Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib has been suspended four games for what he says was using the prescription drug Adderall without a prescription.
?Around the beginning of training camp, I made a mistake by taking an Adderall pill without a prescription,? Talib said in a statement released by the team. ?This is especially regrettable because, for the past several months, with Coach Schiano?s help, I?ve worked very hard to improve myself ? professionally and personally ? as a player and a man. I am truly sorry to my teammates, coaches and Buccaneers fans, and I?m disappointed in myself. I will work diligently every day of this suspension to stay in top football shape and be ready to help this team in the second half of the season. I have chosen to be immediately accountable for the situation I put myself in, which is why I will not exercise my appeal rights and will begin serving the suspension immediately.?
As we?ve noted when other players have been suspended and blamed Adderall (which is a commonly used drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but can also be used a performance-enhancer), it?s impossible to know whether anyone who blames Adderall is telling the truth. NFL rules require confidentiality on everything relating to drug test results, so when a player blames Adderall for his suspension, we have only his word to go on. The NFL has confirmed that Talib is suspended four games for violating the league?s policy on performance-enhancing substances, but it has not said which banned substance he took.
The Bucs also released a statement from coach Greg Schiano, who blamed Talib for making a bad decision.
?We are disappointed to learn that Aqib Talib will be suspended for four games, which will begin with our game tomorrow against Kansas City,? Schiano said. ?I have spoken with Aqib, and he knows that he made a poor decision that let our team down. Certainly, other players will have the opportunity to step up while he serves this suspension.?
Talib?s suspension begins immediately. He will be eligible to return to the Bucs on Monday, November 5, after the November 4 game against the Raiders.
Four departments requirement to solve the bankrupt retired medical insurance concerns of personnel for state-owned enterprise properly China, August 5 (Xinhua) Ha Reporter Du Yu) The reporter learns with the social security area of human resources within the 5th, social safety measures department of hour or so, " notice in solving medical treatment such as the retired personnel from state-owned enterprise of the closure and bankruptcy not to mention ensuring relevant situations properly " that this Ministry of Finance, State-owned Properties and assets Supervision and Operations Commission, Ministry of Watch jointly send out is actually pointed out, the bankrupt retired personnel of state-owned enterprise participate in any urban worker's primary medical insurance in accordance with this law to the place, talk about revenue according to Reward and mend incorporating " The principle offers subsidy lump-sumly. " notice In requires, while enacting the closure along with bankruptcy in organizations, should be according to the relevant regulation of " enterprise's chapter 13 law ", settle retired personnel, benefit an insurance necessary price through the intersection connected with enterprise and insolvent property. Enterprise's bankrupt rentals are not enough to repay, will be able to through list with bankrupt land involving property sell cash flow and finance subsidize as well as the intersection of Medical related Benefits Funds along with balance adjust, raise funds, solve because of many channels. Support and help that provincial government have to offer to hard city, county. The area governments at all tiers arrange and is for helping to solve and close the subsidy monetary fund that the retired staff members of bankrupt enterprise effected an insurance, are able to divide and put in position every year. In the future, every aspect want, carry out Inch the the junction of enterprise plus bankruptcy law " laws and regulations strictly, solve, close the junction of bankrupt small business and retired team members, effect an insurance important fund properly, your state revenue no longer subsidizes. Every part want, transfer community policy the intersection of closure in addition to bankruptcy and the intersection of state-owned enterprise and also retired personnel together with effect an insurance, improve central authorities in addition to central authorities pay for include in the city worker's basic insurance of possession The system is managed in unison, does not get single managing, closed operation.With the enhancement of health and wellness consciousness, people shell out more and more attention to when using the life closely guaranteed up health problem, for example the food security, medical therapy is ensured, health information,etc., wholesome life should be via understanding information gets started!More excellent health and wellbeing information please get into:News channel
Long before the current rash of fungal meningitis, the compounding pharmacy suspected in the outbreak settled a lawsuit alleging it produced a tainted shot that caused a man's death in 2004.
Earlier this summer, a separate pharmaceutical firm with common owners was accused of failing to separate sterile and non-sterile supplies. That pharmaceutical company was shut down Wednesday for inspections, the latest example of fallout from the growing outbreak.
Officials have identified Framingham, Mass., based-New England Compounding Center as the source of steroid shots suspected in the outbreak of rare fungal meningitis that has killed at least 12 people and made more than 130 others sick in 11 states.
Allegations of a shot tainted with a different form of meningitis were at the heart of a lawsuit filed against the company over the 2004 death. An 83-year-old man died about a year and a half after receiving a shot produced by the company.
Another drug company that has some of the same owners, Ameridose LLC, agreed to temporarily stop its compounding and manufacturing operations as a precaution while regulators inspect its facilities, but the measure is being done as a precaution, not because of evidence of contamination, officials said Wednesday. Ameridose, based in Westborough, Mass., was accused by a business customer this year of failing to separate sterile and non-sterile products in its warehouse.
Andrew Paven, a spokesman for both companies, said: "Ameridose is a separate entity from New England Compounding Center, with distinct operational management."
"We have separate production facilities, separate processes and operate at separate locations in different cities. Although there is common ownership, the two companies operate under separate registrations and different licensure," the statement from Paven said.
On Wednesday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said the New England Compounding Center may have misled regulators and done work beyond the scope of its state license. The company was licensed to fill specific prescriptions for specific patients but exceeded that, he said.
"What they were doing instead is making big batches and selling them out of state as a manufacturer would, and that is certainly outside of their state license," he said.
A company spokesman declined comment on Patrick's assertion beyond a statement that company officials are focused on cooperating with the investigation. The company has shut down operations and recalled the fungus-contaminated steroid.
A 2004 lawsuit filed in upstate New York's Monroe County claimed New England Compounding Center produced the shot that infected William Koch with bacterial meningitis at Rochester General Hospital on July 17, 2002. Koch died Feb. 28, 2004, at the age of 83.
The lawsuit said the shot was the source of Koch's meningitis, but did not explain how that determination was made.
Bacterial meningitis is contagious and much more common than the fungal meningitis involved in the current outbreak. Fungal meningitis is more difficult to catch, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The compounding pharmacy reached a settlement with Koch's widow in 2007 before the case went to trial, according to her lawyer Mark S. Nunn. He declined to elaborate Wednesday because the terms were confidential.
"Really all I can say is that the case settled prior to trial," Nunn said.
Two of the people who founded New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc. in 1998 ? Gregory Conigliaro and Barry Cadden ? formed Ameridose in 2006, according to documents filed with the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office. The company's website says it provides hospitals around the country with products including intravenous solutions and prefilled oral syringes of painkillers and other medications.
This summer, an organization that represents hospitals in purchasing deals with drug suppliers cancelled a contract with Ameridose over allegations that it had poor quality control practices that "rose to a level of concern for patient safety," according to a lawsuit that Ameridose filed in August.
Ameridose denies those allegations and filed a defamation and slander lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Aug. 8, saying Novation LLC hurt its reputation by making allegations including that there was "no separation between sterile and non-sterile products" in an Ameridose warehouse.
The lawsuit doesn't say what the products were or elaborate on how they were stored. Novation declined to release a copy of its report.
Novation, which leverages hospitals' combined buying power to get better prices on medical goods, sent two employees to audit Ameridose on July 15 and terminated its contract, the lawsuit said.
"Novation has determined that Ameridose does not meet the quality systems requirements needed to maintain a Novation agreement," Novation told its members in an Aug. 2 newsletter, according to the lawsuit.
Ameridose strongly objected to the allegations and said in its defamation lawsuit that the Novation auditors were unqualified and made false and misleading statements. Ameridose also said it had been audited in recent years by several other organizations that determined its quality control system "meets or exceeds their high quality standards." Ameridose is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The lawsuit ended in a confidential settlement Sept. 24.
Paven, the Ameridose and New England Compounding Center spokesman, said Wednesday in his email that the "suit involved contractual commercial issues between the companies that have since been resolved."
A statement from Novation said that while it "vigorously disputed each and every claim made in the lawsuit, the parties ultimately agreed to settle the lawsuit."
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Jon Hays had two touchdown passes, Moe Lee returned a fumble 47 yards for another and BYU missed two last-second field goal attempts and Utah held on for a 24-21 victory Saturday night over the No. 25 Cougars.
The Utes (2-1) blocked Justin Sorensen's 51-yard attempt with 1 second remaining, but BYU (2-1) got a second shot because the crowd prematurely rushed the field, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
Riley Stephenson's 36-yard attempt with no time left clanked off the left upright, sending the frenzied crowd back on the field for good to celebrate the upset.
Hays was making his first start this season in place of Jordan Wynn, who suffered a career-ending shoulder injury. He finished 18 of 27 for 196 yards.
Riley Nelson rallied BYU late, including a 1-yard TD pass to Kaneakua Friel that pulled the Cougars within 24-21.
ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2012) ? Work stress, job satisfaction and health problems due to high stress have more to do with genes than you might think, according to research by Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.
The lead author of "Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, work stress, and employee health: A behavioral genetics mediated model," published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Judge studied nearly 600 twins -- some identical, some fraternal -- who were raised together and reared apart. He found that being raised in the same environment had very little effect on personality, stress and health. Shared genes turned out to be about four times as important as shared environment.
"Assume James and Sandy both work in the same organization," Judge says. "James reports more stress than Sandy. Does it mean that James' job is objectively more stressful than Sandy's? Not necessarily. Our study suggests strong heritabilities to work stress and the outcomes of stress. This means that stress may have less to do with the objective features of the environment than to the genetic 'code' of the individual."
The battle of nature vs. nurture shows that even at work, nature wins. Changing a job to free yourself of stress is probably not going to do the trick unless you appreciate your own predispositions toward stress.
"This doesn't mean we shouldn't do things as employers or individuals to avoid stressful jobs," Judge says. "However, we also shouldn't assume that we're 'a blank slate' and therefore be overly optimistic about what the work environment can and can't do as far as stress is concerned. More of it has to do with what's inside of us than what we encounter outside in the work environment."
Specializing in personality, leadership, moods, emotions and career and life success, Judge has published more than 130 articles in refereed journals, including more than 80 in top-tier journals. His studies "Do Nice Guys -- and Gals -- Really Finish Last?" and "On the Value of Aiming High: The Causes and Consequences of Ambition," both published last year, were widely cited in the media.
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Timothy A. Judge, Remus Ilies, Zhen Zhang. Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A behavioral genetics mediated model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012; 117 (1): 208 DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.08.005
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
"We will continue to sell the Wii," Nintendo America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told investors today in a Q&A followup to the company's big Wii U event in New York City. "In the US, the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with the Wii." However, where Fils-Aime sees the most opportunity may not be where you expect. "I'm responsible for Canada, and Latin America as well," he said. "We think there's opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America." The Wii is currently offered by Nintendo in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe, but not Latin America. The Wii ranges from $140 to $250, depending on what it comes with.
"You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that, candidly, we won't be able to reach with the Wii U. That's gonna continue to be an opportunity," he said. Fils-Aime and Nintendo also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. "On a global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it'll do well."
He also stood behind the console continuing to sell in its currently available markets alongside the Wii U after the new console launches this November. "We do believe there's still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell the Wii side-by-side for some period of time." Unsurprisingly, he didn't say exactly how long Nintendo is planning that support, nor would he say if we should expect a price drop for the aging console, but if we had to guess, we'd say "The Wii will drop in price" and "soon."
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It's not uncommon for celebrities to lose weight for movie roles, but they also tend to shed pounds for a more stressful reason -- divorce.
Both celebs and non-famous folks alike unintentionally find themselves on the "divorce diet" after a split, dropping weight from the sheer stress of untying the knot. Click through the slideshow below for celebs who lost weight after divorce, then weigh in: Did this happen to you?
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes called it quits</a> in June 2012 after five years of marriage. Their <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tom-cruise-katie-holmes-divorce-final-364463" target="_hplink">divorce was finalized</a> in record time -- less than two months after they announced their split.
Since they parted ways, Cruise has reportedly dropped 15 pounds <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2201211/Tom-Cruise-drops-weight-strain-divorce-Katie-Holmes.html" target="_hplink">(photos here)</a>. As an unnamed source <a href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/08/tom-cruise-split-katie-holmes-work-slow-down" target="_hplink">told gossip mag <em>Grazia </em></a> in August, "his way of dealing with this is to throw himself into his work, but as a result he's not looking after himself, and he risks cutting himself off from people who care about him and want to make sure he's OK."
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes and Dean Sheremet, her husband of nearly eight years, <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20293707,00.html" target="_hplink">separated in 2009</a> amid <a href="http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-07-25/gossip/17927666_1_leann-rimes-dean-sheremet-marriage" target="_hplink"> reports that Rimes was having an affair</a> with her Lifetime movie co-star (and now-husband) Eddie Cibrian. The divorce <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/leann-rimes-dean-sheremet-divorce-finalized-2010196" target="_hplink">was finalized in June 2010</a>.
Rimes was <a href=" http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/leann-rimes-looks-skinnier-than-ever-as-she-preps-to-wed-2011153" target="_hplink">photographed looking noticeably thinner</a> in March 2011. The singer opened up about her weight loss in October of that year, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/leann-rimes-accepts-tabloid-fascination-now-132510848.html" target="_hplink">telling the <em>Associated Press</em></a>, "You know, I went through all I've gone through in the last few years and I was going through a divorce and I couldn't get out of bed, and so I gained 10 pounds and then I lost 10 pounds because now I'm moving around and I'm working and you know, I don't stop and no one sees that [weight loss] actually can happen like naturally. It's a natural progression of life."
Jennie Garth
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20578138,00.html" target="_hplink">parted ways in March 2012</a> after 11 years of marriage. After the split, Garth <a href="http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/08/15/jennie-garth-weight-loss-before-and-after-divorce-pic/" target="_hplink">reportedly lost 20 pounds</a> <a href=" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2197371/Jennie-Garth-reveals-results-post-split-weight-loss-slips-tiny-bikini.html" target="_hplink">(photos here)</a>. "I've been certainly going through a transitional time in my life," she <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/124050_Jennie_Garth_on_Her_Dramatic_Slim_Down/index.html" target="_hplink">told Canada's <em>Entertainment Tonight</em></a> in August. "And I think anybody who has been through something like what I'm going through and have been going through for the past couple years, can definitely relate that your body changes with your emotional state of mind sometimes. I think a lot of women can relate to that."
Demi Moore
Demi Moore <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/demi-moore-divorcing-ashton-kutcher_n_1100165.html" target="_hplink">filed for divorce</a> from Ashton Kutcher in November 2011 after <a href="http://hollywoodlife.com/2011/09/27/ashton-kutcher-cheating-demi-moore-mistress-affair-separated/" target="_hplink">rumors of his infidelity</a> surfaced. The pair <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1090617,00.html" target="_hplink">married in 2005</a>.
As their union neared its final days, Moore <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2050349/Demi-Moore-looks-shockingly-skinny-Ashton-Kutcher-divorce-rumours-continue.html" target="_hplink">reportedly dropped a ton of weight</a>. By the spring of 2012, nutritionist and author of "The Hamptons Diet," <a href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/04/demi-moore-weight-loss-photos" target="_hplink">Dr. Fred Pescatore, told Radar Online</a> that he believed the 5'5'' actress weighed as little as 100 pounds.
Eva Longoria
After three years of marriage, Eva Longoria <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2010/11/16/eva-longoria-tony-parker-divorce-san-antonio-spurs-desperate-housewives/" target="_hplink">filed for divorce</a> from NBA star Tony Parker in November 2010. The split was rumored to be a result of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/17/eva-longoria-divorcing-to_n_784736.html" target="_hplink">Parker's infidelity</a>.
In January 2012, <a href="http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20553227,00.html" target="_hplink">Longoria opened up to <em>Health </em>magazine</a> about her <a href="http://www.justjared.com/2011/09/11/eva-longoria-alma-awards-2011-red-carpet/" target="_hplink">post-split weight loss</a>: "I remember after my divorce, I was so thin and everyone kept saying how great I looked and it was probably the most unhealthy place I've ever been. So it was funny what people would see as 'healthy.' In my worst time, people were saying I've never looked better."
It's not uncommon for celebrities to lose weight for movie roles, but they also tend to shed pounds for a more stressful reason -- divorce.
Both celebs and non-famous folks alike unintentionally f...
It's not uncommon for celebrities to lose weight for movie roles, but they also tend to shed pounds for a more stressful reason -- divorce.
Both celebs and non-famous folks alike unintentionally f...
If you'd wanted to shop Ubuntu One's Music Store in the past, you had to use a plugin through an app like Banshee or Rhythmbox. Not very convenient, we'd say. Someone must have been listening up in Canonical's cloud, as Ubuntu One just brought its 7digital-based store to the web and mobile devices. Apart from widening the software scope, it's billed as a more direct interface to shop for tunes and send them to Ubuntu One's cloud for either streaming or syncing. Don't think that's enough of a perk? Early purchasers get half a year's worth of Ubuntu One Music Streaming for free -- as strong an incentive as any to dip a toe into the (music) stream before jumping in.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The ranks of America's poor remain stuck at a record 15 percent, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
Roughly 46.2 million people remained below the poverty line in 2011, unchanged from 2010. The figure is the highest in more than half a century.
And while joblessness is persistently high, the gap between rich and poor increased in the last year. The top 1 percent of wage earners had a 6 percent increase in income, while income at the bottom 40 percent of earners was basically unchanged, said David Johnson, the chief of the Census Bureau's household economics division.
"A lot of the increase is driven by changes at the very top of the distribution," Johnson said.
The report comes less than two months before the November presidential election, where the still-weak U.S. economy is the top issue for voters deciding between the leading candidates, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney.
Experts had predicted a fourth straight annual rise in the poverty rate, but dwindling unemployment benefits and modest job gains helped to keep that from happening.
"This is good news and a surprise," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan economist who closely tracks poverty. He pointed to a continuing boost from new unemployment benefits passed in 2009 that gave workers up to 99 weeks of payments after layoffs and didn't run out for many people until late 2011. Also, job gains in the private sector helped offset cuts in state and local government workers.
"It would indicate the stimulus was even more effective than believed," he said.
The overall poverty rate was statistically unchanged from the 15.1 percent in the previous year. The figure is the highest since 1983.
The median, or midpoint, household income was $50,054 ? 1.5 percent lower than 2010 and a second straight decline.
The census report provides a mixed picture of the economic well-being of U.S. households for 2011, when the unemployment rate improved to 8.9 percent from 9.6 percent in the previous year.
For last year, the official poverty line was an annual income of $23,021 for a family of four.
Broken down by state, New Mexico had the highest share of poor people, at 22.2 percent, according to rough calculations by the Census Bureau. It was followed by Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia.
On the other end of the scale, New Hampshire had the lowest, at 7.6 percent.
Bruce D. Meyer, an economist at the University of Chicago, said it was disappointing that poverty levels did not improve. He described it as a sign of lingering problems in the labor market, even with recent declines in unemployment. "The drop in the unemployment rate has been due in significant part to workers leaving the labor force, because they are discouraged, back in school, taking care of family or other reasons," he said.
The official poverty level is based on a government calculation that includes only income before tax deductions. It excludes capital gains or accumulated wealth, such as home ownership.
As a result, the official poverty rate takes into account the effects of some stimulus programs passed in 2009, such as unemployment benefits, as well as jobs that were created or saved by government spending. It does not factor in noncash government aid such as tax credits and food stamps.
Johnson attributed the better-than-expected poverty numbers to increases in full-time workers over the last year. He also estimated that expanded unemployment benefits helped keep 1.6 million working-age people out of poverty.
Social Security, a federal support program for older Americans, also lifted roughly 14.5 million seniors above the poverty line. Without those cash payments, the number of people ages 65 and older living in poverty would have increased five-fold, he said.
The share of Americans without health coverage fell from 16.3 percent to 15.7 percent, or 48.6 million people. It was the biggest decline in the number of uninsured since 1999, boosted in part by increased coverage for young adults under the new health care law that allows them to be covered under their parents' health insurance until age 26.
Congress passed the health overhaul in 2010 to address the rising numbers of uninsured people. During this election year, the law has come under increasing criticism from Republicans, including Romney, who has pledged to push a repeal if he is elected. The main provisions of the health care law will not take effect until 2014.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? GOP White House nominee Mitt Romney toned down his criticism of President Barack Obama's handling of a diplomatic crisis Thursday and shifted back to an economic argument with a spirited speech and new television ad accusing him of failing American workers.
The change in message brought Romney back to an issue where he is seen as stronger and away from a touchy debate in the midst of the unfolding international emergency that brought him criticism even from some Republicans.
Romney briefly mentioned the death of U.S. diplomatic workers and anti-American demonstrations spreading across the Arab world at the top of his speech in Fairfax, Va., saying he would lead a nation better able to shape events rather than being at the mercy of them.
But Romney focused his remarks on criticism of Obama's economic record, saying the president has led at a time of falling incomes, high unemployment and a widening gap between rich and poor. "His policies have not worked," Romney said.
The former businessman said he was better positioned to lead. "I didn't just study the economy in school, I've lived in the economy for 25 years," Romney said.
His new television ad accuses Obama of losing jobs while China is gaining. "It's time to stand up to the cheaters and make sure we protect jobs for the American people," Romney says in the commercial.
Romney had suggested that Obama was weak and didn't react quickly enough to condemn attacks on U.S. missions overseas that left an ambassador and three other Americans dead. He was criticized in some political and foreign policy circles for the tone, substance and motives of his response, but was backed up Thursday by Sen. John McCain, who said the president's "feckless foreign policy" has weakened America.
Voters give Obama an advantage on international affairs. An Associated Press-GfK poll taken before the party's nominating conventions found Obama, who ended the war in Iraq and led the killing of Osama bin Laden, with a big advantage as the stronger leader of the two candidates, 50 percent to 41 percent among registered voters. In an NBC/WSJ poll in August, 46 percent of registered voters said Obama would be a more "calm and steady leader in a crisis," while 34 percent said Romney would be better and 12 percent said both would be equally good.
Obama responded to Romney's attacks on the diplomatic crisis by suggesting the Republican is reckless and untested as a world leader. Obama accused him of having "a tendency to shoot first and aim later."
The campaign barbs came as protesters angered by an anti-Muslim film from a California filmmaker took to the streets and attacked U.S. missions in Libya, Egypt and Yemen. The Obama administration has dispatched two warships to the Libyan coast, ready to respond to any mission ordered by the president, who vowed Wednesday that "justice will be done."
Romney responded by criticizing Obama for having "a hit-or-miss approach" on foreign policy and tried to blame the president for an early statement from the embassy in Cairo that criticized the film as protests were forming. Romney incorrectly said the statement came after the embassy's grounds had been breached and added that the president is responsible for the words that come from his diplomats around the world.
"They clearly sent mixed messages to the world," Romney told reporters while campaigning in Florida on Wednesday. "The statement that came from the administration was a statement which is akin to an apology and I think was a severe miscalculation."
Obama responded to his rival in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" later in the day. "It appears that Gov. Romney didn't have his facts right," Obama said. He added that as president "it's important for you to make sure that the statements you make are backed up by the facts, and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them."
Congressional Democrats spoke in sync with the president and accused Romney of mishandling international affairs and trying to politicize a tragedy. Republicans were less unified ? some questioned Romney's handling of national security measures and top GOP leaders in Congress did not echo his criticisms of the president. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama "correctly tightened the security overseas." Asked about Romney's remarks, he declined to answer and walked toward his office in the Capitol.
Romney advisers concede that it was difficult to follow the chronology of the events in Libya late Tuesday ? especially given their lack of official security briefings. Advisers said there was a sense in the campaign that Romney needed to be decisive and swift in his response to distinguish himself from the president's tone ? which Romney calls apologist ? on some foreign policy matters.
McCain agreed the embassy response was weak and accused Obama of compromising American influence around the world.
"I'd like to see the president of the United States speak up once for the 20,000 people that are being massacred in Syria," McCain told NBC's "Today" show.
___
Babington reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Boston and Ben Feller in Fairfax, Va., contributed to this report.
Amelia Earhart raised the spirits of Depression-era America as she soared into the aviation record books with feats of altitude, distance and endurance. The mood took a gloomy turn, however, when she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937, during a much-heralded attempt to fly around the world. Their fate remains one of aviation's greatest unsolved mysteries.
Theories abound: They ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. They were captured by the Japanese and executed. They survived, and Earhart lived out her life as a housewife in New Jersey.
A prominent theory with tantalizing clues holds that they survived the crash landing and but perished as castaways on Nikumaroro, an uninhabited island in the republic of Kiribati. An expedition to the island in 2010 recovered pieces of a pocket knife and a glass jar that may have belonged to the castaways. If DNA analyses on these and other items match Earhart's, the mystery may finally be resolved.
Click ahead for six more stories of historical mysteries.
Where are Cleopatra and Mark Antony buried?
Excavations underway at a temple near Alexandria, Egypt, may reveal the final resting place of the doomed lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The Egyptian queen and Roman general committed suicide in 30 B.C. following their defeat in the battle of Actium for control of the Roman Empire. But where the lovers were buried is unknown.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top archaeologist, believes the lovers were put to rest in the temple of Taposiris Magna and launched a dig with a Dominican-led team to locate the tomb. "It my opinion, if this tomb is found, it will be one of the most important discoveries of the 21st century because of the love between Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and because of the sad story of their death," he told reporters during a tour of the temple.
Dominican archaeologist Kathleen Martinez is shown here with an alabaster bust of Cleopatra that was found at the excavation site near Alexandria.
Where is Genghis Khan buried?
Genghis Khan united warring tribes in 1206 and became the leader of the Mongols, creating an empire that eventually stretched from China to Hungary. The famed warrior's tomb, however, has remained a mystery ever since his death in 1227.
According to legend, his burial party killed anyone who saw the procession. The slaves and soldiers who attended the funeral were also killed. Horses then trampled evidence of the burial, and a river was diverted to flow over the grave, which is thought to lie somewhere near Genghis Khan's birthplace in Khentii Aimag.
Expeditions to locate the tomb have been aborted due to concerns that the excavations would disturb the site and destroy the soul that serves as its protector. In 2004, archaeologists uncovered Genghis Khan's palace, shown here, and they suspect the tomb lies nearby.
Did the Donner family resort to cannibalism?
The legend is a harrowing tale of survival: A group of pioneers headed for California in 1846 got stuck on a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada and resorted to cannibalism to survive the winter. But the claims that they feasted on human flesh may have been exaggerated, based on an analysis of bones found in a hearth along Alder Creek, where at least some of the Donner Party passed the time.
The analysis shored up accounts that the family dog, Uno, was eaten, as well as a steady supply of cattle, deer and horse. No human bones were found at the site. While cannibalism may have occurred, if it did, the bones were treated in a different way. Perhaps the bones were buried. Or perhaps they were placed on the hearth last and have since eroded, according to project scientist Gwen Robbins, a professor of biological anthropology at Appalachian State University.
Donner Party survivors James Reed and his wife Margaret Reed are shown in this photo from the 1850s.
Where is Billy the Kid buried?
Legend holds that outlaw Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881 and buried in Fort Sumner, N.M. A headstone marks his grave, but a controversy has roiled since the 1930s when an Arizona man named John Miller claimed that he was the legendary outlaw. Garrett, he said, shot the wrong man and lied about it. Matters became even more confused a few decades later when a Texan named "Brushy" Bill Roberts came forth and said he was the real Billy the Kid.
An investigation aims to resolve the case by exhuming the body of Billy the Kid's mother and comparing her mitochondrial DNA to genetic material from the three men. But the investigation is controversial on several fronts. For one, the graves have been moved over the decades and nobody is certain the bodies and headstones match up. In addition, if the real Billy the Kid turns out to be buried in Texas or Arizona, it would kill off a legend that helps draw tourists to the New Mexico gravesite.
Christopher Columbus' remains in Spain?
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue; after he died in 1509, his remains remained on the move. He was originally buried in the Spanish city of Valladolid, but his remains were shipped to the Caribbean island of Hispanola (modern-day Dominican Republic and Haiti) in 1537, in accordance with his will. When the Spanish lost the territory to France in 1795, they shipped Columbus's remains to Cuba, where they stayed until the Spanish-American War prompted their return to Seville in 1898. The tomb is shown here.
The Dominican Republic, however, says Columbus' remains never left Hispanola. In 1877, a box was uncovered in a Santo Domingo cathedral with an inscription identifying the remains as belonging to the "illustrious and distinguished male Cristobal Colon (Spanish for Christopher Columbus)."
DNA analysis of bone fragments from the Seville remains and those of Columbus' brother Diego, also buried in the city, are a perfect match. When researchers announced those findings in 2006, they declared that the century-old dispute was resolved. But DNA from the Dominican remains has yet to be studied, leaving the case not quite fully shut.
DNA seals fate of Russian czar's kids
Bolsheviks gunned down Russian Czar Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their five children in 1918, but for 90 years the whereabouts of two of the children, Prince Alexei (heir to the Russian throne) and a daughter (Maria or Anastasia), remained unknown until 2008. That's when their bones were recovered from a grave near the rest of the Romanov family near Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, about 900 miles east of Moscow.
The bones from the second grave were burned and drenched in sulfuric acid, presumably to conceal the victims' identities or conditions at death. But scientists were able to examine mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down from mother to children. They also matched up Y chromosome markers from Crown Prince Alexei and Czar Nicholas II.
Czar Nicholas II, left, and the Crown Prince Alexei, are shown cutting wood in this photo, taken at a Siberian prison months before their murder in 1918.
Care New England joins The Conversation ProjectPublic release date: 12-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amy Blustein ablustein@wihri.org 401-681-2822 Women & Infants Hospital
National initiative to help health care providers honor patients' wishes for end-of-life care
Care New England Health System (the parent company of Butler, Kent and Women & Infants hospitals, the VNA of Care New England, and the Care New England Wellness Center) has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients' wishes about end-of-life care. The initiative is a critical companion to The Conversation Project, which launched nationwide last month.
The Conversation Project, a public campaign co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Goodman and developed in collaboration with IHI, is a public campaign with a simple and transformative goal: to have every person's end-of-life wishes expressed and respected. As a pioneer sponsor, Care New England has committed to being "conversation ready" within one year by developing and piloting processes and tools to encourage people to express their wishes and, in some instances, to break the silence between patient and provider. Pioneer sponsors will develop a change package that they will implement first in their own organizations and then will be shared throughout the industry.
"Care New England is committed to providing the best possible care for our patients throughout their lives and including the end of their lives. We have a strong commitment to our patients and their families, and we want to provide care that is consistent with a patient and family's wishes," said Kate M. Lally, MD, FACP, director of Palliative Care at Kent Hospital and Medical Director of the VNA of Care New England. "The Conversation Project is a national initiative to get all Americans talking about their wishes for care at the end of their lives. We all need to think about whether we want care focused on comfort at the end of our lives, or aggressive treatment as long as possible. Care New England wants to encourage people to have these conversations with their families. We also want to support our patients' decisions, whatever they may be. We are honored to be able to take part in such an important project to improve the lives of patients everywhere."
As people express their wishes, it's critical that health care systems have the people and processes to hear and respect what's being said. IHI calls this being "conversation ready" and will now work closely with up to 10 pioneer sponsor organizations as well as prominent end-of-life experts to package proven methods and programs with new tools and strategies to achieve this goal. At the very basic level, many health care organizations have nothing in place to prompt discussions with patients and families about health care directives or end-of-life wishes, or to record, access, and follow the instructions.
"Like many important issues in health care targeted for improvement," says Maureen Bisognano, IHI's president and CEO, "end-of-life care has often suffered from good intentions without enough good systems in place to change behaviors, attitudes, and practices. When families and loved ones have discussed their wishes and preferences ahead of time, they can engage with the medical community differently; doctors and nurses, in turn, have the opportunity to act in a supportive fashion, using their clinical knowledge to help patients experience a 'good death,' as opposed to a 'hard death' that so many people fear and have witnessed. IHI is proud to be working with The Conversation Project and the pioneering organizations that have joined us to achieve this cultural change."
Care New England is the first pioneer organization to join the "conversation ready" initiative from New England. The others are Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (California), Qulturum in the Jnkping County Council (Sweden), Mercy Health (Ohio), North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System (New York), and UPMC (Pennsylvania).
###
About The Conversation Project
The Conversation Project, co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Goodman, is a public engagement campaign with a goal that is both simple and transformative: to have every person's end-of-life wishes expressed and respected. Too many people die in a manner they would not choose, so The Conversation Project offers people the tools, guidance, and resources they need to begin talking with their loved ones, around the kitchen table, about their wishes and preferences. Have you had the conversation? Learn more at: www.theconversationproject.org.
About IHI
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (www.IHI.org) is an independent not-for-profit organization that works with health care providers and leaders throughout the world to achieve safe and effective health care. IHI focuses on motivating and building the will for change, identifying and testing new models of care in partnership with both patients and health care professionals, and ensuring the broadest possible adoption of best practices and effective innovations. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, IHI mobilizes teams, organizations, and increasingly nations, through its staff of more than 100 people and partnerships with hundreds of faculty around the world.
About Care New England
Care New England (carenewengland.org), located in Rhode Island, was founded in 1996 by Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital. Its mission is dedicated to building an exemplary health care system. With 643 licensed beds, approximately 6,880 employees, and 1,527 active medical staff members, Care New England is among Rhode Island's largest private companies. The system includes primary care and specialty physicians; two teaching hospitals affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Butler and Women & Infants; a community hospital, Kent; a visiting nurse, home care and hospice agency, the VNA of Care New England; and the Care New England Wellness Center.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Care New England joins The Conversation ProjectPublic release date: 12-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amy Blustein ablustein@wihri.org 401-681-2822 Women & Infants Hospital
National initiative to help health care providers honor patients' wishes for end-of-life care
Care New England Health System (the parent company of Butler, Kent and Women & Infants hospitals, the VNA of Care New England, and the Care New England Wellness Center) has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients' wishes about end-of-life care. The initiative is a critical companion to The Conversation Project, which launched nationwide last month.
The Conversation Project, a public campaign co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Goodman and developed in collaboration with IHI, is a public campaign with a simple and transformative goal: to have every person's end-of-life wishes expressed and respected. As a pioneer sponsor, Care New England has committed to being "conversation ready" within one year by developing and piloting processes and tools to encourage people to express their wishes and, in some instances, to break the silence between patient and provider. Pioneer sponsors will develop a change package that they will implement first in their own organizations and then will be shared throughout the industry.
"Care New England is committed to providing the best possible care for our patients throughout their lives and including the end of their lives. We have a strong commitment to our patients and their families, and we want to provide care that is consistent with a patient and family's wishes," said Kate M. Lally, MD, FACP, director of Palliative Care at Kent Hospital and Medical Director of the VNA of Care New England. "The Conversation Project is a national initiative to get all Americans talking about their wishes for care at the end of their lives. We all need to think about whether we want care focused on comfort at the end of our lives, or aggressive treatment as long as possible. Care New England wants to encourage people to have these conversations with their families. We also want to support our patients' decisions, whatever they may be. We are honored to be able to take part in such an important project to improve the lives of patients everywhere."
As people express their wishes, it's critical that health care systems have the people and processes to hear and respect what's being said. IHI calls this being "conversation ready" and will now work closely with up to 10 pioneer sponsor organizations as well as prominent end-of-life experts to package proven methods and programs with new tools and strategies to achieve this goal. At the very basic level, many health care organizations have nothing in place to prompt discussions with patients and families about health care directives or end-of-life wishes, or to record, access, and follow the instructions.
"Like many important issues in health care targeted for improvement," says Maureen Bisognano, IHI's president and CEO, "end-of-life care has often suffered from good intentions without enough good systems in place to change behaviors, attitudes, and practices. When families and loved ones have discussed their wishes and preferences ahead of time, they can engage with the medical community differently; doctors and nurses, in turn, have the opportunity to act in a supportive fashion, using their clinical knowledge to help patients experience a 'good death,' as opposed to a 'hard death' that so many people fear and have witnessed. IHI is proud to be working with The Conversation Project and the pioneering organizations that have joined us to achieve this cultural change."
Care New England is the first pioneer organization to join the "conversation ready" initiative from New England. The others are Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (California), Qulturum in the Jnkping County Council (Sweden), Mercy Health (Ohio), North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System (New York), and UPMC (Pennsylvania).
###
About The Conversation Project
The Conversation Project, co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Goodman, is a public engagement campaign with a goal that is both simple and transformative: to have every person's end-of-life wishes expressed and respected. Too many people die in a manner they would not choose, so The Conversation Project offers people the tools, guidance, and resources they need to begin talking with their loved ones, around the kitchen table, about their wishes and preferences. Have you had the conversation? Learn more at: www.theconversationproject.org.
About IHI
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (www.IHI.org) is an independent not-for-profit organization that works with health care providers and leaders throughout the world to achieve safe and effective health care. IHI focuses on motivating and building the will for change, identifying and testing new models of care in partnership with both patients and health care professionals, and ensuring the broadest possible adoption of best practices and effective innovations. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, IHI mobilizes teams, organizations, and increasingly nations, through its staff of more than 100 people and partnerships with hundreds of faculty around the world.
About Care New England
Care New England (carenewengland.org), located in Rhode Island, was founded in 1996 by Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital. Its mission is dedicated to building an exemplary health care system. With 643 licensed beds, approximately 6,880 employees, and 1,527 active medical staff members, Care New England is among Rhode Island's largest private companies. The system includes primary care and specialty physicians; two teaching hospitals affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Butler and Women & Infants; a community hospital, Kent; a visiting nurse, home care and hospice agency, the VNA of Care New England; and the Care New England Wellness Center.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
LONDON (AP) ? U.K. defense contractor BAE Systems PLC and European aerospace company EADS NV announced Wednesday that they are in talks about combining their businesses.
The deal would create a global aerospace and defense giant in a sector facing challenges and uncertainties amid cuts to government defense budgets in Europe and the United States.
The merged companies would have combined sales of more than ?70 billion ($90.3 billion) and more than 220,000 employees.
EADS is already one of Europe's biggest companies, parent to planemaker Airbus, helicopter maker Eurocopter, satellite builder Astrium and defense electronics contractor Cassidian.
Airbus and EADS have long been rivals to U.S.-based Boeing Co. in civil and defense aviation. The proposed deal is a clear shot at catching up to Boeing's defense business ? and passing it.
The U.S. and European firms have fought ruthlessly in the courts over government subsidies, and competed for years for a huge contract to build new aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force, a contract Boeing finally won.
Boeing's defense and space business had revenue last year of almost $32 billion, from selling Chinook helicopters and F-18 fighter jets to the U.S. and, increasingly, other countries.
Defense revenue at EADS was a little more than half as much ? but by adding BAE, the combined company would have a defense business significantly bigger than Boeing's.
EADS gets only about one-third of its revenue from defense ? something that CEO Louis Gallois has said he wants to change.
BAE and EADS confirmed discussions in a statement to the London Stock Exchange, saying that under the proposed merger, BAE Systems shareholders would own 40 percent and EADS shareholders 60 percent of the enlarged group.
The deal would unite the companies' boards and management but they would continue to be listed separately on stock exchanges, the statement said.
BAE and EADS pointed to a "long history of collaboration" on projects such as the Eurofighter Typhoon jet, which is partly assembled in Britain and then built by EADS elsewhere in Europe.
EADS would have to pay 200 million pounds ($322.1 million) to its shareholders prior to the completion of any deal in order to align the companies' different dividend payout policies.
U.K.-based BAE and Netherlands-based European Aeronautic Defense & Space Company acknowledged the sensitive nature of their global businesses and said they had initiated discussions with "a range of governments" about the implications of a merger.
IHS Jane's analyst Guy Anderson said the proposed deal would change the European defense market beyond recognition, which could pose a tough sell for regulators.
"This is potentially bigger than the Euro merger of '99 which created EADS," Anderson said. "The call for consolidation to save the European defense industries has been ringing out for years now, and with this it appears to be happening in a bigger way than ever hoped."
With BAE and EADs already cooperating on Eurofighter and owning two of the three parts of the MBDA missile making group, a merger would change ownership structures across Europe, and Anderson said regulators would need convincing that it won't crush competition.
"It will probably take a while to unravel all the details and find the actual degree of overlap," Anderson added.
EADS is jointly French and German-owned ? though incorporated in the Netherlands ? with dual headquarters in Munich and Paris as well as the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France. It already has to manage political considerations when it makes decisions such as where to build a factory, said Cai von Rumohr, an aerospace analyst at Cowen & Co.
"There's always political machinations between the French and the Germans," he said. "Now if you put the British in the mix, I think that's going to get further complicated."
The British government said it was aware of the proposed deal and was working with both companies "to ensure that the U.K.'s public interest was properly protected."
The companies said they envisioned that certain defense projects of each company "would be ring-fenced with governance arrangements appropriate to their strategic and national security importance."
They also envisioned issuing special shares in BAE and EADS to each of the French, German and U.K. governments to replace existing government stakes in the two companies.
Any agreement on the terms of merger would require approval by the boards of both companies, according to the stock exchange statement.
The companies have until Oct. 10 to announce a deal or walk away from a merger.
BAE, which produces Astute nuclear-powered submarines and is the largest supplier of land vehicles to the U.S. army, last month reported a slight dip in first-half profits and cautioned about its U.S. outlook amid uncertainty over defense spending ahead of November's presidential election.
BAE shares closed up 10.6 percent at 3.63 pounds ($5.84) on the London Stock Exchange. In Paris, shares of EADS dropped 5.6 percent to 28 euros ($36.11).
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Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Jill Lawless in London, and AP Business Writer Joshua Freed in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 12-Sep-2012
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