Iran condemns Arab League for handing seat to opposition

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-condemns-arab-league-handing-seat-opposition-060805762.html

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Cyprus banks hire security guards for reopening

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus has imposed limits on money transfers and hired extra security guards as it prepares for the planned reopening Thursday of its banks, which have been closed for almost two weeks to avoid a run during the country's financial drama.

A banking official said Wednesday that new controls will include restrictions on large-scale transfers from the country's two largest and most troubled lenders, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, when they reopen Thursday. Both are being restructured and big depositors face losses of as much as 40 percent.

Authorities are looking to increase the daily withdrawal limit from 100 euros to 300 euros (from $130 to $386), while payroll payments will be allowed in order to help businesses, which have taken a huge hit as people cut down on their spending amid the uncertainty swirling about the banks.

The restrictions will be kept for at least a week until the situation stabilizes, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the measures have yet to be officially announced.

Cyprus's banking sector grew to nearly eight times the size of the country's economy, mainly on the back of substiantial deposits from Russia. This sparked accusations that the country was being used by Russian criminals to launder their money. Over the past week the Russian government has criticized Europe's handling of the crisis in Cyprus.

Russian millionaire businessman Andrey Dashin told the Associated Press in an interview that he doesn't believe his fellow countrymen would rush to pull businesses or money out of the country once banks reopen, despite the fact that many will take a hit from a tax on accounts over 100,000 euros in both Bank of Cyprus and Laiki.

"There won't be a substantial Russian run" on Cypriot banks, said Dashin, 37, who runs his currency speculation company ForexTime from a brand-new high-rise in the southern coastal resort of Limassol. Dashin doesn't stand to lose on his deposits which aren't in either of the top two Cypriot banks.

"Russians are much more accustomed to such circumstances, we've had so many crisis in Russia...I don't have the feeling that (Russians) are ready to pull out their business or money out of their country," Dashin said.

But he said Russians want to have a "clear picture" on the kind of capital movement limits that will be imposed so as not to choke off businesses, warning that tight restrictions would be "a sign for businesspeople that their cash is trapped."

Dashin dismissed reports that Cypriot banks were being used to launder dirty Russian cash as unproven rumors and urged Cyprus to bring in internationally respected auditors to clear the air.

Meanwhile, private security firm G4S will dispatch 180 of its staff to all bank branches across the island to keep a lid on any possible trouble, said John Argyrou, managing director of the firm's Cypriot arm.

Cypriot students shout slogans near the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Banks across Cyprus remain firmly padlocked Tuesday after financial authorities extended the... more? Cypriot students shout slogans near the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Banks across Cyprus remain firmly padlocked Tuesday after financial authorities extended the country?s bank closure, fearing worried depositors will rush to drain their accounts. The shut-down is hammering businesses, which have been without access to their funds for more than a week.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) less? "Our presence there will be for the comfort of both bank staff and clients, but police will also be present," he said.

Argyrou said he doesn't foresee any serious trouble unfolding once banks open their doors because people had time to "digest" what has transpired.

"There may be some isolated incidents, but it's in our culture to be civil and patient, so I don't expect anything serious."

Another 120 staff from G4S would be assigned money transportation duties.

Banks were closed on March 16 as politicians scrambled to come up with a plan to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) that would qualify the country for 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in bailout loans from fellow eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund.

Under the deal clinched in Brussels early Monday, Cyprus agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large Laiki and Bank of Cyprus depositors.

Laiki is to be restructured, with its healthy assets going into a "good bank" and its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank," officials have said. The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.

The board of directors of both banks has been fired and administrators appointed to handle the restructuring and absorption, the banking official said.

Bank of Cyprus CEO Yiannis Kypris issued a statement saying the Central Bank governor had asked him verbally Wednesday to resign.

"These are very difficult times for everyone. The Bank of Cyprus was and must remain the basic support of the economy and our society in the effort to deal with the crisis our country is going through," Kypris said. "I hope that the handling of this transition phase will respect the workers, shareholders and customers of the Bank of Cyprus."

Cypriot officials said the deal would mean the country would shift its focus away from being an international center of financial services. That is expected to cost jobs, adding to the unemployment rate which now stands at around 14 percent.

The country's foreign minister said his country almost left the eurozone during last week's bailout talks.

Ioannis Kasoulidis told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview to be published Thursday that dropping the common currency was "a possibility which we seriously considered for a while."

Business leaders and cabinet ministers were meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on Wednesday to find ways to get the economy going again.

To give consumers a break, electricity prices will drop 5.75 percent next month. Over the next couple of weeks, authorities will look into how they can reduce them by another 3 percent, said Commerce Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis.

Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos said his ministry is looking to cut red tape in order to attract foreign investment. He said Chinese investors have shown increasing interest in property sales, adding that a single real estate office has sold some 400 residences to Chinese buyers.

"There has always been interest from foreign investors," said Hasikos. "The question is how we as the government, as Cyprus, can convince all these investors ...that the environment is secure, that whatever happened has now passed and that they can continue securely investing in Cyprus."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-cash-security-control-banks-reopening-130126848--finance.html

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Payleven, The Samwers' Square/PayPal Rival, Ramps Up Security With FSA Authorization, MasterCard mPOS Scheme

There is no single mobile payment company in Europe that has reached the scale and stature that Square has in the U.S., where the Jack Dorsey-led startup processed $1 billion in transactions in 2012. Payleven, one of the many mobile payment startups that want to take that crown on the other side of the pond, is today announcing two more steps in its strategy to convince businesses and consumers to sign on. Payleven, part of the Samwer brothers' Rocket Internet stable, has been authorized as a payment institution by the UK's Financial Services Authority; and it is also now part of MasterCard's mPOS program?-- two moves to improve its credibility as a secure payment provider.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UlvVEhq38tE/

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American Airlines doesn't like little knives and such on airplanes ...

American Airlines asked the Transportation Safety Administration on Tuesday to reconsider the TSA decision to allow small knives and other previously banned items onto airline flights.

In a letter to TSA administrator John Pistole, American?s Will Ris said the carrier was voicing its concern over the knives issue.

Wrote Ris, American?s SVP of government and regulator affairs:

?We agree that it is important for the TSA to regularly revisit its rules and regulations, and fully support its frequent review of what is in the best interest of the flying public. The TSA?s guidelines are crucial to the safety of our crews and customers, and we have ? and will ? adhere fully to its policies.

?However, American feels that those guidelines are often most beneficial when we collectively discuss and review any proposed alterations that will affect our crewmembers and customers. In this particular case, we believe input from airlines, as well as the men and women who fly and serve the aircraft, would have been valuable to help determine the most useful and appropriate revisions.

?The safety of our people and our customers is paramount and we will continue to support policies that keep the airspace safe, and allow customers to move through the screening and security process as quickly and safely as possible. But we encourage the TSA to reassess its proposed revisions to the prohibited items list, scheduled to take effect April 25, to ensure that any and all changes have been thoroughly reviewed and vetted.?

Of course, American was one of two carriers that had flights hijacked and crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, by terrorists believed to be using box cutters. The revised TSA policy still bans box cutters, but allows small pocket knives.

Groups representing flight attendants, pilots and other airline employees, as well as various other groups and lawmakers, have expressed unhappiness at Pistole?s announcement last week that the TSA would no longer ban the little knives, golf clubs, whiffle bats and various other items that currently would get confiscated at the TSA checkpoints.

Since Pistole?s announcement last week, Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson and US Airways CEO Doug Parker have written Pistole to express their concerns about the change in policy.

In Parker?s letter dated Monday, he also suggested that the TSA should have talked to the airlines before changing its carry-on policy.

?In particular, seeking input before implementing a change in policy that might place our flight attendants? safety at risk would have provided a more thoughtful path to the desired outcome of secure and safe travel,? Parker wrote to Pistole.

Anderson on Friday wrote Pistole that Delta agreed with a risk-based approach to security and suggested Delta could work with the TSA to find up with an acceptable way to streamline the security checkpoint process.

?However, we must object to the agency decision to allow small knives back in the aircraft cabin. We have consulted with our flight attendant group and we share their legitimate concerns regarding this decision,? Anderson wrote.

?These items have been banned for more than 11 years and will add little value to the customer security process flow in relation to the additional risk to our cabin staff and customers,? he added.

Source: http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/american-airlines-doesnt-like-little-knives-and-such-on-airplanes.html/

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LA school district to pay $30 million for abuse claims

By Dan Whitcomb, Reuters

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with 58 current and former students at a school where an ex-teacher was accused of taking bondage-style photos of pupils, a lawyer for the district said on Tuesday.

The settlement would resolve nearly half of the 129 claims filed by former students of Miramonte Elementary School, attorney David Holmquist said.

Holmquist, who represents the school district, declined to disclose the amount of the settlement, which must be approved by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, but said it totaled millions of dollars.

"When we set up this early resolution process back last summer, the goals were to promote healing in the community and provide for the emotional health needs of the students into the future," Holmquist said. "It's in everybody's best interest, but primarily the students'."

The Los Angeles Times reported on its website that the district would pay a total of $30 million to settle the claims, with each student receiving about $470,000.

Allegations of abuse at Miramonte last year touched off protests by infuriated parents and prompted Los Angeles County school officials to temporarily replace the entire staff at Miramonte during an exhaustive investigation.

Mark Berndt, the first of two former Miramonte teachers accused of molesting students there, made headlines when he was charged in January 2012 with 23 counts of lewd acts on children, all aged 10 and younger.

Berndt is accused of taking bondage-style photos of students, some with large, live "Madagascar-type cockroaches" on their faces. In others, students were seen with spoons of semen held to their faces, according to authorities. He has pleaded not guilty.

The investigation began after a company that does photo processing turned over pictures to detectives. Authorities said a search turned up hundreds more photos.

Berndt, who taught at Miramonte for more than 30 years, was fired by the school district in early 2011, shortly after the investigation began. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

In February 2012, then-Miramonte teacher Martin Springer was charged with three counts of lewd acts on a child. Springer also pleaded not guilty.

Holmquist said dozens of claims filed by parents or guardians were not part of the settlement agreement, but that the district was seeking to resolve the remaining cases.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/12/17288413-la-school-district-to-pay-30-million-for-abuse-claims?lite

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The feds say 'never mind' on ACA health exchange notices ...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care reform law required employers to begin notifying employees on March 1 about the availability of state-based exchanges as an option for buying health insurance. But acknowledging the obvious?that the state exchanges are nowhere near ready to go live?the Department of Labor has temporarily rescinded the notice requirement.

Look for a new compliance date to be released sometime this summer, to coordinate with fall open enrollment calendars. Read the official word here.

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Firefighters rescue man from abandoned 35-foot well

NBC 7 San Diego

Rescue crews lower a firefighter into a well in Portrero, Calif., to rescue a man who had fallen inside.

By Monica Garske and Chris Chan, NBCSanDiego.com

SAN DIEGO -- Fire crews rushed to the Potrero community in San Diego?s Mountain Empire area Sunday afternoon to rescue a man who had fallen down a 35-foot well.

According to Cal Fire Capt. Mike Mohler, the victim fell down the 35-foot hole in the 1300 block of Potrero Circle at around 4:15 p.m. local time (7:15 p.m. ET). The fall knocked the man unconscious, Mohler said.

Rescue crews set up a tripod above the well and lowered a firefighter into the hole to rescue the 42-year-old man. He was pulled from the well at around 6:18 p.m. (9:18 p.m. ET), Mohler said.

An air ambulance transported the victim to a local trauma center. Mohler said the man's exact condition was not known, but he was likely in serious or moderate condition because of the length of the fall.

More news from NBCSanDiego.com

At one point during the "confined space" rescue mission, Cal Fire crews had to drop a pump down into the well, fearing ground water would rise up and possibly drown the victim.

"That's always a concern in this type of rescue mission,"?Mohler said. "They had a lot of moisture down at the bottom of the well."

Mohler said the well had been boarded over and abandoned. The board snapped under the man's weight and he fell.

The victim was identified by his wife as Jerry Fowler of Potrero.

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/11/17265746-firefighters-rescue-man-from-abandoned-35-foot-well?lite

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5 Biggest Mother-In-Law Mistakes

SPECIAL FROM Grandparents.com

What Your Daughter-in-Law Has to Say

No one knows better than a mother-in-law that the relationship between her and her daughter-in-law can be prone to hurt feelings and power struggles.
And while mothers-in-law have gripes of our own, we at Grandparents.com did some research to find out exactly what upsets daughters-in-law the most. We figure that knowing the problem can help you fix it. Take a few deep breaths then take a look. Reading these could be the key to solving a bumpy relationship.

Mistake #1: You Stop By Unannounced

By far, this complaint is the most universal, says Terry Orbuch, Ph.D., a psychologist and research professor at the University of Michigan who has been the lead researcher on a National Institutes of Health study of marriage and divorce, following hundreds of couples for more than 26 years. "Daughters-in-law need autonomy, they need independence, and when you come by unannounced, you undermine that," she says.

And it?s not just the inconvenience of the visit, but it?s the presumptuousness of it, agrees Terry Apter, author of "What Do You Want From Me? Learning to Get Along With In-Laws." "It?s a lack of regard for the younger woman?s power and control of the family space."

"Avoid it," says Apter. "Apologize when you do it."

How to Make it Better: "Simply tell your daughter-in-law ahead of time that you would love to visit," Orbuch suggests. ?Then say, ?When is best for you?? We all want control, and by doing this, you are offering it to your daughter-in-law.?

Mistake #2: You Want Her To Call You Mom

In an ideal world, you?d think of your daughter-in-law as your daughter and she?d think of you as another mother. But for some women that is very hard.

"I have heard this from many women who say, ?What am I supposed to do? I already have a mom,?" says Orbach who is also the author of "Finding Love Again: 6 Simple Steps to a New and Happy Relationship." "It sets up this unrealistic situation where you are asking your daughter-in-law to be as close to you as she is to her own mother."

How to Make it Better: Even though wanting your daughter-in-law to call you "mom" is simply your way of letting her know that she is part of the family, you can communicate that sentiment in other ways. "My research shows that if a mother-in-law could say, ?I think you?re great. I?m so happy that you make my son happy. I?m here for you to support you if you ever need me. Whatever you feel comfortable calling me, I will answer to,? it would go a long way with daughters-in-law," Orbach says.

Mistake #3: You Give Advice She Didn?t Ask For

No one likes unsolicited advice. To a daughter-in-law, it seems like criticism, Apter says. "It?s heard this way: ?I?m the one who knows. You need my input. You?ll be better off doing things my way.?"

How to Make it Better: Even if you?re advice comes from a place of love, chances are you?re going to be heard as threatening your daughter-in-law?s authority and challenging her role as a mom and chief caretaker in her family, according to Apter. Her advice: "Bite your tongue."

But if your tongue is bleeding from so much biting, try this: "I think you?re a wonderful mother/cook/housekeeper/person. You are so much more patient/adventurous/together than I ever was, but I?m just curious to learn more about your philosophy on x." Let your daughter-in-law answer, and if it seems that she?s open to discussion, continue to talk. But if she seems offended, you?re back to biting that tongue.

Mistake #4: You Criticize Her Kids

"You?re the grandparent; you?re supposed to think your grandchild?s wonderful," Apter says. "But if you?re saying, ?She?s messy,? ?She?s impulsive,? ?She?s inconsiderate,? then you?re daughter-in-law will certainly hear it as a criticism of her parenting. You can get annoyed at your own kid, but you don?t want someone else to find fault with her."

How to Make it Better: Orbuch agrees. "Here you have to tread very lightly. Even questions can come off as judgmental,? she says. "There will be differences in how your daughter-in-law raises her children versus how you did it. You have to recognize this. Lots of things are said from a place of love but are still deeply insulting." Better to focus on the things you appreciate in your grandkids.

Mistake #5: You Talk to Your Son About Her

Simply put, don?t. Complaining to your son about his wife puts him in a very difficult position, Apter says. In fact, your son should put a stop to it. He should say to you, "She?s my partner, I love her, and I don?t want to hear a negative story about her." Unfortunately, many sons don?t say that, and when your complaints come back to your daughter-in-law, they make her angry, and that doesn?t gain anyone anything.

How to Make it Better: If you have felt that your daughter-in-law has locked you out of her life--or the life of your grandchildren--then it?s best to approach her directly. Use statements that begin with "I," say things like, ?I feel left out,? or ?I feel I?d like to see the children more frequently.? Avoid "you" statements like, ?You?re leaving me out.? Or ?You?re keeping my grandchildren from me.? Then ask, "What can we do to make this better?"

Read more Grandparents

Your Son-in-Law Survival Guide
10 Things Your Daughter-in-Law Won't Tell You
5 Things You Should Never Say to Your Mother-In-Law

Earlier on Huff/Post50:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/in-law-issues-grandparent-advice_n_2838627.html

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Dick Cheney unconcerned with critics in new documentary

The former vice president got straight to the point in R.J. Cutler's latest documentary "The World According to Dick Cheney," telling the filmmaker he doesn't care what his critics think.

"I don't lay awake at night thinking 'gee, what are they going to say about me now?'" Cheney remarks in the upcoming film.

In an interview forABC's "This Week," Cutler responded "He does say a lot that he's not interested in what people think about him, but it's hard to imagine that he's not invested in what his legacy is. He is a significant figure of American history."

The documentary, which premieres March 15 on Showtime, features an extensive interview with the retired politician and offers a rare glimpse into Cheney's life since leaving Washington.

Cutler said he was strategic in approaching Cheney about appearing on the big screen.

"I was advised early on that the best path to getting him to participate would be patience," Cutler said. "And indeed it took seven months between the time that I first reached out to him and the time that he invited me to have lunch with him to discuss what my plans were for the film."

The director, whose previous documentaries include "The War Room" and "A Perfect Candidate," said he was driven by a desire to find out more about the polarizing political figure.

"Making a film like 'The World According to Dick Cheney,' you need to enter most of all with curiosity," Cutler said. "Not with expectations, not with preconceived notions, but with questions."

After many lengthy interviews with Cheney, and even accompanying him on a fishing excursion, Cutler gained unique insight into the former vice president's political strategy.

"He does not feel there is room for compromise," Cutler said. "I think it raises the question, when total conviction serves a democracy and when it can be problematic for democracy. And that's a question that, to me, is worth considering not only in the specific analysis of the George W. Bush presidency and his relationship with Vice President Cheney and Vice President Cheney's career, but in thinking about democracy from a larger view. And so, this was a major reason why we wanted to make this film and something that I was really excited about exploring.."

Like "This Week" on Facebook here . You can also follow the show on Twitter here .

Go here to find out when "This Week" is on in your area.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dick-cheney-unconcerned-critics-documentary-135005813.html

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Portion of hippocampus found to play role in modulating anxiety

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have found the first evidence that selective activation of the dentate gyrus, a portion of the hippocampus, can reduce anxiety without affecting learning. The findings suggest that therapies that target this brain region could be used to treat certain anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), with minimal cognitive side effects. The study, conducted in mice, was published today in the online edition of the journal Neuron.

The dentate gyrus is known to play a key role in learning. Some evidence suggests that the structure also contributes to anxiety. "But until now no one has been able to figure out how the hippocampus could be involved in both processes," said senior author Rene Hen, PhD, professor of neuroscience and pharmacology (in psychiatry) at CUMC.

"It turns out that different parts of the dentate gyrus have somewhat different functions, with the dorsal portion largely dedicated to learning and the ventral portion dedicated to anxiety," said lead author Mazen A. Kheirbek, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at CUMC.

To examine the role of the dentate gyrus in learning and anxiety, the investigators used a state-of-the-art technique called optogenetics, in which light-sensitive proteins, or opsins, are genetically inserted into neurons in the brains of mice. Neurons with these genes can then be selectively activated or silenced through the application of light (via a fiber-optic strand), allowing researchers to study the function of the cells in real time. Previously, the only way to study the dentate gyrus was to silence portions of it using such long-term manipulations as drugs or lesions, techniques that yielded conflicting results.

In the current study, opsins were inserted into dentate gyrus granule cells (the principal cells of the dentate gyrus). The researchers then activated or silenced the ventral or dorsal portions of the dentate gyrus for three minutes at a time, while the mice were subjected to two well-validated anxiety tests (the elevated plus maze and the open field test).

"Our main findings were that elevating cell activity in the dorsal dentate gyrus increased the animals' desire to explore their environment. But this also disrupted their ability to learn. Elevating activity in the ventral dentate gyrus lowered their anxiety, but had no effect on learning," said Dr. Kheirbek. The effects were completely reversible ? that is, when the stimulation was turned off, the animals returned to their previous anxiety levels.

"The therapeutic implication is that it may be possible to relieve anxiety in people with anxiety disorders by targeting the ventral dentate gyrus, perhaps with medications or deep-brain stimulation, without affecting learning," said Dr. Hen, who is also director of the Division of Integrative Neuroscience, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, and a member of The Kavli Institute for Brain Science. "Given the immediate behavioral impact of such manipulations, these strategies are likely to work faster than current treatments, such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors."

According to Dr. Hen, such an intervention would probably work best in people with panic disorder or PTSD. "There is evidence that people with these anxiety disorders tend to have a problem with pattern separation ? the ability to distinguish between similar experiences," he said. "In other words, they overgeneralize, perceiving minor threats to be the same as major ones, leading to a heightened state of anxiety. Such patients could conceivably benefit from therapies that fine-tune hippocampal activity."

Dr. Hen and his team are currently exploring strategies aimed at modulating the activity of the ventral dentate gyrus by stimulating neurogenesis in the ventral dentate gyrus. "Indeed the dentate gyrus is one of the few areas in the adult brain where neurons are continuously produced, a phenomenon termed adult hippocampal neurogenesis," added Dr. Hen.

###

The title of the paper is "Differential control of learning and anxiety along the dorso-ventral axis of the dentate gyrus." The other contributors are Liam J. Drew, Nesha S. Burghardt, Daniel O. Costantini, Lindsay Tannenholz, and Susanne E. Ahmari (CUMC); Hongkui Zeng (Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA); and Andr A. Fenton (New York University, New York, NY and SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY).

Columbia University Medical Center: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu

Thanks to Columbia University Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127174/Portion_of_hippocampus_found_to_play_role_in_modulating_anxiety

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'Invincible' city crushed by poverty, violence

In Camden, N.J., criminals and drug deals operate in the open, and the police department is understaffed. But some residents are working hard to get their city back on track. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

By Shoshana Guy, Producer, NBC News

CAMDEN, N.J. -- Inscribed on the walls of City Hall are the words of Walt Whitman, the great American poet who spent his final years in this city: ?In a dream I saw a city invincible.?

But the decades since have not been kind to Camden. Today it is the poorest in the nation.

Directly in the shadow of the glittering skyline of Philadelphia, Camden has long suffered the indignities that poverty breeds. A drive through the streets of the 9-square mile city reveals a moonscape of crumbling infrastructure and abandoned homes, nearly 4,000 in all.

?I always think of Camden as the best visual aid in America to see what has gone wrong and what is going wrong,? said Father Michael Doyle, who has been serving the city?s poor from his Sacred Heart Church for more than 40 years.?

Camden was once a manufacturing boomtown, home to RCA Victor, Campbell?s Soup and the biggest shipbuilding company in the world. But once industrial jobs began drying up decades ago ? as they did in so many other cities across the United States ? many people left for greener pastures.

Then came a crushing blow: the race riots of 1969 and 1971, which left the city mortally wounded. In the decades that followed, civic corruption and mismanagement rendered Camden increasingly poor and violent. Three mayors have been indicted in the past few decades, adding to the sense of hopeless among residents.

Last year was the bloodiest in Camden?s history; the city of just 77,000 had 67 homicides. On average someone was shot every 33 hours.

?It was a tough, tough year,? said Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson. ?And for a city as hardened as Camden is and has become over time, it buckled the city to its knees.??

Distraught over the level of violence, the community erected crosses on the lawn of City Hall to try and draw attention to the crisis.

Thomson said crime rates have gone up because he has fewer cops. In early 2011, unable to fund its obligations, the city cut the police department in half, leaving roughly 200 officers to police one of the most violent cities in the country.?

NBC News

Crosses on the lawn of City Hall mark lives lost to violence.

?It?s gotten to the point where even in our daytime hours in this city people are scared to leave their homes,? said Thomson.? ?And this is the United States of America. Children should not have to fear even sitting on their own front steps.?

There is movement to get more officers on the streets. In April of this year, a new county force will take over for the City Police Department, adding 200 officers to the ranks.

The decision to regionalize the force enraged the Camden Fraternal Order of Police, which has charged the city with union busting.?

?The experienced officers are the best chance they have to provide safety to the public,? said FOP spokesperson Nancy Webster.

But Chief Thomson hopes more boots on the ground will help stabilize the city. ?At no point in time can we ever quit,? he said. ?Failure is not an option.?

Chrissy Rodriguez, who lives on one of the most violent streets in the city, worries about her two young boys constantly.?

?My kids don't get to go outside.?They don't get to play,? said Rodriguez.??And I'm not gonna let them ride a bike down the street ? in the afternoon. People are getting shot.?

But it?s hard for people like Rodriguez to scrape together enough funds to leave. Roughly 30 to 40 percent of Camden?s citizens are out of work. Rodriguez has only been able to find a part-time job, which brings in about $700 a month.?

About 42 percent of Camden?s population lives below the poverty line, with the average income hovering around $26,000 a year. That is in stark contrast to the rest of New Jersey, where the average household income is $71,000 a year ? the third highest in the nation.?

?America has decided to concentrate its poor,? said Father Doyle. ?The wall around Camden is very high, it?s an economic wall. You can?t get over it.?

The Rev. Michael Doyle, who has been serving the city's poor from his Sacred Heart Church for more than 40 years, tells Brian Williams there is hope for the city of Camden.

The ?walls? of Camden hold in a population that is 48 percent black and 47 percent Hispanic.

The city is trying to revitalize. Old buildings along the waterfront have been turned into luxury condos. Cooper Hospital and Rutgers University have created stability on handfuls of blocks. And recently Cooper opened a medical school. Still, the main industry remains the drug trade and it?s been so bad for so many years that the city?s tragedies often seem to go unnoticed.

Recently, a former citizen of the city paid for a billboard near the Camden exit off I-676 that read, ?Say something nice about Camden.??

Camden?s got heart. And you?ll find that heart in community leaders like Tawanda Jones. Better known as Ms. Wawa, Jones is the leader of the dance troop the Camden Sophisticated Sisters Drill Team for school-age girls.

?There's a lotta people from Camden that are so gifted and so talented,? said Jones.

Jones has been volunteering her time for more than 25 years. She raises money to help the team travel, visits the children?s schools on her days off, and dedicates herself four nights a week, all year round to creating a safe space for children.

?We practice all year round cause there?s danger all year round,? said Jones.

For now, through the efforts of people like Jones, the City Invincible marches on.?

?There's a spirit in poor people, resilience and a hope and a generosity,? said Father Doyle. ?We might be invincible in that regard, that human beings do not give up.?

Camden's got heart. And you'll find that heart in community leaders like Tawanda Jones. Better known as Ms. Wawa, Jones is the leader of the dance troop the Camden Sophisticated Sisters Drill Team for school-age girls.

For more on Camden, watch Rock Center with Brian Williams on Friday, March 8, at 10 p.m. ET/9 Central.

Related:?

'By the grace of God': How workers survive on $7.25 per hour

Poverty in America: A problem hidden 'In Plain Sight'

Share your story with us at InPlainSight@nbcuni.com?

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 7, 2013 5:03 PM EST

Source: http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17225824-americas-invincible-city-brought-to-its-knees-by-poverty-violence?lite

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Racial episodes shake Ohio's Oberlin College

Students walk in downtown Oberlin Tuesday, March 5, 2013. A series of hate-related incidents, including a report of someone wearing what looked like a Ku Klux Klan hooded robe, has shaken students at Oberlin College, one of the nation?s first universities to admit blacks. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Students walk in downtown Oberlin Tuesday, March 5, 2013. A series of hate-related incidents, including a report of someone wearing what looked like a Ku Klux Klan hooded robe, has shaken students at Oberlin College, one of the nation?s first universities to admit blacks. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Modjeska Pleasant, 19, talks about the racial incidents that occurred recently at Oberlin College Tuesday, March 5, 2013 in Oberlin, Ohio. Pleasant is a first year student studying biology. Oberlin College in Ohio says it canceled classes after a report that a person wearing a hooded robe resembling Ku Klux Klan gear was seen near an African heritage building. The college near Cleveland canceled Monday's classes after the early morning sighting. It calls it the latest in a series of hate-related incidents on campus. Racist graffiti were reported on campus last month. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Isaac Fuhrman, 21, talks about the recent racial incidents at Oberlin College Tuesday, March 5, 2013, in Oberlin, Ohio. Furrman is a third year student studying biology. Oberlin College says it canceled classes after a report that a person wearing a hooded robe resembling Ku Klux Klan gear was seen near an African heritage building. The college near Cleveland canceled Monday's classes after the early morning sighting. It calls it the latest in a series of hate-related incidents on campus. Racist graffiti were reported on campus last month. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

A student rides a bicycle on the campus of Oberlin College Tuesday, March 5, 2013, in Oberlin, Ohio. Oberlin College says it canceled classes after a report that a person wearing a hooded robe resembling Ku Klux Klan gear was seen near an African heritage building. The college near Cleveland canceled Monday's classes after the early morning sighting. It calls it the latest in a series of hate-related incidents on campus. Racist graffiti were reported on campus last month. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Joshua Blue, 18, talks about the recent racial incidents at Oberlin College Tuesday, March 5, 2013 in Oberlin, Ohio. Blue is a first year student studying vocal performance major. Oberlin College says it canceled classes after a report that a person wearing a hooded robe resembling Ku Klux Klan gear was seen near an African heritage building. The college near Cleveland canceled Monday's classes after the early morning sighting. It calls it the latest in a series of hate-related incidents on campus. Racist graffiti were reported on campus last month. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

OBERLIN, Ohio (AP) ? Scrawls of racially offensive graffiti and, more recently, a report of someone wearing what looked like a Ku Klux Klan-type hooded robe on campus have shaken students at historically liberal Oberlin College, one of the nation's first universities to admit blacks.

Two students are being investigated for possible involvement in the graffiti and are facing discipline by the college, but no criminal charges have been filed, said Oberlin city Police Chief Thomas Miller. It wasn't clear, he said, whether the culprits were pranksters or genuinely motivated by bigotry.

The college canceled Monday's classes after an early morning report of someone in a white, hooded robe. Investigators were trying to determine whether the sighting was reliable or related to a separate sighting of a person wrapped in a blanket.

Classes resumed Tuesday, though the atmosphere was still tense. The police department has stepped up patrols around the campus at the request of the college.

"I just really feel uncomfortable walking alone anywhere," Modjeska Pleasant, 19, a first-year student from Savannah, Ga., said Tuesday.

Pleasant, who is black, said she became upset after hearing a few white students suggest that the racist graffiti first found a month ago and anti-Semitic and racist fliers and other messages left around campus since then were just a prank to get out of classes.

In an open letter, President Marvin Krislov and three deans told the campus they hoped the ordeal would lead to a stronger Oberlin. Students and professors gathered Monday afternoon to talk about mutual respect.

Hate-filled graffiti and racially charged displays are not unusual on college campuses. But what makes these episodes so shocking is that they happened at a place tied closely with educating and empowering blacks.

Oberlin began admitting blacks nearly 180 years ago. Among its graduates are one of the first blacks elected to public office and the first black lawyer allowed to practice in New York state. The city itself was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

The college, with nearly 3,000 students, remains a liberal oasis in the middle of northern Ohio, surrounded by conservative farming towns and rust belt cities. Cleveland is about 30 miles away.

Isaac Fuhrman, a psychology major from Lexington, Mass., said the episodes were upsetting, especially for black students.

"I guess for them, Oberlin doesn't seem like such a safe haven perhaps," said Fuhrman, who is white.

The incidents began the first week of February, according to a police report that detailed the defacement of Black History Month posters with the N-word, a "whites only" sign written above a water fountain, a swastika drawn on a science center window and a student knocked to the ground by a person making a derogatory comment about ethnicity.

Some of the graffiti and fliers also included homophobic slurs, the police report said.

Joshua Blue, 18, a first-year student from Naperville, Ill., who is black, said the reports have cast the historically tolerant Oberlin community in a different light.

"We believed that there was what people call the 'Oberlin bubble,' which is the idea that we're in this area where hate and anger and stuff like that doesn't exist," he said after phoning his mother to assure her he was safe.

"It's a wonderful idea to feel safe and accepted," Blue said. "But the recent event was a reality that we're still part of the world and the issues of the world are also our issues, and you can't avoid that."

Blue, who is studying vocal performance, said he has begun riding home from evening rehearsals with classmates for safety.

Francis Bishop, 83, who lives near the campus, said he couldn't remember similar race-related incidents on the campus and speculated it was done by someone trying to cause a stir.

"It's so much of an isolated thing, in the long run I don't think it's going to make a hill of beans," Bishop said while walking his dog near the picturesque town square, lined with shops and college buildings.

Oberlin has no fraternity or sorority houses, and sports aren't a big part of campus life. Instead, students come to study music, art and creative writing.

Notable recent alumni include Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO series "Girls" ? a show featuring several characters who met at Oberlin.

Dunham wrote on her Twitter account Monday that she was saddened by the news from her alma mater.

"Hey Obies, remember the beautiful, inclusive and downright revolutionary history of the place you call home. Protect each other," she wrote.

___

Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-05-College-Hate%20Incidents/id-5686cd7db1014674bb29dbe72518b156

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ANNOUNCING: Katherine O'Connell Named Managing Partner of ...

The law firm of Morris, Hall & Kinghorn, P.L.L.C (MHK), the largest estate planning law firm in Arizona, has named Katherine A. O?Connell as the new managing partner effective January 1, 2013.

O?Connell?s new role will require her to balance the heavy demands of her professional life with the needs of her growing family. She is the mother of a toddler, is expecting her second child in August, and her husband is also a practicing attorney in the Phoenix area. According to O?Connell, ?I?m living the challenges of a working mother, and I hope to bring my experience to help make MHK as family friendly as possible.? O?Connell is eager to add her unique perspective to a profession that has traditionally been dominated by males.

O?Connell is succeeding Dan Morris who has been the firm?s managing partner for over 20? years. Morris has been instrumental in leading and growing the firm, which currently has 10 offices across Arizona and New Mexico. ?It has been my honor to establish and work in such a wonderful law firm as this, helping people daily and looking out for their and their family?s best interests now and in the future? states Morris.

O?Connell, who has been an attorney since 2006, was named managing partner in January of 2013.? She has attorney accreditation through the US Department of Veteran?s Affairs, which enables her to help clients to qualify, apply and receive benefits for their service in our country?s armed forces. She is also a proud member of the Central Arizona Estate Planning Council. ?She enjoys helping individuals plan for their own future, as well as the futures of their loved ones. O?Connell states, ?It is my honor and privilege to serve this prestigious firm as managing partner.? ?As a partner at MHK, O?Connell focuses on estate planning, life care planning and veteran?s benefits, and now also oversees the daily operations and actively engages in efforts to continually improve the firm.

MHK devotes its practice to estate planning matters and has helped thousands of families meet their long-term estate and financial goals. The firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA). ?AAEPA is an organization serving the needs of legal professionals concentrating on estate planning. Through the AAEPA?s comprehensive training, educational programs, and state-of-the-art estate planning techniques, the academy fosters excellence among its members and helps them deliver the highest possible estate planning services to their clients.

This blog should be used for informational purposes only.? It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice.? If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.

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Source: http://morristrust.com/2013/03/announcing-katherine-oconnell-named-managing-partner-of-arizonas-largest-estate-planning-law-firm/

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Hugo Chavez dead: Venezuelans mourn president, prepare for election

CARACAS -- Shattered supporters of Hugo Chavez mourned his death in a flood of emotion that allies of the socialist leader hope will help ensure the survival of his self-styled revolution when voters elect a successor.

Ending one of Latin America's most remarkable populist rules, Chavez died on Tuesday at 58 after a two-year battle with cancer that was first detected in his pelvis.

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to honor the flamboyant and outspoken leader, whose body will be taken to a military academy on Wednesday to lie in state for three days.
State TV ran constant images of past speeches and appearances, under the banner "Chavez lives."

The future of Chavez's leftist policies, which won him the adoration of poor Venezuelans but infuriated opponents who denounced him as a dictator, now rests on the shoulders of Vice President Nicolas Maduro, the man he tapped to succeed him.

"In the immense pain of this historic tragedy that has affected our fatherland, we call on all the compatriots to be vigilant for peace, love, respect and tranquility," Maduro said. "We ask our people to channel this pain into peace."

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and union leader, will probably face opposition from Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state, in the next election in the OPEC nation with the world's largest oil reserves.

The stakes are huge for the region, given the Chavez government's crucial economic aid and cheap fuel supplies to allies across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Authorities said the vote would be called within 30 days, but it was not clear if that meant it would be held, or simply that the date would be announced.

One recent opinion poll gave Maduro a strong lead over Capriles, in part because he has received Chavez's blessing as his heir apparent, and he is likely to benefit from the surge of emotion following the president's death.

The tall, mustachioed Maduro has long been a close ally of Chavez. He immediately pledged to continue his legacy, and would be unlikely to make major policy changes soon.

Maduro will now focus on marshalling support from Chavez's diverse coalition, which includes leftist ideologues, business leaders, and radical armed groups called "colectivos."

Some have suggested he might try to ease tensions with Western investors and the U.S. government. Yet hours before Chavez's death, Maduro alleged that "imperialist" enemies had infected the president with cancer and expelled two U.S. diplomats accused of conspiring with domestic opponents.

"DON'T BE ANXIOUS"

A victory by Capriles, 40, a centrist politician who calls Brazil his model for Venezuela, would bring big changes and be welcomed by business groups, although he would probably move cautiously to lower the risk of political instability.

"This is not the time to stress what separates us," Capriles said in a condolence message, calling for unity and respect for the loss that many felt after Chavez's demise.

"There are thousands, maybe millions, of Venezuelans asking themselves what will happen, who even feel fear ... Don't be scared. Don't be anxious. Between us all, we're going to guarantee the peace this beloved country deserves."

Military commanders pledged loyalty to Maduro, who will be Venezuela's caretaker leader until the election. Defense Minister Diego Morales said a 21-gun salute would be fired at 8 a.m. (1230 GMT) on Wednesday to honor Chavez.

It was not immediately clear where Chavez would be buried. He had ordered a striking new mausoleum built in downtown Caracas for the remains of independence hero Simon Bolivar, his inspiration, and it is due to be finished soon.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hrdailypress/news/~3/IBew3idh3IA/chi-hugo-chavez-dead-20130305,0,7742513.story

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Taliban attack trends: Never mind

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2012 file photo, an Afghan solider, left, stands guard at the scene of a suicide attack in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province south of Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S.-led military command in Afghanistan said Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that it will no longer publish figures on Taliban attacks, a week after acknowledging that its report of a 7 percent decline in attacks last year was actually no decline at all. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaleq, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2012 file photo, an Afghan solider, left, stands guard at the scene of a suicide attack in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province south of Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S.-led military command in Afghanistan said Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that it will no longer publish figures on Taliban attacks, a week after acknowledging that its report of a 7 percent decline in attacks last year was actually no decline at all. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaleq, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S.-led military command in Afghanistan will no longer count and publish the number of Taliban attacks, a statistical measure that it once touted as a gauge of U.S. and allied success but now dismisses as flawed.

The move comes one week after the coalition, known as the International Security Assistance Force, acknowledged in response to inquiries by The Associated Press that it had incorrectly reported a 7 percent drop in Taliban attacks in 2012 compared to 2011. In fact, there was no decline at all, ISAF officials now say.

The mistake, attributed by ISAF officials to a clerical error, called into question the validity of repeated statements by allied officials that the Taliban was in steep decline.

Anthony Cordesman, a close observer of the war as an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it had been clear for months that ISAF's figures were flawed.

"The truth is they should not have published them in the first place," he said. "A great many people realized from the start that it was a meaningless measurement" because it implies that in order to succeed the Taliban has to keep attacking rather than gaining ground by influencing ordinary Afghans. It's that influence which needs to be overcome in order to ensure the viability of the Afghan government.

"Over the last year it has become clearer and clearer that not only was the measurement meaningless, but it became embarrassing because there weren't any (ISAF and Afghan) gains," he added, noting that Taliban attacks last year were more numerous than in 2009, before President Barack Obama sent an extra 30,000 U.S. "surge" troops.

"Basically speaking, we've ended up ? after the surge and three more years of fighting ? with absolutely nothing that we can tell ourselves that shows the level of progress we did or did not achieve," Cordesman said.

The U.S. and its ISAF allies have pledged to end their combat mission by the end of next year, and while they are likely to leave at least several thousand troops to help train Afghan troops, the Afghans are to assume the lead role for security across the entire country this spring, when the Taliban typically step up their attacks.

There are now about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Statistical measures of battlefield progress have long been a point of dispute, not only in Afghanistan but also in Iraq. The disputes typically are a combination of doubt about the numbers themselves and about what they mean.

Jamie Graybeal, a spokesman for ISAF's headquarters in Kabul, said Tuesday that the coalition has lost confidence in the reporting system that produced its figures on "enemy-initiated" attacks. That is mainly because more combat operations are being performed by Afghan forces, out of view of American and allied troops. That means ISAF has diminishing control over the mechanics of collecting the data.

"We have determined that our databases will become increasingly inaccurate in reflecting the entirety of enemy initiated attacks," Graybeal said in a written statement.

"Additionally, we have come to realize that a simple tally of (attacks) is not the most complete measure of the campaign's progress," he said. "At a time when more than 80 percent of the (attacks) are happening in areas where less than 20 percent of Afghans live, this single facet of the campaign is not particularly accurate in describing the complete effect of the insurgency's violence on the people of Afghanistan."

Taliban insurgents have been pushed out of many population centers and have failed to regain territory they held before the surge of U.S. troops in 2010. But they are expected to test Afghan forces as U.S. and allied troops withdraw.

Coalition officials, including Obama administration officials, had previously cited the reported 2012 drop in Taliban attacks as a sign that the insurgency was in decline and that the Afghans could take on more of the fighting burden.

Last Tuesday, on his final day as defense secretary, Leon Panetta indicated that he was disappointed in the mix-up. The Pentagon on Tuesday said it was leaving it to ISAF to explain the decision to stop reporting attack figures.

Graybeal said ISAF will continue to track Taliban attacks that are observed and recorded by ISAF troops. But it will not track and report on the totality of attacks ? including those directed at Afghan forces.

The erroneous ISAF report of a decline in 2012 attacks came to light after ISAF removed from its website a set of statistics that included its tally of "enemy initiated attacks," which it had said declined by 7 percent. When the AP inquired about the missing figures, ISAF said they had been removed because they contained errors.

Initially, ISAF said it would correct and republish the statistics, but on Tuesday Graybeal said the corrected 2012 figures will not be put back on its web site.

That raises questions about the Pentagon's most recent report to Congress on progress toward stabilizing Afghanistan, which used the coalition's figures on enemy attacks as its main measure of insurgent violence. The report also cautioned in a footnote, however, that the attack figures have "a number of limitations" and should not be used by themselves as a reliable indication of violence levels in Afghanistan.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. William Speaks, said the issue of counting Taliban attacks will be addressed in the next report to Congress, due by April 30, "and the errors in these figures will be explained." That report will cover developments in Afghanistan from October 2012 through March 2013.

The previous report to Congress, covering the period from April 2012 through September 2012, said ISAF and Afghan forces had continued to "degrade the cohesion and capability" of the insurgency, while acknowledging that the militants were still capable of carrying out high-profile attacks like a stunning assault on Camp Bastion on Sept. 14 in which 15 Taliban fighters breached the security perimeter, killed two U.S. Marines and destroyed six U.S. Marine aircraft.

___

Follow Robert Burns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-05-US-Insurgent-Attacks-Error/id-ed926d25faa748d8b5fc857749c2b349

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Papal vote preparations begin in earnest at Vatican

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals filed into the Vatican on Monday for preliminary meetings to sketch an identikit for the next pope and ponder who among them might be best to lead a church beset by crises.

They arrived by private car, taxi and minibus at the gates of the Vatican for gatherings known as general congregations, closed-door meetings in which they will get to know each other and decide when to start a conclave to choose a man to lead the 1.2 billion member Church.

The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected next week and officially installed several days later so he can preside over the Holy Week ceremonies starting with Palm Sunday on March 24 and culminating in Easter the following Sunday.

Pope Benedict left the Church in a state of shock when he announced last month that he would be the first pontiff in 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life. He formally stepped down on Thursday, leaving the papacy vacant.

High on the agenda at the general congregations will be the daunting challenges that will face the next pontiff, including the sexual abuse crisis that has rocked the Church and last year's "Vatileaks" scandal which exposed corruption and rivalries in the Vatican's bureaucracy.

"We need a man of governance, by that I mean a man who is able with the people he chooses to help him in an intimate way to govern the Church," Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the former Archbishop of Westminster in London, told BBC radio.

"Among the things we will be talking about out here are precisely the need in looking for a new pope for these failings that have happened again to be treated, to be faced strongly."

The cardinals, numbering about 150, are expected to hold one or two meetings a day. The Vatican seems keen to have only a week of preliminary talks so the 115 "cardinal electors" aged under 80 can enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave next week. The exact date for its start has not been decided.

"We have meetings all this week to get to know each other better and consider the situations that we face," said Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris as he entered. He said he could not say at this stage "who will be the best one to respond to them".

Cardinals expect to be briefed on a secret report to the pope on the problems highlighted by the Vatileaks scandal, when documents which alleged corruption in the Vatican and infighting over the running of its bank were leaked to the media.

SHADOW OF ABUSE CRISIS

The crisis involving sexual abuse of children by priests and inappropriate behavior among adult clerics continues to haunt the Church and has rarely been out of the headlines.

One elector - Cardinal Keith O'Brien - quit as Edinburgh archbishop last week and pulled out of attending the conclave because of accusations that he behaved inappropriately with priests and seminarians in the past.

O'Brien initially denied the allegations but issued a statement late on Sunday apologizing because "my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal".

"The church has a particular responsibility to set a moral standard and that's what it tries to do and if sometimes it doesn't, if it fails with certain individuals occasionally it's going to repent and carry on," said Murphy-O'Connor, who will not take part in the conclave as he is aged over 80.

He said about O'Brien: "I think that's clearly very sad and the person involved has in fact apologized and is now going to leave, as it were, public life as a priest, as a bishop."

The preliminary meetings also give cardinals the chance to size up potential candidates by watching them closely in the debates and checking discreetly with other cardinals about their qualifications or any skeletons in their closets.

Cardinals never reveal publicly who they prefer but drop hints in interviews by discussing the identikit for their ideal candidate. The most frequently mentioned quality here is an ability to communicate the Catholic faith convincingly.

Most cardinals say the new pope could come from outside Europe, but it is not clear if the conclave, which has a slight majority of European cardinals, will break the long-standing tradition of choosing men only from the continent.

No front-runner stands out but leading candidates include Peter Turkson of Ghana, Leonardo Sandri of Argentina, Austrian Christoph Schoenborn, Brazil's Odilo Scherer, Canadian Marc Ouellet and Angelo Scola, from Italy.

In an interview with Reuters, Cardinal Sandri, 69, said the next pope should not be chosen according to a geographic area but must be a "saintly man" who was "best qualified".

Sandri said one of the greatest problems facing the Church was "the loss of faith" among many who had "turned their back on God" and need to be brought back into the life of the church.

He also said the Church must open itself up to women in the next pontificate, giving them more decision-making positions in the Vatican and beyond.

(Additional reporting by Tom Heneghan and Cristiano Corvino in Rome, and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/papal-vote-preparations-start-earnest-vatican-022529245.html

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Obama taps Sylvia Mathews Burwell as White House budget director (Washington Post)

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AP Exclusive: DHS released over 2,000 immigrants

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2103 file photo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano briefs reporters at the White House in Washington. The Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation from immigration jails in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2103 file photo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano briefs reporters at the White House in Washington. The Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation from immigration jails in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, The Associated Press has learned.

The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than the "few hundred" illegal immigrants the Obama administration acknowledged this week had been released under the budget-savings process.

The government documents show that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from its jails around the U.S. each week since at least Feb. 15. The agency's field offices have reported more than 2,000 immigrants released before intense criticism this week led to a temporary shutdown of the plan, according to the documents.

The states where immigrants were released include Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas.

The White House has said it was not consulted about the releases, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has acknowledged they occurred in a manner she regrets. White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday said the government had released "a few hundred" of the roughly 30,000 illegal immigrants held in federal detention pending deportation proceedings. Carney said the immigrants released were "low-risk, noncriminal detainees," and the decision was made by career ICE officials.

As of last week, the agency held an average daily population of 30,733 in its jails. The internal budget documents reviewed by the AP show the Obama administration had intended to reduce those figures to 25,748 by March 31.

The White House did not comment immediately Friday on the higher number of immigrants released.

ICE spokesman Brian Hale said Friday the numbers of immigration detainees fluctuate daily, but he reiterated only several hundred illegal immigrants had been released. "Beyond that normal movement, and as fiscal uncertainty remains over the continuing resolution and possible sequestration, ICE reviewed its detained population to ensure detention levels stay within ICE's current budget and placed several hundred individuals on methods of supervision less costly than detention," Hale said in a statement. "At this point, we don't anticipate additional releases, but that could change."

The immigrants who were released still eventually face deportation and are required to appear for upcoming court hearings. But they are no longer confined in immigration jails, where advocacy experts say they cost about $164 per day per person. Immigrants who are granted supervised release ? with conditions that can include mandatory check-ins, home visits and GPS devices ? cost the government from 30 cents to $14 a day, according to the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants.

The release of thousands from immigration jails is consistent with Napolitano's early warnings on Monday ? hours before anyone knew publicly that any illegal immigrants had been released ? that the pending, automatic budget cuts known as the sequester would limit the government's ability to maintain enough detention center beds for at least 34,000 immigrants.

"We're doing our very best to minimize the impacts of sequester, but there's only so much I can do," Napolitano said Monday. "You know, I'm supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. How do I pay for those?"

Late Thursday, after intense criticism over what the administration acknowledged was the release this week of several hundred immigrants, Napolitano told ABC News that she had been surprised to learn about the action.

"Detainee populations and how that is managed back and forth is really handled by career officials in the field," Napolitano told ABC. "Do I wish that this all hadn't been done all of a sudden and so that people weren't surprised by it? Of course."

The announcement that a few hundred illegal immigrants were being released was among the most significant and direct implications described so far by the automatic budget cuts. Republicans in Congress quickly criticized the decision and pressed the Homeland Security Department for details, including the number of illegal immigrants released and the nature of any criminal charges they were facing as part of the deportation process.

"Simply blaming budget reductions as a means to turn a blind eye toward the national security of the American people is a dangerous plan, and one that calls into question the department's preparations for sequestration," wrote two Republican lawmakers, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who sits on the Senate panel that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, harshly criticized the administration for downplaying the number of immigrants released, adding the revelation "makes it less and less possible for lawmakers to have productive negotiations with the White House over a comprehensive immigration bill."

The senior Homeland Security Department official in charge of arresting and deporting illegal immigrants announced his retirement to his staff on Tuesday, the same day the administration first openly confirmed the release of what it called several hundred immigrants. The executive associate director over ICE enforcement and removal operations, Gary Mead, told his staff he was leaving his job with mixed emotions. A career law enforcement officer, Mead will leave at the end of April.

After AP reported on Mead's retirement, ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said his decision was not related to criticism over the jail releases and said Mead had notified the agency's senior leaders "several weeks ago" that he intended to leave. She also called AP's reporting about Mead's departure "inaccurate and misleading." On Thursday, ICE corrected her statement to say that Mead has notified his bosses "more than a week ago," not several weeks ago.

The later government statement also criticized AP's reporting as "ill-informed, inaccurate information" and complained that AP had failed to contact the agency before publishing what it called a "misguided headline," although the AP had noted its unsuccessful efforts to contact Mead directly by telephone and email.

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Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-01-Budget%20Battle-Immigrants%20Release/id-80e7a842660341529f1e9853787922c2

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