prospect of any major overhaul of the bailout agreement, which requires Greece to find 11.7 billion euros in spending cuts in June to qualify for the next loan installment.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the substance of the bailout agreement was "not negotiable", but he said creditors might be willing to offer some flexibility on timing for some of the targets, given the time lost in campaigning after the inconclusive election on May 6.

"We're ready to talk about the timeframe as we can't ignore the lost weeks, and we don't want people to suffer because of that," he told German radio on Monday.

However, even if it were granted some leeway, a coalition that won only 40 percent of the vote would struggle to push through reforms in the face of deep public resentment of repeated rounds of tax hikes and pay and pension cuts.

Despite his loss Tsipras, 37, appeared buoyed by the election and rejected calls to join an all-party unity government, saying his party was now the main opposition force and promising to fight the bailout package.

His attitude has raised fears of a return to the anti-austerity protests that have left parts of central Athens pock-marked with angry graffiti.

Underlining the signs of potential instability, the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party took 18 seats, repeating its success of May 6 and confirming its status as a force in Greek politics, carried by an angry mood of public protest.

(Additional reporting by Dina Kyriakidou, Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Will Waterman)

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12 Fit Celebrity Dads

David Beckham

Before he was a father to sons Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, 9, Cruz, 6, and daughter Harper, 11 months, Beckham was one of the most admired soccer players in England. He remains one of the most famous international athletes of all time. Still, he considers his most important role as dad: "My proudest achievement has been my family," <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clare-winterton/fatherhood_b_1598142.html" target="_hplink">he has said</a>. But that doesn't mean he's thrown sports out the window -- here he is playing the role of soccer dad, <a href="http://www.justjared.com/2011/10/24/david-beckham-soccer-dad/" target="_hplink">standing on the sidelines of Brooklyn's match in Los Angeles</a>.

Gavin Rossdale

The rocker, dad to sons Kingston and Zuma, was named, along with wife Gwen Stefani, one of <em>Men's Health's</em> <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/gwen-stefani-gavin-gossdale" target="_hplink">hottest celebrity couples of 2011</a>, undoubtedly for their matching set of super-toned abs. <br><br> He's an <a href="http://www.peoplestylewatch.com/people/stylewatch/package/gallery/0,,20222169_20312285_20691026,00.html" target="_hplink">avid (often shirtless) tennis player</a> who would reportedly do anything rather than hit the treadmill. "That whole <a href="http://gavinrossdalefans.com/2007/09/20/my-workout-gavin-rossdale/" target="_hplink">mouse-on-a-wheel thing</a>, day in and day out, gets monotonous," a fan website quotes him as telling <em>Best Life</em>.

Will Smith

The Fresh Prince is known for his television character's love of basketball -- and for portraying fictional caddy Bagger Vance in <em>The Legend of Bagger Vance</em>, as well as famous boxer Muhammad Ali in <em>Ali</em>. But the actor, comedian and musical artist loves giving pretty much any sport a go, as he proved recently in London, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/16/london-2012-will-smith-olympic-sports_n_1520430.html?just_reloaded=1" target="_hplink">trying his hand at a variety of Olympic sports</a> as part of his press tour for <em>Men in Black III</em>. His kids are following suit: son Jaden, 13, portrayed a karate prodigy in a reboot of <em>The Karate Kid</em>.

Ricky Martin

The singer (and now Broadway actor) and father of twins told <em>People</em> that his <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20133136,00.html" target="_hplink">yoga practice</a> is his time to "just breathe" and find his center. <br><br> But judging by <a href="http://www.thefrisky.com/photos/10-celebrity-couples-exercising-together/exercise-ricky-martin-jpg/" target="_hplink">this photo of him doing pushups on the beach</a> (and of course who can forget those tight leather pants?) we think he's got a few other workout moves up his sleeves, including holding his sons. "I'm a father to two toddlers, and lifting them is a workout -- <a href="http://www.details.com/celebrities-entertainment/music-and-books/201203/ricky-martin-on-buddhism-broadway-gay-marriage?currentPage=2" target="_hplink">this is biceps, this is triceps</a>," he told <em>Details</em>.

Barack Obama

The presidential love of basketball is well documented -- and Obama is certainly one fit POTUS between his late night pickup games and his daily trainer-guided workouts with First Lady Michelle. And while the first lady is working hard to cajole the citizenry off their couches and into some sneakers, the president is <a href="http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/28/obamas-workout-white-house-democrats-as-fitness-fanatics/" target="_hplink">intent on getting his staff in better shape</a>. <br><br> But what about daughers Sasha and Malia? They keep a busy schedule of basketball, soccer, tennis and bike riding -- not to mention gym sessions, <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20386377,00.html" target="_hplink">according to a <em>People</em> interview with Mrs. O</a>.

Tom Brady

The modelesque football star has one of the hardest jobs in sports, but told <em>Details</em> that <a href="http://www.details.com/celebrities-entertainment/cover-stars/200907/patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-on-football-fatherhood-and-gisele-bundchen?currentPage=6" target="_hplink">modeling was even harder</a>. We can't imagine how fit you have to be to think pro football is easy. <br><br> In what seems like a natural extension of fathering his two sons, he's even applied his love of fitness to the NFL's Play 60 campaign, to <a href="http://www.nflrush.com/video/play-tips-and-ideas/116" target="_hplink">encourage kids to get active</a> for an hour a day. He says in this short video clip that fitness allowed him to build teamwork and comraderie with this friends at a young age.

Mark Wahlberg

The actor and father of four (Ella, Michael, Brendan and Grace), told Piers Morgan that <a href="http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/13/mark-wahlberg-on-putting-his-family-first-the-most-important-role-that-ill-ever-play/" target="_hplink">family comes first</a>. "It's obviously the most important role that I'll ever play as father and husband," he said. "I will not fail." <br><br> But fitness is a pretty high priority too, especially when film roles require a certain physique, like his recent turn in "The Fighter." To train for the role, he built his own gym, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/sports/05seconds.html" target="_hplink">complete with a boxing ring</a>.

Usher

The R&B crooner's famous abs may not be as front-and-center as they were pre-fatherhood, but sons Usher V and Naviyd Ely keep him active, he recently told <em>People</em>. "The last game we played was 'it.' You know, like tag," he told the magazine. "The boys love to run around and <a href="http://celebritybabies.people.com/2012/06/12/usher-looking-4-myself-gives-sons-advice/" target="_hplink">play games with me</a>; I'm a kid at heart." <br><br> And as for those abs? Usher took <em>Men's Health</em> <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/celebrity-fitness/usher-workout" target="_hplink">along for a workout</a> in 2005 that included lat raises, pushups, medicine ball throws and more.

Matthew McConaughey

McConaughey might be best known for all those shirtless paprazzi shots showing off a toned physique, but his muscles aren't just for show: the actor, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/10/matthew-mcconaughey-marries-camila-alves_n_1584416.html" target="_hplink">newlywed</a> and father of two (son Levi, 3, and Vida, age 1) is an <a href="http://www.thesuperficial.com/photos/matthew-mcconaughey-gets-his-yoga-on" target="_hplink">avid surfer, golfer and yogi</a>. Of surfing and golf, <a href="http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/archive/pc_0245.html" target="_hplink">he told <em>Parade</em> magazine</a>: "They're two of the sports that you can do until you go down. They're great for you health-wise and they put you in sweet locations." <br><br> But that doesn't mean he thinks either pursuit is for adults exclusively -- he also revealed his plans to get son Levi surfing as soon as possible.

Mario Lopez

The former A.C. Slater has always been known for his fit physique. He's penned a <a href="https://www.rodalestore.com/mario-lopez-s-fitness-workout.html" target="_hplink">fitness book</a>, <a href="http://www.hsn.com/health-fitness/mario-lopez_c-hf_a-9031_xc.aspx" target="_hplink">hawked gym equipment</a> and even strutted his stuff on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/11/mario-lopez-dancing-with-the-stars-all-stars_n_1587280.html" target="_hplink">"Dancing With The Stars."</a> New fatherhood (daughter Gia was born in September of 2010) <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20434950,00.html" target="_hplink">made fitness a little trickier</a>, he told <em>People</em>. "I'm definitely still working out, but I do less intense workouts because I'm not getting as much sleep now," he said. "Lately I just haven't been able to go at it as hard as I used to."

Hugh Jackman

Though they don't get credit for it, Broadway actors are basically professional athletes -- spending their days training in dance, yoga and crosstraining for grueling, physical performances. Jackman is no exception: training hard for his performances in Les Miserables and other musicals. But the actor, who was a jock in high school, is also a rugby, cricket, kayaking and soccer enthusiast. <br><br> Despite that busy schedule, Jackman still makes time to drive son Oscar and daughter Ava to school everyday, <a href="http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/entertainment/hugh-jackman-hollywoods-baddest-good-guy" target="_hplink">according to a profile in <em>Men's Fitness</a>.</em>

Neil Patrick Harris

Everyone's favorite "How I Met Your Mother" star (and <a href="http://www.peoplepets.com/people/pets/article/0,,20603021,00.html" target="_hplink">dad to twins</a> Gideon and Harper) <a href="http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/07/30/neil-patrick-harris-is-the-daring-young-man-on-the-flying-trapez/" target="_hplink">once told That's Fit</a> that he stays in shape with occasional circus classes (yes, really) and more regular strength training and cardio. "I try to concentrate on posture, keeping my body as long as it can be," he said at the time. "I've been doing more Pilates and yoga and trying to get into a real cardiovascular routine to increase my flexibility." <br><br> Parenthood has made finding the time to work out a little trickier: He <a href="https://twitter.com/ActuallyNPH/statuses/27443955859722240" target="_hplink">tweeted last year</a>, "Finding time to exercise is difficult with babies. I'm thinking of trying P90X. Thoughts?"

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US deserter in Sweden steps forward after 28 years

STOCKHOLM?? A U.S. Air Force deserter who has lived secretly in Sweden since 1984 has revealed his identity and contacted his family in the United States who were overwhelmed to hear he was still alive, a Swedish newspaper reported at the weekend.

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Dagens Nyheter said David Hemler had deserted aged 21 while serving at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany, after getting involved with a pacifist church and becoming disillusioned with the policies of former President Ronald Reagan.

He hitchhiked via Denmark to Sweden where he settled down, living under an assumed name for the last 28 years and not revealing his true identity to anyone.

"I never planned on not telling the truth in the beginning. I intended to come to Sweden until I felt better (after his experience in the airforce), I expected a week or so," Hemler told the newspaper in a video on its website.

Now aged 49, he is married to a woman from Thailand, has three children and works for a Swedish government agency, but would not let the newspaper print his assumed name.

After his desertion, he became one of the U.S. Air Force's eight most wanted fugitives, according to the newspaper, and had expected at any time to be arrested by military police with both Interpol and Europol looking for him.

Hemler told the newspaper he had missed his parents after he deserted but went on to have a child and had not wanted to be separated from her.

He had decided to come forward after his third daughter turned two and could go to day care, so his wife would be better able to cope if he was arrested.

He first contacted his U.S. family four weeks ago, speaking to his brother Thomas who was in Massachusetts at the time on a business trip.

"DREAM SCENARIO"

"I heard immediately it was David, even if he had a strange European accent after all these years," Thomas Hemler, who lives in New Jersey, was quoted on Sunday as saying.

He said he had asked questions to confirm the man was indeed his brother David. Members of his family in the United States are now planning to visit him in Sweden.

The website of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations lists Hemler, who was born in Pennsylvania, as having deserted on February 10, 1984 from the 6913th Electronic Security Squadron in Augsburg, Germany.

Its Air Force Fugitives page shows a photo of Hemler as a young man, and a photo digitally enhanced to show how he might look aged 47.

The newspaper said Hemler was registered in Sweden as a citizen of an unknown country who was born in Zurich.

His lawyer, Emma Persson, told Reuters he had approached her firm for legal advice about a month ago.

"My opinion is that he will not lose his permanent residence permit in Sweden, it is very unlikely," she said. She also thought it unlikely he would be extradited to the United States.

A U.S. embassy spokesman declined to comment on the case.

"My dream scenario is that the responsible authorities realize I have already been punished quite severely for my actions ... I have been living 28 years in lies," Hemler said.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

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21 dead, 100 injured in Nigeria church blasts, rioting

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China to see first woman in space

15 June 2012 Last updated at 16:25 GMT

Liu Yang says she feels "so proud"

China has named the female astronaut who on Saturday is set to become the nation's first woman in space.

Liu Yang, 33, an air force pilot, will join two male colleagues on board the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, state-run news agency Xinhua says.

The spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 space station module, as China bids to establish a permanent space base in orbit.

Liu will work on the mission with astronauts Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang.

"From day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts," Ms Liu was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying before her assignment was announced.

"I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you," she said.

Xinhua, which describes her as a veteran pilot who enlisted in the People's Liberation Army in 1997, said she was recruited to be an astronaut in May 2010.

Continue reading the main story

Astronaut Liu Yang

• Born in Henan province and an only child
• Married, with no children
• Air force pilot with rank of major
• Member of Communist Party
• Honoured as a "model" pilot in March 2010
• Landed a plane safely after it was struck by 18 pigeons
• Goes by "little flying knight" on the QQ instant messaging service
• Has been described as having a penchant for patriotic speeches

Space mission

The Shenzhou 9 mission, China's fourth manned space flight and its first since 2008, is expected to blast-off at 18:37 local time (10:37 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch centre in China's north-west Gansu province.

The astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 - an experimental module currently orbiting Earth - and carry out scientific experiments on board.

Last year, China completed a complicated space docking manoeuvre when an unmanned craft docked with the Tiangong 1, or Heavenly Body, by remote control.

This is China's first manned space docking mission, Xinhua says.

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Here comes Trader Joe?s (Offthekuff)

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Auction Fri. of original Apple Computer 1 could fetch $180K

Sothebys on Friday will auction an original Apple Computer 1 motherboard and seems confident it will attract a bid of somewhere between $120,000 and $180,000, CNET reports.

CNET blogger Chris Matyszczyk had this to say to potential bidders:

?What's morally uplifting about your potential investment is that this particular machine allegedly works. It is, so Sothebys says, one of only six in earthly existence that can do whatever it is Apple-1 computers were supposed to do. Add, subtract and look amazing at parties, I suppose.?

Matyszczyk adds that a couple of years ago Christies sold an Apple-1 for $210,00, but it had a little something extra ? a signed letter sent to the original owner by Steve Jobs.

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Click On These Links To Learn More About The Auto Repair And ...

Last updated 2 hours 1 minute ago

Summer may be one of the best times to have a thorough inspection done on your vehicle, but there is never a bad time. The NAPA AutoCare Center Network gives the guarantees you need to feel sure about taking your vehicle to get serviced. Check out the following articles to learn some more about looking for signs that your vehicle is need of service.

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Report: State Rep. Deb Mell Diagnosed With Cancer ? CBS Chicago

Illinois State Rep. Deborah Mell (File Photo; Credit: CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) ? State Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago), one of three openly gay Illinois lawmakers, reportedly has been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer.

According to the Windy City Times, Mell said she is seeking expert advice from her doctors, and will undergo more tests, including a genetic test to help determine her treatment options.

?I am very grateful for my wife, Christin, my family and friends and especially the radiology team at Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Center at Northwestern who found the cancer,? Mell told the Windy City Times. ?I will continue to serve my constituents, and hope for a speedy recovery.?

Mell, 43, married her longtime partner Christin Baker, 36, last August in Iowa.

According to the Windy City Times, Mell was asking for prayers, ?because she is a miserable patient.?

Mell was first elected to office in 2008. She is the daughter of longtime Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), and she is the sister-in-law of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. She regularly attended Blagojevich?s trials, sitting next to her sister, Patti, to provide comfort.

She was also a co-sponsor of the legislation that legalized same-sex civil unions in Illinois, and has also co-sponsored pending legislation to legalize gay marriage in Illinois.

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California lawmakers schedule vote on $15.7B deficit to beat deadline or risk losing pay (Star Tribune)

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Analysis: Gupta's fate may hinge on witnesses, not wiretaps

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Through phone logs, trading records and a parade of witnesses, U.S. prosecutors repeatedly worked to connect the dots between Rajat Gupta, the former head of top consulting firm McKinsey & Co, and his hedge fund manager friend Raj Rajaratnam.

It is now up to a Manhattan federal jury to decide if this evidence against Gupta, a former board member at Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Procter & Gamble Co, is persuasive enough to convict him.

Historically, insider trading cases have been difficult for prosecutors to win because of their circumstantial nature. The investigation of Rajaratnam -- built on eight months of court-approved wiretaps and culminating in his conviction at trial last year -- was a major exception because the government had dozens of secretly recorded telephone calls of him discussing stock tips with friends and associates.

In the Gupta case, prosecutors only had a few wiretaps they could use to bolster their charges that Gupta supplied Rajaratnam with some of his juiciest tips. They had no telephone recording between the two men to back one of their most dramatic contentions: that Gupta, a minute after disconnecting from a Goldman board conference call on September 23, 2008, told Rajaratnam about plans by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to inject $5 billion in the investment bank.

The jury heard evidence that Rajaratnam hurriedly ordered his traders at hedge fund Galleon Group to try to buy $40 million worth of Goldman stock in the few minutes that remained in the trading day after he received that 35-second call from Gupta.

"There was only one call to Rajaratnam's direct line in the last 10 minutes of the trading day, only one call in the last hour," Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Tarlowe said in his closing argument Wednesday. "And it was from Rajat Gupta."

Gupta's defense lawyer, Gary Naftalis, responded: "If he was truly rushing, he wouldn't have waited a minute, he would have called in two or three seconds."

Lawyers following the trial have different opinions about how the jury might view the circumstantial evidence.

JaneAnne Murray, a white-collar defense attorney and professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, said even circumstantial government evidence in the trial could overwhelm the defense's case.

"The 'wrong place in the wrong time' defense works once, maybe twice," said Murray, who is not involved in the case. "The problem is when one is trying to defuse too many suspicious instances."

But Chicago securities lawyer Andrew Stoltmann, who is also not involved in the case, said the lack of direct evidence could lead the jury to acquit Gupta. An acquittal would halt the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's run of victories in a series of insider trading trials over the past 15 months.

Gupta has said all along that he would put up a vigorous defense, describing the prosecutors evidence as purely speculative and circumstantial.

Defense lawyers wanted to play the jury wiretaps of a Goldman Sachs employee tipping off Rajaratnam about other companies to demonstrate that the money manger had other potential sources of information on the firm. The judge ruled that evidence was inadmissible because it was separate from anything in the indictment of Gupta and was likely to confuse the jury.

Gupta is charged with securities fraud and conspiracy, which carry a maximum prison term of 25 years.

BUSINESS AND FRIENDSHIP

Throughout the four-week trial, prosecutors also emphasized the years of friendship and business dealings between Rajaratnam and Gupta as evidence of how the defendant would benefit from conspiring with the hedge fund manager.

They also pulled out some star witnesses, including Goldman Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, who testified that board conversations were always confidential and that he never authorized Gupta to share material corporate information with an outsider.

Defense lawyers sowed a few seeds of reasonable doubt, arguing that their client had no motive to leak inside information. They presented evidence that Rajaratnam had cheated Gupta out of $10 million in a joint investment called Voyager Capital Partners. The defense said the two had had a falling out in 2008.

Gupta's lawyers suggested that their client's calls to Rajaratnam could have been about the Voyager investment. "He was trying to get information on Voyager, and it had nothing to do in the world with Berkshire Hathaway," Naftalis said.

Geetanjali Gupta, the eldest of the defendant's four daughters, testified to her father's distress over Rajaratnam's handling of the investment at the time.

The jury also heard from associates and old friends that Gupta was respected for his integrity and had nothing to gain financially from helping Rajaratnam.

"There will be a lot discussion in the jury room about motive and lack of motive," said Tom Dewey, a partner at law firm Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky in New York, who is not involved in the trial.

The jurors paid very close attention throughout the trial to both sides of the case, with about half of them taking notes on yellow legal notepads.

Gupta at one point appeared likely to testify, but in the end did not.

He may have missed a chance to tell the jury his version of events, create more reasonable doubt and bring out more about his work in efforts to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries.

"Better than his lawyer, nobody could have sold the explanation better than Gupta as to why he did what he did," said securities lawyer Stoltmann.

The most important wiretaps in the case were conversations between Rajaratnam and two of his senior employees.

In one call, the day after the Buffett investment announcement, Rajaratnam told trader Ian Horowitz: "I got a call at 3:58, right? ... Saying something good might happen to Goldman."

On October 24, 2008 Rajaratnam is caught on the wiretap telling portfolio manager David Lau: "Um, now I, I heard yesterday from somebody who's on the board of Goldman Sachs, that they are gonna lose $2 per share. The Street has them making $2.50."

Prosecutors said Gupta had called Rajaratnam on October 23, 2008, only 23 seconds after a Goldman board meeting heard the firm was headed toward its first quarterly loss ever as a public company.

The case is USA v Gupta, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-907.

(Additional reporting by Basil Katz; Editing by Martha Graybow and Lisa Von Ahn)

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Dueling speeches: Obama, Romney go at it in Ohio

CLEVELAND (AP) ? President Barack Obama cast his re-election race against Republican Mitt Romney as the economic choice of a lifetime on Thursday, seeking to stir undecided voters and asking the nation to buy into his vision for four more years or face a return to the recession-era "mistakes of the past."

Said Romney: "Talk is cheap."

From opposite ends of Ohio, a state vital to both of their political futures, Romney and Obama dueled in economic speeches that set the tone for a fierce, final five months of debate. At the core, the pitches were the political foes' familiar, fundamentally different takes on how get to an economically aching nation soaring again.

"That's really what this election is about," Obama said in his most detailed case for a second term. "That's what is at stake right now. Everything else is just noise."

Romney went first from Cincinnati, a Republican stronghold in the state, and he described Obama's administration as the very "enemy" of people who create jobs.

"Look what's happened across this country," Romney said. "If you think things are going swimmingly, if you think the president's right when he said the private sector is doing fine, then he's the guy to vote for." But he questioned why anyone would do that, saying if the job isn't getting done, pick "someone who can do a better job."

The backdrop was Ohio, seen by political strategists as a state that could swing the election.

It went to Obama last time, and George W. Bush before that, and it remains crucial for both competitors this year ? particularly Romney. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio.

Romney gave what amounted to his standard speech, albeit realigned as a prebuttal as Obama was pulling into his event site at the top of the state. Given the tight presidential race and the enormous interest in the economy, the two speeches offered anticipation of a big campaign moment, but the substance yielded little new.

This was Obama in professor mode, filling his speech with budget numbers and history and talk of independent analysts. It was an economics case, yet hardly one of roaring rhetorical lift. The goal for Obama was not to uncork new proposals but to define a contrast. He is still pushing tax credits and other jobs ideas that have awaited action in Congress for months.

On Thursday, he said the election is an opportunity for voters to step in and "break the stalemate."

In essence, Obama said Romney would gut government and cut taxes for the rich at the expense of everyone else.

Romney said Obama is crushing the free market with regulation.

Obama said, "If you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then I ask you to stand with me for a second term as president."

He made a concerted push for independent and undecided voters by pledging anew to work with anyone "who believes that we're in this together."

Despite what had seemed to be a speech showdown, the two events were not of the same scope.

Obama spoke for more than 50 minutes, more than doubling Romney's comments, in what his campaign called the first in a series of major economic speeches. The settings offered different optics as well; Romney went coatless with his sleeves rolled up before about 100 people; Obama gave a formal address to 1,500 people.

Romney's reference to Obama's statement about the private sector "doing fine" recalled what was largely seen as a presidential gaffe last week. Even though Obama's aides said he was taken out of context, Obama conceded his misstep on Thursday, joking "It wasn't the first time. It won't be the last."

The president also appealed for more time to let his ideas work. Citing the monster American recession, he said most countries in the past have needed 10 years to recover.

The economic focus came at a grim time in the American economic recovery. The country produced just 69,000 jobs last month. And Europe's financial crisis is eroding confidence around the globe.

Politically, both Romney and Obama used Europe as a foil.

For Obama, it was to say while the economies of many European nations aren't growing, America's is because "we acted fast." Romney said Obama had amassed crippling debt. "You want four more years of that?" he said. "You call that forward? That's forward over a cliff. That's forward on the way to Greece."

___

Steve Peoples reported from Cincinnati. Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Kasie Hunt contributed from Washington.

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London stocks slip at opening

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