MIAMI (AP) ? The widow of a tabloid photo editor who died in the 2001 anthrax mailings has reached a settlement in her lawsuit against the U.S. government.
Maureen Stevens of Lake Worth, Florida, and the government have reached a tentative agreement that must be approved by the Justice Department, according to court documents filed late last week in West Palm Beach federal court.
In her lawsuit, originally filed in 2003, Stevens had claimed that the government was negligent in failing to stop someone from working at an Army infectious disease lab from creating weapons-grade anthrax used in letters that killed five people and sickened 17 others. Her husband, Robert Stevens, was the first victim.
Details of the settlement were not disclosed. Stevens' lawsuit had sought as much as $50 million in damages.
Stevens declined comment Sunday and referred questions to her attorney, Richard Schuler. Neither Schuler nor the government's trial attorney immediately returned messages left by The Associated Press on Sunday.
A federal judge in West Palm Beach had set Wednesday to hear arguments to dismiss the lawsuit. A trial had been set for early 2012.
Robert Stevens worked in Boca Raton at American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, Sun and Globe tabloids, when he was exposed to anthrax. He died Oct. 5, 2001.
In court documents, the government contended that there was no proof its actions, or lack of adequate security or precautions, directly caused his death. The motions also rejected Maureen Stevens' claim that the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, had a history dating to 1992 of missing pathogens and failure to track dangerous microbes.
An FBI criminal investigation concluded in 2010 that a lone federal scientist, Dr. Bruce Ivins, staged the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001. The anthrax was mailed to locations in Florida, New York and Washington, D.C., including a Senate office building.
Ivins committed suicide in 2008 as the investigation closed in around him.
New documents filed in Stevens' lawsuit in the spring cast doubt on whether Ivins acted alone. In sworn statements, two of Ivins' superiors said they didn't believe the scientist was solely to blame for the attacks.
According to the documents, W. Russell Byrne, the chief of bacteriology at the biodefense lab from 1998 to early 2000, told Stevens' attorneys that Ivins "did not have the lab skills to make the fine powdered anthrax used in the letters" and that it would have been difficult for Ivins to do the work at night undetected.
Gerard Andrews, who was chief of bacteriology at the biodefense lab from 2000 to 2003, told lawyers it would have taken Ivins six months to a year to refine the anthrax spores used in the deadly mailings, instead of the roughly 20 hours the FBI found he spent at night in the lab. Andrews also said Ivins did not have the expertise to do the work and some of the necessary equipment wasn't available at Fort Detrick at the time.
The U.S. government reached a $5.8 million settlement with another former Fort Detrick scientist, Steven Hatfill, whom then-Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly identified as "a person of interest" in the investigation in 2001. Hatfill was eventually cleared, and he sued the government, accusing the Justice Department of violating his privacy.
___
Associated Press writer Curt Anderson contributed to this report.
No. 4 Stanford has just enough Luck, tops USC in 3OT
Stepfan Taylor ran for the tying touchdown with 38 seconds left in regulation and the go-ahead score in the third overtime, and Stanford's defense preserved its 16-game winning streak by forcing Curtis McNeal's end-zone fumble to end the No. 4 Cardinal's 56-48 victory over No. 20 Southern California on Saturday night.
Editor's Note: Product not yet tested. The following information is from the manufacturer.
Storage Guardian offers complete backup of mulitple Windows and Unix computers' critical data on a "pay-as-you-go" basis to a secure off-site location. Starting at just $50 a month per terabyte of storage, is suitable for small, mid-size, and enterprise-wide, multiple-platform LAN computing environments that want secure, off-site backup.?
Among the product's standout features is the ability to perform "bare metal restores"?restoring the entire operating system, applications, settings and data for an entire machine?onto a new machine with different hardware than the original one. Networked computers needn't even install local backup software agents: One running on a server sends all client PC's backup data to Storage Guardian's servers.
For faster restoring, Storage Guardian can maintain a local network copy of the backed up data. Its "send once" technology recognizes where data is duplicated across a network and sends only one copy to the server, minimizing your costs and increasing efficiency. And its Message Level Restore feature lets you restore email data down to a single email message for a specific user.
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WWE Universe, take advantage of this opportunity to purchase WrestleMania tickets on site before they go on sale to the public on Nov. 5. Plus, don't miss the chance to get autographs from your favorite WWE Superstars, Legends and Divas.
* Talent subject to change. The Rey Mysterio autograph session will be limited to 200 fans. Fans may begin lining up at the Autograph Tent at Bayfront Park at 4:00 p.m.? A WWE representative will be on site to wrist band the first 200 fans in line. Wrist bands will be given on a first come, first serve basis.
FDA awards Georgetown University a Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science & InnovationPublic release date: 26-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Mallet km463@georgetown.edu Georgetown University Medical Center
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Georgetown University today announces a partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish a first of its kind Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI). The Center is supported by an FDA investment with an initial $1 million grant, which is potentially part of a three-year funding program for improving drug development and manufacturing.
Experts in science, medicine and law at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and Georgetown University Law Center will lead the CERSI. Ira Shoulson, M.D., professor of neurology and director of GUMC's Program for Regulatory Science and Medicine, is principal investigator of the CERSI. Co-principal investigators include Kenneth L. Dretchen, Ph.D., professor and chairman of pharmacology and physiology at GUMC, and Lawrence Gostin, the Linda D. and Timothy J. O'Neill Professor of Global Health Law at the Law Center.
The CERSI will focus on strengthening science and training needed to modernize and improve the ways drugs and medical devices are reviewed and evaluated, a major focus within the FDA as outlined in its strategic plan for "Advancing Regulatory Science at FDA." Working closely with FDA scientists, Georgetown CERSI researchers will assist the FDA with advancing laboratory, population, behavioral, computational and manufacturing sciences, to increase the efficiency of quality medical product development.
"The CERSI award provides us with an enormous opportunity to interact collegially and productively with FDA scientists and engage our students, staff and faculty in scientific applications as we strive for more effective product development and evaluation," says Shoulson. "It will further enable us to interface substantively with the FDA to share in education, training, professional development and scientific exchange, as well as fostering innovation and applied research toward unmet public health needs."
The CERSI is a large collaborative undertaking involving colleagues at the Medical Center, Law Center and also the School of Continuing Studies. "We have been most gratified by the success of our teamwork and sharing," Shoulson says of the effort to date. "We also look forward to working with our academic colleagues at the University of Maryland and its newly established CERSI to advance the applied discipline of regulatory science."
"The very concept of regulatory science assumes sound regulation, which is the FDA's mission," explains Gostin, an expert in health law and bioethics. "The regulation of food and drugs is one of the most important functions of government as the public comes to rely on the FDA to ensure the safety and quality of food, vaccines and medical products."
Gostin says that providing for a safe supply of food and effective drugs is becoming ever more challenging as the U.S. imports more of these products to America, and as the FDA's budget is strained. "It is therefore vital to encompass law and ethics to inform us as we move forward. Sharing knowledge and training opportunities will benefit both the FDA and academia," he says.
The agency chose to pilot the Centers of Excellence in the capital region to allow for the greatest possible face-to-face collaboration and training with FDA staff.
"These partnerships represent a critical, necessary and creative investment - one that will benefit not just FDA and academia, but also American consumers and industry," said FDA Chief Scientist Jesse L. Goodman, M.D, M.P.H. "The Centers of Excellence will create new scientific research, training and staff exchange opportunities for FDA and leading area institutions."
"CERSI will provide incredible educational opportunities as both teachers and learners in regulatory science for personnel at Georgetown University and the FDA. The awarded cooperative agreement should facilitate and expand already existing collaborative efforts between the two organizations," says GUMC's Dretchen.
"These partnerships will promote faster and better scientific approaches to product development, helping people in need and supporting biotech innovation," Goodman said.
###
Shoulson, Dretchen and Gostin report having no personal financial interests related to this endeavor.
About Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law, and the faculty is among the largest in the nation. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body representing more than 60 countries.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
FDA awards Georgetown University a Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science & InnovationPublic release date: 26-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Mallet km463@georgetown.edu Georgetown University Medical Center
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Georgetown University today announces a partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish a first of its kind Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI). The Center is supported by an FDA investment with an initial $1 million grant, which is potentially part of a three-year funding program for improving drug development and manufacturing.
Experts in science, medicine and law at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and Georgetown University Law Center will lead the CERSI. Ira Shoulson, M.D., professor of neurology and director of GUMC's Program for Regulatory Science and Medicine, is principal investigator of the CERSI. Co-principal investigators include Kenneth L. Dretchen, Ph.D., professor and chairman of pharmacology and physiology at GUMC, and Lawrence Gostin, the Linda D. and Timothy J. O'Neill Professor of Global Health Law at the Law Center.
The CERSI will focus on strengthening science and training needed to modernize and improve the ways drugs and medical devices are reviewed and evaluated, a major focus within the FDA as outlined in its strategic plan for "Advancing Regulatory Science at FDA." Working closely with FDA scientists, Georgetown CERSI researchers will assist the FDA with advancing laboratory, population, behavioral, computational and manufacturing sciences, to increase the efficiency of quality medical product development.
"The CERSI award provides us with an enormous opportunity to interact collegially and productively with FDA scientists and engage our students, staff and faculty in scientific applications as we strive for more effective product development and evaluation," says Shoulson. "It will further enable us to interface substantively with the FDA to share in education, training, professional development and scientific exchange, as well as fostering innovation and applied research toward unmet public health needs."
The CERSI is a large collaborative undertaking involving colleagues at the Medical Center, Law Center and also the School of Continuing Studies. "We have been most gratified by the success of our teamwork and sharing," Shoulson says of the effort to date. "We also look forward to working with our academic colleagues at the University of Maryland and its newly established CERSI to advance the applied discipline of regulatory science."
"The very concept of regulatory science assumes sound regulation, which is the FDA's mission," explains Gostin, an expert in health law and bioethics. "The regulation of food and drugs is one of the most important functions of government as the public comes to rely on the FDA to ensure the safety and quality of food, vaccines and medical products."
Gostin says that providing for a safe supply of food and effective drugs is becoming ever more challenging as the U.S. imports more of these products to America, and as the FDA's budget is strained. "It is therefore vital to encompass law and ethics to inform us as we move forward. Sharing knowledge and training opportunities will benefit both the FDA and academia," he says.
The agency chose to pilot the Centers of Excellence in the capital region to allow for the greatest possible face-to-face collaboration and training with FDA staff.
"These partnerships represent a critical, necessary and creative investment - one that will benefit not just FDA and academia, but also American consumers and industry," said FDA Chief Scientist Jesse L. Goodman, M.D, M.P.H. "The Centers of Excellence will create new scientific research, training and staff exchange opportunities for FDA and leading area institutions."
"CERSI will provide incredible educational opportunities as both teachers and learners in regulatory science for personnel at Georgetown University and the FDA. The awarded cooperative agreement should facilitate and expand already existing collaborative efforts between the two organizations," says GUMC's Dretchen.
"These partnerships will promote faster and better scientific approaches to product development, helping people in need and supporting biotech innovation," Goodman said.
###
Shoulson, Dretchen and Gostin report having no personal financial interests related to this endeavor.
About Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law, and the faculty is among the largest in the nation. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body representing more than 60 countries.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
It was the first time Blink had toured in the States since their raucous reunion tour in 2009, and though they had plenty of downtime in-between (you know, when they weren't working on their Neighborhoods album), anyone who made it out to the Honda Civic shows can attest to the fact that Mark, Tom and Travis didn't lose a single step.
Sure, they've been at it for a while now, but just how do the guys in Blink maintain that edge on the road? Well, as they explain in a series of exclusive backstage vignettes, their secret lies in having some really interesting reading material on hand.
"The best thing about being on tour is the end of the evening, when you know that you've performed [a] great show, you're exhausted, you take a shower, you have some kind of hot food waiting for you," Tom DeLonge said, "and you crawl into your bunk with a really, really good, cerebral UFO book, and you read about UFOs as you fall asleep."
Of course the dude reads about UFOs. And while they had a blast on the road with MCR, touring does have its share of downsides too. But what, exactly, is the biggest bummer? Watch the first of our exclusive behind-the-scenes clips to find out!
Did you check out Blink on the Honda Civic Tour? Share your reviews in the comments!
NEW YORK ? Americans say they feel worse about the economy than they have since the depths of the Great Recession. And it's a bad time for a bad mood because households are starting to make their holiday budgets.
It might not be all doom and gloom, though. Sometimes what people say about the economy and how they behave are two different things.
Consumer confidence fell in October to the lowest since March 2009, reflecting the big hit that the stock market took this summer and frustration with an economic recovery that doesn't really feel like one.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer sentiment came in at 39.8, down about six points from September and seven shy of what economists were expecting.
The reading is still well above where the index stood two and a half years ago, at 26.9. But it's not even within shouting distance of 90, what it takes to signal that the economy is on solid footing.
Economists watch consumer confidence closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. The index measures how shoppers feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months.
It came exactly two months before Christmas, with retailers preparing for the holiday shopping season, their busiest. Almost twice as many people now expect a pay cut over the next six months as expect a raise.
"If people think their income is declining, they're not going to be inclined to spend," said Jacob Oubina, an economist at RBC Capital Markets.
Economists point out that consumer confidence is not as simple as a single number, though. The feelings people express about the economy do not always track how they actually spend money.
In September, for example, despite feeling bad about the economy, people increased their spending on retail goods by the most since March. More people bought new cars, a purchase people typically make when they are confident in their finances.
The percentage of Americans who plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months, such as a television or washing machine, rose to 46 percent, up from 41 percent. Exactly half plan to take a vacation in the next six months, up from 47 percent.
Marc Rosenberg, CEO of SkyBluePink Concepts, a toy marketing company, said he looks for broader trends in the monthly consumer confidence numbers but doesn't pay attention to the monthly changes.
"I think it is nice background music," he said.
It's still not a very happy tune. Jessica Jarmon was laid off from her job in social work in March. For the past three months, she has worked a temp job in the same industry, but that ended last week.
She has a job interview Wednesday morning, but she said it's hard to tell whether the economy is getting better or not.
"You hear about one company creating 16,000 jobs, and then you hear about another company laying off 10,000 jobs. Maybe, at best, we are just breaking even," said Jarmon, who lives in Philadelphia.
Mark Vitner, senior U.S. economist at Wells Fargo, said he will probably trim his forecast for holiday revenue in the retail industry based on Tuesday's figure.
Vitner said the persistent gloomy headlines about the economy may lead people to say they feel worse about things than their own situations would suggest. They might have a good job and stable finances, for example, but still report feeling sour.
But the decline in confidence is "too significant to get away from it," he said. "Consumers are losing hope that strong growth is around the corner."
Higher earners are also starting to lose confidence, a bad sign because they account for a disproportionate amount of spending. The confidence index for people making more than $50,000 has dropped six months in a row.
"The upper income brackets have weathered the recession and recovery better than most citizens, and declining confidence among this group is certainly unwelcome," Dan Greenhaus, an economist at the brokerage BTIG, said in a note to clients.
Consumer confidence had been recovering fitfully since hitting an all-time low of 25.3 in February 2009, but has taken a turn for the worse as Americans worry about high unemployment, rising prices for food and clothes and an overall weak economy.
The index is based on a survey conducted Oct. 1-13 of about 500 randomly selected people nationwide.
It was three days after the survey got under way, on Oct. 4, that the stock market began a remarkable rally. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 12 percent in three weeks, from the Oct. 3 close through Monday's trading.
The Dow fell almost 2 percent Tuesday, not just because of consumer confidence but because investors are worried about corporate earnings and about whether Europe can find a solution to its crippling debt problem.
The last time consumer confidence was this weak was also the turning point for the stock market in its severe downturn during the recession. It was in March 2009 that the Dow bottomed out at 6,547.
The survey found that a growing number of Americans are worried about making less money over the next six months. The proportion of people expecting a pay cut is about nine percentage points higher than those who expect a raise, the biggest gap since April 2009, Oubina said.
___
Rugaber reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Joseph Pisani contributed to this report from New York.
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) ? Racing to fill a power vacuum and prevent a descent into lawlessness, Libya is to proclaim its war over on Sunday and start building the ballot box democracy Muammar Gaddafi once saw as fit for "donkeys".
Tens of thousands who before this year's revolt had known nothing but Gaddafi's all-powerful police state are due to pack a square in the second city Benghazi to hear interim government leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil announce the "liberation" of Libya.
The announcement was expected at about 1400 GMT.
But some fear Jalil will struggle to impose his will on his heavily armed but fragmenting revolutionary alliance, pointing to the insistence of fighters in the provincial town of Misrata on continuing to display the body of the former strongman three days after his death, in apparent breach of Islamic practice.
And there is international disquiet about increasingly graphic and disturbing images on the Internet of abuse of a body that appears to be Gaddafi's following his capture and the fall of his hometown of Sirte on Thursday.
"There is a yawning security and political vacuum in which brewing political disputes, factionalism and security problems pose a serious risk of derailing or prolonging transition," said Henry Wilkinson of Janusian security consultants in London.
With big oil and gas resources and a relatively small population of six million, Libya has the potential to become prosperous, but regional rivalries fostered by Gaddafi could erupt into yet more violence that would undermine the authority of Jalil's National Transitional Council (NTC).
In Misrata, people queueing up for a chance to see Gaddafi's body saw no reason for a rapid burial, apparently heedless of concern in Tripoli about how the NTC is perceived overseas.
"This guy is not a Muslim. If he was a Muslim we would have treated him in an Islamic way," a man who gave his name as Suleiman told Reuters.
"We brought our children to see him today because this is a chance to see history," another visitor, Mohammed, said.
"We want to see this arrogant person as a lifeless body. Let all the people see him."
Jalil's speech is intended to set the clock ticking on a process to set up a multiparty democracy, a system Gaddafi railed against for most of his 42 years in power.
In 2007 Gaddafi, whose "state of the masses" was seen by many Libyans as despotism, said democracy was a sham in which people were "ridden like donkeys" by powerful interests.
But some analysts fear that without strong leadership the revolution could now collapse into armed infighting, preventing the country from ever attempting the novelty of the ballot box.
The lack of a clear plan for Gaddafi's burial suggests to some analysts that there is justification for fears of a descent into leaderless turmoil.
But an autopsy has been performed, and a medical source told Reuters that Gaddafi's body had a bullet in the head and a bullet in the abdomen.
"There are multiple injuries. There is a bullet in the abdomen and in the brain," the medical source said.
The autopsy was carried out at a morgue in Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli. Local officials said Gaddafi's body would now be brought back to the cold store at an old market in Misrata where it has been on public display.
The loosely disciplined militias that sprang up in each town to topple the dictator with the help of NATO air power are still armed. The places they represent will want a greater say in the country's future, particularly the second and third cities Benghazi and Misrata which were starved of investment by Gaddafi.
It was fighters from Misrata who emerged from a lengthy and bloody siege to play a large part in taking Tripoli and later caught Gaddafi, cowering in a drainage pipe outside Sirte.
Libya's new leaders have a "very limited opportunity" to set aside differences, said interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril as he announced he was stepping down on Saturday.
Jibril said progress for Libya would need great resolution, both by interim leaders on the National Transitional Council and by six million war-weary people.
REGIONAL INFIGHTING
But a field commander in Misrata worried that trouble was brewing.
"The fear now is what is going to happen next," he said, speaking to Reuters privately, as ordinary Libyans, some taking pictures for family albums, filed in under armed guard to see for themselves that the man they feared was truly dead.
"There is going to be regional in-fighting. You have Zintan and Misrata on one side and then Benghazi and the east," the guerrilla said. "There is in-fighting even inside the army."
NEW DEMOCRACY
There is some unease abroad over what many believe was a summary execution of Gaddafi. U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay has called for an investigation into the killing, but very few Libyans share those concerns.
Arguments have arisen among Libya's factions about what to do with the corpse which has not been accorded the swift burial required by Islamic law and is beginning to decompose. Those viewing the body on Saturday were obliged to cover their faces with surgical masks.
Gaddafi's surviving family, in exile, wants his body and that of his son Mo'tassim to be handed over to tribal kinsmen from Sirte. NTC officials said they were trying to arrange a secret resting place to avoid loyalist supporters making it a shrine. Misrata does not want his body under its soil.
The disputes within the NTC have delayed the announcement of an end to the war several times, but such worries are unlikely to be paramount in the minds of many Libyans as they celebrate the beginning of a new era in their country's history.
The announcement will set a clock ticking on a plan for a new government and constitutional assembly leading to full democracy in 2013.
"We hope we will have an elected democratic government with broad participation," student Ali Abu Shufa said.
Gaddafi promoted tribalism to keep the country divided, he said. "But now Gaddafi is dead, all the tribes will be united."
(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun in Sirte, Barry Malone and Jessica Donati in Tripoli, Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor in Misrata, Christian Lowe and Andrew Hammond in Tunis, Samia Nakhoul in Amman, Tom Pfeiffer at Dead Sea, Jordan; Writing by Jon Hemming and William Maclean; Editing by Michael Roddy)
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2011) ? Increasing acidification in coastal waters could compromise the ability of oysters and other marine creatures to form and keep their shells, according to a new study led by University of Georgia researchers.
Their findings will be published in the November 2011 issue of Nature Geoscience. The researchers determined the combined effects of fertilizer runoff carried by the Mississippi River to the northern Gulf of Mexico and excess atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels result in an unexpected increase in the acidity of Gulf waters.
"Before, scientists only worried about low oxygen in waters along the coast," said Wei-Jun Cai, a professor of marine sciences in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Our paper basically says not only do we need to worry about low oxygen, we also need to worry about acidification."
When plumes of river water rich with nutrients from fertilizer run into coastal waters, phytoplankton thrives. When these algae die, they sink to the sea floor and decompose, releasing carbon dioxide and decreasing the amount of oxygen in the water. The dissolved carbon dioxide reacts with water, forming an acid.
Ocean acidity also increases when excess carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels is absorbed from the air at the ocean's surface. The combination of these two sources of carbon dioxide decreases the ocean's ability to neutralize acid, increasing acidity beyond what would be expected from the sum of the individual processes.
As the water becomes more acidic, sea creatures that form carbonate shells or skeletons -- from single-celled amoebae to oysters to corals -- are less able to produce and maintain these structures. If the acidity of coastal waters continues to increase, Cai and his co-workers predict that by the end of the century these creatures won't be able to form shells.
"Many of our fisheries resources, especially shellfish, are concentrated in areas where rivers discharge onto the coast, like the northern Gulf and the East China Sea, and thus are at risk," said James T. Hollibaugh, UGA Distinguished Research Professor of marine sciences. "And of course there are likely ramifications for fish and animals further up the food chain that depend on these same shellfish for food."
Hollibaugh collaborated with Cai on the project, along with UGA post-doctoral researcher Xinping Hu, graduate students Wei-Jen Huang and Yongchen Wang and doctoral graduate Pingsan Zhao. Additional authors on the paper include Michael C. Murrell and John C. Lehrter of the Environmental Protection Agency Gulf Ecology Division; Steven Lohrenz of University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth; Wen-Chen Chou and Gwo-Ching Gong of the National Taiwan Ocean University; Weidong Zhai, Minhan Dai and Xianghu Guo of Xiamen University; and Kjell Gundersen of the University of Southern Mississippi.
Although their research focused on Gulf of Mexico coastal waters, they extended their findings globally by making the same measurements on the Changjaing (Yangtze) River, the largest river in Asia, where they found similar results.
To minimize future damage to the coastal ocean, Cai and his colleagues recommend that farmers better manage fertilizer use and societies limit fossil fuel use. Their future research will explore seasonal patterns of acidification and its influence on the coastal ecosystem.
Cai's research on the Mississippi River was funded by grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Research on the East China Sea was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Basic Research Program of China and the National Science Council of the Republic of China.
For more information on the UGA department of marine sciences, see http://www.marsci.uga.edu/.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Georgia. The original article was written by Chelsea Toledo.
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Journal Reference:
Wei-Jun Cai, Xinping Hu, Wei-Jen Huang, Michael C. Murrell, John C. Lehrter, Steven E. Lohrenz, Wen-Chen Chou, Weidong Zhai, James T. Hollibaugh, Yongchen Wang, Pingsan Zhao, Xianghui Guo, Kjell Gundersen, Minhan Dai, Gwo-Ching Gong. Acidification of subsurface coastal waters enhanced by eutrophication. Nature Geoscience, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1297
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Ford?s hot-selling new Focus is making its SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show debut with seven customized cars that showcase the possibilities of both the hatch and sedan. Offering just about anything a customer could want to amp up the performance and personalization of the car, the Focus models have a wide variety of upgrades and enhancements. Since launch, the new Focus has been gaining interest, with nearly 500,000 customers raising their hands to request more information about the latest small car from Ford.
Project vehicles to be showcased at this year?s SEMA show include:
2012 Ford Focus by 3dCarbon A standout style statement from 3dCarbon delivers a Focus that uses 3M satin wrap, smoked windows and race red accents to bring the car?s more edgy side to life. 3dCarbon?s body kit and Sticky Fingers racing stripes round out the exterior upgrades. On the functional side, a 3dCarbon upper roof spoiler, Eibach springs and Pirelli tires offer an aerodynamic and handling boost.
2012 Ford Focus by ROUSH Performance Products This Stage 3 Focus by ROUSH Performance Products offers several powertrain upgrades including a ROUSH R900 TVS supercharger, ROUSH modified high-flow induction system and ROUSH dual-exit high- performance exhaust. Plenty of body additions differentiate this Focus, with ROUSH front fascia grille inserts, chin splitter and custom graphics. Sherwin-Williams custom matte paint and Ford Genuine Accessories roof spoiler also help it stand apart from the crowd.
2012 Ford Focus by The ID Agency Inspired by European and Japanese tuning styles, this Focus by The ID Agency shows off attention to detail with a Wraptivo roof, Recaro Sportster seats and Top Stitch interior. Performance upgrades go along with the styling; these include a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust and Brembo big brake kit. It even offers a Ford Licensed Accessory Thule bike rack with Custom Leader bike.
2012 Ford Focus by Capaldi Racing Capaldi Racing has taken its racing background and applied it to this new 2012 Ford Focus. Powertrain and chassis upgrades include a Borla cat-back dual-outlet exhaust, Ford Racing Performance Parts Torsen differential, Green Filter custom intake, AST Sport-Line suspension and Ford Racing Performance Parts-tuned sway bars. Exterior touches include Visteon European Focus headlamps with HID and LED technology and Capaldi Racing front splitter and dual-outlet insert.
2012 Ford Focus by Steeda The Steeda Focus offers both street and track performance with key enhancements including Steeda cold-air intake with Cool Tube technology, Steeda rear swaybar and Steeda lowering springs. With underhood billet aluminum-appearance items, G-Track front end brace and 3dCarbon body kit, the car delivers on appearance as well. HRE P43S Monoblok 19-inch wheels and Nitto NT05 performance tires round out the additions.
2012 Ford Focus by Bojix Design The Focus Stage 2 assembled by Bojix Design adds European flair with aggressive styling complete with Bojix body kit, 3dCarbon upper roof spoiler and Rennen M10 20-inch wheels. Interior upgrades come in the form of Katzkin leather seating surfaces and door panels, Accele rearview mirror with constant panoramic view and Alcantara?-covered surfaces. The chassis offers civil street manners with an AP Racing big brake kit, Bojix rear cross-drilled rotors and H&R Sport Springs lowering kit.
2012 Ford Focus by COBB Tuning This Motorsports Challenger Focus was built for competition. It shows with Cosworth COBB Tuning forged pistons, COBB Tuning custom turbo kit and COBB front-mounted intercooler, intake, airbox and exhaust manifold. The chassis is upgraded with a StopTech Trophy big brake kit, Eibach Multi-Pro R2 coilover suspension and COBB Tuning suspension bushings. 2011
Ford Fiesta by M2-Motoring The M2-Motoring Fiesta combines form and function by adding an Injen Technologies cold-air intake system and DC Sports cat-back exhaust. The chassis is upgraded with a Wilwood big brake kit and Megan Racing coilovers. Exterior enhancements include a candy purple finish by Status Motorsports, 3dCarbon body kit and upper roof spoiler. Interior treatments offer an upgraded Jensen Mobile Audio Power sound system and Audiovox flip-down touch-screen monitors.
2011 Ford Fiesta by Gold Coast Automotive This Fiesta SE hatch is built for performance with a Jackson Racing Rotrex intercooled supercharger, Wilwood four-piston front, two-piston rear brake system and Hankook Ventus racing tires. Appearance offerings include APR Performance rear wing and custom front splitter, 3dCarbon body kit, Socal SignWorx graphic wrap and Gold Coast Automotive fender flare kit.
2011 Ford Fiesta by Aaron Vaccar Signature Series With plenty of personalized details, this Fiesta offers a Weapon-R Secret Weapon air intake, Wilwood Dynapro six-piston big brake kit and Advanti Racing V3 Vago 17-inch wheels. The exterior features BASF custom bright silver matte metallic paint, while the interior delivers plenty of upgrades including Portage Trim red leather upholstery, Bride Vios III racing bucket seats and MB Quart Onyx Series speaker and amplifiers.
PHOENIX (AP) ? A federal judge Friday dismissed Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's lawsuit that accuses the Obama administration of failing to enforce immigration laws or maintain control of her state's border with Mexico.
The dismissal by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton comes in a counter-lawsuit filed by Brewer as part of the Justice Department's challenge to Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law.
The Republican governor was seeking a court order that would require the federal government to take extra steps, such as more border fencing, to protect Arizona until the border is controlled.
Her attorneys argued that her lawsuit was necessary to help bring relief to Arizona from the burdens of being a busy illegal entry point into the country.
The governor's lawsuit didn't seek a lump-sum award, but rather asked for policy changes in the way the federal government reimburses states for the costs of jailing illegal immigrants who are convicted of state crimes. Such changes would have given the state more money.
Justice Department lawyers, who asked the judge to throw out the lawsuit, argued that federal court isn't the right place to consider the political questions raised by Brewer.
They also contended that several claims by the governor should be thrown out because a court rejected similar legal claims in a 1994 case brought by Arizona, and an appeals court decision prohibits Brewer from moving forward with her case.
The Justice Department sued the state of Arizona last year in a bid to invalidate Arizona's immigration enforcement law. Bolton put key parts of the law on hold, such as a provision requiring police, while enforcing other laws, to question a person's immigration status if officers had "reasonable suspicion" the person was in the country illegally.
Brewer has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her appeal of Bolton's ruling.
ARLINGTON, Texas ? All these years later, a blown call by a first base umpire actually helped the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
While it remains to be seen whether Ron Kulpa will be as vilified by Texas Rangers fans as Don Denkinger is by Cardinals fans, there's no doubt this mistake was as bad or worse ? perhaps enough to revive talk of expanding video replay in baseball.
In the top of the fourth inning Saturday night, St. Louis was leading only 1-0 when Matt Holliday hit a grounder to shortstop Elvis Andrus that normally would start a double play. Andrus got the force out at second base with a throw to Ian Kinsler, but Kinsler's throw pulled first baseman Mike Napoli off the bag and into Holliday's path. Napoli caught the ball and slapped a tag across Holliday's left shoulder a step before he reached first base.
Kulpa was in decent position to make the correct call ? but didn't. The Cardinals took advantage, scoring four runs that inning on their way to a 16-7 victory and a 2-1 lead in the series.
Kulpa acknowledged he blew it. He told a pool reporter the same thing he told Napoli at the time: he thought Holliday already had stepped on the bag when the tag was made.
"I saw a replay when I walked off the field and the tag was applied before his foot hit the bag," Kulpa said. "I called what I saw."
Crew chief Jerry Layne defended Kulpa, noting that the wide throw made it "a very tough call." He also cut off questions to Kulpa before he could be asked about the Denkinger comparison, a subject he certainly knows well.
Kulpa is a St. Louis native and lifelong Cardinals fan who was 17 when Denkinger made the mistake that triggered a collapse by the Cardinals that cost them the 1985 World Series to the neighboring Kansas City Royals. Asked about his St. Louis ties, Kulpa said, "It has nothing to do with it."
Kulpa is in his 13th year in the majors and this is his first World Series. He was picked before it was known the team he grew up dreaming of playing for would be involved.
While conspiracy theories are sure to abound, it's important to note that Kulpa made the correct call on perhaps the most difficult play yet of the World Series, a steal of second base by Kinsler in the ninth inning of Game 2, with St. Louis trying to protect a 1-0 lead. Kulpa called him safe and Kinsler went on to score the tying run and Texas went on to win 2-1.
If there's any backlash against Kulpa, it probably won't be traced to the Texas clubhouse ? certainly not Napoli, Kinsler or Rangers manager Ron Washington, who briefly argued the play at the time.
"I knew he missed the play when I went out there," Washington said. "We still had an opportunity to get off that field with maybe them just pushing one run across the plate. We just didn't make the plays. I mean, I don't think you can just start all of a sudden making excuses about things. We had a chance to get off the field with them scoring one run in that inning right there, and we just threw the ball around."
Napoli repeatedly emphasized that the Rangers "had a chance to minimize that inning and we didn't really do that." He said he didn't know the Denkinger story and, when told about it, dismissed any similarity with Kulpa's gaffe.
"He's human," Napoli said. "People make mistakes. He's trying his best out there and we're trying our best. You've got to just move on from things like that."
Kinsler wondered why he was even being asked about that play, noting that Texas lost by nine runs. Reminded that it was 1-0 at the time, he still said, "That's not the turning point."
"You can go through a lot of things in this game, a lot of ups and downs and different things that happened," Kinsler said.
While absolving Kulpa, Kinsler also said, "The game's not played in slow motion, so it's pretty difficult to make that call." That brings up the seemingly annual question about why officials can't use replay to make certain calls in games as important as this are always correct. It's already been added to determine whether balls clear the fence for a home run.
This wasn't the first missed call this series, either. In the ninth inning of the opener, which Texas lost 3-2, Adrian Beltre fouled a ball off his foot but umpires called it a fair ball, keeping him from getting at least one more swing.
Also in the opener, Kulpa missed a call at third base, ruling a ball was caught in the air when it actually bounced. That mistake did not lead to any runs.
Kulpa's every move the rest of this series is certain to be scrutinized ? especially Sunday, when he's scheduled to be behind the plate.
Denkinger was behind the plate, too, the night after his crucial mistake in the '85 World Series.
The play that made Denkinger infamous came in the ninth inning of Game 6, with the Cardinals up 1-0 and leading the series 3-2. Leadoff hitter Jorge Orta hit a grounder to first baseman Jack Clark, and he tossed it to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first base. Replays show that Worrell beat Orta to the bag, but Denkinger insisted he was safe.
The Royals went on to win that game 2-1, then won the decisive seventh game 11-0, with St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog and pitcher Joaquin Andujar getting ejected by Denkinger in the fifth inning.
Until this series, Kulpa ? who happens to have a Herzog-esque brush cut ? was probably best known for being head-butted by Carl Everett in 2000. He's worked an All-Star game and was behind the plate for Justin Verlander's first career no-hitter, in 2007.
The EnGenius ESR9855G Multimedia Enhanced Wireless 300N Gaming Router is a single-band device, stuffed with advanced features and sporting a sharp management interface. It delivers robust throughput at close range running in 802.11 b/g/n (Mixed) modes, but that throughput falls off at increased distances. Surprisingly, speed actually declined when I set the device on 802.11n only mode. This makes for a router that aims high yet falls short in retaining consistently strong throughput. It's the one big flaw in this otherwise very good? router, which you can get online for about $100.
Specs and Design The ESR9855G's design is unique among consumer routers. It's a real eye-catcher, with a black, glossy top and a bright orange chassis. Two external 3dBi Dipole antennas attach to both sides of the router. Inside are the Ubicom IP7K + Atheros AR9223 (RF) chipset.
The front panel has LEDs for monitoring power, client connections, WAN and WPA. The rear houses four Gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, and a power switch.? On top of the unit is a WPS button for easy client connectivity. The bottom of the device has two wall mount sockets.
The design is apparently conducive to cool running, as the router remained cool to the touch after two days of uptime.
Setup and Features The setup process, which requires wiring a computer to the device, seems dated when the norm is wireless setup found in routers such as the Cisco Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Wireless-N Router or Belkin's N750 Wireless Dual-Band N+ Router, but it is still easy and efficient. The router ships with a CD containing the user manual and the EnGenius Smart Wizard, a browser-based interface rather than an executable file.
Setup instructions are very detailed, illustrating how to power up and connect the cables to the router. My WAN settings were picked up right away. By default, the router was configured to run in Mixed mode with no security setup. This may be problematic for less technical users. Routers from Cisco/Linksys and other vendors incorporating security configuration into the initial setup process; it?s just that important. Since EnGenius is marketing this to the savvier gamer set, the omission of security configuration from setup is forgivable.
The interface is sharp. It's clean, and easy to navigate through. The color choices and font-sizing makes it very easy on the eyes. Once the router is set up, the interface allows for further configuration of basic and advanced settings. A wireless wizard within the interface walks users through the basics?changing the SSID and setting up security. Although, as mentioned, security isn't configured during initial setup by default, EnGenius does a good job of conveying what the different security settings mean, with WPA2 listed as "Best."
Advanced settings allow for very granular tweaking of settings that most users won't want to fuss with, such as transmit power and DTIM interval. In between the very basic and very advanced settings are lots of other features in this router. The device offers DHCP, SPI firewall, VPN pass-through, Dynamic DNS, virtual server mapping and port forwarding.
QoS is done with feature called SteamEngine. When enabled, it aids in prioritizing traffic, which is why this is a router targeted for gamers and multimedia enthusiasts.
While some throughput issues stop me short of recommending this as a small business router, there are some capabilities that would be attractive to a small business. For instance, the ESR9855G supports WPA2-Enterprise encryption, and users can establish up to four distinct WLANs.
New York ? The number of countries that execute criminals is dropping. Is capital punishment on the way out?
How many countries have the death penalty? Capital punishment laws are on the books in 91 countries, but only 23 of them carried out any executions last year. The U.S. executed 46 people last year, and 37 so far this year ? more than any other country, except for the dictatorships of China, North Korea, Iran, and Yemen. In most parts of the modern world, the practice appears to be in steep decline. Since 1976, a total of 123 countries have effectively abolished the death penalty as a barbaric legacy of the past. All signs point to an unmistakable downward trend, says Mario Marazziti, co-founder of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "There is worldwide growth of a new moral standard of decency and of respect for human rights," he said, "even the rights and lives of those who may have committed severe crimes."
Is that trend likely to extend to the U.S.? It already has, in parts of the country. Illinois scrapped the death penalty in March of this year, and New Jersey did so in 2007. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, and Maryland introduced legislation this year to abolish the death penalty in those states. A recent Gallup poll found that the U.S. public's approval of the death penalty had dropped by 19 percentage points over the past 17 years, and currently stands at 61 percent, the lowest level since 1972. And although 34 states retain capital punishment laws, only 11 states executed prisoners last year, down from 20 in 1999. In effect, the death penalty has become a regional practice: Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia alone account for more than half of U.S. executions.
Why does the U.S. remain an outlier? A majority of Americans continue to believe that capital punishment is the only way to deliver proportional justice to a murderer. "Someone who murders another human being can only be made to pay for his actions by forfeiting his own life,'' says death-penalty advocate Casey Carmical. "If the punishment for theft is imprisonment, then the punishment for murder must be exponentially more severe, because human life is infinitely more valuable than any material item.'' This view is largely rooted in the Bible and its "eye-for-an-eye'' ethos, which still exerts a powerful influence in parts of the U.S. where religious conservatives predominate. "Abolition has taken its firmest hold in post-Christian Europe, and has least support in the churchgoing United States," conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has written. "I attribute that to the fact that, for the believing Christian, death is no big deal. Intentionally killing an innocent person is a big deal."
Then why is support declining? Mostly because DNA testing has revealed numerous cases of people sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. At least 138 people on death row have been exonerated since 1973, and four convicts ? three in Texas and one in Missouri ? have had their innocence proven only after they were put to death. Last month, Georgia executed a man named Troy Davis, despite serious questions about the evidence in his murder case. The possibility that the government may mistakenly kill the innocent has changed the minds of many former death-penalty supporters. So have statistics showing that a convicted murderer is far more likely to be executed if he kills a white person rather than a black person. The high cost of capital punishment has also eaten away at support.
What do executions cost? Executions themselves aren't expensive ? the lethal injection used by Texas reportedly costs $86 a shot ? but the cost of the many, protracted legal battles that precede an execution weighs on state budgets. Every death-penalty sentence goes through multiple appeals, and can take more than a decade to carry out. Each of the 13 executions California has carried out since 1978, a recent study found, cost taxpayers $308 million. Partly for that reason, a poll found this year that, for the first time, California voters favored life imprisonment without the possibility of parole over the death penalty.
Will the U.S. abolish the death penalty? Current trends suggest that the number of states that execute prisoners will continue to dwindle. But with capital punishment still popular with voters, it is unlikely to disappear altogether unless the Supreme Court rules that it is "cruel and unusual punishment.'' Given the conservative makeup of the current Supreme Court, that is not likely for the foreseeable future. But even the current Supreme Court is demonstrating growing queasiness about the government's power to kill: The court ruled in 2002 that the Constitution forbids the execution of the mentally retarded. Three years later, it extended that protection to prisoners younger than 18. The mounting evidence that capital punishment is imposed arbitrarily ? and sometimes on the innocent ? "will eat away at the court's toleration of execution,'' says University of California law professor Franklin Zimring. "The end game in the effort to purge the United States of the death penalty has already been launched."
A warden's change of heart Three times in his 22-year career in Florida's corrections system, warden Ron McAndrew presided over an execution in the electric chair. Each time, his private doubts grew. During the third execution he witnessed, the condemned prisoner's head burst into flames, and McAndrew had to give the order to continue. "This is wrong," he decided. McAndrew, now a prison consultant, joined a small group of ex-wardens turned death penalty abolitionists, including Jeanne Woodford of San Quentin in California and Donald Cabana of Parchman Penitentiary in Mississippi.?These wardens say that participating in the planned, cold-blooded killing of human beings has haunted them, and that it inflicts lasting trauma on corrections officers. "Many colleagues turned to drugs and alcohol from the pain of knowing a man died at their hands,'' McAndrew said. "The state dishonors us by putting us in this situation. This is premeditated, carefully thought-out ceremonial killing." He advocates "an alternative that doesn't lower us to the level of the killer: permanent imprisonment.''
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NEW YORK ? Morgan Stanley emerged from the tumultuous third quarter in better shape than most of its Wall Street rivals.
While other banks reported declines in trading and advisory revenue, Morgan Stanley increased its income from advising companies on deals and trading for its clients. The New York investment bank said Wednesday it earned $2.2 billion in the period, which also included a big accounting gain.
Morgan Stanley's results were in striking contrast to its chief Wall Street rival Goldman Sachs, which reported a $428 million net loss Tuesday. The quarter was marked by heavy turbulence in financial markets, brought on by the debt crisis in Europe and a downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating.
Morgan Stanley's chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, attributed the firm's relatively strong performance to the bank's strategy of aggressively going after market share even during market uncertainty.
"Surveys from (research firm) Greenwich Associates indicate that we gained more fixed income volume share than any other dealer over the last year," Porat said in an interview.
Morgan Stanley's net income applicable to common shareholders was $1.15 a share on $9.9 billion in revenue. Analysts expected earnings of 30 cents per share, according to FactSet. In the same period a year ago the bank had a loss of $91 million, or 7 cents per share, on revenue of $6.8 billion.
Revenue included an accounting gain of $3.4 billion related to a decrease in the cost of the bank's debt. Because the bank could theoretically buy the debt back at a lower cost, accounting rules require that a gain be recorded. Excluding the gain, Morgan Stanley's revenue was $6.5 billion, far outpacing the $3.59 billion Goldman reported.
Morgan Stanley's stock edged up 1 cent to close at $16.64 Wednesday.
Morgan Stanley's debt and equity underwriting declined 29 percent from last year to $451 million. Third quarter results of investment banking operations at other Wall Street rivals like the Merrill Lynch division of Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co were also hurt by wild swings in financial markets, which kept many investors away and led companies to put off stock and bond offerings.
The bank's asset management business posted a loss of $117 million. The loss was due to a decline in the value of investments in real estate and merchant banking. Revenue in the division plunged to $215 million from $802 million a year ago. Porat said many of the investments were in Asia, and included stakes in IPOs that the company had underwritten.
Unlike its rivals, Morgan Stanley had an increase in trading revenue as its clients were more active in their stock, debt and derivatives dealings. Investment banking advisory business also increased 11 percent. Each of the trading businesses had accounting gains related to the changing value of the company's debt.
Porat discussed Morgan Stanley's exposure to European debt in a conference call with investors. Worries about that exposure hurt the investment bank's stock in the third quarter. Porat said the bank mostly owned sovereign debt of European countries. She said Morgan Stanley was hedged against losses in the investments, which included $1.5 billion in exposure to France and $5.7 billion to peripheral European countries. Peripheral European countries in the context of the European Union usually include Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.
The New York bank set aside $3.7 billion for compensation, down 21 percent from last year.
Revenue increased 6 percent to $3.3 billion at its wealth management business, made up mostly of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture. The unit attracted net new assets in the quarter of $15.5 billion.
Having passed the FCC's critical eye, and hot on the heels of Samsung's now official love-in with Google, the Korean manufacturer's pint-sized tablet refresh is now up for pre-ordering. Priced at $399 for the 16GB model (or $499 for 32GB), Amazon remains tight-lipped on release date info, but is more than happy to tell us what we'll get for that wad of notes. That includes Android Honeycomb 3.2, and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor -- a substantial jump up from the single 1GHz processor we had with the original Galaxy Tab. If Samsung can promise a swift Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade, we could well be sold.
Update: It appears the Amazon links are pointing to a 404 error now. We'll keep an eye on them!
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
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