Imperial War Museum Collection ? Inexpensive Car Insurance in ...

Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2012 in iwm

Searching for inexpensive California auto insurance? The important thing to discovering the cheapest California auto insurance prices would be to take advantage of discounts, purchase only the quantity of protection which you require, and also to consistently shop around for California automobile insurance coverage estimates from many various insurance coverage companies a minimum of as soon as every six months. After all, California auto insurance rates change often and its up to you to spend a couple of moments doing some study so you can find a cheap California auto insurance coverage for yourself!

California is one of the biggest states within the entire nation with an approximated 36,457,549 million people and experts only predict that it?ll still develop (it has developed a staggering 7.6% from 2005 to 2006). With so many individuals residing within the state, one are only able to assume that there will be numerous more drivers entering the this Western region from the United states, therefore much more vehicles will probably be around the streets of California in many years to come. Because of this it?s no surprise that rates in California could get to be very expensive when it comes to car insurance coverage, especially in cities like La, San Francisco and San Diego.

It?s important to know however, that potential customers can nonetheless find inexpensive CA car insurance coverage when they shop about and do everything they need to do before choosing a company. One factor relating to this state is the fact that has great variety with regards to inhabitants. People from all over the globe come to California to live and since of this automobile insurance companies need to shape their protection to them.

Before even deciding on the type of protection you would like from the specific automobile insurance business it is essential to understand the state requirements (or state?s minimums) for California. This will allow you to see the minimum protection feasible which you can choose from the particular car insurance coverage business, thus it?ll give you the least expensive price feasible. The state of California dictates that one must be responsible for their very own actions with regards to driving a motorcar and that a person should understand the danger associated with being powering the wheel of a automobile.

The statutory limitations for car Insurance within the state of California are 15/30/5. This means that any individual driving a car in the streets of this state needs to possess a minimum of Bodily Damage of 15,000 for death of injury of anybody person, Bodily Injury or 30,000 for all persons in one accident and Home Harm of $5,000 per accident. This really is distinct as California auto insurance legislation is trying to prevent legal arbitrations towards any driver when is involves automobile accidents.

One factor of be aware is that even though having the minimal coverage will help you with the rates, in case of an accident you will not have complete or collision protection. Also, those individuals that purchased a car and are nonetheless making payments on it, or those of you who leased a car will not be in a position to obtain minimal protection (they are required to have complete and collision protection). Because of this reason, it is important to keep in mind not just how much money you can pay for when purchasing a new automobile, but just how much your insurance will rise if you buy it.

Apart from having the minimum protection that the state of California enforces you will find many other issues a driver must take into account when they desire a cheap California car insurance coverage. One of them would be to try and get a substantial deductible; nevertheless it should be a deductible that they can afford just in case some thing happens.

If you personal a relatively old car and therefore are done generating payments on the car you should be okay having a minimum protection and a substantial deductible (the cheapest car insurance coverage coverage), however if you want to be protected and have a much less out of pocket cost in case something occurs try a reduced deductible. The most typical deductible is the fact that of $500 because it?s not to reduced or as well substantial at the same time, but individuals could even go so far as having a $1000 deductible which might reduce their rates significantly.

Final but not minimum is it important to say the variety of discounts that California automobile insurance companies offer to reduced the prices of potential clients trying to enroll in their plans. These reductions can be the primary thing with regards to inexpensive automobile insurance coverage rates within the state of California.

One factor that may definitely help your price is in the event you have a clean driving file. Since the state of California is a busy one, especially when it comes to visitors, insurance companies will lower your price if you are a great driver and generate defensively. In the event you get a DUI within the state, anticipate to pay much more than ambigu what you would for car insurance.

Another important low cost that just about all insurance businesses give is the fact that of car gear. In the event you have safety functions this kind of as air bags, anti-theft alarms, anti-lock brakes and any other people; then you will probably be good to go when it comes to reductions. Keep in mind that theft is a substantial danger that insurance coverage companies base their rates on, so in the event you try to prevent it with these features, your rate will probably be a lot lower.

Last although not minimum it?s great to discuss other reductions this kind of as good student and certified driver?s certificate. This first 1 if essential simply because while you start your driving profession you will be hit hard with substantial insurance coverage rates merely simply because you wont have expertise and insurance companies are taking a danger by insuring you. If you are a great pupil that makes great grades, you?ll have the ability to get discounts.

Also, if you go and attend a defensive motorists program, most California Auto Insurance Businesses will be able to provide you an enormous discount merely simply because you learned techniques which will help you become a better driver.

It isn?t hard to obtain a inexpensive automobile insurance coverage within the state of California. Although the state has more autos on the roads than ever before before and insurance rates are going up, you are able to steer clear of having to pay lots of money in the event you merely do the issues talked about over.

If you want the most affordable automobile insurance coverage coverage accessible then go ahead and get the minimal specifications, nevertheless you can?t be leasing or generating payments on your car. If you just simply want a price that is not sky rocket substantial, then simply try raising your deductible a little little bit or asking for a few of the many reductions that insurance businesses might give.

Here is some more information:
Buying a new automobile may be an enjoyable and exciting experience. You receive to walk the great deal selecting out the vehicles that match you best. When you find the 1 you want absolutely nothing beats that new car smell. You can?t wait to point out of one?s new car to all your friends and family. Then actuality sets in and also you understand you need to buy automobile insurance coverage for brand new vehicles and you have to spend for tags and revenue tax. This new car will rapidly set you back an additional thousand bucks out of pocket. Luckily, there are ways to avoid wasting on car insurance coverage for new vehicles. Think about the subsequent 4 suggestions to save on your new coverage.

Suggestion One: Select Your car Cautiously

When you are nonetheless around the lot you need to think about buying your insurance. In the event you wish to save cash search for a car which has lots of security functions and it is rated extremely by automobile and driver. Many insurance companies give discounts for security features. Their see is the fact that if you are safe they?re more unlikely to spend out an insurance claim. Make sure you get passenger air bags, anti-lock brakes, and a safety system inside your new automobile.

Tip Two: Evaluate Coverage for a Excellent Deal

The very best method to make sure you?re obtaining the best car insurance for new cars is to complete an online search and comparison. You are able to total a search by your zip code to find local insurance coverage agents. Nevertheless, you?ll discover you will find numerous companies that cover a number of states. Filling out the form is easy. Just make sure you have your driver?s license and VIN quantity for the car. Enter your own information and also you could get immediate quotes from numerous various companies instantly.

Tip Three: Don?t Buy Much more Than You?ll need

Purchasing car insurance coverage is type of like looking for groceries. You can purchase around you want, however you do not always require what you are purchasing. Every state has minimal protection limits. Nevertheless, there are no maximums. When you buy car insurance coverage for new vehicles you need to sit down and choose how much coverage you?ll need.

Do you require $25,000 bucks of medical coverage or $250,000? The difference in between the two amounts is extremely drastic. You policy could even ambigu whenever you add on substantial coverage quantities. It?s your decision to determine if you really need this much protection.

Suggestion Four: Increase Your Deductible Also compare Auto Insurance North Carolina here.

In the event you are purchasing car insurance for new cars you will have to choose how much you want your deductible to be. This is actually the amount you spend from pocket if you get into an accident. Most businesses permit you to choose deductibles from $500 to $1,five hundred.

Elevating your deductible will lower your insurance premium. Nevertheless, you have to make sure you possess the money to spend a $1,five hundred dollar deductible if you get into a wreck. This could be very difficult.

As you can see purchasing automobile insurance for new cars can be a bit tricky. Nevertheless, whenever you know what you?re performing the process is much easier.

Source: http://iwmcollections.org/2012/01/29/inexpensive-car-insurance-in-california-how-you-can-discover-inexpensive-california-auto-insurance-rates/

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Obama Attends Exclusive Alfalfa Club Dinner For Capital VIPs

Occupy DC demonstrators chants to a dinner guest as they try to block the entrance to the Alfalfa Dinner at the Capitol Hilton in Washington on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An Occupy DC organizer says they have hundreds of protesters lined up outside a prestigious Washington hotel where President Barack Obama, other political leaders and business moguls are meeting tonight.

Occupy DC demonstrators chants to a dinner guest as they try to block the entrance to the Alfalfa Dinner at the Capitol Hilton in Washington on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An Occupy DC organizer says they have hundreds of protesters lined up outside a prestigious Washington hotel where President Barack Obama, other political leaders and business moguls are meeting tonight.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/28/obama-attends-exclusive-d_n_1239243.html

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Strong quake jolts eastern Japan, no tsunami warning (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 jolted eastern Japan on Saturday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.

The focus of the tremor was 20 km (12 miles) below the surface of the earth, in Yamanashi prefecture, west of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The quake, at 7:43 a.m., was also felt in the capital.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl. The disaster left up to 23,000 dead or missing.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher, editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_japan_quake

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New home sales fall in December (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? New single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in December for the first time in four months and the median home price dropped, dampening some of the hopes the housing sector will boost the economy this year.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday sales decreased 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted 307,000-unit annual rate.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales at a 320,000-unit rate. November's sales pace was revised slightly lower.

The housing market remains constrained by high unemployment, falling prices and an oversupply of unsold homes following a bust that triggered the 2007-09 recession.

Sales fell in two of the country's four regions, including a 10.1 percent drop in the South, where most new homes were sold.

The median sales price for a new home fell 2.5 percent to $210,300 last month, the biggest drop in four months. Compared to December last year, the median price was down 12.8 percent.

There were a record low 157,000 new homes on the market last month and at December's sales pace, it would take 6.1 months to clear them, up from 6.0 months in November.

For all of 2011, sales were down 6.2 percent from the prior year, with 302,000 new single-family homes being sold.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/bs_nm/us_housing

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Insight: Scottish separatists face tough independence battle (Reuters)

EDINBURGH, Scotland (Reuters) ? Holding court in Edinburgh castle surrounded by sabers and armor from centuries-old battles with the English, Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond sets out his plans to fight for freedom by the ballot box rather than the sword.

Peppering his arguments with references to Scotland's 18th century national poet Robert Burns, on whose birthday this week he

launched his referendum bid, Salmond portrayed the end of Scotland's 300-year union with a dominant England as inevitable, and the idea of a United Kingdom as anachronistic.

Having stolen a march on a complacent British political establishment last year by winning an overall majority in Scotland's devolved parliament, Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Salmond wants a referendum in 2014 that would allow a historic breakaway for the nation of 5.2 million.

The British government opposes the move and wants to force a swift vote before the canny Salmond can build momentum for change.

Salmond, a 57-year-old former oil industry economist, has a keen sense of history and symbolism.

He chose Edinburgh castle, a fortress that dominates the Scottish capital's skyline from its rocky perch on an extinct volcano, to sell his case to the international press.

"It was in this venue, Edinburgh castle, that the first ... old Scots parliament was held almost 900 years ago," Salmond said. The castle was also the site of numerous bloody battles between Scots and the English.

"It does stress the continuity of Scotland as a Scottish nation stretching back over 1,000 years of independence before the Acts of Union of 1707," he added, painting Scotland's place in the United Kingdom as a historic aberration.

Still, with support for outright independence running at 30 to 40 percent he has a tough battle ahead to convince skeptical Scots, of whom some have almost as many misgivings about Salmond as they do about independence.

The British government says only it has the right to give Salmond the power to hold a binding referendum, and then only with conditions, including on the questions asked. Government officials are due to meet Salmond to try to reach a compromise.

HIGH STAKES

At stake are British oil reserves in the North Sea to which Edinburgh is a gateway. Salmond claims Scotland is entitled to 90 percent of them.

Debates over how Britain would divide up its debt and its military and what it would do with its nuclear weapons, currently based in Scotland but which the SNP vows would have no place there after independence, are already bitter and fraught.

Britain also faces a loss of political and economic clout, while the loss of Scotland would redraw the political map, ironically to the advantage of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives, who are almost extinct north of the border but oppose independence.

Other European countries with separatist movements, such as Spain, are watching Scotland's progress closely.

For Salmond and the SNP, independence is about equality and fulfilling Scotland's potential. Scotland deserves to have equal status among world nations, and while doing well economically now, it would do much better alone, the SNP says.

A separate Scotland would have more power to improve its economy and would be able to better argue its case in the European Union. It would control where it sends soldiers to fight, say party officials who consider the Iraq war illegal.

"We will be able to make Scotland the country we all know it can be -- a wealthier, fairer nation," Salmond said on Wednesday.

He quoted Burns' famous poem on equality, "A Man's a Man for A' That", to mock members of the British parliament's upper house, the House of Lords, for, as he saw it, bossing Scotland about.

"The man of independent mind, he looks and laughs at a'that," he told Scotland's parliament on Wednesday.

UNIONIST & SEPARATIST ARGUMENTS

Salmond wants a ballot in late 2014, when he would be able to ride a wave of nationalist sentiment on the 700th anniversary of the historic Battle of Bannockburn, a victory over the English, and the more modern feel-good factor of hosting the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup sporting events.

The SNP leader has accused Cameron and other London-based parties of trying to "bully and intimidate" the Scots into an early vote, playing into a long-standing sense of Scottish irritation with their larger English neighbor.

"I'm leaning more towards independence mainly because of the actions of the Conservative government in Westminster," said Malcolm Jones, 47, an Edinburgh IT manager.

So far, unionist politicians appear uncoordinated and have done little to check Salmond's momentum. No unionist spokesperson has emerged among the Conservatives, Labour or Liberal Democrats, Britain's main political parties.

The SNP has portrayed their attempts to highlight the risks and disadvantages of Scottish independence as scaremongering and proof England thinks Scots are "too poor, too stupid, too peripheral" to stand alone, the SNP's campaign manager said.

Unionist politicians are now trying a different tack.

"What we have to do is make a positive case for Britain. I'm very clear that Scotland is better off in one of the most enduring and successful unions across the world," Scottish Conservative party leader Ruth Davidson told Reuters.

"We have to show that we walk taller, shout louder, stand firmer for being part of the United Kingdom .... most of Scotland agrees with me," she added, before going on to list Anglo-Scots military, scientific and cultural achievements.

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont wants to ensure Salmond, who led the SNP to a landslide election victory last May, does not assume the mantle of spokesman for Scotland.

"This is not a country oppressed by the English, seeking liberation, with Alex Salmond the man to do it," she said, speaking at the Scottish parliament at Holyrood, which faces Holyrood Palace, the British Queen's residence in Scotland.

The crowns of Scotland and England were unified in 1603 by a Scottish king, James VI, upon his accession to England's throne. The two countries' parliaments were unified about a century later by the Acts of Union in 1707.

SALMOND & BRAVEHEART

Some consider Salmond one of Britain's most talented politicians and Scotland's best advocate.

Others brand him a slippery demagogue set on exploiting old grievances between Scotland and England.

Even in Salmond's home town of Linlithgow in central Scotland, supporters of Salmond's cause are hard to find.

"I don't want independence. I don't like the SNP and I don't like Salmond. He's arrogant and smug," said retiree Fred Orr, 77, the first person interviewed by this reporter in Linlithgow, but voicing what were to become familiar misgivings.

"They say they got in with a big majority, but a big majority never voted. They're a flash in the pan," he added, speaking on a chilly day round the corner from ornate Linlithgow palace, birthplace of 16th century ruler Mary Queen of Scots.

Many Scots struggle to see how they are at a disadvantage within the United Kingdom.

Britain's previous Prime Minister Gordon Brown is Scottish, as is former finance minister Alistair Darling, while Brown's predecessor Tony Blair was born in Scotland and educated there. Current leader Cameron also has Scottish ancestry.

Scots, who represent about eight percent of Britain's population of 62 million, currently hold several key posts in the UK government and at many other British institutions, while the BBC has a dedicated Scottish Gaelic channel, BBC Alba, for the small minority of Scots who speak the language.

"Why should we be independent, apart from the Braveheart reason?," said Glasgow student Mungo Hay, 20, referring to a 1995 film about a 13th century warrior who fought for Scottish independence, stirring renewed interest in Scotland's history.

Some Scots feel they are getting a good deal out of a devolution arrangement that set up a Scottish parliament in 1999.

Scotland has its own legal system, and the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh has the power to legislate on a range of issues, including health, education and law and order.

In some areas, Scots fare better than other Britons, such as free university tuition for Scots at Scottish universities. Medical prescriptions are also free in Scotland, unlike England.

Salmond plans to continue to use Britain's sterling currency, but expects Scotland to control all decisions about debt and spending, raising the specter of a mismatch between fiscal and currency union that has contributed to the eurozone crisis.

Salmond also expects the Bank of England to remain Scotland's lender of last resort, bailing out Scottish banks if they hit trouble.

The problem for the SNP is that the British government, also citing experts, disputes almost every one of Salmond's claims, and much of the public is not convinced either.

"We find ourselves in a position where we have to balance up assertions from one group of politicians against those of another group of politicians," said Owen Kelly head of Scottish Financial Enterprise financial services industry body.

WHAT WOULD BURNS DO?

The SNP's push for independence has stirred misgivings among some who view the party as monopolizing Scottish identity.

Howie Nicholsby, an Edinburgh kiltmaker who has dressed stars including Robbie Williams and Lenny Kravitz, worries that the SNP's brand of nationalism may turn Scotland's welcoming, international outlook into a jingoistic, inward-looking one.

"There's plenty of room in the union to be a Scottish Brit. Or a British Scot. However you want it," he told Reuters at his 21st Century Kilts shop in central Edinburgh, speaking in front of a photo of his designs by fashion photographer Mario Testino.

Others, seeing the SNP plans to hold the referendum in the anniversary year of the Battle of Bannockburn, fear the SNP may be exploiting historical grievances with the English.

"I'm a bit worried by a split with England becoming inflammatory. I wouldn't like to see us becoming a nation of English haters," said Dumfries newsagent Steven Moodycliffe, 48.

Asked by Reuters whether Burns would have supported Scottish independence, Salmond said he thought the poet would have liked the idea of the referendum plan being launched on his birthday.

At the house in Dumfries in which Burns died and where he wrote some of his most memorable poetry, the museum attendant was not sure what Burns would have thought about independence.

"He was certainly a nationalist, but whether he wanted to be completely free I don't know," said Donald MacLachlan, who has worked at Dumfries museums for 25 years. "It all depends on the circumstances. Maybe Scotland couldn't have gone it alone in those days? Perhaps these days we can't either?"

When pressed, MacLachlan said that Burns probably would have backed the SNP's cause, unlike himself.

"The idea of independence is nice, but I don't think it's a good idea to split one big country into lots of smaller ones. From a nationalistic point of view it's good, but we all need a little help," he said.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wl_nm/us_britain_scotland_independence

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Venezuela leaving World Bank's arbitration body

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuela has formally begun its withdrawal from a World Bank-affiliated arbitration body, the government announced Wednesday, a decision made by President Hugo Chavez as cases have accumulated against the country's seizures of companies and their assets.

Chavez and his allies say that disagreements with foreign companies operating in Venezuela should be settled with local authorities and within its judicial system.

The Foreign Ministry announced Venezuela's withdrawal from the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, known by its initials as ICSID, in a statement, calling the government's decision "irreversible." It suggested the arbitration center unfairly favors foreign companies.

The ICSID's website lists 18 pending cases against Venezuela, while top government lawyer Carlos Escarra said recently that Venezuela faces a total of 28 arbitration cases, many of them before the ICSID.

The cases include multimillion-dollar claims by the Houston-based oil company ConocoPhillips Co., U.S. glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. and Canadian mining company Crystallex International Corp.

Diego Moya-Ocampos, an analyst with the IHS Global Insight consulting firm in London, said Venezuela's withdrawal from the center would not affect pending cases.

But he said the move could scare off foreign investors, particularly oil companies with potential interest in forming joint ventures with the state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela in the Orinoco Oil Belt, which holds vast deposits of extra-heavy crude.

Studies confirming those deposits in a swath flanking the Orinoco River have allowed Venezuela to surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the world's biggest proven reserves, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

But Venezuela urgently needs cash to develop its industry in the Belt.

Leaving the ICSID "could seriously affect foreign investment, especially in the Orinoco region," Moya-Ocampos said in a telephone interview. "It could also affect Venezuela's credibility in international market and increase the cost of borrowing."

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has ordered the takeover of hundreds of properties, including major international investments as well as cattle ranches, farms and, recently, parking lots and junkyards to pave the way for public housing projects.

Russ Dallen, a financial analyst in Caracas, also said Venezuela's decision would probably spook many potential investors.

"I think that Chavez's withdrawal from ICSID will have a chilling effect on what is left of the companies still thinking about investing in Venezuela," Dallen said. "Chavez has already shown his willingness to expropriate businesses as he sees fit."

The Foreign Ministry said the 1966 treaty that established the ICSID undermines Venezuela's sovereignty and contradicts the country's constitution.

Government officials who signed the agreement in 1993 were "pressured by traditional economic groups that participated in the dismantling of Venezuela's national sovereignty," it said.

Under the terms for withdrawal, there is a six-month month period during which more cases can be filed, said Marcos Carrillo, a professor of arbitration and conflict resolution at the Andres Bello Catholic University and IESA business school in Caracas.

If a state-run or private company refuses to comply with the center's decision, winners of ICSID rulings often seek to recover lost assets by seeking an embargo on the sale of assets owned by the defendant, Carrillo said.

Referring to Venezuelan officials, he said: "When there's an ICSID decision, they have two options: Either they voluntarily comply with it or it's enforced."

If Venezuela were to "refuse to participate or recognize any future awards, the convention makes any award in those cases enforceable in any of the 140 jurisdictions that are members of ICSID," Dallen said.

Venezuela's attorney general, Carlos Escarra, suggested last year that Venezuela should consider abandoning the ICSID, following the example of leftist governments in Ecuador and Bolivia, which pulled out in the past several years.

Escarra, a close ally of Chavez, died of a heart attack on Wednesday.

___

Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-25-LT-Venezuela-Arbitration/id-e02c5a3ca36349fabead2ada9ae0f087

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Oil rises above $99 as Iran boycott expands

BANGKOK (AP) ? Oil prices pushed above $99 a barrel Wednesday, a day after Australia announced it was joining a boycott by Western nations against Iran, the world's No. 3 oil exporter, over a suspected nuclear weapons program.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 20 cents to $99.15 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 63 cents to end at $98.95 in New York on Tuesday.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd announced Tuesday during a trip to London that his government had decided to follow the European Union, which announced Monday it would ban the import of Iranian crude starting in July.

The initiative to use oil to force Iran back to nuclear talks began last month, when the U.S. enacted new sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad. The U.S. doesn't buy Iranian oil, but the new sanctions make it harder for Iran to sell crude.

Asian countries, already Iran's biggest customers, aren't joining the Europeans in banning Iranian crude. The move has been harshly criticized by oil-ravenous China, which is believed likely to sop up any excess Iranian crude at advantageous prices.

Meanwhile, analysts said that oil prices, amid expectations of tightening supplies, would remain somewhat elevated until the dust settles.

"There are other nations that will be boycotting Iran. That is probably adjusting market expectations of tighter supplies," said Natalie Robertson, a commodities analyst with ANZ Banking Group in Melbourne.

"There is going to be a rebalancing. Iran will have to find new customers for its crude since its usual customers are cutting down imports. During that period, there is going to be some time while the market adjusts to the imbalances, and that is what is keeping prices supported."

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.03 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 0.7 cents to $2.82 per gallon. Natural gas rose 5.4 cents to $2.61 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-25-Oil%20Prices/id-39525e5957d348b1899d0d4e297b62b0

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Samsung dissects Galaxy Note, confirms NFC support for LTE version

Teardown fans rejoice! Samsung's chosen to dissect the Galaxy Note for all to see -- and on its official blog, no less. Strangely, the pictures show the global Galaxy Note with its physical home button but the specs match those of the Galaxy Note LTE that we played with at CES and which is supposed to launch on AT&T and Telus real soon now. There are no major surprises here -- Samsung outlines some of the over 1000 components within, including the glorious 5.3-inch 1280x800-pixel HD Super AMOLED display, the unspecified 1.5GHz dual-core processor (likely a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3), the eight megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash plus other bits and pieces like sensors and radios. What's particularly interesting is that Samsung confirms NFC support (with the antenna inside the battery cover) and the use of a Wacom digitizer for the S Pen. Want more? Hit the source link below for the pr0n gory details.

Samsung dissects Galaxy Note, confirms NFC support for LTE version originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  Samsung Tomorrow  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/KSdITBkQcBs/

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Makeover surprise brightens spirits for cancer patients | WLFI ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Being diagnosed with cancer is an awful surprise, but an Indiana non-profit organization is in the area providing pleasant ones.

'Hello Gorgeous' is an organization that provides women fighting cancer with full professional makeovers.?

Tuesday, 'Hello Gorgeous' was at Element Salon, and surprised Donna Tudor with a makeover.?

Donna was diagnosed last September with breast cancer. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Tudor said thanks to the makeover, she feels better already.

"This is a great cause and it's a great way to make somebody feel better when they're down and out.? Especially during the chemo - the week after chemo, you feel a little sad.? So this is great," said Tudor.

The makeover includes a new set of clothes with shoes and a new purse.?

Tudor was also surprised by all her friends and family when the makeover was finished.?

For more information, head to their website:

http://hello-gorgeous-of-indiana.org/

Source: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local/makeover-surprise-brightens-spirits-for-cancer-patients

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Video: The Bathtub Mystery, Part 3

Dateline NBC

'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/46104880#46104880

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Obama challenges: Shrink gap between rich, poor (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama delivered a populist challenge Tuesday night to shrink the gap between rich and poor, promising to tax the wealthy more and help jobless Americans get work and hang onto their homes. Seeking re-election and needing results, the president invited Republicans to join him but warned, "I intend to fight."

In an emphatic State of the Union address, Obama said ensuring a fair shot for all Americans is "the defining issue of our time." He said the economy is finally recovering from a deep and painful recession and he will fight any effort to return to policies that brought it low.

"We've come too far to turn back now," he declared.

Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the country than the one pressed by the Republicans confronting him in Congress and fighting to take his job in the November election. He pleaded for an active government that ensures economic fairness for everyone, just as his opponents demand that the government back off and let the free market rule.

Obama offered steps to help students afford college, a plan for more struggling homeowners to refinance their homes and tax cuts for manufacturers. He threw in politically appealing references to accountability, including warning universities they will lose federal aid if they don't stop tuition from soaring.

Standing in front of a divided Congress, with bleak hope this election year for much of his legislative agenda, Obama spoke with voters in mind.

"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by," Obama said. "Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules."

A rare wave of unity splashed over the House chamber at the start. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, survivor of an assassination attempt one year ago, received sustained applause from her peers and cheers of "Gabby, Gabby, Gabby." She blew a kiss to the podium. Obama embraced her.

Lawmakers leapt to their feet when Obama said near the start of his speech that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, killed by a raid authorized by the president, will no longer threaten America.

At the core of Obama's address was the improving but deeply wounded economy ? the matter still driving Americans' anxiety and the one likely to determine the next presidency.

"The state of our union is getting stronger," Obama said, calibrating his words as millions remain unemployed. Implicit in his declaration that the American dream is "within our reach" was the recognition that, after three years of an Obama presidency, the country is not there yet.

He spoke of restoring basic goals: owning a home, earning enough to raise a family, putting a little money away for retirement.

"We can do this," Obama said. "I know we can." He said Americans are convinced that "Washington is broken," but he also said it wasn't too late to cooperate on important matters.

Republicans were not impressed. They applauded infrequently, though they did cheer when the president quoted "Republican Abraham Lincoln" as saying: "That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves ? and no more."

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, offering the formal GOP response, called Obama's policies "pro-poverty" and his tactics divisive.

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Daniels said after the president's address.

In a signature swipe at the nation's growing income gap, Obama called for a new minimum tax rate of at least 30 percent on anyone making over $1 million. Many millionaires ? including one of his chief rivals, Republican Mitt Romney ? pay a rate less than that because they get most of their income from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate.

"Now you can call this class warfare all you want," Obama said, responding to a frequent criticism from the GOP presidential field. "But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense."

Obama calls this the "Buffett rule," named for billionaire Warren Buffett, who has said it's unfair that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does. Emphasizing the point, Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, attended the address in first lady Michelle Obama's box.

Obama underlined every proposal with the idea that hard work and responsibility still count. He was targeting independent voters who helped seal his election in 2008 and the frustrated masses in a nation pessimistic about its course.

In a flag-waving defense of American power and influence abroad, Obama said the U.S. will safeguard its own security "against those who threaten our citizens, our friends and our interests." On Iran, he said that while all options are on the table to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon ? an implied threat to use military force ? "a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible."

With Congress almost universally held in low regard, Obama went after an easy target in calling for reforms to keep legislators from engaging in insider trading and holding them to the same conflict-of-interest standards as those that apply to the executive branch.

With the foreclosure crisis on ongoing sore spot despite a number of administration housing initiatives over the past three years, Obama proposed a new program to allow homeowners with privately held mortgages to refinance at lower interest rates. Administration officials offered few details but estimated savings at $3,000 a year for average borrowers.

Obama proposed steps to crack down on fraud in the financial sector and mortgage industry, with a Financial Crimes Unit to monitor bankers and financial service professionals, and a separate special unit of federal prosecutors and state attorneys general to expand investigations into abusive lending that led to the housing crisis.

At a time of tight federal budgets and heavy national debt, Obama found a ready source of money to finance his ideas: He proposed to devote half of the money no longer being spent on the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan to "do some nation-building right here at home," to help create more jobs and increase competitiveness. The other half, he said, would go to help pay down the national debt.

Obama also offered a defense of regulations that protect the American consumer ? regulations often criticized by Republicans as job-killing obstacles.

"Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same," Obama said. "It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts and no cop-outs. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody."

Obama will follow up Tuesday night's address with a three-day tour of five states key to his re-election bid. On Wednesday he'll visit Iowa and Arizona to promote ideas to boost American manufacturing; on Thursday in Nevada and Colorado he'll discuss energy, and in Michigan on Friday he'll talk about college affordability, education and training.

Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama's overall job performance but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.

The speech Tuesday night comes just one week before the Florida Republican primary that could help set the trajectory for the rest of the race.

Romney, caught up in a tight contest with a resurgent Newt Gingrich, commented in advance to Obama's speech.

"Tonight will mark another chapter in the misguided policies of the last three years ? and the failed leadership of one man," Romney said from Florida.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_the_union

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Romney paid $3M in federal income tax in 2010 (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments. Those earnings, $21.7 million, put him among the wealthiest of American taxpayers.

At the same time, Romney gave nearly $3 million to charity ? about half of that amount to the Mormon Church ? which helped lower his effective tax rate to a modest 14 percent, according to records his campaign released early Tuesday.

For 2011, he'll pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said. Those returns haven't yet been filed yet with the Internal Revenue Service.

The former Massachusetts governor had been under pressure in recent weeks to release his tax returns, his GOP opponents casting him as a wealthy businessman who slashed jobs in the private sector. Rival Newt Gingrich made public his returns on Saturday, showing he paid almost $1 million in income taxes ? a tax rate of about 31 percent.

Romney's campaign confirmed the details of his tax information after several news organizations saw a preview of the documents. He had said he planned to release his returns in full Tuesday morning, and campaign officials would be prepared to discuss them in detail with reporters.

"You'll see my income, how much taxes I've paid, how much I've paid to charity," Romney said during Monday night's debate in Tampa. "I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. I don't think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes."

Romney's 2010 returns show the candidate is among the top 1 percent of taxpayers. The returns showed about $4.5 million in itemized deductions, including $1.5 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Before the tax records were released, Romney's old investments in two government-backed housing lenders stirred up new questions at the same time his campaign targeted Gingrich for his work for Freddie Mac.

Gingrich earned $1.6 million in consulting fees from Freddie Mac. Romney has as much as $500,000 invested in the U.S.-backed lender and its sister entity, Fannie Mae.

The fight over releasing the tax information highlighted an argument that Democrats are already starting to use against Romney ? that he is out-of-touch with normal Americans. And it probably hurt him in the South Carolina primary, where he lost by 12 percentage points to Gingrich after spending several days resisting releasing the returns.

On Monday, Romney would not answer questions from debate moderator Brian Williams about just what pieces of his tax returns could cause political headaches. But they will shine the spotlight on a fortune estimated at between $190 million and $250 million, and could raise questions about where he keeps his money and how he earns it.

For example, Romney keeps some of his personal fortune in investments that are domiciled in the Cayman Islands, where many international investors shelter their income from American taxes. Romney aides say he doesn't use the funds to avoid or put off paying the appropriate taxes.

The returns could also reveal more details about his annual take as founder of the Bain Capital private equity firm.

But it's clear that Romney's campaign is bracing for an onslaught of criticism of his personal fortune. His wife, Ann, has started talking about the returns during campaign appearances. She told supporters at a Florida rally Sunday: "I want to remind you where we know our riches are. Our riches are with our families."

Most of Romney's vast fortune is held in a blind trust that he doesn't control. A portion is held in a retirement account.

___

Gillum reported from Washington.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney_taxes

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At PSU, tension over ouster, then grief for JoePa (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? Anguished by an unthinkable scandal that shook a university and tarnished the proud football program, many in the Penn State community rallied around a common cause.

They mourned coach Joe Paterno's dismissal and questioned the motives and tactics of school leaders who pushed out the Hall of Famer in November in the wake of child sex abuse charges against a retired assistant coach.

Alumni, fans and students already racked by emotions were jolted by a much greater loss when Paterno died Sunday of lung cancer at age 85 ? and the grieving process again could be complicated following two tense months that often had the Paterno family and the school at odds.

"I feel like from the inside looking out that most people forget that he donated his whole life to the program. ... And everything that he donated to that school, people tend to look over that," defensive end Jack Crawford, who just completed his senior season with the Nittany Lions, said Sunday from Senior Bowl practice in Mobile, Ala.

"It was tough to swallow. It was harder to swallow when he first got fired. It was a sad moment for the whole Penn State family."

A family seemingly torn Nov. 5 after retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was charged with the first of dozens of counts of abuse allegations. Sandusky has maintained his innocence and is awaiting trial. Paterno testified before a state grand jury investigating Sandusky, and authorities said he wasn't a target of the probe.

It ended up being his undoing anyway.

Paterno fulfilled his legal obligation by reporting a 2002 allegation relayed by a graduate assistant to his university superior. But the state's top cop chastised Paterno, among other school leaders, for failing to fulfill a moral duty to do more and take the allegation to police.

Paterno himself said he "wished he could have done more" when he announced his retirement plans the morning of Nov. 9 before getting ousted by the university Board of Trustees that evening.

"I am saddened to hear the news of Joe Paterno's passing. Joe was a genuinely good person," longtime Nebraska coach and current athletic director Tom Osborne said. "Anybody who knew Joe feels badly about the circumstances. I suspect the emotional turmoil of the last few weeks might have played into it."

That turmoil stretched to Paterno's final days.

Diagnosed with lung cancer days after getting fired, Paterno entered the hospital Jan. 13 for what his family then said was a minor complication from treatments that included radiation and chemotherapy. Mount Nittany Medical Center was barely a half-mile from Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions' home field that Paterno helped make into one of college football's shrines during his 46 seasons as Penn State head coach.

While in the hospital, trustees just a couple miles away at a campus hotel on Thursday told of why they fired Paterno and cited in part a failure to fulfill his moral responsibility in connection with the 2002 allegation. His lawyer, Wick Sollers, called the allegations self-serving and reiterated that Paterno fully reported what he knew to the people responsible for campus investigations.

"I think his legacy should be everything wonderful he did here for Penn State and for the community. That's what I hope," Karen Long, 70, of State College, said at the women's basketball game Sunday afternoon between Iowa and Penn State. "I don't think he was treated fairly, though. Just the way they handled firing him was awful."

Against that backdrop, school leaders, the Paterno family and the university community fractured by the scandal appear to be slowly mending relationships.

In recent weeks, university leaders have indicated they intend to honor Paterno's contributions on and off the field ? a sharp contrast to tones sounded in the frantic first week of the scandal. Back then, for instance, school President Rodney Erickson said Paterno was welcome to football games just like any other member of the public.

Paterno won two national championships and a Division I record 409 victories to turn Penn State into a name-brand program. Off the field, Paterno and his wife, Sue, donated millions back to the university, including the library.

"His and Sue's contributions are as much about ensuring student success as the many endowments and the library bearing the Paterno name," said Barbara Dewey, Penn State's dean of University Libraries.

Memorial service and funeral plans weren't ready yet Sunday night, though it appeared the family and the school were coordinating efforts.

Perhaps one last chance to say goodbye for a Penn State community that often took its cues on fall weekends from JoePa.

"No matter what people say, you can't take away what he did for Penn State and college football," former cornerback D'Anton Lynn said. "I don't think there will ever be a college coach that will ever have that impact again."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_paterno_the_final_goodbye

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Scripps Research scientists provide new understanding of chronic pain

Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
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Contact: Mika Ono
mikaono@scripps.edu
858-784-2052
Scripps Research Institute

Findings suggest new target for drug development

LA JOLLA, CA January 22, 2012 Millions of people worldwide suffer from a type of chronic pain called neuropathic pain, which is triggered by nerve damage. Precisely how this pain persists has been a mystery, and current treatments are largely ineffective. But a team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, using a new approach known as metabolomics, has now discovered a major clue: dimethylsphingosine (DMS), a small-molecule byproduct of cellular membranes in the nervous system. In their new study, the scientists found that DMS is produced at abnormally high levels in the spinal cords of rats with neuropathic pain and appears to cause pain when injected. The findings suggest inhibiting this molecule may be a fruitful target for drug development.

"We think that this is a big step forward in understanding and treating neuropathic pain, and also a solid demonstration of the power of metabolomics," said Gary J. Patti, a research associate at Scripps Research during the study, and now an assistant professor of genetics, chemistry, and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Patti is a lead author of the report on the study, which appeared online in the journal Nature Chemical Biology on January 22, 2012.

Scientists who want to understand what makes diseased cells different from healthy cells have often looked for differences in levels of gene expression or cellular proteinsapproaches known respectively as genomics and proteomics. Metabolomics, by contrast, concerns differences in the levels of small-molecule metabolites, such as sugars, vitamins, and amino acids, that serve as the building blocks of basic cellular processes. "These are the molecules that are actually being transformed during cellular activity, and tracking them provides more direct information on what's happening at a biochemical level," Patti said.

Metabolomics is increasingly used to find biochemical markers or signatures of diseases. One of the most relied-upon "metabolome" databases, METLIN, was set up at Scripps Research in 2005, and now contains data on thousands of metabolites found in humans and other organisms. However, in this case the research team hoped to do more than find a metabolic marker of neuropathic pain.

"The idea was to apply metabolomic analysis to understand the biochemical basis of the neuropathic pain condition and reveal potential therapeutic targets," said Gary Siuzdak, a senior investigator in the study, who is professor of chemistry and molecular biology and director of the Scripps Research Center for Metabolomics. "We call this approach 'therapeutic metabolomics'."

The scientists began with a standard model of neuropathic pain in lab rats. Patti, Siuzdak, and their colleagues sampled segments of a previously injured tibial leg nerve triggering neuropathic pain, as well as the rats' blood plasma and tissue from the rats' spinal cords. The scientists then determined the levels of metabolites in these tissues, and compared them to levels from control animals.

Unexpectedly, the scientists found that nearly all the major abnormalities in metabolite levels were present not in the injured leg nerve fiber, nor in blood plasma, but in tissue from the "dorsal horn" region of the spinal cord which normally receives signals from the tibial nerve and relays them to the brain. "After the nerve is damaged, it degrades and rebuilds itself at the site of the injury, but remodeling also occurs, possibly over a longer period, at the terminus of the nerve where it connects to dorsal horn neurons," Patti said.

Next, the researchers set up a test to see which of the abnormally altered metabolites in dorsal horn tissue could evoke signs of pain signaling in cultures of rat spinal cord tissue. One metabolite stood outa small molecule that didn't appear in any of the metabolome databases. Patti eventually determined that the molecule was DMS, an apparent byproduct of cellular reactions involving sphingomyelin, a major building block for the insulating sheaths of nerve fibers. "This is the first characterization and quantitation of DMS as a naturally occurring compound," Patti noted. When the scientists injected it into healthy rats, at a dose similar to that found in the nerve-injured rats, it induced pain.

DMS seems to cause pain at least in part by stimulating the release of pro-inflammatory molecules from neuron-supporting cells called astrocytes. Patti, Siuzdak, and their colleagues are now trying to find out more about DMS's pain-inducing mechanismsand are testing inhibitors of DMS production that may prove to be effective treatments or preventives of neuropathic pain.

"We're very excited about this therapeutic metabolomics approach," said Siuzdak. "In fact, we're already involved in several other projects in which metabolites are giving us a direct indication of disease biochemistry and potential treatments."

###

Oscar Yanes, a postdoctoral fellow in the Siuzdak laboratory, was Patti's co-lead author of the study, "Metabolomics Implicates Dysregulated Sphingomyelin Metabolism in the Central Nervous System During Neuropathic Pain." The other contributors were Leah Shriver and Marianne Manchester of the University of California, San Diego (or UC San Diego) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Jean-Phillipe Courade, then at Pfizer, now at UCB Pharma in Belgium; and Ralf Tautenhahn of the Siuzdak laboratory.

Funding for the research was provided in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and vaccine development, as well as for its insights into autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious disease. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, the institute also includes a campus in Jupiter, Florida, where scientists focus on drug discovery and technology development in addition to basic biomedical science. Scripps Research currently employs about 3,000 scientists, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students on its two campuses. The institute's graduate program, which awards Ph.D. degrees in biology and chemistry, is ranked among the top ten such programs in the nation. For more information, see www.scripps.edu.

---

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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.

Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mika Ono
mikaono@scripps.edu
858-784-2052
Scripps Research Institute

Findings suggest new target for drug development

LA JOLLA, CA January 22, 2012 Millions of people worldwide suffer from a type of chronic pain called neuropathic pain, which is triggered by nerve damage. Precisely how this pain persists has been a mystery, and current treatments are largely ineffective. But a team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, using a new approach known as metabolomics, has now discovered a major clue: dimethylsphingosine (DMS), a small-molecule byproduct of cellular membranes in the nervous system. In their new study, the scientists found that DMS is produced at abnormally high levels in the spinal cords of rats with neuropathic pain and appears to cause pain when injected. The findings suggest inhibiting this molecule may be a fruitful target for drug development.

"We think that this is a big step forward in understanding and treating neuropathic pain, and also a solid demonstration of the power of metabolomics," said Gary J. Patti, a research associate at Scripps Research during the study, and now an assistant professor of genetics, chemistry, and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Patti is a lead author of the report on the study, which appeared online in the journal Nature Chemical Biology on January 22, 2012.

Scientists who want to understand what makes diseased cells different from healthy cells have often looked for differences in levels of gene expression or cellular proteinsapproaches known respectively as genomics and proteomics. Metabolomics, by contrast, concerns differences in the levels of small-molecule metabolites, such as sugars, vitamins, and amino acids, that serve as the building blocks of basic cellular processes. "These are the molecules that are actually being transformed during cellular activity, and tracking them provides more direct information on what's happening at a biochemical level," Patti said.

Metabolomics is increasingly used to find biochemical markers or signatures of diseases. One of the most relied-upon "metabolome" databases, METLIN, was set up at Scripps Research in 2005, and now contains data on thousands of metabolites found in humans and other organisms. However, in this case the research team hoped to do more than find a metabolic marker of neuropathic pain.

"The idea was to apply metabolomic analysis to understand the biochemical basis of the neuropathic pain condition and reveal potential therapeutic targets," said Gary Siuzdak, a senior investigator in the study, who is professor of chemistry and molecular biology and director of the Scripps Research Center for Metabolomics. "We call this approach 'therapeutic metabolomics'."

The scientists began with a standard model of neuropathic pain in lab rats. Patti, Siuzdak, and their colleagues sampled segments of a previously injured tibial leg nerve triggering neuropathic pain, as well as the rats' blood plasma and tissue from the rats' spinal cords. The scientists then determined the levels of metabolites in these tissues, and compared them to levels from control animals.

Unexpectedly, the scientists found that nearly all the major abnormalities in metabolite levels were present not in the injured leg nerve fiber, nor in blood plasma, but in tissue from the "dorsal horn" region of the spinal cord which normally receives signals from the tibial nerve and relays them to the brain. "After the nerve is damaged, it degrades and rebuilds itself at the site of the injury, but remodeling also occurs, possibly over a longer period, at the terminus of the nerve where it connects to dorsal horn neurons," Patti said.

Next, the researchers set up a test to see which of the abnormally altered metabolites in dorsal horn tissue could evoke signs of pain signaling in cultures of rat spinal cord tissue. One metabolite stood outa small molecule that didn't appear in any of the metabolome databases. Patti eventually determined that the molecule was DMS, an apparent byproduct of cellular reactions involving sphingomyelin, a major building block for the insulating sheaths of nerve fibers. "This is the first characterization and quantitation of DMS as a naturally occurring compound," Patti noted. When the scientists injected it into healthy rats, at a dose similar to that found in the nerve-injured rats, it induced pain.

DMS seems to cause pain at least in part by stimulating the release of pro-inflammatory molecules from neuron-supporting cells called astrocytes. Patti, Siuzdak, and their colleagues are now trying to find out more about DMS's pain-inducing mechanismsand are testing inhibitors of DMS production that may prove to be effective treatments or preventives of neuropathic pain.

"We're very excited about this therapeutic metabolomics approach," said Siuzdak. "In fact, we're already involved in several other projects in which metabolites are giving us a direct indication of disease biochemistry and potential treatments."

###

Oscar Yanes, a postdoctoral fellow in the Siuzdak laboratory, was Patti's co-lead author of the study, "Metabolomics Implicates Dysregulated Sphingomyelin Metabolism in the Central Nervous System During Neuropathic Pain." The other contributors were Leah Shriver and Marianne Manchester of the University of California, San Diego (or UC San Diego) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Jean-Phillipe Courade, then at Pfizer, now at UCB Pharma in Belgium; and Ralf Tautenhahn of the Siuzdak laboratory.

Funding for the research was provided in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and vaccine development, as well as for its insights into autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious disease. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, the institute also includes a campus in Jupiter, Florida, where scientists focus on drug discovery and technology development in addition to basic biomedical science. Scripps Research currently employs about 3,000 scientists, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students on its two campuses. The institute's graduate program, which awards Ph.D. degrees in biology and chemistry, is ranked among the top ten such programs in the nation. For more information, see www.scripps.edu.

---

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/sri-srs011712.php

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The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Jailbreaking Your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad [iOS 5.0.1] [Video]

Jailbreaking is a process that changes little by little with each iOS upgrade. Rather than always publishing new guides, we're simply going to keep this one up to date. If you want to jailbreak your iOS device, you've come to the right page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although you can jailbreak both A5-based and non-A5-based devices running iOS 5.0.1, the method differs. Be sure to follow the instructions for your device.

Current Untethered Version: iOS 5.0.1
For additional jailbreak options for older versions of iOS, please see the list at the bottom of this page. As this guide is updated, previous versions of the guide will be archived there as well.

Current Tethered Version: iOS 5.0.1
We do not recommend tethered jailbreaking, as it requires you to connect your iDevice to your computer to boot it every time. This is especially bad with new operating system releases, as they tend to freeze up a bit more. You probably don't want your device freezing up and becoming unusable while you're out and about, so you really should wait until an untethered jailbreak is available for iOS 5. That said, if you're jailbreaking for development purposes or carry a laptop with you everywhere, this post will show you can do it.

Not sure if you should jailbreak?
We love jailbreaking our iDevices, but it's not for everybody. If you're not sure, you should read both our reasons not to jailbreak and why jailbreaking is awesome.

How to Jailbreak Older (Non-A5-Based) Devices: The Step by Step Process

The video above will show you how the whole process works, both on your computer and your iOS device, but read on for the steps for non-A5-based devices.

1

Before getting started, make sure you are running iOS 5.0.1, as this jailbreak will only work on iOS 5.0.1 and not 5.0.0. If you're still running 5.0.0, update to 5.0.1. Also, be sure your iDevice does not run on an A5 chip. (This means iPad 2s and iPhone 4S'.) Any earlier device that can run iOS 5.0.1 should work just fine. (This means the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 GSM, iPhone 4 CDMA, iPad 1, iPod touch 3G, and iPod touch 4G.)

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2

Download redsn03 0.9.10b3 for Mac OS X or Windows.

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3

Connect your iDevice to your computer, open up the redsn0w application, and turn off your iDevice.

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4

On the redsn0w application window you'll see a Jailbreak button. Click it. You'll be told you'll need to put your iDevice into DFU mode and to click the Next button when ready. When you are ready, go ahead and click it.

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5

Hold down the power button at the top of your iDevice for three (3) seconds. Next, continue holding down the power button but also hold down the home button for a total of 10 seconds. Finally, let go of the power button but continue holding down the home button for another 15 seconds, or until redsn0w changes screens and tells you it's exploiting your device for the jailbreak.

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6

Once redsn0w has finished doing its business, it'll ask you what you want to do for this jailbreak. By default, only Cydia will be checked. Most of the other options are irrelevant, but you might want to check Enable multitouch gestures if you want additional multitouch gestures on your iPhone or iPod touch.

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7

Wait a few minutes for the jailbreak to finish and for your iDevice to reboot. Once it has booted, you'll see the Cydia icon on your home screen (although it may not be on the first page, so look around). Open it up and you'll have access to a bunch of jailbreak hacks.

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And you're done! Launch it and you're ready to go. Not sure what to do next? Check out our jailbreaking tag page for some ideas.

How to Jailbreak Newer (A5-Based) Devices: The Step by Step Process

The video above will show you how the whole process works, both on your computer and your iOS device, but read on for the steps for A5-based devices.

1

The greenpois0n absinthe method is pretty simple. You just plug in your iPhone or iPad (there's no need to enter DFU mode or even turn it off), open the absinthe jailbreak app on your Mac or Windows PC, and click the jailbreak button.

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2

Wait for a while. Your device will go into a fake restore session and reboot. When it reboots, DO NOT TOUCH IT. The jailbreak process isn't over yet. You will be notified on-screen when absinthe has finished its work. It will tell you to find the quote-unquote jailbreak app on one of your home screen pages. The app is not labeled jailbreak, but rather absinthe. Tap that app and it should cause your device to reboot with the jailbreak complete.

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3

If that doesn't happen, however, just open up the Settings app on your device and flip the VPN toggle switch to on (it'll be towards the top of your main settings options). You'll receive an error, which you need to dismiss, and then after a few seconds your device will reboot.

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Once you're done jailbreaking, you'll now find Cydia on one of your home screen pages. Open it up and start installing whatever you want. Not sure what to install first? Check out our jailbreaking tag page for some ideas.

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Jailbreaking Options for Older iOS Devices

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Lady Gaga Announces Launch Of Born This Way Foundation

Mother Monster's nonprofit will promote youth empowerment and equality.
By John Mitchell

Lady Gaga
Photo: India Today Group/Getty Images

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation will launch February 29 with a fete at Harvard University, the singer and her mother and co-founder, Cynthia Germanotta, announced in a statement on Thursday (January 19). BTWF was created to promote youth empowerment and equality by encouraging self-confidence and well-being and bringing bullying to an end.

Joining the pop star at Sanders Theatre will be her partners in the endeavor: Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the MacArthur Foundation and the California Endowment.

Gaga has long been a staunch supporter of anti-bullying legislation, reportedly meeting with President Obama to discuss the topic in September and visiting the White House in early December to discuss the issue with administration officials. She dedicated her performance of "Hair" at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas to Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old fan who took his own life after years of anti-gay harassment. And last year, Gaga topped DoSomething.org's list of the most charitable celebrities, in part for her work on behalf of gay rights causes.

"My daughter's foundation was born out of her passion to create a better world where people are kinder and nicer to one another and are accepted for who they are, regardless of how different they may be," Germanotta said. "She has experienced many of the struggles that our youth encounter today, and identifies with the lasting effects they can have without proper support. Together, we look forward to creating a new movement that will engage and empower youth and accept them as valuable members of our society."

The Mother Monster's commitment to the gay community was again recognized Thursday (January 19) with a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the GLAAD Media Awards.The awards recognize fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community across all media. In December, the diva was recognized with the Hero Award by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that offers suicide-prevention services to LGBT youth.

During acceptance speech at Trevor Project Live, Gaga touched on her wishes to someday make bullying a hate crime. "I hope that we can acknowledge all together that where this needs to begin is in the schools," Gaga said. "I want my fans and people all over the world to know that there's always somebody that's listening. But I want them to know they're listening before it gets too late."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677562/lady-gaga-born-this-way-foundation.jhtml

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