Brazil debates treatment options in crack epidemic

In this photo taken Dec. 21, 2012, former soldier Bobo sits on an armchair after collecting recyclables at a slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bobo spends his day sorting through trash for recyclables to sell. At night, he turns the day's profit into crack. With a boom in crack use over the past decade, Brazilian authorities are struggling to help such users and stop the drug's spread, sparking a debate over the legality and efficiency of forcibly interning users. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo taken Dec. 21, 2012, former soldier Bobo sits on an armchair after collecting recyclables at a slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bobo spends his day sorting through trash for recyclables to sell. At night, he turns the day's profit into crack. With a boom in crack use over the past decade, Brazilian authorities are struggling to help such users and stop the drug's spread, sparking a debate over the legality and efficiency of forcibly interning users. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo taken Dec. 8, 2012, a man hold narcotics at a drug selling point in a slum of western Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The South American country began experiencing a public health emergency in recent years as demand for crack boomed and open-air ?cracolandias,? or crack lands, popped up in the sprawling urban centers of Rio and Sao Paulo, with hundreds of users gathering to smoke the drug. The federal government announced in early 2012 that more than $2 billion would be spent to fight the epidemic, with the money spent to train local health care workers, purchase thousands of hospital and shelter beds for emergency treatment, and create transitional centers for recovering users. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo taken Dec. 21, 2012, former soldier Bobo smokes crack in his home at a slum in western Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bobo spends his day sorting through trash for recyclables to sell. At night, he turns the day's profit into crack. With a boom in crack use over the past decade, Brazilian authorities are struggling to help such users and stop the drug's spread, sparking a debate over the legality and efficiency of forcibly interning users. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo taken Dec. 21, 2012, former soldier Bobo leans against a wall after smoking crack in his home at a slum in western Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bobo spends his day sorting through trash for recyclables to sell. At night, he turns the day's profit into crack. With a boom in crack use over the past decade, Brazilian authorities are struggling to help such users and stop the drug's spread, sparking a debate over the legality and efficiency of forcibly interning users. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo taken Nov. 22, 2012, an alleged crack addict checks an out-of-commission laptop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The South American country began experiencing a public health emergency in recent years as demand for crack boomed and open-air "cracolandias," or crack lands, popped up in the sprawling urban centers of Rio and Sao Paulo, with hundreds of users gathering to smoke the drug. The federal government announced in early 2012 that more than $2 billion would be spent to fight the epidemic, with the money spent to train local health care workers, purchase thousands of hospital and shelter beds for emergency treatment, and create transitional centers for recovering users. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? Bobo has a method: Cocaine gets him through the day, when he cruises with a wheelbarrow around a slum on Rio's west side, sorting through trash for recyclables to sell. At night, he turns the day's profit into crack.

"Sometimes I don't sleep at all; I'm up 24 hours," says Bobo, a former soldier who doesn't use his given name for safety reasons. "I work to support my addiction, but I only use crack at night. That drug takes my mind away. I lose all notion of what I'm doing."

Bobo says balancing crack with cocaine keeps him working and sane. On the shantytown's streets, life can be hell: Addicts unable to strike Bobo's precarious balance use crack day and night, begging, stealing, prostituting themselves, and picking through trash to make enough for the next hit. For them, there's no going home, no job, nothing but the drug.

With a boom in crack use over the past decade, Brazilian authorities are struggling to stop the drug's spread, sparking a debate over the legality and efficiency of forcibly interning users. Brazil today is the world's largest consumer of both cocaine and its crack derivative, according to the Federal University of Sao Paolo. About 6 million adults, or 3 percent of Brazilians, have tried cocaine in some form.

Rio de Janeiro has taken the lead in trying to help the burgeoning number of users with an approach that city leaders call proactive, but critics pan as unnecessarily aggressive. As of May 2011, users living in the streets have been scooped up in pre-dawn raids by teams led by the city's welfare department in conjunction with police and health care workers. By Dec. 5, 582 people had been picked up, including 734 children.

The sight is gut-wrenching. While some people go meekly, many fight, cry, scream out in desperation in their altered states. Once they're gone, their ratty mattresses, pans, sweaters and few other possessions are swept up by a garbage removal company.

Adults can't be forced to stay in treatment, and most leave the shelters within three days. But children are kept in treatment against their will or returned to parents if they have a family. In December, 119 children were being held in specialized treatment units.

Demand for crack has boomed in recent years and open-air "cracolandias," or "crack lands," popped up in the urban centers of Rio and Sao Paulo, with hundreds of users gathering to smoke the drug. The federal government announced in early 2012 that more than $2 billion would be spent to fight the epidemic, allotting money to train health care workers, buy thousands of hospital and shelter beds, and create transitional centers for recovering users.

Mobile street units stationed near cracolandias are among the most important and visible aspects of the government's approach. The units, housed in metal containers, bring doctors, nurses, therapists and social workers to the areas where users concentrate. Slowly, by offering health care and other help, the units' workers gain the trust of users and refer them to treatment centers.

Studies suggest the approach can work: 47 percent of the crack users surveyed in Sao Paulo said they'd welcome treatment, according to the Federal University of Sao Paulo study.

Ethel Vieira, a psychologist on the raid team, thinks their persistence is paying off.

"Initially, they'd run away, react aggressively, throw rocks," she said of users. "Now most of them understand our intention is to help, to give them a chance to leave the street and to connect with the public health network."

Human rights groups object to the forced commitment of children, saying treatment delivered against the will of patients is ineffective. They also oppose the sweeps, which they describe as violent.

"There are legal procedures that must be followed and that are not being followed. This goes against the law and is unconstitutional," Margarida Pressburguer, head of the Human Rights Commission for Brazil's Association of Attorneys, said during a debate last year.

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes suggested in October that the city would start forcing adults into treatment. "A crack addict isn't capable of making decisions," Paes said from the Jacarezinho shantytown in the week after police stormed the area and seized control of what was then Rio's largest cracolandia.

The Rio state Attorney General's Office responded by telling city officials "the compulsory removal of adults living in the streets has no legal foundation." It said adults can be committed only when they become a danger to themselves or others and outpatient treatment options have run out.

"They give us a place to sleep, food, clothes, everything," said Bobo. "I've been picked up by the city and I liked it. They are doing this for our good."

But even as Bobo endorsed the city's approach, a friend was stepping over to the drug stand for more cocaine. Bobo asked for $5 worth of drugs ? cocaine for now, crack for later. Then he rolled up a bill and dumped a small mound of white powder in his palm for snorting.

With a nose full of cocaine, he set off, ready for another day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-30-Brazil-Crack%20Epidemic-Photo%20Pkg/id-f64e5f5cccea4f4387bb5313ac079961

washington capitals amare stoudemire tallest building in the world the pitch brandon inge freedom tower freedom tower

An Evolutionary Whodunit: How Did Humans Develop Lactose Tolerance?

Thousands of years ago, a mutation in the human genome allowed many adults to digest lactose and drink milk.

iStockphoto.com

Thousands of years ago, a mutation in the human genome allowed many adults to digest lactose and drink milk.

iStockphoto.com

Got milk? Ancient European farmers who made cheese thousands of years ago certainly had it. But at that time, they lacked a genetic mutation that would have allowed them to digest raw milk's dominant sugar, lactose, after childhood.

Today, however, 35 percent of the global population ? mostly people with European ancestry ? can digest lactose in adulthood without a hitch.

So, how did we transition from milk-a-phobics to milkaholics? "The first and most correct answer is, we don't know," says Mark Thomas, an evolutionary geneticist at University College London in the U.K.

Most babies can digest milk without getting an upset stomach thanks to an enzyme called lactase. Up until several thousand years ago, that enzyme turned off once a person grew into adulthood ? meaning most adults were lactose intolerant (or "lactase nonpersistent," as scientists call it).

But now that doesn't happen for most people of Northern and Central European descent and in certain African and Middle Eastern populations. This development of lactose tolerance took only about 20,000 years ? the evolutionary equivalent of a hot minute ? but it would have required extremely strong selective pressure.

"Something happened when we started drinking milk that reduced mortality," says Loren Cordain, an exercise physiologist at Colorado State University and an expert on Paleolithic nutrition. That something, though, is a bit of a mystery.

The Clues

Milk, no surprise, is pretty nutritious. It's got protein, a bunch of micronutrients, lots of calcium and plenty of carbohydrates. For the ancient Neolithic farmer, it was like a superfood, says Thomas.

Even lactose-intolerant adults could have benefited from milk. Chemical evidence from ancient pots shows that these long-ago farmers learned to process the milk into cheese or yogurt, which removes some of the lactose.

But around 8,000 years ago in what's now Turkey ? just when humans were starting to milk newly domesticated cows, goats and sheep ? mutations near the gene that produces the lactase enzyme started becoming more frequent. And around the same time, adult lactose tolerance developed. The mutation responsible for that may be between 2,000 and 20,000 years old; estimates vary.

But in order for that new trait to have persisted over many generations, something unique must have given milk drinkers an evolutionary edge.

A Tale Of Famine And Deadly Diarrhea

Thomas thinks a combination of two reasons may explain the persistence of the lactase mutation in Northern Europe.

First, the farmers that settled there came from the Fertile Crescent, and they brought crops native to that region, like wheat and barley. But with Northern Europe's shorter growing season, these crops were more likely to fail, causing famine.

Additionally, the colder Northern European climate lent itself to natural refrigeration. "If you're a farmer in Southern Europe, and you milk a cow in the morning and you leave the milk out, it will be yogurt by noon. But if you do the same thing in Germany, it'll still be milk," says Thomas. A healthy lactose-intolerant person who drank that still-fresh milk would get a bad case of diarrhea. "But if you're malnourished, then you'll die," Thomas says.

In times of famine, milk drinking probably increased. And the very people who shouldn't have been consuming high-lactose dairy products ? the hungry and malnourished ? would be the ones more likely to drink fresh milk. So, with milk's deadly effects for the lactose intolerant, individuals with the lactase mutation would have been more likely to survive and pass on that gene.

The combination of famine and longer processing time for milk is "kind of like a double whammy," says Thomas, who has yet to publish his theory. Under his scenario, the lactose tolerant wouldn't always have had an evolutionary advantage, but for short periods of time, having that genetic mutation would have helped. "Over a long run, it's modest; but over short periods of time, it's extremely high selection" for the lactose tolerant, says Thomas.

Scientists may never discover the reason why adult lactose tolerance evolved so quickly. Other researchers have suggested that fresh milk provided a more pure fluid alternative to contaminated water sources in arid environments; that milk fat gave people a fertility advantage; or that milk drinking might have been associated with social prestige. Cordain argues that milk gave humans an advantage against malaria in Africa and Southern Europe, and rickets in Northern Europe.

"Whatever constellation of factors was involved, they're going to be different in different regions," says Thomas. "But the selection pressure might have been equally strong in East Africa and Northern Europe, for example."

It's hard to tell how prevalent lactose tolerance has been over time. But so far scientists have found evidence of adult lactase persistence in ancient skeletons in Northern Europe, Scandinavia, southern France and elsewhere. Thomas and his colleague Oddn? Sverrisd?ttir of Uppsala University in Sweden recently discovered lactase persistence in Spanish remains from about 5,000 years ago and hope to publish their research next year.

Thomas thinks that as genetic and archaeological technology continues to develop, modern science may someday reveal the culprit. But it might take a while because the research ? like our genes ? is still evolving.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/12/27/168144785/an-evolutionary-whodunit-how-did-humans-develop-lactose-tolerance?ft=1&f=1007

Johnny Pesky spice girls justin theroux Bumbo recall USA Basketball taio cruz taio cruz

Video: Boehner faces tough political future following fiscal cliff fight

Why do some men get grouchier as they age?

Some call it ?grumpy old man complex.? Other experts label it: ?irritable male syndrome,? a spike in the outward crankiness of guys of a certain age. As more baby boomers hit 60? be ready for more grouchy outbursts, like a Donald Trump rant set to explode.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50315452/

living social Earthquake Costa Rica Clinton speech Michael Strahan Griselda Blanco Michelle Obama Speech eva longoria

Top 25 Best Wii U Games of 2012 - Video Games Blogger

The Top 25 best Wii U games of 2012 have been revealed! Is your favorite Wii U game part of the list of the greatest the Nintendo Wii U console had to offer in 2012? The year is almost over, so we?ve compiled this list of the top-quality AAA must-own titles of the year!

Index of Top 25 Best Games of 2012 Lists:

Is there a game that didn?t make the list, that you think deserves a spot? Leave a comment and let us know your own list!

#25 ? Transformers Prime: The Game
#24 ? Chasing Aurora
#23 ? Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
#22 ? Just Dance 4
#21 ? FIFA Soccer 13
#20 ? Nano Assault Neo
#19 ? Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor?s Edge
#18 ? Scribblenauts Unlimited
#17 ? Madden NFL 13
#16 ? ZombiU
#15 ? Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
#14 ? Little Inferno
#13 ? Nintendo Land
#12 ? Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
#11 ? Skylanders Giants

#10 ? Call of Duty: Black Ops II

#9 ? Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition

#8 ? New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U Exclusive)

#7 ? Trine 2: Director?s Cut (Wii U Version)

#6 ? Batman: Arkham City ? Armored Edition (Wii U Version)

Find out which Wii U game is #1 in 2012 as our countdown continues on the next page?

Continue Reading on: Page 1 Page 2

About the author

By Ferry Groenendijk: He is the founder and editor of Video Games Blogger. He loved gaming from the moment he got a Nintendo with Super Mario Bros. on his 8th birthday. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and at Google+.

Source: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2012/12/27/top-25-best-wii-u-games-of-2012.htm

my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle spinal stenosis the forgotten man mike jones just friends

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training Information ...

Saturday, January 5, 2013, 10:00 am

1533 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington, VA | Get?Directions??
FREE

Train to Beat Cancer with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society?s Team In Training program. Raise money for life-saving cancer research and important patient programs, and receive training for a marathon, half-marathon, century ride or triathlon. At the meeting you will hear from cancer survivors, team coaches and staff and learn how you can make a difference while achieving your goals of completing an endurance event!

?

?

?

?

?

?

www.teamintraining.org/nca? ?

38.89368

-77.075371

primary

/events/leukemia-lymphoma-societys-team-in-training-information-meeting-3a45e04c

/locations/8462468

Source: http://arlington-va.patch.com/events/leukemia-lymphoma-societys-team-in-training-information-meeting-3a45e04c

Mars landing Gabby Douglas John Orozco Garrett Reid shawn johnson Tony Sly Lauren Perdue

Inventa Co, Ltd Claimed Growth of Foreign Applicants

Kharkiv, Ukraine, December 28, 2012 ?(PR.com)? During recent years, Ukraine strictly and continuously stands on the way of commercial and business development, integration and collaboration with World business communities. Protection of intellectual property rights has a positive and significant impact on economics and international trade growth. At the moment Ukraine has already established a comprehensive legislative system for the protection of intellectual property rights.

Artem Kantsypa, IP Agent at the Inventa Co, Ltd says, "During 2012 we noticed that amount of filled applications for intellectual property registration in Ukraine increased on 7% for trademarks and 5% for industrial designs.

"The key role in the growth belongs to foreign applicants who have filled 20% more applications for intellectual property registration in Ukraine. It?s a very positive factor that confirms growth of foreign companies interested in Ukraine goods and services market development."

Ukraine Patent Law Company Inventa Co, Ltd actively assists foreign applicants from China, Cyprus, Italy, Russian Federation, Sweden, and United Stares of America with patenting inventions, utility models, and industrial designs in Ukraine.

The intellectual property law company Inventa Co, Ltd was founded in 1991 and today has become one of the leaders among the Ukrainian intellectual property law firms offering protection of intellectual property rights of international applications filed under the PCT.

The company offers preparation and filing of applications for obtaining a protection document for rights to intellectual property objects, patenting inventions, utility models, and industrial designs in Ukraine and abroad. Since the company's foundation, patent law attorneys have performed work on intellectual property registration and protection for applicants from Ukraine, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Netherlands, South Korea, and other countries. The company strives to expand the geographical spread of services offered.

For more information please visit the company website http://www.inventa-ua.com/ or call +380 (57) 343-94-84.

Contact Information:
Patent Law Company Inventa Co, Ltd
Artem Kantsypa
+380 (57) 343-94-84
Contact via Email
www.inventa-ua.com

Click here to read the full story: Inventa Co, Ltd Claimed Growth of Foreign Applicants

Press Release Distributed by PR.com

Source: http://money.rambergmedia.com/inventa-co-ltd-claimed-growth-of-foreign-applicants/

jeremy lin game winner chocolate covered strawberries shrimp scampi kate upton si cover lobster recipes hearts roses

Video: Treasury: Government Will Hit Debt Ceiling Monday

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50299513/

hand sanitizer obama on jimmy fallon google drive apple stock pilar sanders andrew young real life barbie

LG Display is bringing Ultra HD TVs in multiple sizes, high res mobile screens and more to CES

The manufacturing white label behind products from LG Electronics and many, many other companies, LG Display will have something new for us in Las Vegas as well. In a press release, the company announced it will show off Ultra HD (4K) panels in 55-, 65- and 84-inch sizes (shown above), complete with its FPR passive 3D tech built in. Since LG Display makes panels for quite a few of the HDTVs on shelves, it follows that we'll be seeing actual products shipping in those sizes in the coming year from several brands. It also will show off its work in other areas, with a 30-inch 4K monitor, a 5.5-inch 1080p screen for smartphones, a 1,920 x 1,200 7-inch tablet display, and a new QSXGA (2,560 x 1,700) screen destined for laptops that packs all of those pixels into just 12.9-inches.

PPI isn't everything however, and LG Display is bringing several displays notable for their tiny bezels as well, including a 23.8-inch monitor in its Neo-Blade Series, a 13.3-inch laptop screen with a 2mm bezel, and a 4.7-inch mobile screen with a 1mm thick bezel. Finally, the new year also brings tweaks to its OLED displays, which will show off an ultra light and thin design at just 3.5kg and 4mm thick --- and hopefully actually being released in the US this year. Check out the release after the break for the full list of goodies, we'll be getting our own look at them in just a few days.

Continue reading LG Display is bringing Ultra HD TVs in multiple sizes, high res mobile screens and more to CES

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile, LG

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/26/lg-display-is-bringing-ultra-hd-tvs-in-multiple-sizes-high-res/

Morgan Freeman Dead Stand Up to Cancer Azarenka NFL fantasy football Chris Kluwe Jennifer Granholm Tulane player injured

Liquid crystal research may lead to creation of new materials that can be actively controlled

Dec. 24, 2012 ? Contributing geometric and topological analyses of micro-materials, University of Massachusetts Amherst mathematician Robert Kusner aided experimental physicists at the University of Colorado (UC) by successfully explaining the observed "beautiful and complex patterns revealed" in three-dimensional liquid crystal experiments. The work is expected to lead to creation of new materials that can be actively controlled.

Kusner is a geometer, an expert in the analysis of variational problems in low-dimensional geometry and topology, which concerns properties preserved under continuous deformation such as stretching and bending. His work over 3 decades has focused on the geometry and topology of curves, surfaces and other spaces that arise in nature, such as soap films, knots and the shapes of fluid droplets. Kusner agrees with physicist and lead author Ivan Smalyukh of UC Boulder that their collaboration is the first to show in experiments that some of the most fundamental topological theorems hold up in real materials. Their findings appear in the current early online issue of Nature.

UMass Amherst's Kusner explains, "There are two important aspects of this work. First, the experimental work by the Colorado team, who fabricated topologically complex micro-materials allowing controlled experiments of three-dimensional liquid crystals. Second, the theoretical work performed by us mathematicians and theoretical physicists while visiting the University of California Santa Barbara's Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP). We provided the geometric and topological analysis of these experiments, to explain the observed patterns and predict what patterns should be seen when experimental conditions are changed."

Kusner was the lone mathematician among four organizers of last summer's workshop on "Knotted Fields" at KITP, which led to this work. The workshop engaged about a dozen other mathematicians and about twice as many theoretical and experimental physicists in a month-long investigation of the interplay between low-dimensional topology and what physicists call "soft matter."

In their experiments, the physicists at UC Boulder showed that tiny topological particles injected into a liquid crystal medium behave in a manner consistent with established theorems in geometry and topology, Kusner says. The researchers say they have thus identified approaches for building new materials using topology.

UC Boulder's Smalyukh and colleagues set up the experiment by first creating colloids, solutions in which tiny particles are dispersed but not dissolved in a host medium, such as milk, paint and shaving cream. Specifically, they injected tiny, different-shaped particles into a liquid crystal, which behaves something like a liquid and a solid. Once injected into a liquid crystal, the particles behaved as predicted by topology.

Smalyukh says, "Our study shows that interaction between particles and molecular alignment in liquid crystals follows the predictions of topological theorems, making it possible to use these theorems in designing new composite materials with unique properties that cannot be encountered in nature or synthesized by chemists. These findings lay the groundwork for new applications in experimental studies of low-dimensional topology, with important potential ramifications for many branches of science and technology."

For example, he adds, these topological liquid crystal colloids could be used to upgrade current liquid crystal displays like those used in laptops and television screens, to allow them to interact with light in new, more energy efficient ways.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Massachusetts at Amherst, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Bohdan Senyuk, Qingkun Liu, Sailing He, Randall D. Kamien, Robert B. Kusner, Tom C. Lubensky, Ivan I. Smalyukh. Topological colloids. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11710

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/amlBf3owlKk/121227110803.htm

Alexis Wright presidential debates seahawks Felix Baumgartner Little Nemo gawker earthquake today

Netflix suffers Christmas Eve outage, points to Amazon

19 hrs.

Sam Forgione

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An outage at one of Amazon's Web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.?

The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from home, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said. Such devices range from gaming consoles such as Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 to Blu-ray players.?

Evers said that the issue was the result of an outage at an Amazon Web Services' cloud computing center in Virginia, and started at about 12:30 p.m. PST (2030 GMT) on Monday and was fully restored Tuesday morning, although streaming was available for most users late on Monday.?

"We are investigating exactly what happened and how it could have been prevented," Evers said.?

"We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix or Netflix-capable devices can watch TV shows and movies and apologize for any inconvenience caused last night," he added.

An outage at Amazon Web Services, or AWS, knocked out such sites as Reddit and Foursquare in April of last year.?

Amazon Web Services was not immediately available for comment. Evers, the Netflix spokesman, declined to comment on the company's contracts with Amazon.

(c) Copyright ThomsonReuters 2012. Check for restrictions at:?http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/netflix-suffers-christmas-eve-outage-points-amazon-1C7662774

jetblue captain los angeles dodgers christie brinkley seattle mariners geraldo rivera supreme court health care joe oliver

Egypt constitution passes, economic crunch looms

CAIRO (AP) ? The official approval of Egypt's disputed, Islamist-backed constitution Tuesday held out little hope of stabilizing the country after two years of turmoil and Islamist President Mohammed Morsi may now face a more immediate crisis with the economy falling deeper into distress.

In a clear sign of anxiety over the economy, the turbulence of the past month and expected austerity measures ahead have some Egyptians hoarding dollars for fear the currency is about to take a significant turn for the weaker.

The battle over the constitution left Egypt deeply polarized at a time when the government is increasingly cash-strapped. Supporters of the charter campaigned for it on the grounds that it will lead to stability, improve the grip of Morsi and his allies on state institutions, restore investor confidence and bring back tourists.

"In times of change, politics are the driver of the economy and not the other way around," said Mourad Aly, a media adviser for the political arm of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, the backbone of Morsi's presidency and the main group that backed the constitution.

But there are already multiple fights on the horizon.

The U.S. State Department bluntly told Morsi it was now time to make compromises, acknowledging deep concerns over the constitution.

"President Morsi, as the democratically elected leader of Egypt, has a special responsibility to move forward in a way that recognizes the urgent need to bridge divisions, build trust, and broaden support for the political process," said Patrick Ventrell, acting deputy spokesman. "We hope those Egyptians disappointed by the result will seek more and deeper engagement. "

He said Egypt "needs a strong, inclusive government to meet its many challenges."

After a spate of resignations of senior aides and advisers during the constitutional crisis, Morsi appeared to have lost another member of his government late Tuesday night when his communications minister posted on his Twitter account that he was resigning.

The minister Hany Mahmoud said he "couldn't cope with the culture of government work, particular in the current conditions of the country." The resignation could not be immediately verified because it came so late at night.

Morsi signed a decree Tuesday night that put the new constitution into effect after the election commission announced the official results of the referendum held over the past two weekends. It said the constitution has passed with a 63.8 percent "yes." Turnout of 32.9 percent of Egypt's nearly 52 million registered voters was lower than most other elections since the uprising nearly two years ago that ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak

Morsi is expected to call for a new election of parliament's lawmaking lower house within two months.

In the meantime, the traditionally toothless upper house, the Shura Council, will hold legislative power. But the chamber is overwhelmingly Islamist-dominated so any laws it passes could spark a backlash from the opposition. Many fear a legal crackdown on independent media, highly critical of Islamists.

In a bid to reach out to opposition, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood said he hoped the charter will be a "good omen" for Egyptians.

"Let's all begin to build the renaissance of our country with free will, good intentions and strong determination, men, women, Muslims and Christians," Mohammed Badie said on his Twitter account.

But the opposition said the passing of the document is was not the end of the political dispute. Critics fear the constitution will usher in Islamic law in Egypt and restrict personal freedoms.

"This is not a constitution that will last for a long time," said Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the main opposition group, the National Salvation Front, vowing to fight for more freedoms, social and economic rights.

In a sign that the new front for the opposition against Morsi's policies may be the economy, Dawoud said the Morsi administration was "confused" both on the political and economic fronts.

"We want stability and economic prosperity like everybody else. But we don't believe that the policies of Morsi and the Brotherhood will lead to more stability," he said.

The turmoil over the constitution sparked huge protests that turned deadly at times. For a moment, the tension looked like it was spiraling out of control and only added to an already weakened economy.

At the height of the protests, the government called off its talks with the International Monetary Fund over a $4.8 billion loan which Morsi's government viewed as a way to attract much needed foreign investors, and deal with a high budget deficit.

Major foreign currency earners, such as foreign direct investment and tourism, have dropped off because of political unrest and deterioration in security following Mubarak's ouster in February 2011.

Over the last two years, the country has lost more than half of its foreign currency reserves from $36 billion in 2010 to around $15 billion currently. The reserve level has been slightly propped up by some Qatari deposits in past months.

Economic experts say that Egypt's current foreign reserves barely cover three months of imports, which is the IMF's minimum recommended coverage.

There were signs on Tuesday that some Egyptians were starting to hoard dollars for fear that the local currency could weaken significantly.

The run on the dollar was fueled in part by a decree issued by Morsi late Monday banning people from leaving Egypt with more than $10,000 or its equivalent in other currencies.

Some currency exchanges in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek ran out of dollars by midday and offered only euros ? a rare occurrence. Some banks, too, said they had run out of cash dollars.

"I asked around in many exchange places and can't find dollars anywhere," said Cairo resident Mahmoud Kamel after unsuccessfully visiting one exchange office. "I want to exchange money because I'm afraid the Egyptian pound will not have any value soon."

The dollar rush prompted the Central Bank of Egypt to issue a statement on Monday calling on banks not to listen to rumors circulating about the fiscal health of the nation.

The bank declared its commitment to guarantee all deposits in local and foreign currencies to banks in Egypt and said banks are "financially strong enough."

There was one particularly nerve-rattling report in recent days that longtime Central Bank Governor Farouk Okdah had resigned. The report came on Saturday during the second and final round of voting on the constitutional referendum.

Official media quickly retracted the news after reporting it. The governor then turned up at a meeting of the government's economic team on Sunday in an apparent attempt to quell nervousness over the state of the economy.

Egypt's currency had been stable trading around 6 pounds to the dollar for the first half of the year. It has since slipped, especially in the past two months as political instability worsened. The dollar was selling Tuesday at 6.18.

Rumors swirling around impending tax hikes, subsidy cuts and other bread-and-butter issues have heightened the public's concern. Around 40 percent of Egyptians live just at or below the poverty line of surviving on around $2 a day.

In a sign of the worsening economy, the number of people living on under $1 a day rose to 25 percent in 2011, up from 21.6 percent in 2009, according to government statistics released last month.

Promises that the Islamist-drafted constitution would bring about the stability Egyptians crave were dismissed by economic experts who warned that without enough currency reserves, there is little to stop the pound from falling.

"The instability of the foreign exchange rate is not at all detached from the political instability. It is a reflection and clear mirror to what is happening," said Haytham Abdel Fattah, head of the Treasury and International Markets Manager at Industrial Development Bank.

______________

Mariam Rizk contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-25-Egypt/id-6899c2c3f0c74d259fc076654d4177c6

kids choice awards ncaa final four 2012 texas chainsaw massacre uk vs louisville university of kansas buckeye west side story

Selecting The Perfect Internet Hosting For Your On-Line Enterprise ...

As its title indicates, maintained internet hosting could be a form of server web hosting maintained by pros on behalf in the shopper. Managed internet hosting allows for suppliers to center on their main competencies whereas their servers are managed by web hosting supplier, using the requisite data connected towards area. This also signifies that you, like a consumer, really don?t have got to be considered a hosting skilled when doing work for the website.
Advantages of Maintained Hosting Expert services
Managed net hosts feature many services inside of a comprehensive deal, as well as server overseeing, equipment upgrading, software system set up, software systems upgrading, on call maintenance, and troubleshooting, making sure all the things will work properly for your shopper.
Service providers can conserve punctually and cash flow by means of managed web hosting
The greatest profit linked with managed hosting is the fact the managed web hosting provider employs trade industry professionals to handle and supply constant guidance for your client. The web site owner might not possess the knowledge expected to deal with the difficulties linked with internet hosting and preserving the web site. Specialised facets, these kinds of as utilizing precise software system over a special server, are entirely dealt with through the managed hosting program supplier, thus the web site operator doesn?t have to waste time on this.
Taking good care of internet hosting specifications in household can verify being a costly proposition. In many instances, the maintained hosting provider can move to the benefits of bulk charges for server house, components, application, and bandwidth on the shopper. This may show you how to conserve finances within the future. Likewise, immediately after partnering with managed internet hosting corporations, websites proprietors can know their actual per month prices involved with hosting and working the web site. A large amount of web hosting providers supply their products for contractual durations of approximately about three yrs, and with this, homepage homeowners may have a crystal clear thought regarding their expenses.
Improved performance and general performance by means of managed hosting
With managed hosting, there?s cheaper chance of failure. This is often seeing that only proficient people have accessibility to options along with other significant areas. Subsequently, the website will likely be additional protected.
Folk handling the maintained hosting are consultants in that field and may be certain greater performance inside the procedure and operating of the websites. For the reason that the website and its intricacies are solely handled by specialized vendors, internet site entrepreneurs can solely consider meeting their internet marketing business objectives. Manufacturers can then give full attention to expanding the client base using the net.
Which includes a proficient maintained web hosting provider on board, you do not ought to invest in choosing specialist IT gurus and preparation them to control and retain the servers. Managed internet hosting solutions also consist of 24/7 service. In the event of any subject, industry professionals when using the web hosting service supplier are almost always on hand at hand to diagnose and address the issue from the fastest potential time. Also with managed internet hosting, you can be certain of regular and instant availability for the homepage, making certain which the downtimes are kept to some minimal and no difficulties occur.
Maintained website hosting services companies repeatedly keep an eye on the server and provide audio backup services that may aid recovery inside the party of problems.
Since most maintained web hosting vendors have a number of deals with assorted aid concentrations, you can easily find one that satisfies your necessities. These packages may possibly be in particular helpful for those who are a tiny or medium-sized company, as selecting a webmaster for your long word can confirm quite high priced. Whereas looking for maintained hosting suppliers, it is always recommended to choose reputable and proficient companies.

Main Providers Supplied By The Online Hosting Companies can present you with highest details for Web Hosting With No Bank Card Required.Make sure you pay a visit to the post for additional details!

Related posts:

1. Internet Hosting Suppliers Push The Enterprise To A Subsequent Degree Of Excellence.
2. Free Web Hosting Sites For Your Corporation
3. Selecting Internet Hosting What Extras Are On Offer
4. Rapidly Altering Is Internet Hosting
5. A Tutorial In Internet Hosting

Source: http://www.thefloorgeek.com/2012/12/selecting-the-perfect-internet-hosting-for-your-on-line-enterprise/

new black panther party lost in space elizabeth banks battle royale key largo arnold palmer invitational ryan madson

95% The Central Park Five

All Critics (58) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (3)

Expect your blood pressure to rise during The Central Park Five.

The doc is rife with smart or wrenching or shameful moments. The fresh interviews with the accused, now men, are invaluable.

As grim a portrait of the criminal justice system as can be imagined.

How could this second crime have occurred? The film asks that question but only partly answers it, and in the process it raises an even more troubling one.

"The Central Park Five" is worth seeing, both for the ways it's timeless and for the ways it encapsulates an era.

What's amazing about listening to them speak now, often through tears, is the absence of bitterness.

Puts the crime and the times in sharp perspective.

Burns and company conduct a thorough, riveting investigation that does a far better job of assessing the tragedy than the justice system did two decades before. Of course, hindsight is an advantage we all take for granted.

It's a gripping story that comes in a well-crafted package.

A heartbreaking expose' about a rush to judgment which ruined five, innocent young lives.

Exclusive interviews with former heads of Israel's counter terrorism agency reveal insiders' analysis about the country's policies. Fascinating. Frightening.

"The Central Park Five" is a sobering indictment of racism and vigilante justice, yet it is constrained by a PBS-style deference to the very system it critiques.

You can't help but wonder why this film wasn't made 20 years ago, when it could have saved these men some time behind bars.

What keeps the film from being an impossible downer is the guts and spirit and smart words of the Central Park Five, four of whom, now freed, are interviewed at length.

A miscarriage of justice on this scale would have been tragic had it resulted from an honest mistake - but, as this meticulously researched movie makes clear, honesty had little to do with it.

The [documentary] team builds a solid story from the time of the crime through the release from prison those wrongly accused and railroaded into confessing to a crime they did not commit.

The result is both compelling and infuriating.

The Central Park Five provides background drawn from contemporary media images, including crime scene footage accompanied by a detective's grisly description, as well as reflections by those involved.

Not only gripping and heartbreaking, but terrifying.

No quotes approved yet for The Central Park Five. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_central_park_five_2012/

whitney houston in casket photo resolute national enquirer whitney houston casket photo jk rowling qnexa kingdom of heaven national enquirer whitney houston

Just Released: 2013 Real Estate Outlook | Tallahassee.com ...

Just Released: 2013 Real Estate Outlook

As another year winds to a finish, it?s time to look forward with a real estate outlook for the coming year.

Long time readers of the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog might remember past efforts to predict the real estate activity for the coming years. My real estate forecast for 2012 was spot-on, and my past five years efforts have been very close. (For those that are interested, you can find my past real estate forecasts here).

But the real estate forecast for 2013 is going to be the toughest one since 2006.

Real Estate Outlook Is Based Upon Current Trends

The housing market in Tallahassee appears to be leaving a market bottom (for the final time I hope). Homebuyer activity is on the rise for the first time since the Homebuyer Tax Credit created a temporary recovery back in 2010. But I believe this time it is for real.

The real estate graph above shows that 2012 will record more home sales than 2009, 2010, and 2011, and possibly 2008 as well. While the total number of home sales is not where it once was, I think this upward move is a trend that will continue.

Of course, the graph also shows that 38% of the homes sold last year were distressed, and that trend is going to continue higher for quite some time.

In fact, our real estate outlook for 2013 is quite bullish for this very reason. Distressed homes for sale in Tallahassee are very tempting at these low prices, and low interest rates make them super affordable.

Distressed Property Impact On 2013 Housing Market

For six straight years, property values have fallen in the Tallahassee real estate market. While many real estate reports try to confuse us about property prices versus property values, the graph below is simple and clear, values are falling.

In the graph above, the green and red bars record the number of arms length and distressed home sales (respectively), while the green and red lines show their respective values.

Arms length home values will begin the 7th consecutive year of declining values, and the rate of decline is what makes this year?s real estate forecast so difficult.

It?s all dependent on the distressed properties for sale in Tallahassee. If they hit the market too rapidly, values will decline at a higher rate. If they enter the market very slowly, values will stay fairly stable, but the recovery will take much longer.

Ultimately, the demand side of the market is returning, so the question will be ?how will the supply side respond??

Real Estate Outlook Looks At Supply Side

We have written numerous articles on the supply side of the Tallahassee housing market. Long time readers download our monthly Tallahassee Housing Report to stay current on niche price range movements.

Consumers should be aware of the shadow inventory of homes and the forgotten inventory of homes, both of which are poised on the sidelines to enter the housing market as soon as there appears to be ample demand.

Additionally, the current supply of homes has been correcting nicely, but still represents 1.5x the amount needed to balance the market at our current rate of demand.

The real estate graph above shows that real supply (red) is falling, demand (green) is rising slightly, thus the relative supply of homes (blue) is at its lowest level since 2008.

Were it not for all the distressed homes and recently failed to sell homes waiting to enter the market, we would expect to reach market equilibrium in 2013. I just don?t think it can happen.

There are thousands of distressed homes that still need to get sold, and just because they aren?t listed for sale in the Tallahassee MLS does not mean they aren?t having an impact on the supply side of the market.

Real Estate Outlook 2013

We will see more homes sold in 2013 than we have seen since 2007.

Don?t be surprised if we see distressed properties surpass 50% of all sales at some point.

Our best case real estate outlook is that home sales in 2013 will double those recorded in 2011 (as we projected in our 2012 Real Estate Forecast), but it is more likely that the market will see a healthy growth without doubling.

My optimism for 2013 could turn dark with more problems in the world banking community, and I still think that a poorly managed recovery could cause the housing market to head backwards.

So ultimately, my real estate outlook for 2013 anticipates significant growth in unit sales and a slight decline or leveling off of home values, but don?t underestimate our ability to do something stupid and send the market backwards with a rush of distressed homes entering the market.

Former Braves Player Arrested On Battery Charge

(Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) ? Former Atlanta Braves star center fielder Andruw Jones was free on bond after being arrested in suburban Atlanta early Tuesday on a battery charge, according to jail records.

Around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a call for a domestic dispute between Jones and his wife in Duluth.

Gwinnett County Detention Center records say Jones was booked into the jail around 3:45 a.m. and had been released on $2,400 bond by 11 a.m.

Once one of the premier players in the big leagues, Jones broke into the majors with the Atlanta Braves in 1996 and won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1998-07 as their center fielder. He has 434 career home runs over the span of 17 seasons in the majors.

Jones earlier this month signed a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan?s Pacific League.

(? Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Source: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/12/25/former-braves-player-arrested-on-battery-charge/

Con Edison LaGuardia Airport weather radar the weather channel tony romo national grid LIPA

Washington Roundup: Arguments for and Against Chuck Hagel's Nomination (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/272914005?client_source=feed&format=rss

Survivor Philippines westboro baptist church Fashion Island shooting Victor Cruz nfl standings Vicki Soto Adam Lanza

Misc

You're a world famous band. What more do you want?

Owner:

Game Masters:

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
Want to have some chit chat? Do it here!

Here you can also plot things.

Ereandrill

Member for 0 years

---

---

Can we change "Annie's big bag" to instead "Annie's journals"? She would freak out about that more than clothing. :D

"She offered herself to the big, bad wolf and didn't scream when he took the first bite."
Can you light the fire that will burn me?
AIM: bandgeekx96 / Skype: bandgeekx96

bandgeek

Member for 0 years

---

bandgeek wrote:Can we change "Annie's big bag" to instead "Annie's journals"? She would freak out about that more than clothing. :D

In what did she pack her journals? Than you can loose that!

Ereandrill

Member for 0 years

---

I guess Zach's pat on the back wasn't considered caring. Ah well.

~In my hands the means. In my heart, the will -

Kira's thoughts before his first kill.

Righteously, he became a god among all.

But in the end, even gods fall.~

FamishedPants

Member for 0 years

---

---

Post a reply

RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

Who is online

Registered users: *Reckless*, 0neTailedf0x*, AdmireAtStuff*, Ageha*, Angel-Chii*, Aniihya, AntleredRabbit, ArabellaDemonte, Arceius*, arequiemforlove, Aryutsuki, Asher MstrImmortalis*, AthenaUndying, bandgeek*, Banshee*, Barel, Basta, Blackbird26*, BleedingLover, BlueWind_22, BraceBlaze, Bromander Shepard*, Canibelle*, ceh12, Centraiu*, ChaoticMarin*, CharlotteV*, CherryRed, chrono*, claw*, Cloasse*, cmpuncle, CNAGamer, Colonel_Masters, Coloris*, CptxMorgan*, CriminalMinds*, CuteAsKaylah*, Daakukage*, DarkCookie97, darkprincess16*, dealing with it, Deallo, delfiler, DemonDante*, desire99600, Digital_Muse*, Dragomagix*, DuBois_Scarlett*, ElRey, Endgame, Ereandrill, Everscale, Exabot [Bot], FamishedPants, ForestofFlames*, freakofnature, FreeRunner*, Gamer_Templar*, Ghost_Scar, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, Grace Lynn*, graphicromantics*, Half-Dragon*, Hallowed777, Himekura*, Hinasil, Holy|Orders*, iCat, imabig875*, ISpeakTheTruth*, JacintoRain, jackrules158*, Jelly-Squish*, jukuma*, Kai, Kaida, Kawaii Desu, KiraArsenic, Korrye, Kuroe, Kurokiku*, Leon21, Life-Owner*, lilyboo12, LittlexVamp*, Lloyd999, Lolkatlove*, LostRiver*, LuckyNumber24, LunaSpirit*, Malfunction*, MaliceInWonderland, marksmanoftruth, Mela*, Messiah, Michaelis_xXx_Elly, Miss_Dreamer, Moonbow*, Morgan, Mr_Doomed*, MsCatnipz*, MSNbot Media, Nannyhap*, NasiaWords*, Nekohina, Neurobvious, Nevan*, Nevermore90*, Nightmaric_Angel, nightwolf, Nikolai*, Nima, ninjavanish, No-one-special, NotAFlyingToy*, OFortune*, OrphicTrumpeter, OurStars*, PeaceEntropy*, phoenix_lynx*, PinkPeppercorn, Princess Awinita*, punkwithflute*, Pyramids, qbsuperstar03*, RacoonMoon()*, Raidose*, Raize*, rdaydreamer, Red Soldier, Rem?us*, remy6archer*, Roadkill923*, ROFLMAO FTW*, Roku Mushabuki*, RoRo, RoseAmedori, Rougeshadow*, Rulke*, Runika*, Rylie Renae*, Ryuu Takeshi*, Sammael*, Scarlet Loup*, schismnavigator*, Script*, Seirei*, Shiki29*, Shpleem*, silentawakening, Sinkai, SkullsandSlippers*, Solo Wing Pixy*, Sorella, spacetime*, spayce, StandardFiend, Stark Contrast, Starlight77*, Strawberrykiss46, SumErgoSum*, SuperNinjaRoo, Sweet Angel Jocelyn, Terrus*, Tessla, The Afterman, The Harbinger*, The Keywork*, The Painkiller, The*Lucky*Teacup*, TheFinalOne, TheNoremac42, Tiko*, TommyGirl*, Tonks, Tsukiakari*, umbra Alastor, utahann*, Vestiline*, Vexilous, VindicatedPurpose*, Vinn, VitaminHeart*, ViviOrunitiaFF9, WalterF*, wolfoftheage*, xDarkTiger Rose*, xRoo, XShishioX*, Yolo, youloveme?*, zeno3111*, ZoeyAutopsyx*

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/EktRnNEizb4/viewtopic.php

allen west north korea missile nerlens noel don t trust the b in apartment 23 world financial center shabazz muhammad angela corey

New York gunman left note declaring plan to kill people

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gunman who killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two others in a Christmas Eve ambush in upstate New York left a typewritten note declaring his plan to burn down his neighborhood and start "killing people," authorities said on Tuesday.

The gunman opened fire on volunteer firefighters who responded to a house fire he deliberately set early on Monday morning in Webster, New York, a suburb of Rochester, authorities said.

The gunman, William Spengler, 62, shot and killed himself in an ensuing gunfight with police. He had spent 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, authorities said.

Police said Spengler set the fire, laying a trap for the firefighters, and opened fire when they arrived.

He left a typewritten note describing his intent, Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said at a news conference on Tuesday.

"I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best, killing people," Pickering read from the gunman's statement.

Pickering said investigators are looking for Spengler's sister Cheryl, 67, who is missing and unaccounted for.

Spengler started shooting at arriving firefighters before they got out of their fire truck, Pickering said. He shot out the truck's windshield as they tried to drive away, he said.

"This was a clear ambush on first responders," Pickering said.

Police fired back at the gunman, he said.

"It was a combat condition. They were shooting at muzzle flash," Pickering said.

Spengler was in a natural depression in an embankment near a tree when he opened fire, he said.

Spengler's motive for attacking firefighters remained unknown, Pickering said. It may have been related to contributions his mother had made to the local fire department, he said.

Pickering said he was not sure what the victims were shot with but said Spengler had an "arsenal of ammunition" and three weapons - a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver, a pump action Mossberg shotgun, and a .223 Bushmaster rifle with a flash suppressor.

Authorities with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were checking on the origin of the weapons, he said.

As a convicted felon, Spengler could not legally own guns, but The New York Times reported there had been recent gun thefts in the county, citing local authorities.

A Bushmaster rifle was used in the killing of 20 students and six teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14.

The firefighters killed in the attack were Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, authorities said.

The injured firefighters were identified as Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino. Both men were listed in guarded condition on Tuesday at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

An off-duty police officer was wounded by shrapnel as he drove past the scene. The officer was treated at a local hospital and released, the Times said.

Seven homes in the neighborhood were destroyed by the fire, and two were uninhabitable, authorities said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Dan Grebler and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ambushed-ny-firemen-shot-dead-two-police-killed-015312529.html

UFC 151 empire state building prince harry Hurricane hunger games Joey Kovar Expendables 2