The Savvy Real Estate Investor Always has a Good Exit Strategy ...

Act Fast, but have it together; if you don?t, you might as well get out of the game.

The great news is that investing in today?s market is very forgiving, if you implement a few simple concepts and navigate a clear path to minimize your risk.

The not so great news is that if you don?t have it together you will, at best, lose out; at worst, lose money.

With properties flying off the market in record time these days, you have got to be decisive and quick; the current real estate climate is merciless and, at risk of sounding trite, if you snooze, you will lose.

One of the most recognizable differences between a ?newbie? real estate investor, and an experienced real estate investor, is the time it takes to walk in, assess the property and make a decision about its viability as an investment.

The new real estate investor will often put in a lot of time checking the property, looking into the deal, re-checking the property, checking the competitive market analysis, having the property inspected and asking for advice or opinions; meanwhile, the experienced real estate investor will walk in behind him, take a look at the property, make a quick initial determination about whether or not the property is a good investment and, often without even having inspected it, get it under contract, thereby tying it up quickly and taking control of it.

What about consideration?

Won?t an investor lose his ?earnest money? by acting so hastily?

Not if you have done your first line of due diligence; you should be prepared to snap up that property quickly by getting it under contract and then follow up with your ?serious? due diligence.

So what is the first line of due diligence?

1. Know enough about the area and what you are looking for.
2. Know what kind of financial evaluation you need to conduct and know what it needs to look like when you?re done.
3. Know your exit strategy.

This is where contingency clauses come in. A contingency clause is a condition, which must be met before a contract becomes legally binding. When you write up your contract, always make sure you have included contingencies. By putting the property under contract, you have basically made it yours; you control it. By putting in the right contingency clause, you will have a legal ?out? should you discover something that doesn?t work for you as you conduct your ?serious? due diligence; ?you will be able to get your money back.

When you have the property under contract you are the only one that can buy it and you only have to buy it if you want to. However, you will have that exit only if you have written the contract correctly, with the right contingencies, and if you have followed it to the letter.

Of course, you should always have your lawyer approve your contract and check your state?s laws that surround contingency clauses.

Use contingencies judiciously and use them ethically, but do use them because they will help you get that deal quickly and they will save your butt if it doesn?t work out.

Smart Real Estate Investors learn the ropes before getting into the game by getting some strategic marketing and real estate training. Do your homework; when you do, regardless of how new you are to the real estate investment game, you will be able to move quickly and make informed decisions so that you make money, not mistakes.

About Kent Clothier

Kent Clothier is President and CEO of Real Estate Worldwide (REWW), a multi-faceted real estate education company with headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, San Diego, California, and Boca Raton, Florida.

Source: http://kentclothier.com/the-savvy-real-estate-investor-always-has-a-good-exit-strategy

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Food & Drink: Tips On Cooking Fish : How-to Cooking Videos

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Source: http://how-to-cooking-video.com/cooking-fish/food-drink-tips-on-cooking-fish/

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GWH News and Notes: Ohio Valley Wrestling Episode 710 Recap

From Jimmie Daniel:

This is the recap for Ohio Valley Wrestling TV Episode 710 to air in Louisville 3/30. Next Saturday 4/6, not only does the next Saturday Night Special take place but also OVW TV is moving to a new station in Louisville, WBNA-21 the ION affiliate and will air Saturdays at noon ET. OUR OVW Announce Team this week is Dean "San Juan" Hill", "Anchorman" Gilbert Corsey and "Rocky Mountain Mouth" Michael Titus, who also is doing the ring announcing.

The Coalition ( "The Washington Generals" Crimson & Jason Wayne, "Squad Alpha" Jack Black & Joe Coleman, "Squad Alpha" Shiloh Jonze & Raul Lamotta, plus the Spanish Moss Guy) comes to the ring. Wayne lines up the troops then Crimson calls out OUR OVW Champion Doug Williams. Crimson states that he is the number one contender for Williams' title since he defeated Jamin Olivencia last week (albeit with help from Williams). Crimson brings up Williams' deal with the Coalition that was agreed upon in a secret meeting a few weeks ago, where whoever from the Coalition prevented Olivencia from getting a one-on-one match with Williams, that person would get a title shot. Crimson is impatient and wants his title shot now! Williams takes issue with "now", saying he is like a Swiss clock and needs time to properly prepare. Crimson stops him, saying time was not addressed in any of their negotiations! Crimson shows us a survival knife as Williams again states that he needs to warm up and stretch but reluctantly agrees to do the match later tonight. Wayne then takes the mic, proclaiming the Coalition as the greatest anti-terrorist force ever assembled! He then asks the four squad members individually (and with long nicknames for everyone) why they joined up the group. The answers generally revolved around eliminating terrorists. Wayne then asks Spanish Moss Guy (who he calls "Gilley-man" -like Mickey Gilley?) the same question and gestures his response, implying he is looking out for something or someone. The Coalition salutes and leaves.

Match #1: "VIP" Joe Rosa (w/The Entourage) vs "White Kryptonite" Eddie Diamond (w/Timmy Danger)

Entourage consists of four unidentified others, one of whom is holding a champagne bucket. Diamond reminds Danger that this is all about Epiphany, whom Diamond is carrying a picture of as he enters the ring. Titus accuses Danger of copying his hairdo, lol. Rosa has his way early as Diamond seems unfocused despite Danger's best efforts, including climbing up on the apron to show Diamond the picture.

Rosa grabs the picture and kisses it before ripping it in two. This angers Diamond, who Thesz presses Rosa and beats on him. An Entourage guy hand Rosa the bucket and hits Diamond with it but ref Josh Ashcraft is distracted as Danger is confronting the other three entourage guys. Epiphany runs in and clotheslines Rosa then Diamond covers him for the pin.

In the back, Williams is talking to Jay Bradley about possibly having his back later but Jonze and Lamotta sneak up on them as they are doing recon on Williams, who runs away. Dean is not sympathetic to Williams' plight since he did make a deal with Crimson (who Dean refers to as a snake) and the Coalition. Titus says that Williams was desperate to make sure he didn't have to face Jamin Olivencia again and was willing to do anything to make sure that happened.

Rudy Switchblade comes to the ring with a ref Jordan Barker. Rudy is tired of all the running and hiding by Jesse Godderz and wants their ongoing match/saga/tiff/squabble to end tonight! Gilbert opines that the 24/7 match got paused. Rudy says he didn't think it would take this long to kick Jesse's butt.

Match #2:"Best Rudy Ever" Rudy Switchblade vs "Mr. Pec-tacular" Jesse Godderz

Jesse wanders out to ringside and Rudy dives on him for 2 as they commence brawling all around ringside. Back in, Jesse yanks Rudy out of the corner and poses but Rudy rolls him up for 2 then neckbreakers him. Jesse tries to leave and Rudy follows but Jesse pops back through the curtain and hits Rudy with a stagelight for 2. Jesse rams Rudy into the announce table and covers him for 2 then drags him around ringside and gives him some kneelifts. Jesse applies an abdominal stretch until Rudy hiptosses out. Jesse grabs a chair and slides it in the ring and has a seat in front of Rudy, who is on his back. Rudy drop toeholds him into the chair then hits him in the ribs with it. Meanwhile, Jay Bradley and James "Moose" Thomas brawl their way to ringside and are joined by "Smooth" Johnny Spade. Titus says Spade makes coffee nervous. All five men get mixed together and brawl to the back.

Paredyse is on the phone with Brandon "Espy" Espinosa, who has apparently slipped and fell in the bathtub, so he won't be there for Paredyse's match. Paredyse asks about Just Chris but is told Chris tripped over her tutu and won't be there either. Paradyse thinks this is an omen.

Match #3: Paredyse vs Albert Einstein Baxter II

Albert is intro'd as being from Princeton then trips as he climbs into the ring. Paredyse taunts Albert a lot, even pulling off Albert's bowtie and sticking it down the front of his tights. Titus notes that Paredyse has a vicious side and is showing it here. Gilbert says the Ivy League-educated Lambda Lambda Lambda (Albert and his brother Stephon J Baxter III) have studied wrestling a lot but it hasn't transferred to any success thus far. Paredyse gives Albert a wedgie then removes Albert's glasses as a video comes up of Brittany Devore bathed in red light. The Mobile Homers (Adam Revolver & "Man-Beast" Ted McNaler) keep sticking their heads in the picture to wonder what's going on, lol. Anyway, Brittany declares that she will hunt down Paredyse, Espy, and Chris!. Back to the match, Albert fires up on the spooked Paredyse, who manages to pull out a win via a legsweep.

Williams seeks out OUR OVW Director of Operations Michael (not PS) Hayes but instead encounters Trailer Park Trash. Williams asks about procedures for contender matches but TPT brushes him off, saying he only does paperwork around here now. Coleman and Black sneak up on Williams, who slips off into another room.

Match #4: "Diamond Steel" Ryan Howe (w/guitar) vs OUR OVW TV Champion Rockstar Spud

Dean compares Spud to Bill Dundee and suggests that Howe and Spud would be quite a team! Spud opens with a flurry and dropkicks Howe out but pulls up on a dive when Howe moves out of the way. Spud holds the ropes open so Howe can climb back in. Spud escapes a headlock but Howe catapults him into the corner. Howe drops and pops for 2 but Taeler Hendrix wanders out. She cheers for Howe as the discussion turns to her thinking Howe has been sending her gifts but he hasn?t confirmed or denied it. Howe slams Spud to the mat and "tunes up the band" before dropping an elbow on Spud for 2. Heidi Lovelace comes out to confront Taeler, since Heidi also is enamored with Howe. Taeler gestures for her to talk to the hand! "King of Pink" Dylan Bostic comes out to also confront Taeler, thus completing the "love box" (as opposed to a love triangle) and leading to a Dean and Gilbert breaking the seal on some soap opera puns! Howe steps out to argue with Bostic and gets counted out. Howe yells at Taeler, she is sad but Heidi is happy. Meanwhile Spud talks to the ref and gets him to restart the match, since it is assumed that he doesn't want to win the match this way. So Howe yelled at poor Taeler for nothing! Spud opens up with another flurry as it is noted that the fans are not sure who to cheer for. Back from break, Howe suplexes Spud for 2 then kneelifts him. Spud rolls out as Gilbert notes both the 10-minute limit and the $1000 for the successful title defense. Back in, Howe tries a sleeper but Spud rolls him up for 2. Dean says Spud has gained respect in his eyes for agreeing to restart the match. Howe slams Spud and goes for the blockbuster but Spud gets up and Howe leapfrogs him. Spud tiltawhirls Howe out then somersaults out onto him. Back in, Spud top-rope splashes Howe for 2 but takes a neckbreaker. Howe comes up empty on a swanton and Spud DDTs him for the pin.

In the back, Tony Gunn & "Triple R Superstar" Randy Royal have watched all this. Apparently Royal is going to challenge Spud for the title next week as Gunn states that "we're going to win the TV title". the fun is interrupted by "The Great" Cliff Compton (still carrying the retired belt) who says that HE will have a rematch with Spud next week and once again become OUR OVW Multimedia TV Champion! Compton says it will be so exciting that Royal will have another heart attack!

Match #5: Crimson (w/The Coalition) vs OUR OVW Champion Doug Williams

Bell rings but before we get any action, out comes Jamin Olivencia in street clothes followed by Ashcraft and Hayes (who is sporting a bow tie). Jamin has some breaking news for Williams then turns the mic over to Hayes. According to Hayes, there is good news and great news for Williams: the good-that this match isn't going to happen, and the "great"-since Williams did such a good job explaining the rules a few weeks ago when he got the OVW Board of Directors to overturn his title loss to Jamin that Hayes applied the same rules here. After Ashcraft affirms that Williams did indeed physically assault him last week, Hayes rules that Crimson should have been disqualified, making Jamin the winner of the match and number one contender! Williams storms off as Crimson gets all up in Hayes' face and demands to know why he changed the decision. Jamin steps in but Crimson shoves him. Jamin spears Crimson but gets bum rushed by the Coalition. OUR OVW Tag Team Champions "New School Gut Checkers" (Alex Silva & Sam Shaw) hit the ring to help Jamin out, quickly followed by "Welsh Colossus" Rob Terry, Gunn, and Royal. Mucho brawling occurs as the show goes off.

THOUGHTS: I'll admit it, I spent the first 53 minutes wondering where Michael Hayes was. I enjoyed seeing Williams getting the tables turned on him and also the Coalition getting some collateral damage. Liked Danger motivating Diamond, it was nice to see some sort of positive acknowledgement from Epiphany. Perhaps the ongoing Switchblade/Godderz feud may survive a nuclear war? Can't wait for Brittany's revenge on Paredyse while the Mobile Homers wonder what the heck is going on, lol. Have mixed feeling about Spud, no mic work, he just showed up and won the TV title but he has no comments or anything? I guess "love square" might be more appropriate, because when I hear "love box" I recall reading letters to Penthouse! Nothing has been set in stone for Saturday Night Special. Anyway, I found this show quite entertaining, so it's another thumbs up.

Source: http://www.gwhnews.com/2013/03/ohio-valley-wrestling-episode-710-recap.html

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Safety issues threaten Hoag funding - The Orange County Register

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Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hospital-501987-hoag-institute.html

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US launches new batch of graphic anti-smoking ads

NEW YORK (AP) ? Government health officials launched the second round of a graphic ad campaign Thursday that is designed to get smokers off tobacco, saying they believe the last effort convinced tens of thousands to quit.

The ads feature sad, real-life stories: There is Terrie, a North Carolina woman who lost her voice box. Bill, a diabetic smoker from Michigan who lost his leg. And Aden, a 7-year-old boy from New York, who has asthma attacks from secondhand smoke.

"Most smokers want to quit. These ads encourage them to try," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC campaign cost $48 million and includes TV, radio and online spots as well as print ads and billboards.

The spending comes as the agency is facing a tough budget squeeze, but officials say the ads should more than pay for themselves by averting future medical costs to society. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. It's responsible for the majority of the nation's lung cancer deaths and is a deadly factor in heart attacks and a variety of other illnesses.

Last year's similar $54 million campaign was the agency's first and largest national advertising effort. The government deemed it a success: That campaign triggered an increase of 200,000 calls to quit lines. The CDC believes that likely prompted tens of thousands of smokers to quit based on calculations that a certain percentage of callers do actually stop.

Like last year, the current 16-week campaign spotlights real people who were hurt and disfigured by smoking. Terrie Hall, a 52-year-old throat cancer survivor makes a repeat performance. She had her voice box removed about a dozen years ago.

In last year's ad there's a photo of her as a youthful high school cheerleader. Then she is seen more recently putting on a wig, inserting false teeth and covering the hole in her neck with a scarf. It was, by far, the campaign's most popular spot, as judged by YouTube viewings and Web clicks.

In a new ad, Hall addresses the camera, speaking with the buzzing sound of her electrolarynx. She advises smokers to make a video of themselves now, reading a children's book or singing a lullaby. "I wish I had. The only voice my grandson's ever heard is this one," her electric voice growls.

One difference from last year: The new campaign tilts more toward the impact smokers have on others. One ad features a Kentucky high school student who suffers asthma attacks from being around cigarette smoke. Another has a Louisiana woman who was 16 when her mother died from smoking-related causes.

The return of the campaign is already being applauded by some anti-smoking advocates, who say tobacco companies spend more on tobacco product promotion in a week than the CDC spends in a year.

After decades of decline, the adult smoking rate has stalled at roughly 20 percent in recent years. Advocates say the campaign provides a necessary jolt to a weary public that has been listening to government warnings about the dangers of smoking for nearly 50 years.

"There is an urgent need to continue this campaign," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a statement.

It would seem like a bad time for the CDC to be buying air time ? the agency is facing roughly $300 million in budget cuts as part of the government's sequestration cuts in federal spending. However, the ad money comes not from the CDC's regular budget but from a special $1 billion public health fund set up years ago through the Affordable Care Act. The fund has set aside more than $80 million for CDC smoking prevention work.

Frieden argues that the ads are extremely cost-effective ? spending about $50 million a year to save potentially tens of thousands of lives.

"We're trying to figure out how to have more impact with less resources," he said.

The ads direct people to call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. PlowShare Group, of Stamford, Conn., is again the advertising company that put the ads together.

___

Online:

CDC campaign: http://www.cdc.gov/tips

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-launches-batch-graphic-anti-smoking-ads-145519262.html

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Under Amazon's Wing, Goodreads Plans Closer Integration While Retaining Its Indie Status

Following this afternoon's announcement that Amazon has agreed to acquire Goodreads, I had a few minutes to talk to the Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler and Amazon VP of Kindle Content Russ Grandinetti. They stayed pretty vague about the two things I was most curious about ? how the deal came together, and the specifics of the planned Kindle/Goodreads integrations ? but they did drop a few hints about future plans. Chandler (pictured here with his co-founder and wife Elizabeth) said that Kindle integration has been a popular request among Goodreads users, and Grandinetti said he wants to make it "super easy" to have a social experience on the Kindle device and apps. As for what that will look like, he said, "We prefer to talk about features when we ship."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5A82gAbukuE/

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Cowboys, Romo agree on 6-year, $108M extension

File- This Dec. 30, 2012 file photo shows Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) throwing a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md. Romo and the Cowboys have agreed on a six-year contract extension worth $108 million, with about half of that guaranteed. The agreement was reported on the team?s website Friday March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

File- This Dec. 30, 2012 file photo shows Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) throwing a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md. Romo and the Cowboys have agreed on a six-year contract extension worth $108 million, with about half of that guaranteed. The agreement was reported on the team?s website Friday March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

File- This Dec. 30, 2012 file photo shows Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) standing during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md. Romo and the Cowboys have agreed on a six-year contract extension worth $108 million, with about half of that guaranteed. The agreement was reported on the team?s website Friday March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ? Tony Romo has a chance to start for the Dallas Cowboys longer than Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman. The question is whether he will ever match their Super Bowl pedigrees.

Romo signed a six-year contract extension worth $108 million Friday, with about half of that guaranteed to make him the highest-paid player in franchise history.

The agreement, reported on the team's website, will lower the quarterback's salary cap number for 2013 by about $5 million, giving the team more room to sign free agents and draft picks.

Romo, who turns 33 next month and was entering the final year of his contract, gets $55 million guaranteed.

Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco got $52 million guaranteed in the six-year, $120.6 million contract he signed with Baltimore earlier this month.

"I think it's just exciting more than anything that you know you're going to be here the rest of my career," Romo said in a video on the team's website that showed owner Jerry Jones exchanging high-fives with Romo's nearly 1-year-old son. "We're a team on the rise and I think it's going to show here going forward."

Romo could be with Dallas through 2019, giving him a chance to be the starter longer than the 11 seasons of Aikman and seven of Staubach, who was a part-time starter his first four years with the Cowboys.

Aikman and Staubach won five Super Bowls between them, while Romo has just one playoff win in six full seasons as the starter. He had a gut-wrenching playoff loss the year he took over midseason in 2006, flubbing the hold after driving the Cowboys into position for the go-ahead field goal in the final minutes.

Romo alluded to changes "behind the scenes" in the interview on the team's website, and Jones said in a statement that his quarterback will have "a significant level of input and contribution to the planning and implementing of our offensive approach ? both in the meeting room and on the field."

"Tony is uniquely qualified to lead this team at the quarterback position for the next several years," Jones said. "He knows how to run an offense and run a team."

Romo lost playoff-or-bust games in regular-season finales the past two years. That included a loss to Washington last season when Romo threw an interception with a chance to tie or win the game with a drive in the final 3 minutes.

A former Romo rival, Donovan McNabb, questioned the deal on Twitter.

"Wow really, with one playoff win," McNabb wrote. "You got to be kidding me."

Dez Bryant, who teamed with Romo for career highs of 1,382 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2012, tweeted, "Congrats Big Tony on the contract extension."

Romo is the franchise leader in touchdown passes and the single-season leader in touchdowns, passing yards, completions and attempts. He had a career-high 4,903 passing yards in 2012 but matched his highest interception total at 19 and had his lowest quarterback rating at 90.5 rating.

His best rating of 102.5 came in 2011, when the Cowboys lost to the New York Giants with a playoff berth on the line in the finale. His other best season was 2009, which included his only playoff win against Philadelphia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-29-FBN-Cowboys-Romo-Contract/id-0d948ef91e96446db0b36aabac808672

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Vettel of Red Bull wins Malaysian GP

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia, left, lifts his runner-up trophy while his teammate and the winner Sebastian Vettel of Germany applauds during the awarding ceremony for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, March 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia, left, lifts his runner-up trophy while his teammate and the winner Sebastian Vettel of Germany applauds during the awarding ceremony for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, March 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, right, and teammate Mark Webber of Australia spray champagne after the awarding ceremony for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Vettel won the race and Webber finished second. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, left, sprays champagne to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton of Britain after the awarding ceremony for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Vettel won the race and Hamilton finished third. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain goes off the track during the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, March 24, 2013. (AP Photo)

Formila One drivers, from left, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel of Germany, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso of Spain, Ferrari's Felipe Massa of Brazil and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton of Britain race side by side during the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, March 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) ? Sebastian Vettel's 27th victory in Formula One didn't earn him a lot of admiration. He even had to apologize for it.

The three-time defending champion ignored team orders Sunday and overtook fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber toward the end to win the Malaysian Grand Prix, having been told to stand down and cruise to a 1-2 finish.

The German's move left Webber fuming and had team officials remonstrating Vettel publicly after the race. Vettel apologized, but said he didn't realize he had been told to hold back.

"Mark should have won," said Vettel, who now leads the championship standings by nine points ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. "I made a big mistake today and we should have stayed in the position. I messed up in that situation and took the lead from Mark and can see now he is upset. Apologies to Mark. The result is there and all I can say is that I didn't do it deliberately."

Webber refused to acknowledge his teammate after the race, and said he had been told by the team to keep a slower pace to save the tires to the end.

"Seb made his own decisions and he will have protection as usual and that's the way it goes," Webber said. "It's still very raw at the moment."

Asked if the fight had him reconsidering his role at Red Bull, Webber said he had "a lot of things going through my mind."

Vettel's decision to ignore team orders was made extra glaring by the fight for third place between Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. In a similar situation, Rosberg was told repeatedly not to pass Hamilton, and obeyed ? giving the Briton his first podium finish with his new team.

"I don't feel spectacular sitting here. Nico deserved to be where I am right now," Hamilton said. "Obviously, the team thought for position in the championship it was logical to stay in the position we are in. I say congratulations to Nico. He drove a much smarter and controlled race than I did."

Vettel started from pole but Webber grabbed the lead on the ninth lap and stayed in front for much of the race. Vettel had complained over the team radio earlier that "Mark is too slow" and that they should let him pass. The team response was for the German to be "patient."

He clearly ran out of patience on the 46th lap, making an aggressive move with the cars almost touching as the German grabbed the lead ? with team officials immediately calling him "silly" over the radio.

Team Principal Christian Horner said Vettel's decision made for a "hugely uncomfortable" situation within the team.

"It's frustrating. Formula One is both a team and an individual sport and sometimes there is a conflict between a driver's desire and a team's interest," Horner said. "What happened today is something that shouldn't have happened. It's something that Sebastian has apologized for and it's something that we will discuss internally as a team."

The incident brought back memories of the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix, when Webber was also leading ahead of Vettel. That time, the two cars crashed when Vettel tried to overtake, spoiling what was a near-certain 1-2 finish.

"Let's be honest here. There has never been a great deal of trust between the two of them since Turkey in (2010) but there is a respect," Horner said. "If you think of Brazil (in 2012), Mark was told to hold his position and started racing him. They are race drivers and they will push to the limit. That is part of what their DNA is that is part of why we signed them to do the job, and why they performed so well for us as a pairing over the past five years."

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn had more success with his orders, after imploring Rosberg to back off from Hamilton who was struggling to make his fuel last. Brawn told Rosberg that "I want to bring these cars home," and the German complied. As Brawn congratulated him over the radio, Rosberg told him to "remember this one.'

Rosberg called it a "great day" for the team but acknowledged that the finish was not ideal.

"Of course, it was disappointing for me having to hold position but I understand the team's decision to safeguard our positions and to make sure that both cars got to the end with a strong team finish, especially in light of the tough times behind us," he said.

Hamilton earlier endured an embarrassing moment when he drove into his former team McLaren's pits before correcting himself and heading to Mercedes, which he joined ahead of this season.

The finish to the race could also cause grumblings from fans, who prefer to see the drivers duel it out for the win rather than having team orders decide the result.

"You know, it's not perfect," Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team executive director, said. "From the sporting point of view, it's not what people want to see, nor what I want to see. But sometimes you have to make a call and you have to make decision and Ross did that to bring home third and fourth."

It was a disastrous day for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who crashed out of the race on the second lap after damaging his front wing when he bumped Vettel a lap earlier. His teammate Felipe Massa started poorly but managed to finish fifth.

"Bad luck today, as always over 19 races will be compensated and we are ready to recover good points in the next race," Alonso tweeted.

McLaren's troubles also continued, as a botched pit stop dropped 2009 champion Jenson Button to 14th. The Briton then retired with two laps remaining while his teammate, Sergio Perez, finished ninth.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-24-CAR-F1-Malaysian-GP/id-159587065ec745d79cd1dd46d04af814

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KC fights violent crime with carrot-stick program

In this Wednesday, March 6, 2013 photo, Capt. Joe McHale, left, and University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Andrew Fox look through charts in the Jackson County Prosecutors office in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas City leaders think a new law enforcement approach that offers incentives for convicted and would-be criminals to change their ways can help lower a local murder rate five times higher than the national average. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

In this Wednesday, March 6, 2013 photo, Capt. Joe McHale, left, and University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Andrew Fox look through charts in the Jackson County Prosecutors office in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas City leaders think a new law enforcement approach that offers incentives for convicted and would-be criminals to change their ways can help lower a local murder rate five times higher than the national average. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

In this Wednesday, March 6, 2013 photo, Capt. Joe McHale, left, and University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Andrew Fox look through charts in the Jackson County Prosecutors office in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas City leaders think a new law enforcement approach that offers incentives for convicted and would-be criminals to change their ways can help lower a local murder rate five times higher than the national average. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? Despite decades of initiatives to stem violent crime, Kansas City residents continue killing each other at a rate five times higher than the national average, prompting officials in this Midwest city best known for barbecue and jazz to turn to an alternative law enforcement approach that offers incentives to convicted and would-be criminals to change their ways.

Zero-tolerance policies haven't worked, police say, and there's little evidence that public awareness rituals or anti-violence coalitions have had any impact on an annual murder count that has been below 100 only nine times in the last 44 years.

But local leaders think their newest assault on violent crime ? patterned after a "focused deterrence" model created in Boston in the mid-1990s and refined over the years by cities like Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Los Angeles ? might finally change things.

"It's the first time I've felt this kind of energy when doing something like this," said Darryl Forte, Kansas City's first black police chief and a lifelong resident of the city. "I'm confident this will have an impact."

Kansas City's effort, dubbed the "No Violence Alliance," or NoVA, was created more than a year ago, soon after Forte's promotion to chief. The U.S. attorney's office, county prosecutor and law enforcement authorities are on board, as are the University of Missouri-Kansas City and various social services agencies.

Focused deterrence is a carrot-and-stick approach in which members of a criminal network ? even those on the fringes who haven't yet committed serious crimes ? are identified and sought out by police who want them to know their actions can have unintended consequences for others in their cliques.

Sometime soon, about 80 criminals on probation or parole will be brought together in groups of 20 to meet with prosecutors and law enforcement agents who will explain the ramifications of the new program.

Those who want to pull away from criminal affiliations will be offered social services to help them do so. Prosecutors will be sending a strong message to the others that authorities know who they are, what they've done, and that they will be held accountable if anyone in their network commits a violent crime.

"For those on the bubble, a lot of them want to do what's right," Forte said.

The focused deterrence approach has been successful in other cities, according to a study released early last year. Researchers with the Campbell Collaboration, an international research network, reported that nine of 10 Ceasefire-like programs they studied experienced "strong and statistically significant crime reductions associated with the approach."

A U.S. Justice Department evaluation of Boston's Ceasefire program found a "63 percent reduction in the monthly count of youth homicides, a 25 percent reduction in the monthly count of citywide gun assault incidents, a 32 percent reduction in the monthly count of citywide shots-fired calls for service, and a 44 percent reduction in the monthly count of youth gun assaults in selected high-risk districts."

David Kennedy, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who helped develop Boston's program, said interest in focused deterrence has risen sharply in recent years in cities that have found typical arrest-and-detain approaches aren't working.

"It wasn't that long ago when you couldn't get anyone to take this stuff seriously at all," he said.

NoVA flexed its muscles in January when Kansas City police focused on a network of about 360 people, including homicide suspects, known drug dealers, prostitutes and juveniles, all linked to each other through a computer model created by assistant UMKC criminal justice professor Andrew Fox.

Using information officers obtained from people on the streets, during traffic stops, at crime scenes or during what police call "knock and talks" in which an officer makes a cold call to a person's home solely to make contact, Fox is connecting the dots between hard-core criminals, those who associate with them, and even those who associate with the associates.

Using that data, NoVA manager Capt. Joe McHale said officers knocked on about 100 doors over a day-and-a-half, with priority given to those with outstanding warrants. Many of the contacts were made simply to let suspected criminals know they're being watched, he said.

"The whole purpose of that demonstration was to show what our capabilities are," said McHale, a former Police Department SWAT team leader.

The effort resulted in the arrests of 17 people, including suspects in at least two homicides, and cleared 49 outstanding warrants.

Last year, 108 people were victims of homicide in Kansas City, six fewer than the 114 murdered in 2011 when the city's homicide rate of 23 per 100,000 residents was nearly five times higher than the national rate of 4.7 per 100,000.

As of March 20, there were 21 homicides in the city this year, three less than at this time a year ago.

Pat Clarke, an outreach liaison for the police department, said it's critical that NoVA's message is communicated by people who have suffered through the same problems plaguing other inner-city residents.

A frequent speaker at Kansas City schools, Clarke said his own experiences selling drugs and committing other crimes as a young man decades ago ? in addition to his stories about being raised by an abusively strict mother and a father who was rarely around ? give him credibility with young people who are going through the same things.

"When they finish school, there ain't no dinner," he said. "That's why a lot of kids are out selling drugs. They are trying to take care of the other four, other five kids. A lot of them are out there because they feel like they have to be. I know because I've been there."

He said many young offenders will benefit from the social services aspect of NoVA, while the program will have little impact on others.

"Some of these kids you're just not going to save," he said. "They've got it in their mind they're gonna commit murder, they're going to commit a crime, and that's that."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-23-Fighting%20Violent%20Crime/id-6b59ca24c2444b7eafd5aab3fa437b6f

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The Senate's Punchy, All-Night Budget Vote-A-Rama

The Senate?s vote-a-rama began shortly before 4 p.m., as former pre-school teacher Patty Murray warned her senatorial pupils about wandering off the floor.

?You leave at your own peril,? she said, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and master of these ceremonies.

Plenty wandered off anyway. The marathon voting session came, after all, on the eve of a two-week congressional recess and in the midst of the second night of March Madness basketball.

Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader who has mercilessly chastised Democrats for failing to put a budget on the floor for four years, admitted to splitting his attention between the floor proceedings and his home-state Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. ?Sen. McConnell cheering on #WKU from the U.S. Capitol tonight in between #budget votes. #GoTopps!? his office tweeted during the game. (They lost 57-64 to No. 1-ranked Kansas.)

Senators? shoulders slumped, tempers flared and Harry Potter even made a cameo in the congressional record as the voting dragged into the early Saturday hours.

As each roll call vote was taken, senators streamed from the sanctuary of their separate cloakrooms to cast votes for nonbinding budget amendments that ranged from the Keystone pipeline (backed by 62 senators, including 17 Democrats) to a carbon tax (overwhelmingly defeated) to instituting stricter sales tax collections on Internet purchases (it, too, passed).

By 6:30 in the evening, the second floor of the Capitol smelled of barbeque. A buffet was dished out in McConnell?s office, as Republican senators traipsed back and forth from the floor holding paper plates piled high with meat, cornbread, baked beans and salad.

For a while, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., decamped to a quiet hallway off the floor, whipping out her laptop to catch up on work. She was sure to return to the floor as the Senate took up a measure to express the chamber?s displeasure with federal subsidies for ?too big to fail? banks. There was no opposition but members wanted a recorded vote anyway.

It passed 99-0 and clapping erupted -- a big Senate no-no -- in the well of the chamber. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pointed blame at Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri. ?It was Schumer,? McCaskill pleaded innocently. (Both she and Schumer had clapped.)

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, thumbed through an iPad on the floor during one of many recorded tallies, perhaps unaware that one of Senate Republicans? favorite talking points in recent months has been that the iPad didn?t exist the last time Senate Democrats passed a budget.

At least he wasn?t making any noise. The volume on the floor kept steadily growing as Murray asked the chair to restore order. Around 10 p.m., Murray declared, ?I know there is alot of March Madness going on but I?d like to keep calm on the floor.? The chamber quieted briefly before returning to the mood and noise level of a cocktail party, befitting the late Friday night hour.

Even the leaders of the Senate budget warring -- Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Murray -- stood together and laughed, at times. Just weeks earlier, Sessions had accused Murray of insinuating that he disliked poor people during a budget ?hearing related to welfare and food stamps.

Gillibrand was spotted showing off Friday?s New York Times, which featured a front-page story about the growing clout of women in the Senate. She flipped and pointed her colleagues to the story?s jump page, which just so happened to feature a prominent color photo of her. Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sat in his chair, reading a hardcover book in his newish black-framed hipster glasses.

Around 11 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came to the floor to praise the evening?s progress. ?We?re doing fine,? he said. ?We?re not at carnival stage yet. Let?s proceed and try to reach this with a lot of dignity.?

None of these late-night votes had any chance of making it into law. Instead, this marathon session was all about setting policy precedents and scoring political points ahead of the 2014 mid-term elections, when the Republicans hope to take back the Senate.

Senators loosened further as the clock ticked past midnight. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, rose to oppose an amendment that defunded, in some way, a part of the president?s health care law, likening the GOP effort to tossing ?Harry Potter?s invisibility cloak? over the legislation. The amendment, one of multiple attempts to chip away at the health care?law during the vote-a-rama, failed by a voice vote.

Good humor was in shorter-supply around 1:30 a.m., as Republicans continued to demand more votes. ?Reid pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes during one exchange between Murray and Sessions. Murray pleaded with Republicans to consider the Senate?s ?elderly? members.

The amendments continued unabated.

By 3 a.m., Reid and Murry demanded that senators, like unruly schoolchildren, stay seated in their desks to speed up the process.

Republicans obliged, happy to be having their say on the floor, no matter the time.

?I?m glad we?re voting,? Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had said a few hours earlier. ?It?s what the Senate should be doing every day.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senates-punchy-night-budget-vote-rama-044418332--politics.html

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State of emergency declared in Myanmar town

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar (AP) ? Mobs set fire to Muslim homes and mosques in frenzied sectarian rioting in a town in central Myanmar, leaving at least 20 people dead and more than 6,000 homeless amid growing fears Friday that the latest bout of Muslim-Buddhist bloodshed could spread.

In an acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation, President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in Meikhtila in an announcement broadcast on state television Friday afternoon. The declaration allows the military to take over administrative functions in and around the town.

The government's struggle to contain the unrest is proving another major challenge for Thein Sein's reformist administration as it attempts to chart a path to democracy after nearly half a century of military rule that once crushed all dissent.

The scenes in Meikhtila, where homes and at least five mosques have been torched by angry mobs, were reminiscent of sectarian violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya that shook western Rakhine state last year, killing hundreds of people and driving more than 100,000 from their homes.

The clashes in Meikhtila ? which was tense but calm Friday ? are the first reported in central Myanmar since then.

Troubles began Wednesday after an argument broke out between a Muslim gold shop owner and his Buddhist customers. A Buddhist monk was among the first killed, inflaming tensions that led a Buddhist mob to rampage through a Muslim neighborhood.

Violence continued Thursday, and by Friday, Win Htein, a local lawmaker from the opposition National League for Democracy, said he had counted at least 20 bodies. He said 1,200 Muslim families ? at least 6,000 people ? have fled their homes and taken refuge at a stadium and a police station.

On Friday, police seized knives, swords, hammers and sticks from young men in the streets and detained scores of looters.

Fires set to Muslim homes continued to burn, but angry Buddhist residents and monks prevented authorities from putting out the blazes.

It was difficult to determine the extent of destruction in the town because residents were too afraid to walk the streets and were sheltering in monasteries or other locations away from the violence.

"We don't feel safe and we have now moved inside a monastery," said Sein Shwe, a shop owner. "The situation is unpredictable and dangerous."

Some monks accosted and threatened journalists trying to cover the unrest, at one point trying to drag a group of several out of a van. One monk, whose faced was covered, shoved a foot-long dagger at the neck of an Associated Press photographer and demanded his camera. The photographer defused the situation by handing over his camera's memory card.

The group of nine journalists took refuge in a monastery and stayed there until a police unit was able to escort them to safety.

The U.N. secretary-general's special adviser to Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, issued a statement expressing "deep sorrow at the tragic loss of lives and destruction."

He said religious and community leaders to must "publicly call on their followers to abjure violence, respect the law and promote peace."

The U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, also said he was "deeply concerned about reports of violence and widespread property damage in Meikhtila."

Meikhtila is about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of the main city of Yangon with a population of about 100,000 people, of which about a third are Muslims, Win Htein said. He said before this week's violence there were 17 mosques.

There was no apparent direct connection between the Meikhtila violence and that last year in Rakhine state. Rakhine Buddhists allege that Rohingya are mostly illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. The Muslim population of Meikhtila is believed to be mostly of Indian origin, and although religious tensions are longstanding, the incident sparking the violence seemed to be a small and isolated dispute.

Occasional isolated violence involving Myanmar's majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities has occurred for decades.

Under the military governments that ruled Myanmar from 1962 until 2011, ethnic and religious unrest was typically hushed up, an approach made easier in pre-Internet days, when there was a state monopoly on daily newspapers, radio and television, backed by tough censorship of other media.

But since an elected, though still military-backed, government took power in 2011, people have been using the Internet and social media in increasing numbers, and the press has been unshackled, with censorship mostly dropped and privately owned daily newspapers expected to hit the streets in the next few months.

The government of Thein Sein is constrained from using open force to quell unrest because it needs foreign approval in order to woo aid and investment. The previous military junta had no such compunctions about using force, and was ostracized by the international community for its human rights abuses.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/state-emergency-declared-myanmar-town-101831449.html

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CSN: Ex-Raven Reed finalizes deal with Texans

"It was just about about being somewhere that fits."

Ed Reed was all smiles when he talked about what he was looking for when he entered free agency. He found his landing spot in Houston, signing a three year contract with the Texans. The safety had spent all 11 years in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens before agreeing to join Houston, and Texans owner Bob McNair said it couldn't have come at a better time.

"We play against the best QBs (this year)," McNair said. "We are going against Manning, we're going against Brady, all those guys."

Reed said he's been aware of the Texans defense under Wade Phillips for the last two years and doesn't see an issue fitting in.

"I don't think it's going to be hard at all to fit in," Reed said.

Source: http://www.csnhouston.com/football-houston-texans/talk/reed-takes-his-talents-reliant

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GAYTWOGETHER: Gay Relationships: Fantasies And Fun Sex

Jack and Matt are both buttoned-down businessmen and have been together for ten years. They?ve been inseparable since Jack picked Matt up one night after cruising him for hours at the dance bar they frequent. The seduction was hot: eye contact led to physical contact, then making out in a dark corner before heading to John?s apartment. It was such a trigger for them that they recreate it several times a year.

One of them gets to the club and buys a drink and waits. The other arrives soon after.The y begin a seduction in full view of the other patrons of the bar. They get all over one another, enjoying the attention they attract ? who have no idea that this game is one these guys have been acting out for years. These guys have found that erotic games and role-playing can be great ways to juice up their sex life.

We all play roles. A role is a just pattern of behavior we act out in exchanges with others. Roles involve playing parts or conducting yourself in certain ways. We do this all the time at work, with relatives and in other situations ? usually without even thinking about it. Sometimes, though, roles are conscious. We chose a role because we have found it turns us on, or it turns on our partners.

We gay men take sex so seriously that a guy?s status as a top or a bottom can seem like a defining characteristic. That can be liberating if it means that we recognize what turns us on, but it can also be suffocating. Who says a guy who mostly plays top never wants his butt tempted? Why do some bottoms feel like the top always has to make the first move? Going against type can be a big turn on and a great way to making sex boring.

Going against type can be exciting in other ways, too. Lots of guys who are aggressive decision makers at the office want someone else to call the shots in bed. Richard is a partner in a successful law firm, and you wouldn?t want to mess with him in the courtroom. In the bedroom, however, Richard is much more likely to be tied up and on his knees. He?s at his most aroused when he?s bound and gagged and looking up at the guy who is going to manhandle him this evening.

Who?s doing the manhandling? Meet Jeff, a nurse who is kindhearted and gentle while caring for patients at the hospital where he works. His bedside manner with this boyfriend is very different. Jeff is an aggressive and selfish sex pig, and Richard couldn?t be happier.

It?s hard to say why something turns us on. Maybe we?ve forgotten the gym teacher who turned us on when we were going through puberty, but wearing jockstraps still gets us going. Or someone asked us to go along with his fantasy one time, and we discovered we were pretty good at it. Or maybe it?s simply a way of balancing out the serious and responsible parts of ourselves with a role that feels out of character. No need to dissect it; maybe it?s enough to know that we want it.?

Exploring fantasies does take a bit of guts. Joe is certainly not a shy guy, but he?s easily embarrassed when it comes to talking sex. ?Talking about my fantasies isn?t easy,? he said. ?For one thing, the other guy might get critical. It makes me feel exposed ? like he?ll have something on me if I tell him what turns me on.? He realized this made little sense; how was he supposed to get his needs met if he didn?t let his partner know what turned him on? ?I took a chance with Barry and asked him about tying me up. Nothing too kinky, but being tied and blindfolded has always been a fantasy.

?You know what happened?? he went on. ?He told me his fantasies, too. It was f*cking hot. We decided to make the weekend ?Let?s Make Our Fantasies Real? weekend. Barry got totally turned on, we got closer as a couple, and I haven?t cum like that in at least three years!?

Some fantasies are variations on what you?re already doing ? just a change of costume, say. Other fantasies involve a bit more risk. A desire for sex outdoors isn?t unusual, but unless you are sure you?re in a private place, you run some risk if you?re not careful.

If your fantasies are a bit wilder, remember to be careful. Safe, sane and consensual are the bywords of the leather community, and they apply to other folks as well. Protect your physical safety. Don?t take stupid risks. And don?t violate anyone else, either.

Take a look at the roles you play as a lover. Are you always the aggressive guy, or do you wait for the other man to make the first move? Are you quiet and reserved in the sack, or do people all over the neighborhood know when you?ve gotten laid? What would happen if you tried something different next time?

Roles can be great fun as long as we don?t take them too seriously. If a role starts to seem like part of our identity ? and you can?t imagine doing anything outside of your routine ? you may be well on your way to sexual boredom.

Check out how willing you are to try new things, or to talk about turn-ons with a prospective partner. Being open to suggestions helps turns sex into a creative act.

Single guys who always cruise the same bar in the same way are well on their way to getting stuck in a rut. So are couples where each person is sure he knows exactly what the lovemaking will look like before it even starts.

Remember: As long as you aren?t laughing at the other guy, giggling is OK. Giggles may become moans and sighs the second time around.

John R. Ballew, M.S. an author and contributor to GAYTWOGETHER, is a licensed professional counselor in private practice in Atlanta. He specializes in issues related to coming out, sexuality, relationships and spirituality. If you have any questions or comments you can submit them directly to GAYTWOGETHER or John R. Ballew, M.S. - www.bodymindsoul.org.

Source: http://gaytwogether.typepad.com/gaytwogether/2013/03/gay-relationships-fantasies-and-fun-sex.html

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Study offers new way to discover HIV vaccine targets | Science ...

Decades of research and three large-scale clinical trials have so far failed to yield an effective HIV vaccine, in large part because the virus evolves so rapidly that it can evade any vaccine-induced immune response.

Researchers from the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard University have now developed a new approach to vaccine design that may allow them to cut off those evolutionary escape routes. The researchers have developed and experimentally validated a computational method that can analyze viral protein sequences to determine how well different viral strains can reproduce in the body. That knowledge gives researchers an unprecedented guide for identifying viral vulnerabilities that could be exploited to design successful vaccine targets.

The team, led by Arup Chakraborty, the Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics and Biological Engineering at MIT, has designed protein fragments (peptides) that would target these weaknesses. Ragon Institute researchers are now developing ways to deliver the peptides so they can be tested in animals.

?We think that, if it continues to be validated against laboratory and clinical data, this method could be quite useful for rational design of the active component of a vaccine for diverse viruses. Furthermore, if delivered properly, the peptides we have designed may be able to mount potent responses against HIV across a population,? says Chakraborty, who is also the director of MIT?s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science.

Chakraborty and his colleagues describe their findings in the March 21 issue of the journal Immunity. Lead author of the paper is Andrew Ferguson, a former postdoc in Chakraborty?s lab who is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Other authors are Bruce Walker, director of the Ragon Institute and a professor at Harvard Medical School; Thumbi Ndung?u of the Ragon Institute and the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute in South Africa; and Jaclyn Mann and Saleha Omarjee of the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute.

?This work stems from the novel approach to science that is the central mission of the Ragon Institute: to draw researchers from diverse scientific disciplines to catalyze new advances, the ultimate mission being to harness the immune system to prevent and cure human diseases,? Walker says.

Typically when a vaccine for a disease such as smallpox or polio is given, exposure to viral fragments primes the body?s immune system to respond powerfully if it encounters the real virus. With HIV, it appears that when immune cells in a vaccinated person attack viral peptides that they recognize, the virus quickly mutates its protein sequences so immune cells no longer recognize them.

To overcome this, scientists have tried analyzing viral proteins to find amino acids that don?t often mutate, which would suggest that they are critical to the virus?s survival. However, this approach ignores the fact that mutations elsewhere in the protein can compensate when those seemingly critical amino acids are forced to evolve, Chakraborty says.

The Ragon Institute team focused on defining how the virus?s ability to survive depends on the sequences of its proteins, if they have multiple mutations. This knowledge could enable identification of combinations of amino acid mutations that are harmful to the virus. Vaccines that target those amino acids would force the virus to make mutations that weaken it.

With existing HIV protein sequence data as input, the researchers created a computer model that can predict the fitness of any possible sequence, enabling prediction of how specific mutations would affect the virus.

In this paper, the researchers focused on an HIV polyprotein called Gag, which is made up of several proteins that together are 500 amino acids long. The proteins derived from Gag are important structural elements of the virus. For example, a protein called p24 makes up the capsid that surrounds the virus?s genetic material.

Each position in HIV proteins can be occupied by one of 20 possible amino acids. Sequence data from thousands of different HIV strains contain information on the likelihood of mutations at each position and each pair of positions, as well as for triplets and larger groups. The researchers then developed a computer model based on spin glass models, originally developed in physics, to translate this information into predictions for the prevalence of any mutant.

Using this model, the researchers can enter any possible sequence of Gag proteins and determine how prevalent it will be. That prevalence correlates with the fitness of a virus carrying that particular protein sequence, a relationship that the researchers demonstrated by using the model to predict the fitness of a few dozen Gag protein sequences, and verified by engineering those sequences into HIV viruses and testing their ability to replicate in cells grown in the lab. They also tested their predictions against human clinical data.

The model also allows the researchers to visualize viral fitness using ?fitness landscapes? ? topographical maps that show how fit the virus is for different possible amino-acid sequences for the Gag proteins. In these landscapes, each hill represents sequences that are very fit; valleys represent sequences that are not.

Ideally, vaccine-induced immune responses would target viral proteins in such a way that mutant strains that escape the immune response correspond to the fitness valleys. Thus, the virus would either be destroyed by the immune response or forced to mutate to strains that cannot replicate well and are less able to infect more cells.

This would mimic the immune response mounted by people known as ?elite controllers,? who are exposed to the virus but able to control it without medication. Immune cells in those people target the same peptide sequences that the model predicted would produce the biggest loss of fitness when mutated. ?

This general approach could also be used to identify vaccine targets for other viruses, Chakraborty says.

?The reason we are excited about this is that we now have a method that combines two technologies that are getting cheaper all the time: sequencing and computation,? he says. ?We think that if this continues to be validated, it could become a general method of obtaining the fitness landscapes of viruses, allowing you to do rational design of the active components of vaccines.?

?This work is a great example of how integrating expertise from different scientific disciplines ? in this case physics, computational biology, virology and immunology ? can accelerate progress toward an HIV vaccine,? Walker says.

Science news source:?

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Source: http://www.sciguru.com/newsitem/15861/study-offers-new-way-discover-hiv-vaccine-targets

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Retarus Blog: Optimizing Fax

If you regularly read this blog, you know by now that we?re pretty big on touting the benefits you can get by switching to our cloud fax solution. With that in mind we thought we?d take a moment and re-cap some of the advantages of optimizing your fax messaging by switching to Retarus.

With the increased desire to grow worker productivity, companies are on the hunt for ways to optimize every aspect of business communications. Cloud faxing for the enterprise can allow each employee to have their own fax number. Faxes come into their individual email inboxes. It can also enable them to tag, comment on, route and use OCR (optical character recognition) to turn ordinary inbound electronic faxes from plain PDF?s to data rich documents. You can extract items like zip codes, orders, customer numbers and almost any other information, allowing you to add extra value to stored information. ?In addition to text recognition, our OCR feature can read barcodes. By using cloud fax, you also benefit by not having to deal with capacity problems or other issues surrounding fax and aging faxservers such as redundancy, security, and maintenance of hardware or software. Documents are encrypted and delivery is supported by our worldwide network of servers, designed to ensure smooth, on-time delivery no matter what challenges are thrown at it. Our more than 3,500 customers really do trust us; but that could be because we offer them total transparency to delivery and service reports. They know exactly when and where their documents have been delivered or received. It may also be because of the incredible service we offer of problem-free delivery. Seventy two hours and we?ll have you up and running, sending and receiving documents with ease. We also have experts ready to assist you at every turn in case you have any questions. Thirty days to decide if you love us as much as we know you will. But if you don?t agree, no worries, that?s why we offer our money back guarantee. At Retarus we believe that optimizing your messaging is our mission in life. Call today and ask us how we can solve your messaging challenges. We can be reached at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com.

Source: http://www.retarusblog.com/2013/03/optimizing-fax.html

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Obama ending Israel visit with symbolic stops (The Arizona Republic)

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CA-NEWS Summary

Cyprus seeks Russian rescue, EU threatens cutoff

NICOSIA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Cyprus pleaded for a new loan from Russia on Wednesday to avert a financial meltdown, after the island's parliament rejected the terms of a bailout from the EU, raising the risk of default and a bank crash. Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris said he had not reached a deal at a first meeting with his Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov in Moscow, but talks there would continue.

Obama arrives in Israel, vows undying U.S. support

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Making his first official visit to Israel, President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday unwavering commitment to the security of the Jewish State where concern over a nuclear-armed Iran has clouded U.S.-Israeli relations. He also stressed the need for Middle East peace at the start of a three-day trip, which is aimed at resetting strained relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians, but is not expected to provide new initiatives or substantial policy moves.

U.S. ambassador to Syria: no evidence to back chemical weapons report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, said on Wednesday there is so far no evidence to back reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria on Tuesday. "So far, we have no evidence which substantiates the reports that chemical weapons were used yesterday. But I want to underline that we are looking very carefully at these reports," he said in testimony to a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on the crisis in Syria.

North Korea's Kim supervises "drone attack" drill

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised a drone attack on a simulated South Korean target on Wednesday, Pyongyang's KCNA news agency reported, and the armed forces shot down a target mimicking a cruise missile. North Korea has stepped up its military exercises in response to what it regards as "hostile" joint drills by South Korea and the United States after Pyongyang was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council for a nuclear test in February.

Iraqi tells inquiry of ill-treatment by British troops

LONDON (Reuters) - An Iraqi man told a public inquiry in London on Wednesday that he was beaten, threatened with a metal tent pole and subjected to sleep deprivation by occupying British troops. Madhi Jasim Abdullah Al-Behadili, 26, is the first of nine Iraqi former detainees who will give evidence at the Al-Sweady inquiry into alleged crimes by British troops after the battle of Danny Boy on May 14, 2004.

Venezuela opposition chief mocks Chavez heir as non-entity

CIUDAD BOLIVAR, Venezuela (Reuters) - Fighting an uphill battle in Venezuela's election, opposition leader Henrique Capriles scoffs at acting president and rival Nicolas Maduro as a non-entity riding on the memory of Hugo Chavez to hide his own incompetence. In an interview on his campaign bus on Tuesday, Capriles also accused the late president's chosen heir Maduro of trying to distract voters from real problems with wild claims including a U.S.-based plot to kill the opposition candidate.

Lew's China visit ends with focus on currency, cyber security

BEIJING (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Jack Lew wrapped up a two-day visit to China on Wednesday having reopened dialogue on pressing issues of economic reform but saying more action is needed on China's exchange rate. Lew, in his first international trip since taking office last month, also raised concerns about security issues involving cyber threats and North Korea.

Italian president seeks way out of political stalemate

ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano began consultations with political leaders on Wednesday to try to find a way of forming a government after the deadlocked election last month which left no party with a majority in parliament. Senate speaker Pietro Grasso said after meeting Napolitano the president was determined to reach an accord, saying there was "an absolute necessity to give the country a government".

UK says Syria chemical attack report boosts case to arm rebels

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday reports of a chemical attack in Syria strengthened the case for relaxing a European Union arms embargo on the country, and warned that a failure to do so could lead to the kind of wartime massacres seen in Bosnia. Britain and France are pushing for the EU ban to be eased to allow a flow of arms to outgunned rebels waging a two-year-old uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but several EU countries and Russia oppose the move.

Afghanistan, NATO agree on troops leaving key province

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan and NATO-led forces have reached a deal on foreign troops leaving a key strategic district near Kabul, coalition forces said, but a controversial expulsion order against U.S. special forces from the entire province remained unclear. An Afghan defense ministry spokesman told reporters in Kabul that the elite American force would quit the whole province of Wardak within a few days, despite U.S. concerns that their departure would leave a security vacuum.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000945250.html

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Lawmakers seek to ban trademark for 'Redskins' | The Raw Story

By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 21:38 EDT

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Nine members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday proposed legislation that would prohibit the word ?Redskins? from being trademarked.

The racial slang is used primarily by the Washington Redskins football team and has long been a source of controversy. Native Americans have argued the word is an offensive and demeaning racial epithet.

USA Today reported the bill, introduced by Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), would cancel all existing trademarks for ?Redskins? and prevent the registration of future trademarks. The bill is called the the Non-Disparagement of American Indians in Trademark Registrations Act of 2013.

?The use of the word is hurtful and insulting to our nation?s first inhabitants,? Faleomavaega said in a statement. ?Now is the time to end this injustice.?

A group of Native Americans asked the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel the trademark last month, citing laws against disparaging names. But the judge isn?t expected to issue a ruling for up to a year. The football team has previously won lengthy legal battles over its name.

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[Image via Lee Diehr, Creative Commons licensed]

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Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/20/lawmakers-seek-to-ban-trademark-for-redskins/

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