Mother of Sandy Hook Victim Delivers White House Weekly Address

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In a message traditionally reserved for the president, Francine Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son Ben was among the 20 students and six educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary last year, delivered the White House's weekly address today, urging the country to come together to support measures that proponents say will alleviate gun violence.

"As you've probably noticed, I'm not the president. I'm just a citizen. And as a citizen, I'm here at the White House today because I want to make a difference," Wheeler said. "I've heard people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded. But not for us. To us, it feels as if it happened just yesterday.

"And in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other Americans have died at the end of a gun. Thousands of other families across the United States are also drowning in our grief. Please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy.

RELATED: Obama, With Newtown Families, Demands Gun Control Vote

"We have to convince the Senate to come together and pass commonsense gun responsibility reforms that will make our communities safer and prevent more tragedies like the one we never thought would happen to us," she said. "Help this be the moment when real change begins. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Wheeler, who was accompanied by her husband, David, in the address, shared memories of her young son less than four months after he was killed.

"Ben's love of fun and his excitement at the wonders of life were unmatched His boundless energy kept him running across the soccer field long after the game was over. He couldn't wait to get to school every morning. He sang with perfect pitch and had just played at his third piano recital. Irrepressibly bright and spirited, Ben experienced life at full tilt," she said.

"Sometimes, I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Firehouse for the boy who would never come home - the same firehouse that was home to Ben's Tiger Scout Den 6. But other times, I feel Ben's presence filling me with courage for what I have to do - for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon," Wheeler said.

After President Obama delivered a speech on gun violence in Connecticut Monday, the Wheelers were among the 11 families who traveled with the president on Air Force One to lobby members of Congress in Washington.

"When I packed for Washington on Monday, it looked like the Senate might not act at all. Then, after the president spoke in Hartford, and a dozen of us met with Senators to share our stories, more than two-thirds of the Senate voted to move forward," Wheeler said. "But that's only the start. They haven't yet passed any bills that will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. And a lot of people are fighting to make sure they never do. Now is the time to act. Please join us."

Earlier this week, ABC News' Jeff Zeleny caught up with the Wheelers as they knocked door to door on Capitol Hill, lobbying members of Congress to vote in favor of gun control measures earlier this week.

"We represent Ben's life and that's why I'm here," Francine Wheeler told Zeleny.

"This is the event that defines us in many ways. And I'm not going to hide from that," David Wheeler said.

The Senate voted Thursday in favor of considering a comprehensive gun package, which includes a new bipartisan background check deal brokered by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

The president tweeted out a message Friday urging Americans to listen to the Newtown mother's message.

"Francine Wheeler, a Newtown mom, will take my place in tomorrow's Weekly Address. It's a message everyone should hear: #NowIsTheTime. -bo," the president tweeted from the White House account. The signature "-bo" indicates the tweet was written and sent from the president himself.

Wheeler is the first civilian to deliver the White House's weekly address. Vice President Joe Biden gave the weekly address on the economy in November 2011 while the president was overseas at a summit. First lady Laura Bush delivered the address at least twice, once on the fate of women in Afghanistan under Taliban control in 2001 and another time regarding Burma in January 2008.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mother-sandy-hook-victim-delivers-white-house-weekly-100029488--abc-news-politics.html

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Canadian Police to Reopen Rehtaeh Parsons Rape Case

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Self-medication in animals much more widespread than believed

Apr. 11, 2013 ? It's been known for decades that animals such as chimpanzees seek out medicinal herbs to treat their diseases. But in recent years, the list of animal pharmacists has grown much longer, and it now appears that the practice of animal self-medication is a lot more widespread than previously thought, according to a University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues.

Animals use medications to treat various ailments through both learned and innate behaviors. The fact that moths, ants and fruit flies are now known to self-medicate has profound implications for the ecology and evolution of animal hosts and their parasites, according to Mark Hunter, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and at the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

In addition, because plants remain the most promising source of future pharmaceuticals, studies of animal medication may lead the way in discovering new drugs to relieve human suffering, Hunter and two colleagues wrote in a review article titled "Self-Medication in Animals," to be published online today in the journal Science.

"When we watch animals foraging for food in nature, we now have to ask, are they visiting the grocery store or are they visiting the pharmacy?" Hunter said. "We can learn a lot about how to treat parasites and disease by watching other animals."

Much of the work in this field has focused on cases in which animals, such as baboons and woolly bear caterpillars, medicate themselves. One recent study has suggested that house sparrows and finches add high-nicotine cigarette butts to their nests to reduce mite infestations.

But less attention has been given to the many cases in which animals medicate their offspring or other kin, according to Hunter and his colleagues. Wood ants incorporate an antimicrobial resin from conifer trees into their nests, preventing microbial growth in the colony. Parasite-infected monarch butterflies protect their offspring against high levels of parasite growth by laying their eggs on anti-parasitic milkweed.

Hunter and his colleagues suggest that researchers in the field should "de-emphasize the 'self' in self-medication" and base their studies on a more inclusive framework.

"Perhaps the biggest surprise for us was that animals like fruit flies and butterflies can choose food for their offspring that minimizes the impacts of disease in the next generation," Hunter said. "There are strong parallels with the emerging field of epigenetics in humans, where we now understand that dietary choices made by parents influence the long-term health of their children."

The authors argue that animal medication has several major consequences on the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions. For one, when animal medication reduces the health of parasites, there should be observable effects on parasite transmission or virulence.

For example, when gypsy moth caterpillars consume foliage high in certain toxic compounds, transmission of viruses between the caterpillars is reduced, facilitating moth outbreaks.

In addition, animal medication should affect the evolution of animal immune systems, according to Hunter and his colleagues. Honeybees are known to incorporate antimicrobial resins into their nests. Analysis of the honeybee genome suggests that they lack many of the immune-system genes of other insects, raising the possibility that honeybees' use of medicine has been partly responsible -- or has compensated -- for a loss of other immune mechanisms.

The authors also note that the study of animal medication will have direct relevance for human food production. Disease problems in agricultural organisms can worsen when humans interfere with the ability of animals to medicate, they point out.

For example, increases in parasitism and disease in honeybees can be linked to selection by beekeepers for reduced resin deposition by their bees. A reintroduction of such behavior in managed bee colonies would likely have great benefits for disease management, the authors say.

The first author of the Science paper is Jacobus de Roode of Emory University. The other author is Thierry Lefevre of the Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement in France.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. J. C. de Roode, T. Lefevre, M. D. Hunter. Self-Medication in Animals. Science, 2013; 340 (6129): 150 DOI: 10.1126/science.1235824

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_environment/~3/j2v2-vYpJtc/130411142716.htm

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Italy "wise men" urge reform to help break political deadlock

By James Mackenzie

ROME (Reuters) - A panel of "wise men" named by Italy's president proposed a package of political and economic reforms on Friday, but there was little sign they would bridge the gap between feuding parties caught in deadlock since elections in February.

Italy has been left with a caretaker government for 45 days since the inconclusive elections gave no party enough seats in parliament to govern alone, while rivalries among faction leaders have made it all but impossible to agree a coalition.

In an effort to overcome the divide, President Giorgio Napolitano, whose term ends in May, named a 10-man group last month to come up with policy proposals that could serve as the basis for a broad common platform.

The panel, which includes a former head of the Constitutional Court, a member of the Bank of Italy's board and senior politicians, proposed a range of changes to Italy's system of government. They said red tape should be slashed, the bloated political system cut back, administration simplified and tax collection made more efficient.

Italy should also do more to help families hurt by the current recession and get more credit to small and medium-sized businesses, while sticking to fiscal austerity targets promised to European partners, the panel said.

It called for a new electoral law to replace the widely criticized current system which helped to produce the current stalemate, though it did not come up with a final recommendation for a replacement.

"The decisions are now up to the political forces, and it will be up to my successor to draw the conclusions," Napolitano said after meeting the group.

The proposals, which have no legal force, differed little from a host of recommendations made by private economists, think tanks, industry associations and institutions including the Bank of Italy, as even some of the "wise men" acknowledged.

Maurizio Mauro, a centrist politician on the panel, said he agreed with one assessment that the recommendations amounted to "reinventing the wheel" but defended the exercise nonetheless.

"This work has highlighted a number of points which show that the things we agree on are stronger than the things which divide us," he told SkyTG24 television. "Having said that, the parties now have to get together for the good of the country."

DIVISIONS

The stalemate has not caused the kind of market panic feared before the election, but business leaders have been more and more vocal about the need for a government capable of tackling a recession that already equals the longest in postwar history.

Earlier this week the government was forced to raise its estimate for public debt to over 130 percent of gross domestic product this year, underlining the threat to the sustainability of Italy's finances as the economy slumps further.

"The risk Italy faces is that we relax," said Andrea Montanino, the International Monetary Fund official responsible for Italy. "The problem isn't just reforms, it's implementing the reforms," he said at the margins of a conference in Turin.

Among the panel's proposals were cutting the number of members of parliament, reforms to the Senate and changes to party financing, although they stopped short of recommending that state funding be scrapped altogether.

Italy's political parties all say they are committed to deep reforms that would improve the way the country is run.

However, they have proved incapable of resolving the stalemate created by the election, which left parliament split between three hostile blocs, none of which can govern alone, making an early return to the polls a growing possibility.

On Friday, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would be prepared to accept a center-left candidate as president of the Republic but only in exchange for a "grand coalition" that would give his center-right bloc a share in power.

That option has already been ruled out repeatedly by center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who won control of the lower house but fell short of a majority in the Senate, where he would need the support of rival parties to win a confidence vote.

Bersani has failed to win the backing of the other main force in parliament, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement led by ex-comic Beppe Grillo, which refuses any deal with the mainstream parties.

Bersani now hopes to form a minority government tolerated by enough members of the rival parties to pass a limited set of reforms, but he is under pressure within his own Democratic Party to abandon his attempt and have fresh elections.

An opinion poll for the SWG institute on Friday suggested Berlusconi's center-right alliance would win an election held now with 33.4 percent of the vote against 30.7 percent for the center-left.

Voting for the next president, due to begin on Thursday, is the next hurdle facing parliament and will be vital to ending the stalemate. Napolitano's mandate is almost complete, and he no longer has the power to dissolve parliament.

Numerous names have been floated as his successor including former prime ministers Romano Prodi and Giuliano Amato plus former European Commissioner Emma Bonino, but no clear favorite has emerged.

(Additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Turin; Editing by David Stamp and Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italy-wise-men-urge-reform-help-break-political-131013856.html

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Xbox SmartGlass nabs Android update, now supports 7-inch or larger tablets, stops screen sleep

Microsoft's SmartGlass for Android app has just hit version 1.5 thanks to a fresh update on Google Play. The app, which lets users control their XBox via a smartphone or tablet, will now be optimized to work on 7-inch and larger Android tablets. Other new features include an (unfortunately-worded) "always-on" Smartglass Experiences state, which actually just prevents your handset or slate from sleeping while they're running, along with bug fixes and "numerous design and usability improvements." We'll have to give it a further play to see if there's anything juicy buried in the latter, but meanwhile, you can grab it at the break.

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Pottery reveals Ice Age hunter-gatherers? taste for fish

Apr. 9, 2013 ? Hunter-gatherers living in glacial conditions produced pots for cooking fish, according to the findings of a pioneering new study led by the University of York which reports the earliest direct evidence for the use of ceramic vessels.

Scientists from the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan carried out chemical analysis of food residues in pottery up to 15,000 years old from the late glacial period, the oldest pottery so far investigated. It is the first study to directly address the often posed question "why humans made pots?" The research is published in Nature.

The research team was able to determine the use of a range of hunter-gatherer "J?mon" ceramic vessels through chemical analysis of organic compounds extracted from charred surface deposits. The samples analysed are some of the earliest found in Japan, a country recognised to be one of the first centres for ceramic innovation, and date to the end of the Late Pleistocene -- a time when humans were adjusting to changing climates and new environments.

Until quite recently ceramic container technologies have been associated with the arrival of farming, but we now know they were a much earlier hunter-gatherer adaptation, though the reasons for their emergence and subsequent widespread uptake are poorly understood. The first ceramic containers must have provided prehistoric hunter-gatherers with attractive new ways for processing and consuming foods but until now virtually nothing was known of how or for what early pots were used.

The researchers recovered diagnostic lipids from the charred surface deposits of the pottery with most of the compounds deriving from the processing of freshwater or marine organisms. Stable isotope data support the lipid evidence, and suggest that the majority of the 101 charred deposits, analysed from across Japan, were derived from high trophic level aquatic foods.

Dr Oliver Craig, of the Department of Archaeology and Director of the BioArCh research centre at York, led the research. He said: "Foragers first used pottery as a revolutionary new strategy for the processing of marine and freshwater fish but perhaps most interesting is that this fundamental adaptation emerged over a period of severe climate change.

"The reliability and high abundance of food along shorelines and river-banks may well have provided the initial impetus for an investment in producing ceramic containers, perhaps to make the most of seasonal gluts or as part of elaborate celebratory feasts and could be linked to a reduction in mobility. This initial phase of ceramic production probably paved the way for further intensification in the warmer climate of the Holocene when we see much more pottery on Japanese sites.

"This study demonstrates that it is possible to analyse organic residues from some of the world's earliest ceramic vessels. It opens the way for further study of hunter-gatherer pottery from later periods to clarify the development of what was a revolutionary technology."

The study also involved researchers from Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford; Division of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool; Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen; Centre for the Study of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University; The Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University and Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Netherlands; and Niigata Prefectural Museum of History, Niigata; Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto and Wakasa History and Folklore Museum, Fukui, in Japan.

The research was supported by the Leverhulme Trust and Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of York, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. O. E. Craig, H. Saul, A. Lucquin, Y. Nishida, K. Tach?, L. Clarke, A. Thompson, D. T. Altoft, J. Uchiyama, M. Ajimoto, K. Gibbs, S. Isaksson, C. P. Heron, P. Jordan. Earliest evidence for the use of pottery. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature12109

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/~3/smr5fELqcQM/130410131137.htm

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Mark Wahlberg's Kids Couldn't Believe 'Transformers 4' Casting

'They're like 'Yeah, shut up daddy. You don't make movies that we want to see!' ' actor says before this Sunday's MTV Movie Awards at 9 p.m. ET.
By Brett White, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

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Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705317/mark-wahlberg-transformers-4-casting.jhtml

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