Arthritis a Disease Not Only for Adults

Campbell Pruden was only 19 months old, just beginning to talk, when she developed a limp and begged to be carried. The only way she could express her pain was to tell her parents, "It's too tight."

In 2011, the once energetic toddler was diagnosed and hospitalized with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. At one point, she was taking eight daily medications. She was so afraid of the frequent steroid injections that she had to be put under anesthesia to keep her still enough for the procedure.

"In the beginning when there were all those unknowns, we knew we had to get to the bottom of it," said her mother, Kim Pruden, a 35-year-old speech pathologist from Phoenix.

"But at the same time, we had to keep that poker face with her to give her the confidence that, 'You are O.K. and you are going to be O.K.'"

The couple has their "breakdown" moments after Campbell goes to bed at night.

One of the greatest misunderstandings about arthritis is that it affects only adults. More than 300,000 children in the United States are living with the disease, according to the Arthritis Foundation, which has launched a new public awareness campaign to debunk the myths of arthritis during the month of May.

In addition to swelling in the joints, children can suffer muscle and soft tissue tightening and bone erosion that affect growth patterns.

Symptoms may include a non-contagious fever and rash. Inflammation can affect the spleen or the membranes that covering the lungs and heart.

It's important to recognize the symptoms of arthritis early, as many forms of arthritis can cause irreversible joint damage, often within the first two years of the disease. There are more than 100 types of arthritis and knowing what type you have makes a difference in how it is treated.

Today, at age 3, Campbell gets intravenous injections of powerful immune-suppressant medicines known as biologics, but office visits can last anywhere from two to five hours long. She calls the tiresome procedures her "stupid tubes."

Pruden laughs that the ordeal is like "going to Disney World for kids to get poked with needles."

Pruden and her husband John take a positive approach with their daughter whose joints are always aching.

"We keep her moving, we keep her active and we take one day at a time," she said. "When she is not feeling well, we respect that, but it's important not to make that a crutch or an excuse."

Arthritis is an umbrella term used to describe the many autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.

One family hard-hit by the disease recently moved from rainy Seattle to Charleston, S.C., for the warm climate, which is easier on the aching joints of sufferers.

Sisters Amelia, 5, and Liberty, 3, have juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which affects their joints "from head to toe," according to their mother, Lisa Schultz, who was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Their father has had gout since he was 20, which is also a form of arthritis.

Amelia was diagnosed in April 2010 when she was nearly 2. She suddenly stopped walking and reverted to crawling.

"She started limping in the morning and wanted to be carried," said Schultz, 37 and a stay-at-home mother. "She would cry when I changed her diaper, too. I would lift her up and she would say her toes hurt when I put on her socks. Her second toe was almost the size of her big toe and her knees were the size of oranges."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/toddlers-struggle-juvenile-arthritis-disease-people/story?id=19250859

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Massive tornado rips through Moore, Oklahoma: 24 killed, including children; more feared dead

A woman carries a child through a tornado-ravaged neighborhood in Moore, Okla., May 20, 2013. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)

A devastating, mile-wide tornado touched down near Oklahoma City on Monday, killing dozens of people?including children?decimating homes, businesses and a pair of elementary schools in the suburb of Moore.

According to the state's medical examiner, the death toll, reduced to 24 Tuesday morning, was expected to rise. About 40 bodies were expected to be transported to the medical examiner's office overnight.

The schools?Plaza Towers Elementary and Briarwood Elementary?were leveled by the tornado. It was unclear how many children were in them at the time the twister hit, but according to KFOR-TV, at least seven children died at Plaza Towers, and as many as two dozen more were feared to be trapped inside the rubble. An Associated Press photographer saw rescue workers pull several children out alive. A makeshift triage center was set up in the school's parking lot.

[Related: Flickr photos from the scene]

"This is war-zone terrible," Jon Welsh, a helicopter pilot for KFOR who lives in Moore, said while surveying the damage from the air. "This school is completely gone."

Emergency officials urged people to remain off the roads so rescue workers and first responders could reach people potentially trapped in rubble, as the National Guard was called in to help in the search for victims.

Three people were killed at a 7-Eleven in the path of the storm, CBS' KWTV reported, including a man, woman and baby who took cover in a freezer but didn't survive. KFOR reported a fourth person was killed there.

A child is pulled from the rubble at Tower Plaza Elementary in Moore, May 20, 2013. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)

"Our hearts are broken," Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said at a news conference Monday evening.

The tornado left a debris field 20 miles long and several miles wide. According to the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., the tornado was on the ground for approximately 40 minutes, and a tornado warning was in effect for 16 minutes before the twister developed.

Weather officials estimated the strength of the storm to be an F4 or F5 on the Fujita Scale?the highest rating a tornado can achieve. The National Weather Service said the tornado's preliminary classification was an F4, with winds up to 200 mph.

On May 3, 1999, a tornado outbreak near Oklahoma City produced 14 tornadoes?including an F5 in Moore?killing 36 people and injuring 295 others. A host on KFOR called Monday's storm "the worst tornado damage-wise in the history of the world."

The devastated area was an estimated 30 square miles.

"The whole city looks like a debris field," Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis said on NBC's "Nightly News." "Our hospital is pretty much destroyed."

Communication was snarled as landlines and cellphone towers were knocked down. A water treatment plant in Oklahoma City was also damaged.

President Barack Obama directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prepare to get "all available assistance" to the disaster-hit area. Late Monday, the president declared Oklahoma a major disaster area, making federal aid available to people in Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma and Pottawatomie counties.

Families of potential victims were directed by the Red Cross to a website?safeandwell.org?for information about survivors.

The 106-acre Orr Family Farm, a popular attraction in town, was extremely damaged, its owner said. KFOR reported between 75 and 100 horses perished there as workers took shelter in horse stalls.

Another, smaller tornado was spotted on the ground west of Meeker, Okla., north of Shawnee, on Monday.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives canceled its afternoon sessions so lawmakers and staffers could take shelter, the AP said.

The tornadoes came a day after powerful storms ripped through the center of the country, spawning at least a dozen tornadoes, killing two people and causing extensive damage from Georgia to Minnesota.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/tornado-oklahoma-city-moore-205548879.html

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Five killed, six injured from church group in Illinois van crash

By Tim Bross

ST. LOUIS, Mo (Reuters) - Five people were killed and six were injured Monday morning when a van carrying them home from a religious gathering in California rolled over off of Interstate 70 near Vandalia in southern Illinois, police said.

Fayette County Sheriff's Department Deputy Shawn Carter said the van had Maryland plates, but the van's destination is as yet undetermined.

Carter said the van was eastbound about four miles west of Vandalia, which is about 70 miles northeast of St. Louis, when it went into the median, then crossed back over eastbound I-70, and rolled several times south of the highway.

Carter said the five people who died were thrown from the white 2002 Dodge van.

Four of the injured were taken to Fayette County Hospital in Vandalia and were in fair condition, a spokeswoman said. Two were taken to Greenville Regional Hospital in Greenville, Illinois, but their conditions were not immediately available.

Both eastbound lanes of 70 are closed while the crash is being investigated and will remain closed through mid-afternoon, police said.

(Reporting by Tim Bross; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Bob Burgdorfer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-killed-six-injured-church-group-illinois-van-192233142.html

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Source: http://hotarticledepot.com/the-very-best-search-engine-optimization-guidance-available-on-the-internet-2/

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Power of prayer: Studies find prayer can lead to cooperation, forgiveness in relationships

May 14, 2013 ? Praying for a romantic partner or close friend can lead to more cooperative and forgiving behavior toward the partner, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University researcher.

The findings are significant because they are the first in which the partners who are the subject of the prayers reported a positive change in the behavior of the person who prayed, said Frank D. Fincham, scholar and director of the Florida State University Family Institute.

"My previous research had shown that those who prayed for their partner reported more prosocial behavior toward their partner, but self-reports are subject to potential biased reporting," Fincham said. "This set of studies is the very first to use objective indicators to show that prayer changed actual behavior, and that this behavior was apparent to the other partner, the subject of the prayer."

In addition, objective observers found those who engaged in partner-focused prayer exhibited more positive behavior toward their partners compared to those who did not pray for their partner.

Fincham is one of several authors of the study led by Nathanial Lambert, a former FSU doctoral student who is now an assistant professor at Brigham Young University. Their paper, "Shifting Toward Cooperative Tendencies and Forgiveness: How Partner-Focused Prayer Transforms Motivation," was published in the journal Personal Relationships. In addition to Lambert and Fincham, the co-authors are C. Nathan DeWall and Richard Pond of the University of Kentucky and Steven R. Beach of the University of Georgia.

The paper reports the results of five separate studies designed to find out whether partner-focused prayer shifted individuals toward cooperative behaviors and tendencies both over time and in the immediate aftermath of hurtful behavior. Among the findings:

?Participants who prayed more frequently for their partner were rated as less vengeful in discussing something the partner had done to upset or annoy them.

?The partners of participants who prayed for them noticed more forgiving behavior than the partners of participants who were assigned to set aside time each day to think positive thoughts about them.

?Participants assigned to pray following a partner's hurtful behavior were more cooperative with their partners compared to participants assigned to engage in thinking about God.

?Participants who prayed for a close relationship partner on days in which conflict occurred reported higher levels of cooperative tendencies and forgiveness than on days when conflict occurred and they did not pray.

"These findings highlight the potential benefit of using partner-focused prayer, where culturally appropriate, in clinical settings or in relationship education programs," the researchers wrote.

In addition to informing relationship education and couples therapy for religious clients, the research findings may also help clarify the types of interventions -- that is, those that increase cooperation in order to facilitate forgiveness -- that might be developed for nonreligious couples, according to the researchers.

Study participants were undergraduate college students who indicated they were comfortable with prayer and praying for others. Further studies need to be conducted with older, more mature or more ethnically diverse couples to ensure that the effects of partner-focused prayer is not limited to young adult relationships, the researchers said.

Until recently, social scientists have stayed away from studying religion, spirituality and especially prayer, Fincham said, despite the fact that some 5 billion people, or about 75 percent of the world's population, profess some religious faith.

"In the United States, some 90 percent of people say that they pray at least occasionally, and prayer is a form of spiritual activity common to all the Abrahamic traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with strong parallels in other religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Shinto," Fincham said. "Yet we know very little about its role in romantic relationships. This is the first time that objective indicators have documented the impact of prayer in such relationships."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/FJfYQf6ZDZE/130514184139.htm

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Obama pushes for Syria talks but warns of huge challenges

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Monday to work to bring the Syrian government and rebels to the negotiating table in coming weeks but warned that a "combustible mix" of regional meddling and Islamist militancy would make it hard to halt the country's civil war.

Even as Obama backed a new joint U.S.-Russian effort to seek a diplomatic solution in Syria, he cited an array of obstacles to a credible peace process, including the involvement of Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in the two-year-old conflict.

Obama, in a joint White House news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, injected a note of caution after Washington and Moscow raised hopes last week with an agreement to try to arrange an international peace conference on Syria.

With Syria's factional and sectarian hatreds more entrenched than ever and President Bashar al-Assad showing no sign of a willingness to give up power, it was far from clear whether the warring sides were ready to talk.

"If, in fact, we can broker a peaceful political transition that leads to Assad's departure, but a state in Syria that is still intact, that accommodates the interest of all the ethnic groups, all the religious groups inside of Syria, and that ends the bloodshed, stabilizes the situation, that's not just going to be good for us, that'll be good for everybody," Obama said.

But Obama said of the diplomatic effort: "I'm not promising that it's going to be successful."

Obama said that once "the furies have been unleashed ... it's very hard to put things back together," he said. "There are going to be enormous challenges ... even if Russia is involved, because we still have other countries like Iran, and we have nonstate actors like Hezbollah that have been actively involved."

"On the other side, we've got organizations like al-Nusra that are essentially affiliated to al Qaeda," he said. "So all that makes a combustible mix."

Obama, who has faced criticism at home and abroad for his cautious approach to the Syria crisis, made no mention of U.S. deliberations on whether to start arming Syrian opposition fighters - something he has long resisted.

"We'll continue to work to establish the facts surrounding the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and those facts will help guide our next steps," Obama said.

He has warned that use of chemical weapons by Assad's forces would be a "game-changer" but has insisted he must have conclusive proof to back intelligence assessments of probable chemical weapons deployment.

OBAMA, CAMERON PROJECT UNIFIED FRONT

Cameron said in a an interview with National Public Radio that Britain had not ruled out taking tougher action against Assad's government, but he later told reporters that his government has not made a decision to arm the Syrian opposition.

He said, however, that Britain would double its non-lethal aid to the opposition over the next year and that it was looking at ways to provide more technical assistance to the rebels.

Obama and Cameron sought to project a united front in seeking a political solution on Syria.

"The challenges remain formidable, but we have an urgent window of opportunity before the worst fears are realized," Cameron said.

Both leaders agreed on the need to keep up pressure on Assad to step aside and make way for a political transition.

"And that includes bringing together representatives of the regime, and the opposition in Geneva in the coming weeks to agree on a transitional body, which would allow a transfer of power from Assad to this governing body," Obama said.

Secretary of State John Kerry said last week the conference could be held by the end of May, but his spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said on Monday it could slide to early June.

Obama said he and his aides were working to narrow differences with Moscow, which has backed the Syrian government, to show Russian President Vladimir Putin it was in his country's interest to push Assad out.

"I don't think it's any secret that there remains lingering suspicions between Russia and other members of the G8 or the West," Obama said. He said he and Kerry, who met Putin in Moscow last week and secured agreement to pursue a Syria peace conference, were trying to break down those suspicions.

(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis, Susan Heavey, Roberta Rampton and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-uks-cameron-vow-continued-support-syria-160659313.html

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Following rumors that Samsung is readying a klutz-proof version of the Galaxy S4, just such a phone

Following rumors that Samsung is readying a klutz-proof version of the Galaxy S4, just such a phone has appeared on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group's (SIG) Bluetooth-certification pages. Looks like it's on its way, then.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/following-rumors-that-samsung-is-readying-a-klutz-proof-504374339

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Insurance -- Umbrella or Personal Horse Owners Liability

Markel offers a "Private Horse Owner" policy that...

..."provides coverage for bodily injury and property damage only done by a horse which is scheduled on this policy both on and off premises...not available to commercial equine operations or if applicant owns more then 10 horses".

I am sure they offer coverage of you fall into the last 2 groups.

I'm cleaning out some drawers and just happen to have my old policy sitting here. At the time, like 6 years ago or so, base premium included up to 4 horses and ran from 230 to 295 depending on selected limits which ran 330k to 1 million-I took the 1 mil for 295. If you drive your horse(s) it was a little more.

Pretty sure those rates have gone up since then but that ought to give you an idea of what's covered and the cost.

Source: http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?402983-Insurance-Umbrella-or-Personal-Horse-Owners-Liability

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Watch The Arrested Development Trailer Here

Posted without comment because it really doesn't need a comment. I mean, it's the new Arrested Development trailer -- just watch it and count down the days until the Bluth family returns to Netflix?on May 26.

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

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Doh! Justin Bieber Doesn't Make Cut In 'Simpsons' Cameo

Singer joins impressive celebrity club with Sunday's 'The Fabulous Faker Boy' episode.
By Gil Kaufman

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707197/justin-bieber-simpsons-cameo.jhtml

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Little Richard's boyhood home to be moved

MACON, Ga. (AP) ? Officials in Georgia have decided to move the boyhood home of Little Richard to spare it from a highway construction project.

Macon Mayor Robert Reichert made the announcement Friday. WMAZ-TV reports (http://on.wmaz.com/YB9JwR) that the 80-year-old singer is receiving an honorary degree on Saturday from Mercer University.

Born Richard Wayne Penniman, Little Richard grew up in Macon's Pleasant Hill community. That's a neighborhood that was later divided by the construction of Interstate 75.

The "Tutti Frutti" singer's boyhood home faced possible demolition to make room for a planned expansion of the interchange where I-75 meets Interstate 16 to Savannah.

City officials said the home will be relocated to a lot near the Pleasant Hill community garden. At its new location, the house will be used as a neighborhood resource center.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/little-richards-boyhood-home-moved-174626636.html

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AP PHOTOS: Pakistanis defy dangers, go to polls

* Williams dismisses Errani, Sharapova beats Ivanovic * Number one ranking on the line in Sunday's final (Adds Sharapova result, quotes, byline) By Iain Rogers MADRID, May 11 (Reuters) - Serena Williams' tactic of staying in her hotel room and being "boring" appears to be paying off after the world number one swept past Sara Errani on Saturday to set up a Madrid Open final against rival Maria Sharapova. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-pakistanis-defy-dangers-polls-134552866.html

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Prison for ex-dictator soothes Guatemala

Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt sits in the courtroom before the judge enters to read the verdict in his genocide trial in Guatemala City, Friday, May 10, 2013. The Guatemalan court convicted Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison. The 86-year-old former general is the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge. The war between the government and leftist rebels cost more than 200,000 lives and ended in peace accords in 1996. (AP Photo/Moises Castilo)

Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt sits in the courtroom before the judge enters to read the verdict in his genocide trial in Guatemala City, Friday, May 10, 2013. The Guatemalan court convicted Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison. The 86-year-old former general is the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge. The war between the government and leftist rebels cost more than 200,000 lives and ended in peace accords in 1996. (AP Photo/Moises Castilo)

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate winner Rigoberta Menchu, right, hugs the relative of a victim of the country's civil before the verdict is announced in the genocide trial for Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt in Guatemala City, Friday, May 10, 2013. The Guatemalan court convicted Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison. The 86-year-old former general is the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge. The war between the government and leftist rebels cost more than 200,000 lives and ended in peace accords in 1996. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

The relatives of people who were killed in the country's civil embrace after the judge's guilty verdict for Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt after his trial for genocide in Guatemala City, Friday, May 10, 2013. The Guatemalan court convicted Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison. The 86-year-old former general is the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge. The war between the government and leftist rebels cost more than 200,000 lives and ended in peace accords in 1996. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Ixil Indian women and men whose family members were killed in the country's civil war celebrate the judge's guilty verdict for Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt after his genocide trial in Guatemala City, Friday, May 10, 2013. The Guatemalan court convicted Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison. The 86-year-old former general is the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge. The war between the government and leftist rebels cost more than 200,000 lives and ended in peace accords in 1996. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) ? Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt spent his first full day as a convict Saturday in a 16-by-13 foot cell with a small bed, bathroom and window, after receiving a landmark 80-year sentence for genocide and crime against humanity.

It was a steep fall for the now-86-year-old former strongman who ruled Guatemala from March 1982 to August 1983, during the height of a brutal civil war that killed 200,000 people, mainly Indians.

A tribunal on Friday ruled that Rios Montt knew about the slaughter of at least 1,771 Ixil Maya in Guatemala's western highlands and didn't stop it, handing down the first genocide conviction ever given to a Latin American strongman in his own country.

The former general was transferred to prison later that evening.

"He is not comfortable, but as a good soldier he is used to this," said Rios Montt's lawyer, Francisco Palomo, who is expected to seek to have the ex-general transferred to a hospital or to have his sentence be served under house arrest.

Matamoros prison, where Rios Montt is now behind bars, is located on a military base in Guatemala City where the former general spent time as a young cadet. It was built to house high-profile inmates who could be unsafe in normal prisons.

Authorities there say he has the right to spend two hours outside his cell each day, but guarded by officers. He has the right to three daily meals, though family members can also bring him food.

Most in Guatemala feel the sentence prison represents a triumph after a long struggle in a country still recovering from a 36-year-civil war that ended with peace accords in 1996.

"It's very valuable to us, totally refreshing. We deserved it," said human rights activist Helen Mack.

Genocidal massacres occurred before and after Rios Montt, "but the bulk of the killing took place under Rios Montt," said Victoria Sanford an anthropologist at Lehman College-City University of New York who spent about 50 months in excavations of at least eight massacre sites.

The long sentence was a message, activists said, that the previously untouchable and brutal military structures need to be held accountable. Guatemala's maximum sentence is 50 years making the 80 years symbolic.

The three-judge panel also ordered prosecutors to continue investigating to bring all those responsible for abuses to justice. Until now, only low or middle-level officials have been prosecuted for war atrocities.

On Monday, the same court will meet to discuss the compensation for the victims.

Indians and activists applauded and some wept after hearing Friday's ruling. But some are wondering if Rios Montt can successfully appeal.

Adding to their worries is the fact that Guatemala's current president, Otto Perez Molina, still refuses to acknowledge that genocide took place.

"It is painful to hear that some are in a state of denial, but admitting it is the first step for the country to heal," Mack said. "It is not over."

Perez Molina's name was brought up during the trial when a former soldier accused him of ordering executions while serving in the military in the Rios Montt regime.

He called the testimony "lies."

In a late Friday interview, Perez Molina told CNN's Spanish-language channel that there was no genocide, despite the ruling being seen as the country's first official acknowledgement that one took place.

"When I said that Guatemala has seen no genocide, I repeat it now after this ruling," Perez Molina said. "Today's ruling is not final ... the decision will not be final until the moment they run out of appeals."

Defense lawyer Francisco Palomo vowed to appeal the ruling, saying it was unjust.

Rios Montt has insisted he never knew of or ordered massacres while in power.

He began his career in the Guatemalan army in 1946 as a cadet. He seized power in March of 1982 through a military coup, and held it for 18 months until he was overthrown.

Ricardo Mendez Ruiz, a Guatemala businessman and son of a military officer, called the trial biased.

"We have found out the Ixiles' side of the story, not the whole truth," he said. "We want to rise up to show the world that this decision is not hailed by everyone in Guatemala."

In Rios Montt's trial, dozens of Ixil Mayas stood up and testified of atrocities, such as mass rapes and killing of children by the military.

Perez Molina said the army was not at fault.

"It was an armed conflict that was internal. The army did not cause this armed confrontation. The army did not declare war on the places where the Ixiles lived. The guerrilla did it," he said.

Military offensives were part of a brutal, decades-long counterinsurgency against a leftist uprising that brought massacres in the Mayan heartland where the guerrillas were based. A U.N. truth commission said both state forces and related paramilitary groups were responsible for 93 percent of the killings and human rights violations that it documented, mostly against indigenous Maya.

Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu says Guatemala's moment strengthens the world's powerless. Ixil Mayas, she said, can teach other oppressed groups around the world to stand by their rights and not to rest until tyrants are punished by law.

"This could mean that everyone, all indigenous people all over the planet who have been treated with hatred, who have been branded as liars, could hopefully start living in harmony," Menchu said.

____

Associated Press writer Olga R. Rodriguez and John Rice contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-11-Guatemala-Rios%20Montt/id-f58d252fab7045769799993e029e9b72

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Indian companies at center of global cyber heist

By Dinesh Nair and Jim Finkle

DUBAI/BOSTON (Reuters) - Two companies with major operations in India were the weak links that opened the door to a $45 million global cyber heist brought to light by U.S. authorities this week.

EnStage Inc, which operates from Bangalore, and ElectraCard Services, which is based in Pune, processed card payments for the two Middle Eastern banks that were hit in the theft, according to several people familiar with the situation.

U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday that hackers broke into two card processing companies, raising the balances and withdrawal limits on accounts that were then exploited in coordinated ATM withdrawals around the world.

The prosecutors did not name the two companies but said one was based in India and the other in the United States.

According to a U.S. official and a bank employee, who both spoke on condition of anonymity, ElectraCard Services was the company that processed prepaid travel cards for National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC (RAKBANK). RAKBANK suffered a $5 million coordinated heist at ATMs around the world on December 21 last year, according to the U.S. indictment.

Ramesh Mengawade, the chief executive of ElectraCard Services and its parent company, Opus Software Solutions, could not be reached through his assistant or by email on Saturday. Calls to the mobile phone of another company official were not answered.

EnStage, which is incorporated in Cupertino, California, is the company that processed card payments for Bank of Muscat of Oman, according to a source close to Bank of Muscat. Bank of Muscat lost $40 million in a coordinated heist on February 19, according to Thursday's indictment.

Officials at enStage could not be reached on Saturday, either in Bangalore or in Cupertino. In a statement in the Times of India, Chief Executive Govind Setlur said the company has implemented security enhancements and monitoring since the theft.

"Our customers were adversely affected by this sophisticated crime," Setlur said in the statement. "We are deeply committed to information security, and we will continue to take all reasonable measures to ensure our networks are secured from criminal actors."

MORE WORK FOR BIG PROCESSORS?

Bank of Muscat has not commented on the case.

MasterCard, the network under which the cards used in the heist were issued, has said its security was not compromised. MasterCard bought a 12.5 percent stake in ElectraCard in 2010, ElectraCard has said.

Cyber security experts said the global scope and speed of the $45 million bank theft was unprecedented. The global gang had operatives in 27 countries who fanned out to thousands of ATMs in a matter of hours, withdrawing money using fraudulent prepaid debit cards, according to U.S. prosecutors.

The U.S. Justice Department gave details of the heist on Thursday in an indictment against eight men accused of being the New York cell of the organization. The department said seven of the men have been arrested.

The ringleaders of the global operation were believed to be outside the United States, but U.S. prosecutors have declined to give details, citing the continuing investigation. Germany is the only other country so far to announce arrests.

Eddie Schwartz, chief information security officer for RSA Inc, a firm that helps banks fight payment card fraud, said that it is not surprising that hackers would target banks that rely on Indian firms to process transactions.

Schwartz, who is based in Washington, said there is not as much government oversight in India as there is in the United States and Western Europe.

"Hackers view India as a target. It's got a fast-moving economy, a fast-moving IT infrastructure," Schwartz said.

Madeline Aufseeser, a senior analyst with Aite Group who follows payments processors, said she was relieved to learn that the case appeared to be limited to smaller processors.

"It looks like an isolated, very targeted incident," she said, noting that the major firms in the industry have highly sophisticated protocols to limit fraud damages.

The big players include First Data Corp, FIS, Galileo Mastercard Inc's Mastercard Integrated Processing Solutions, Tsys and Visa Inc's Visa Debit Processing Service.

Philip Philliou, managing partner of Philliou Partners LLC, a firm that helps banks and retailers select payment processors, predicted smaller processing firms will lose business as a result of this theft. Banks will decide they are not willing to assume the additional risk that comes with using smaller firms, he said.

(Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Writing by Eddie Evans; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-indian-card-processor-45-million-heist-electracard-121208297.html

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Exclusive: SoftBank asks banks not to finance Dish's Sprint bid - sources

By Soyoung Kim and Olivia Oran

(Reuters) - SoftBank Corp has asked investment banks not to finance a rival bid for Sprint Nextel Corp by Dish Network Corp, saying this could hurt the banks' chances of gaining a role in the highly anticipated public offering of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Japanese telecom company SoftBank, which is a big shareholder in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba with a 33 percent stake, is locked in an escalating bidding war with Dish, after the U.S. satellite TV provider made a $25.5 billion proposal for Sprint in April.

SoftBank, which has an existing agreement with Sprint to buy 70 percent of the U.S. wireless carrier for $20.1 billion, has heavily criticized Dish's offer, saying the rival bid does not have committed financing in place.

Dish, which has said it would need to raise $9 billion in debt to finance the offer, is in the process of lining up financing, but is encountering challenges partly because banks have come under pressure from SoftBank to avoid any financing of Dish, the people said on Friday.

At least one major Wall Street bank has withdrawn from financing the Dish bid because of the bank's relationship with SoftBank and its likely role in the Alibaba IPO, they added.

Alibaba declined to comment, but a third source, who is close to the e-commerce company, said that while SoftBank is a major investor, it does not make decisions for Alibaba management. Alibaba has no timetable for an IPO yet and has not hired underwriters.

Sprint, SoftBank and Dish declined to comment.

RESTRICTIONS

So-called anti-tying rules prohibit a bank from offering one product to a company on the condition that it gain a role in another transaction. For example, a bank cannot say it will only give a loan to a company if the bank is chosen as an adviser on the company's next M&A transaction.

But banks' corporate clients are not subject to these restrictions. For instance, a company may select underwriters for an IPO on the condition that these banks not participate in a competitor's future public offering.

Alibaba's IPO, which could come as early as this year, is one of the most highly anticipated technology offerings after Facebook Inc's $16 billion offering last year and would generate lofty fees for Wall Street banks.

Barclays Plc, which is advising Dish, and Jefferies Group LLC, are lined up to provide financing, with Dish speaking to more banks to join the financing, one of the people said.

Jefferies and Barclays declined to comment.

If Dish finds it difficult to secure financing, that could put the proposed deal in jeopardy.

The lack of committed financing is a concern for the special committee of Sprint's board that is reviewing Dish's offer to determine whether it could lead to a superior proposal, people familiar with the matter said.

Dish founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen said on Thursday that Sprint's special committee has not yet allowed Dish to view its data room to gain a closer look at Sprint's books. The committee is dragging its feet partly because Dish does not have committed financing, people familiar with the matter said.

Many Wall Street banks including Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, UBS AG and Deutsche Bank are already conflicted and cannot provide financing to Dish because of their roles in other aspects of the bidding war.

Bank of America is advising Sprint's special committee, while Citigroup, UBS and Rothschild are advising Sprint. Deutsche Bank is financing SoftBank's proposal.

In a letter to Sprint's board of directors on April 15, Dish said it intended to fund the $17.3 billion cash portion of the deal using $8.2 billion in balance sheet cash and raising $9 billion in additional debt financing.

"We have a proven track record in raising capital to fund strategic initiatives and have received a Highly Confident Letter from our financial advisor, Barclays, confirming our ability to raise the required financing," the letter said.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, Olivia Oran and Sinead Carew in New York; editing by Gary Hill and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-softbank-asks-banks-not-finance-dishs-sprint-210508801.html

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As U.S. earnings estimates rise and fall, a guess may be best

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Following U.S. analysts' earnings estimates can make for a dizzying game, as forecasts for distant quarters routinely start out high, steadily fall, and then, once earnings season actually arrives, rise as companies "surprise" the market.

Interestingly enough, there is a point in this rollercoaster ride when the forecasts - really guesses, given these estimates are for a quarter that hasn't even taken place yet - matches the end result. It's at about eight weeks before the quarter actually starts, according to a Reuters analysis of data beginning in 2009.

The current earnings period falls into this pattern. S&P 500 first-quarter growth forecast started at 14.1 percent, based on Thomson Reuters data. It then fell to 5.1 percent on November 8, about eight weeks before the first quarter even began.

The earnings forecast is now at 5.3 percent - based on a combination of actual results for more than 90 percent of companies and estimates for the rest.

Still, many companies see their stocks rise when their results beat analysts' estimates.

"It's the same thing every quarter," said Ken Polcari director of the NYSE floor division at O'Neil Securities in New York.

"They make all of these fancy projections and as we move into the earnings season, they cut all of their numbers and then when the companies report, they go, 'Wow, look at us, we beat the number, how great is that.' And there's no reference to, well, we beat the much lower number, but we missed the original number by boatloads."

Many investors have become numb to the earnings numbers game, but say the overly cautious corporate outlooks sometimes can cost participants if they react to changes in estimates.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, the estimate began at about 14.4 percent and has been falling steadily in recent weeks as more companies warn on second-quarter results. It now stands at 1.9 percent.

If the pattern of previous quarters holds, it should bounce back and end at about 6.5 percent, where it was on February 8, or about eight weeks before the quarter began.

This pattern does not hold for every quarter, according to Greg Harrison, Thomson Reuters corporate earnings research analyst. In fact, fourth quarter 2009's numbers were excluded from the data because the earnings one year previous were awful, coming during the height of U.S. financial crisis. Earnings dropped 67.2 percent in that quarter.

On average, 70 percent of S&P 500 companies have beaten estimates since 2009. In the first quarter, 67.2 percent of S&P 500 companies have beaten analyst forecasts.

(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-earnings-estimates-rise-fall-guess-may-best-154657709.html

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Moon and Earth have common water source

May 9, 2013 ? Researchers used a multicollector ion microprobe to study hydrogen-deuterium ratios in lunar rock and on Earth. Their conclusion: The Moon's water did not come from comets but was already present on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, when a giant collision sent material from Earth to form the Moon.

Water inside the Moon's mantle came from primitive meteorites, new research finds, the same source thought to have supplied most of the water on Earth. The findings raise new questions about the process that formed the Moon.

The Moon is thought to have formed from a disc of debris left when a giant object hit Earth 4.5 billion years ago, very early in Earth's history. Scientists have long assumed that the heat from an impact of that size would cause hydrogen and other volatile elements to boil off into space, meaning the Moon must have started off completely dry. But recently, NASA spacecraft and new research on samples from the Apollo missions have shown that the Moon actually has water, both on its surface and beneath.

By showing that water on the Moon and on Earth came from the same source, this new study offers yet more evidence that the Moon's water has been there all along.

"The simplest explanation for what we found is that there was water on the proto-Earth at the time of the giant impact," said Alberto Saal, associate professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University and the study's lead author. "Some of that water survived the impact, and that's what we see in the Moon."

The research was co-authored by Erik Hauri of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, James Van Orman of Case Western Reserve University, and Malcolm Rutherford from Brown and published online in Science Express.

To find the origin of the Moon's water, Saal and his colleagues looked at melt inclusions found in samples brought back from the Apollo missions. Melt inclusions are tiny dots of volcanic glass trapped within crystals called olivine. The crystals prevent water escaping during an eruption and enable researchers to get an idea of what the inside of the Moon is like.

Research from 2011 led by Hauri found that the melt inclusions have plenty of water -- as much water in fact as lavas forming on Earth's ocean floor. This study aimed to find the origin of that water. To do that, Saal and his colleagues looked at the isotopic composition of the hydrogen trapped in the inclusions. "In order to understand the origin of the hydrogen, we needed a fingerprint," Saal said. "What is used as a fingerprint is the isotopic composition."

Using a Cameca NanoSIMS 50L multicollector ion microprobe at Carnegie, the researchers measured the amount of deuterium in the samples compared to the amount of regular hydrogen. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen with an extra neutron. Water molecules originating from different places in the solar system have different amounts of deuterium. In general, things formed closer to the sun have less deuterium than things formed farther out.

Saal and his colleagues found that the deuterium/hydrogen ratio in the melt inclusions was relatively low and matched the ratio found in carbonaceous chondrites, meteorites originating in the asteroid belt near Jupiter and thought to be among the oldest objects in the solar system. That means the source of the water on the Moon is primitive meteorites, not comets as some scientists thought.

Comets, like meteorites, are known to carry water and other volatiles, but most comets formed in the far reaches of the solar system in a formation called the Oort Cloud. Because they formed so far from the sun, they tend to have high deuterium/hydrogen ratios -- much higher ratios than in the Moon's interior, where the samples in this study came from.

"The measurements themselves were very difficult," Hauri said, "but the new data provide the best evidence yet that the carbon-bearing chondrites were a common source for the volatiles in the Earth and Moon, and perhaps the entire inner solar system."

Recent research, Saal said, has found that as much as 98 percent of the water on Earth also comes from primitive meteorites, suggesting a common source for water on Earth and water on Moon. The easiest way to explain that, Saal says, is that the water was already present on the early Earth and was transferred to the Moon.

The finding is not necessarily inconsistent with the idea that the Moon was formed by a giant impact with the early Earth, but presents a problem. If the Moon is made from material that came from Earth, it makes sense that the water in both would share a common source. However, there's still the question of how that water was able to survive such a violent collision.

"The impact somehow didn't cause all the water to be lost," Saal said. "But we don't know what that process would be."

It suggests, the researchers say, that there are some important processes we don't yet understand about how planets and satellites are formed.

"Our work suggests that even highly volatile elements may not be lost completely during a giant impact," said Van Orman. "We need to go back to the drawing board and discover more about what giant impacts do, and we also need a better handle on volatile inventories in the Moon."

Funding for the research came from NASA's Cosmochemistry and LASER programs and the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/K9iV5zHcq5A/130509142054.htm

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Collins, Pingree join urgent talks on military rape

Local & State Dispatches

Maine legislator taken from State House in ambulance / USM remembers student who died in Philippines / Kittery man sentenced for crash that injured couple ... and more news from around the state.

Source: http://www.pressherald.com/r?19=961&43=561087&44=206872581&32=10367&7=617322&40=http://www.pressherald.com/news/collins-pingree-join-urgent-talks-on-military-rape_2013-05-10.html

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Cardinal skipping BC ceremony over abortion issue

BOSTON (AP) ? Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley said Friday that he won't attend Boston College's graduation because the Jesuit school's commencement speaker, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, supports legislation to permit abortion.

The bill allows abortion if a doctor authorizes it to save a women's life. Opponents say the bill would lead to widespread abortion by also allowing it if a woman threatens suicide.

In a statement Friday, O'Malley said abortion is "a crime against humanity" and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked Catholic institutions not to honor officials who promote it. Kenny is set to receive an honorary degree from BC at the May 20 commencement.

O'Malley said that since Boston College hasn't withdrawn its invitation, and Kenny hasn't declined it, "I shall not attend the graduation."

"It is my ardent hope that Boston College will work to redress the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by not adhering to the bishops' directives," he said.

Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said the school respects O'Malley and regrets he won't attend graduation. "However, we look forward to our commencement and to Prime Minister Kenny's remarks," he said in a statement.

Dunn said Kenny was invited to BC because of his country's historically close relationship with the college and that the school "supports the church's commitment to the life of the unborn."

Kenny has said the bill affirms, rather than weakens, Ireland's general prohibition against abortion.

"Our aim is to protect the lives of women and their unborn babies by clarifying the circumstances in which doctors can intervene where a woman's life is at risk," he said in a May 1 speech.

An email requesting comment was sent to Kenny's office in Dublin on Friday and a voicemail requesting comment was left with an Irish Consulate-General in the U.S. Neither was immediately returned.

Ireland has the toughest abortion restrictions in Europe under an 1861 law that makes it a crime punishable by life in prison.

In 1992, its Supreme Court ruled abortion should be legal only if doctors determine it's needed to save the woman's life. But voters rejected two referendums, in 1992 and 2002, to allow abortion to stop a physical threat to a woman's life, not including suicide.

The latest bill is being debated following last year's death of Savita Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant when she was hospitalized at the start of a protracted miscarriage. She died of massive organ failure after doctors refused her request for an abortion.

The bill permits a single doctor to authorize an abortion if the woman's life is in immediate danger, requires two doctors' approval if a pregnancy poses a potentially lethal risk and mandates three doctors' approval if the woman is threatening suicide.

O'Malley said the Irish bishops have concluded the bill "represents a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law."

Last year, another Catholic college in Massachusetts was involved in a similar controversy after the Bishop of Worcester (Mass.) pressured Anna Maria College in Paxton to rescind an invitation to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, to deliver its commencement address. Bishop Robert McManus objected to Kennedy's public support for abortion rights and gay marriage.

Kennedy later accepted the Boston College School of Law's invitation to give the keynote address at commencement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cardinal-skipping-bc-ceremony-over-abortion-issue-220746723.html

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Researchers find a way to make steel without greenhouse-gas emissions

May 8, 2013 ? Anyone who has seen pictures of the giant, red-hot cauldrons in which steel is made -- fed by vast amounts of carbon, and belching flame and smoke -- would not be surprised to learn that steelmaking is one of the world's leading industrial sources of greenhouse gases. But remarkably, a new process developed by MIT researchers could change all that.

The new process even carries a couple of nice side benefits: The resulting steel should be of higher purity, and eventually, once the process is scaled up, cheaper. Donald Sadoway, the John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry at MIT and senior author of a new paper describing the process, says this could be a significant "win, win, win" proposition.

The paper, co-authored by Antoine Allanore, the Thomas B. King Assistant Professor of Metallurgy at MIT, and former postdoc Lan Yin (now a postdoc at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), has just been published in the journal Nature.

Worldwide steel production currently totals about 1.5 billion tons per year. The prevailing process makes steel from iron ore -- which is mostly iron oxide -- by heating it with carbon; the process forms carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Production of a ton of steel generates almost two tons of CO₂ emissions, according to steel industry figures, accounting for as much as 5 percent of the world's total greenhouse-gas emissions.

The industry has met little success in its search for carbon-free methods of manufacturing steel. The idea for the new method, Sadoway says, arose when he received a grant from NASA to look for ways of producing oxygen on the moon -- a key step toward future lunar bases.

Sadoway found that a process called molten oxide electrolysis could use iron oxide from the lunar soil to make oxygen in abundance, with no special chemistry. He tested the process using lunar-like soil from Meteor Crater in Arizona -- which contains iron oxide from an asteroid impact thousands of years ago -- finding that it produced steel as a byproduct.

Sadoway's method used an iridium anode, but since iridium is expensive and supplies are limited, that's not a viable approach for bulk steel production on Earth. But after more research and input from Allanore, the MIT team identified an inexpensive metal alloy that can replace the iridium anode in molten oxide electrolysis.

It wasn't an easy problem to solve, Sadoway explains, because a vat of molten iron oxide, which must be kept at about 1600 degrees Celsius, "is a really challenging environment. The melt is extremely aggressive. Oxygen is quick to attack the metal."

Many researchers had tried to use ceramics, but these are brittle and can shatter easily. "I had always eschewed that approach," Sadoway says.

But Allanore adds, "There are only two classes of materials that can sustain these high temperatures -- metals or ceramics." Only a few metals remain solid at these high temperatures, so "that narrows the number of candidates," he says.

Allanore, who worked in the steel industry before joining MIT, says progress has been slow both because experiments are difficult at these high temperatures, and also because the relevant expertise tends to be scattered across disciplines. "Electrochemistry is a multidisciplinary problem, involving chemical, electrical and materials engineering," he says.

The problem was solved using an alloy that naturally forms a thin film of metallic oxide on its surface: thick enough to prevent further attack by oxygen, but thin enough for electric current to flow freely through it. The answer turned out to be an alloy of chromium and iron -- constituents that are "abundant and cheap," Sadoway says.

In addition to producing no emissions other than pure oxygen, the process lends itself to smaller-scale factories: Conventional steel plants are only economical if they can produce millions of tons of steel per year, but this new process could be viable for production of a few hundred thousand tons per year, he says.

Apart from eliminating the emissions, the process yields metal of exceptional purity, Sadoway says. What's more, it could also be adapted to carbon-free production of metals and alloys including nickel, titanium and ferromanganese, with similar advantages.

Ken Mills, a visiting professor of materials at Imperial College, London, says the approach outlined in this paper "seems very sound to me," but he cautions that unless legislation requires the industry to account for its greenhouse-gas production, it's unclear whether the new technique would be cost-competitive. Nevertheless, he says, it "should be followed up, as the authors suggest, with experiments using a more industrial configuration."

Sadoway, Allanore and a former student have formed a company to develop the concept, which is still at the laboratory scale, to a commercially viable prototype electrolysis cell. They expect it could take about three years to design, build and test such a reactor.

The research was supported by the American Iron and Steel Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/RdVeJC1Dg4E/130508133124.htm

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Ferguson key in Man U's financial transformation

FILE - This is a Sunday, May 22, 2011. file photo of Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson as he waves to fans ahead of their English Premier League soccer match against Blackpool at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. Alex Ferguson will retire as manager of Manchester United at the end of the Premier League season after 26 years in charge of the storied club, the team said Wednesday May 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - This is a Sunday, May 22, 2011. file photo of Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson as he waves to fans ahead of their English Premier League soccer match against Blackpool at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. Alex Ferguson will retire as manager of Manchester United at the end of the Premier League season after 26 years in charge of the storied club, the team said Wednesday May 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - In this Saturday May 16, 2009 file photo Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson holds the English Premier League trophy as his team celebrate winning the league after their team's 0-0 draw against Arsenal at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England. Manchester United said Wednesday May 8, 2013 that manager Alex Ferguson is retiring at the end of season. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

LONDON (AP) ? Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. Apple and Steve Jobs. Will one of the world's most recognized soccer clubs face the same challenges the world's technology darling did after the departure of its iconic leader?

The announcement Wednesday that the Manchester United manager, universally known as Fergie, will retire has raised concerns not only over the club's dominance of English football but also about its financial future.

Almost 27 years after he took the helm of an underperforming club, Manchester United is back at the top of the English Premier League and among the highest echelons of Europe's elite soccer teams, alongside the Spanish giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

With annual revenues of around half a billion dollars and a market capitalization of over $3 billion, the club rooted in the blustery weather of northern England has secured its status as one of the world's top sporting franchises.

The pillars of English football wobbled after the 71-year-old Ferguson announced that he will be retiring at the end of this season ? this weekend will see his final game when Manchester United takes on West Bromwich Albion at home. No matter ? his team captured the Premier league title weeks ago.

But the news knocked Manchester United's share price ? testament to the important role Ferguson has played in driving both the club's financial and sporting success.

After sliding 5 percent at the open, Manchester United's share price settled somewhat Wednesday, trading 1.3 percent lower at $18.52.

It's only been nine months since the Glazer family, which owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL franchise, floated the club on the New York Stock Exchange as a way to reduce its debt overhang.

In its prospectus at the time, Manchester United warned that it was "highly dependent" on certain individuals. "Any successor to our current manager may not be as successful as our current manager," it conceded.

Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York, said identifying the departure of individuals like Ferguson as a risk factor that may jeopardize the club's success "highlights the instability of investments in sports franchises revolving around specific individuals."

In Apple's case, its share price may be trading higher than what it was when Steve Jobs was at the helm, but it is facing criticism from users and analysts that it is taking its time coming up with the latest piece of must-have tech and is simply trading on past successes.

Nonetheless, analysts expect continuing success for Manchester United ? and company. Randal J Konik, an equities analyst at Jeffries International, said Manchester United "has wisely been planning and preparing for the eventual retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson" and that "a new, highly qualified manager" will be appointed.

At the moment, Everton manager David Moyes and Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho are rumored to be in the running for Ferguson's job.

There's no doubt that Ferguson can take the credit for much of his club's transformation on and off the pitch.

In 1986, when he became manager, Manchester United had gone a generation without winning a league title, its status largely resting on its history. Local and bitter rival Liverpool was pre-eminent ? and seemingly untouchable.

Ferguson's self-proclaimed task on his appointment was to knock Liverpool off its perch, an ambition he has easily achieved with the accumulation of 13 Premier League titles, a couple of Champion League victories and countless other trophies.

While change was afoot on the football field, the club was making moves on the financial front too.

In 1991, shares in the club were listed on the London Stock Exchange, generating a cash windfall that helped Manchester United end its title drought two years later ? a breakthrough that launched a period of dominance in English football that only Liverpool could match.

Success bred more success and by 1998, the club received a takeover bid from none other than Rupert Murdoch, whose BSkyB PLC broadcaster already had the television rights to screen live coverage of the increasingly lucrative Premier League. Although the Manchester United board accepted the 623 million pounds bid, the takeover attempt met with huge resistance from fans and was eventually ruled unlawful by British competition authorities in 1999.

Ferguson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999, following the club's unprecedented treble of success in the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup.

A period of boardroom friction then ensued, which at times threatened Ferguson's position as manager.

By 2003, the family of Malcolm Glazer, which owned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, started building up a stake in Manchester United as they attempted to reap the rewards that came from the club's preeminence in English football and the skyrocketing revenues from television rights and sponsorship.

Within two years, the Glazers had built up a majority stake in Manchester United that eventually allowed them to take it out of public hands.

Many United fans have opposed the Glazer family because the Glazers placed a large chunk of the debt they built up while taking control on the club's balance sheet.

In August 2012, the Glazers sought to refinance the debt at better terms than the prevailing conditions by floating the club on the New York Stock Exchange. Despite lackluster interest ? the share price was floated at $14 a share as opposed to the hoped-for $16-20 price range ? investors have grown more enthusiastic. The share price recently made a brief foray above $19 ? not a bad return for investors who bought up the stock in the initial flotation.

Demand for the stock has gone hand in hand with Manchester United's advance to a 20th league title this spring.

United's debt has been cut in half in the past three years to 367.6 million pounds ($572 million), according to the latest financial results. United also recently forecast record revenue this season of at least 350 million pounds thanks largely to its ability to attract an array of global sponsors.

Manchester United will also benefit from the TV rights to show its matches. Last year the English Premier League announced the sale of domestic TV rights to BSkyB and BT for 3.018 billion pounds ($4.69 billion) in a record three-year deal that was almost twice as much as the previous contract.

Despite his departure, Ferguson can claim to have sowed the seeds for his club's further success. The squad itself is young and the club's youth squad system that he overhauled has a history of delivering top-rated talent.

Manchester United's debt overhang has eased partly on the back of the flotation but also through the club's ability to raise money, not the least from ticket prices at the modern 76,000-seat Old Trafford.

In the U.K. Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron praised Ferguson as a "remarkable man in British football who has had an extraordinary, successful career."

Fans ? and investors ? will clearly want to see the success that Fergie delivered so consistently continue for years to come.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-08-Manchester%20United-Ferguson-Business/id-29b9f601f1384428b4c6d4a2d8943d44

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5 Players the 49ers Will Regret Passing on in the 2013 NFL Draft

Regret is an awfully strong word for this slide. After all, Matt Scott went undrafted, and the 49ers obviously have their quarterback of the future in Colin Kaepernick.?

Still, instead of taking B.J. Daniels, the Niners could have spent one of their three seventh-round picks on the former Arizona Wildcats quarterback.

OK, OK, Jim Harbaugh is a quarterback guru who clearly knows more about the position than, say, I do.?

Now that that's out of the way, I just don't get why Scott wasn't drafted. Sure, he's incredibly raw, but I saw some big-time potential in his one year as a starter for the Wildcats.?

Plus, he's athletic enough to be a threat in the zone-read offense.?

Don't be surprised if Scott ends up starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars down the road.?

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1633828-5-players-the-49ers-will-regret-passing-on-in-the-2013-nfl-draft

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