Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Rick Santorum On Opposition To Abortion In Cases Of Rape: 'Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation'

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum explained his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape during an interview Friday, saying that women who face such circumstances should "make the best out of a bad situation."

Asked by CNN's Piers Morgan what he would do if his own daughter approached him, begging for an abortion after having been raped, Santorum explained that he would counsel her to "accept this horribly created" baby, because it was still a gift from God, even if given in a "broken" way.

"Well, you can make the argument that if she doesn't have this baby, if she kills her child, that that, too, could ruin her life. And this is not an easy choice, I understand that. As horrible as the way that that son or daughter and son was created, it still is her child. And whether she has that child or she doesn't, it will always be her child, and she will always know that," Santorum said.

"And so to embrace her and to love her and to support her and get her through this very difficult time, I've always, you know, I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created -- in the sense of rape -- but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you. As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life we have horrible things happen. I can't think of anything more horrible, but nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation and I would make the argument that that is making the best."

(Video above via CNN)

Santorum has crusaded against abortion throughout his tenure as a legislator and presidential hopeful. A recent analysis of his time as a U.S. senator showed an almost obsessive tendency to talk about abortion-related subjects on the Senate floor. His strict views on the issue, as well as gay rights, have repeatedly drawn aggressive pushback from his detractors on the campaign trail.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Santorum called Obama's support of women's reproductive rights "radical and extreme," arguing that this was illustrated through the president's recent statement on the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Other hardline anti-abortion advocates have explained their views much like Santorum has. In 2010, Tea Party-backed Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle was asked to explain her belief that abortions were unacceptable even in the case of a girl being raped by her father.

"I think that two wrongs don't make a right," she answered. "And I have been in the situation of counseling young girls, not 13 but 15, who have had very at-risk, difficult pregnancies. And my counsel was to look for some alternatives, which they did. And they found that they had made what was really a lemon situation into lemonade."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/rick-santorum-abortion-rape_n_1224624.html

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Ky. men sue Andy Dick over alleged W.Va. assault (AP)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ? Two Kentucky men who say they were sexually assaulted by comedian Andy Dick at a West Virginia nightclub two years ago have filed a lawsuit against the comedian.

The 26-year-old from Ashland and the 35-year-old from Catlettsburg are also involved in a pending criminal case against Dick, their attorney said Tuesday. Dick's trial on two counts of felony first-degree sexual abuse is set for May 1 in Cabell County Circuit Court in Huntington.

Dick pleaded not guilty last summer to charges he grabbed a bouncer's crotch, and groped and kissed a patron while performing a series of shows in Huntington at a comedy club. The alleged acts occurred Jan. 23, 2010, at the Rum Runners nightclub.

Attorney Mike Woelfel said he filed the case earlier this month, seeking unspecified damages, to comply with the statute of limitations, which expired Monday. He said the complaint and the criminal case speak for themselves.

"What I see is a desire by the state and by the victims to assert that there is zero tolerance for sexual misconduct in whatever form it takes," he said.

The complaint says the men were victims of "battery and sexual abuse" and demands compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress, outrageous conduct, assault and invasion of privacy. The Associated Press does not generally identify the victims of alleged sexual abuse.

The complaint also alleges that Dick, of South Pasadena, Calif., "has a history of sexual misconduct which is serial in nature."

Dick's attorney, Marc Williams, dismissed the accusations.

"This proves what we've known all along," he told the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington (http://bit.ly/nzOvU5). "This was only about getting money from a celebrity."

Williams told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday afternoon that he was too busy to discuss the case further.

Dick has been in trouble with the law several times before.

He's been arrested in California on drug and battery charges, to which he pleaded guilty in 2008, and on charges of being drunk and disorderly in a restaurant last May. A Texas man also sued Dick last year, claiming the comedian exposed his genitals at a Dallas performance.

Dick had a long-running stint in the 1990s on NBC's "NewsRadio." He briefly had his own program, "The Andy Dick Show," on MTV. He also has had roles in several movies, including "Dude, Where's My Car?" and "Old School."

___

Information from: The Herald-Dispatch, http://www.herald-dispatch.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_en_tv/us_andy_dick

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Stocks end mixed as Greece negotiates to cut debt (AP)

NEW YORK ? The S&P 500 index eked out a tiny gain Monday while traders kept an eye on talks in Europe to cut Greece's crushing debt load and prevent a global financial crisis. Other indexes ended slightly lower.

The S&P added 0.62 of a point to close at 1,316 on Monday. The broad market measure has now closed higher on 12 of 14 days this year.

European stocks and the euro rose after the continent's finance ministers put pressure on banks that hold Greek government bonds to accept new ones that are worth half as much and carry a lower interest rate.

The Greek stock market gained 5 percent, and indexes in Germany, France, Spain and Britain all advanced less than 1 percent. The euro rose more than a penny to $1.302, close to its highest level against the dollar this year.

Negotiators are trying to prevent a disorderly default by Greece in March. The worst-case scenarios include a credit crisis similar to what happened after the Lehman Brothers investment bank fell in 2008.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 11.66 points to 12,708.82. That's a loss of 0.1 percent.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.53 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,784.17.

Stocks are still off to a strong start in 2012. Investors' biggest fears have slowly faded. Stronger than expected job growth in the U.S. and falling borrowing costs for European governments have helped send the S&P 500 index up 4.6 percent for the year.

Maybe the biggest boon to markets this year is the lack of scary headlines, said Jeff Lancaster, a principal at the investment firm Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough.

"When everybody is feeling distressed, anxious and worried as they were at the end of last year, it doesn't take a lot of good news for the mood to change," he said. "It just takes a diminishing quantity of bad news."

Many energy stocks jumped along with prices for natural gas and crude oil. Chesapeake Energy Corp., the No. 2 producer of natural gas in the United States, gained 6 percent after it said it plans to cut production, a response to the recent slump in natural gas prices.

Natural gas futures rose 7.9 percent to $2.60 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gas futures were trading above $4 just six months ago.

Stocks of other gas producers shot higher. Southwestern Energy Co. jumped 10 percent, the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. was close behind, rising 6.5 percent.

Apache Corp., a producer of oil and gas, rose 1.6 percent after saying said it plans to buy Cordillera Energy Partners in a $2.85 billion deal. It's the largest merger announced in the U.S. this year.

The price of oil rose 1.3 percent to $99.58 per barrel. The European Union tightened sanctions against Iran by banning the purchase of Iranian oil. Iran threatened to block shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil exports.

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, sank 8.5 percent after its new chief executive said no drastic changes are needed. The company's founders announced they were stepping down as co-CEOs late Sunday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Worm Turns Alcohol Into Longevity

60-Second Science60-Second Science | More Science

A very dilute alcohol solution doubles the lifespan of the ubiquitous lab organism C. elegans. Christopher Intagliata reports.

More 60-Second Science

Lots of studies suggest limited quantities of alcohol?like one drink a day?can benefit your cardiovascular health. But for the tiny worm C. elegans, dilute booze is a veritable fountain of youth. It actually doubles their lifespan, according to a study in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. [Paola V. Castro et al, Caenorhabditis elegans Battling Starvation Stress: Low Levels of Ethanol Prolong Lifespan in L1 Larvae]

The researchers discovered the alcohol effect by accident. In an earlier study, they thought it was a dose of cholesterol that extended the worms' lives. But after review, they realized that the true agent was the weak alcohol solution the cholesterol was dissolved in. Starving worm larvae that usually live 10 days could survive 20 to 30 in the presence of alcohol. And a watery drink at that?the equivalent of one beer, poured into 100 gallons of water.

The authors aren't sure what?s behind the alcohol outcome. It could be a life-saving energy source for the starving worms. Or it might flip a switch that ups the worms' stress resistance. We humans do share some chemical signaling pathways with worms?the insulin response, for example. But the researchers say assuming a similar longevity effect for us is a dangerous road to go down. Especially after drinking.

?Christopher Intagliata

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
?


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9b96d00d3201d359fb21a008496966a7

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Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells

Optogenetics might be a relatively unknown area of neuroscience, but it's one that, thanks to some new research, could soon find itself (and its rodental subjects) in the spotlight. For the uninitiated, it's the practice of manipulating animal cells using light (with a little help from gene therapy). Until now, optogenetic equipment has been large and unwieldy, making testing on subjects (read: rats) painstaking. Startup, Kendall Research, has changed all this, creating wireless prototypes that weigh just three grams (0.11 ounces). By eschewing bulky Lasers for LEDs and Laser diodes, the equipment is small enough that it can be attached to the rodents. At that point, their brain function can be manipulated with the touch of a button, and different parts can be stimulated without breeding mutant variants -- a controversial practice that doesn't even yield results in real time. The "router" is powered wirelessly by super capacitors below test area, and researchers can conduct experiments remotely, even automatically. Human applications for this are still some way off, but we're sure our future overlords will make good use of it.

Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/researchers-develop-wireless-optical-brain-router-to-manipulat/

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Experts: Paterno's death won't stop court cases (AP)

PHILADELPHIA ? Joe Paterno would no doubt have made a dramatic courtroom witness. But legal experts said his death will have little or no effect on the criminal or civil cases to come out of the Penn State child-sex scandal.

"Obviously, you're taking away a great deal of the high-profile nature of this case, because it deals with Joe Paterno's football program," said Jeffrey Lindy, a criminal defense lawyer involved in a clergy-abuse case in Philadelphia. "But with regard to the legal impact of his death, there is none."

Paterno died Sunday at 85, two months after former coaching assistant Jerry Sandusky was charged with molesting boys and two university officials were accused of perjury and failing to report child-sex allegations against Sandusky to police.

The criminal case against the two university officials may even become more streamlined without Paterno in the mix.

Former university vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley are charged with failing to report to police what graduate assistant Mike McQueary said he told them in 2002: that McQueary saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a locker room shower.

McQueary first told Paterno, who said he reported it to Curley and Schultz the next day. The administrators told the grand jury they were never informed that the allegations were sexual in nature.

With Paterno's death, though, a jury is free to focus not on what Paterno knew or did, but on the defendants' actions.

What McQueary told Paterno "was a distraction, and now that that part of the case is really gone, it will focus much more on his interaction not with Paterno, but with the Penn State officials," said Duquesne University law professor Nicholas P. Cafardi.

McQueary is also the more crucial witness in the case against Sandusky, who is charged with abusing 10 boys, at least two of them on the Penn State campus.

Paterno testified for just seven minutes last January before the grand jury. He gave only vague answers ? and was never pressed ? when asked what he knew about anyone accusing Sandusky of molesting boys.

"Without getting into any graphic detail, what did Mr. McQueary tell you he had seen and where?" Paterno was asked, according to the grand jury testimony read in court last month.

"Well, he had seen a person, an older ? not an older, but a mature person who was fondling, whatever you might call it ? I'm not sure what the term would be ? a young boy," Paterno replied.

He was asked if he ever heard of any other allegations against Sandusky, who had been the subject of a lengthy campus police investigation four years earlier after a mother complained Sandusky had showered with her young son at the football complex.

"I do not know of anything else that Jerry would be involved in of that nature, no. I do not know of it," Paterno said, adding, "You did mention ? I think you said something about a rumor. It may have been discussed in my presence, something else about somebody. I don't know."

Paterno's grand jury testimony cannot be used in court, because the defense never had the chance to cross-examine him.

"His passing deprives folks from finding out, directly from his lips, exactly what he knew and when he knew it, and what he did or didn't do. But the reality is, sometimes those things can be proved by other means," said Jeff Anderson, the St. Paul, Minn., lawyer who filed the first civil case against Penn State on behalf of a Sandusky accuser.

It's not unusual for a witness to die or become infirm before trial, especially in child sex-abuse cases, which can take years or even decades to surface. In Philadelphia, prosecutors won the right to question 88-year-old retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua on video last year to preserve his testimony before the spring trial of three priests and a church official. Bevilacqua suffers from dementia and cancer.

Prosecutors never got the chance to preserve Paterno's testimony, given his surprise cancer diagnosis and rapid decline after they filed the charges Nov. 4.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_paterno_legal

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`Underworld' sinks teeth into box office with $25M (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Kate Beckinsale is back with a vengeance, with her latest "Underworld" movie opening at No. 1 this weekend.

"Underworld Awakening" made an estimated $25.4, distributor Sony Screen Gems reported Sunday.

This is the fourth film in the vampire action saga. Beckinsale starred in the first two movies as the warrior Selene, then bowed out of part three but returned for this latest installment. "Underworld Awakening" was shown for the first time in 3-D as well as on IMAX screens, where it made $3.8 million. That's 15 percent of the film's weekend gross, which is a record for an IMAX digital-only run.

Sony had hoped the film would end up in the low-$20 million range. But Rory Bruer, the studio's president of worldwide distribution, says the fact that it did even better ? despite a snow storm that hit much of the Midwest and East Coast ? primarily has to do with Beckinsale's return.

"She is such a force. Her character ? you just can't take your eyes off of her. I know the character is very dear to her, as well, and she just kills it," Bruer said. "The 3-D aspect of the film also brings something, makes it a fun, visceral ride."

Opening in second place was "Red Tails" from executive producer George Lucas, about the Tuskegee Airmen who were the first black fighter pilots to serve in World War II. It made an estimated $19.1 million, according to 20th Century Fox, which was well above expectations; the studio had hoped to reach double digits, said Chris Aronson, executive vice president of domestic distribution.

"I believe what George Lucas has stated all along: This is an important story and a story that must be told. It is a true story of American heroism and valor and audiences have really responded to this message," Aronson said. "People want to feel good about themselves, they want to be uplifted. We have enough hard crud going on in this country right now. Times are tough, and if we look back and are told a story of some really fantastic deeds, that's really compelling moviegoing."

Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said a grass-roots effort to get groups of people into the theaters to see "Red Tails," along with positive word-of-mouth, helped its strong showing. The film saw an uptick from about $6 million on Friday to $8.65 on Saturday.

Overall box office is up 31 percent from the same weekend a year ago, Dergarabedian said, thanks to new releases as well as movies like "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which had limited runs for awards consideration at the end of 2011 and are now expanding nationwide. The 9/11 drama from Warner Bros., starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, came in fourth place with $10.5 million.

Last week's No. 1 film, the Universal smuggling thriller "Contraband" starring Mark Wahlberg, dropped to the No. 3 spot with $12.2 million. It's now made $46.1 million in two weeks. Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh's international action picture "Haywire" from Relativity Media, starring mixed martial arts superstar Gina Carano in her first film role, opened in fifth place with $9 million, which was above expectations.

"This is a great, perfect January weekend. You've got these holdover films and newcomers creating an overall marketplace that people are really responding to," Dergarabedian said. "It sounds clich? but this marketplace really has something for everyone."

As for worldwide box office, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1" has now crossed the $700 million mark. The first half of the finale of the girl-vampire-werewolf love triangle franchise has grossed an estimated $701.3 million in global box office receipts since its release last November, according to Lionsgate, which recently acquired Summit Entertainment, which distributes the series.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Underworld Awakening," $25.4 million ($13.4 million international).

2. "Red Tails," $19.1 million.

3. "Contraband," $12.2 million.

4. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $10.5 million.

5. "Haywire," $9 million.

6. "Beauty and the Beast (3-D)," $8.6 million.

7. "Joyful Noise," $6.1 million.

8. "Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol," $5.5 million. ($9.4 million international).

9. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," $4.8 million. ($18.1 million international).

10. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," $3.75 million ($15.7 international).

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," $18.1 million.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," $15.7 million.

"Underworld Awakening," $13.4 million.

"Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol," $9.4 million international.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," $9.3 million.

"Puss in Boots," $8.7 million.

"Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," $8.2 million.

"War Horse," $7.3 million.

"The Descendants," $6.2 million.

"The Darkest Hour," $5.1 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

AP Movie Writer Christy Lemire can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/christylemire/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_mo/us_box_office

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