Patients of Oklahoma doctor line up for tests

About 150 to 200 patients of Dr. W. Scott Harrington, who's accused of unsanitary practices, line up outside the Tulsa Health Department North Regional Health and Wellness Center to be screened for hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Tulsa, Okla. Oklahoma officials say 7,000 patients of Harrington's in the past six years will receive letters that warn that poor hygiene at Harrington's two clinics created a public health hazard. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, James Gibbard) ONLINE OUT; TV OUT; TULSA OUT

About 150 to 200 patients of Dr. W. Scott Harrington, who's accused of unsanitary practices, line up outside the Tulsa Health Department North Regional Health and Wellness Center to be screened for hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Tulsa, Okla. Oklahoma officials say 7,000 patients of Harrington's in the past six years will receive letters that warn that poor hygiene at Harrington's two clinics created a public health hazard. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, James Gibbard) ONLINE OUT; TV OUT; TULSA OUT

This Thursday, March 28, 2013 photo shows the dental offices of Dr. Scott Harrington at 2111 S. Atlanta Place in Tulsa, Okla. Health officials on Thursday, March 28, 2013 urged thousands of patients of an Oklahoma oral surgeon to undergo hepatitis and HIV testing, saying unsanitary conditions behind his office's spiffy facade posed a threat to his clients and made him a "menace to the public health." (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Michael Wyke) ONLINE OUT; TV OUT; TULSA OUT

This 1977 license picture provided by the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry shows Dr. Scott Harrington. Health officials urged thousands of patients of Harrington, an oral surgeon, to undergo hepatitis and HIV testing, saying unsanitary conditions behind his office's spiffy facade posed a threat to his clients and made him a "menace to the public health." (AP Photo/Oklahoma Board of Dentistry)

This Thursday, March 28, 2013 photo shows the dental offices of Dr. Scott Harrington at 2111 S. Atlanta Place in Tulsa, Okla. Health officials on Thursday, March 28, 2013 urged thousands of patients of an Oklahoma oral surgeon to undergo hepatitis and HIV testing, saying unsanitary conditions behind his office's spiffy facade posed a threat to his clients and made him a "menace to the public health." (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Michael Wyke) ONLINE OUT; TV OUT; TULSA OUT

TULSA, Okla. (AP) ? Hundreds of patients of an Oklahoma oral surgeon accused of unsanitary practices showed up at a health clinic Saturday, looking to find out whether they were exposed to hepatitis or the virus that causes AIDS.

Letters began going out Friday to 7,000 patients who had seen Dr. W. Scott Harrington during the past six years, warning them that poor hygiene at his clinics created a public health hazard. The one-page letter said how and where to seek treatment but couldn't explain why Harrington's allegedly unsafe practices went on for so long.

Testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and the virus that causes AIDS began at 10 a.m. Saturday, but many arrived early and stood through torrential downpours. The Tulsa Health Department said 420 people were tested Saturday at its North Regional Health and Wellness Center. Screenings resume Monday morning.

Kari Childress, 38, showed up at 8:30 a.m., mainly because she was nervous.

"I just hope I don't have anything," said Childress, who had a tooth extracted at one of Harrington's two clinics five months ago. "You trust and believe in doctors to follow the rules, and that's the scariest part."

Inspectors found a number of problems at the doctor's clinics in Tulsa and suburban Owasso, according to the state Dentistry Board, which filed a 17-count complaint against Harrington pending an April 19 license revocation hearing. According to the complaint, needles were reinserted into drug vials after being used on patients, expired drugs were found in a medicine cabinet and dental assistants, not the doctor, administered sedatives to patients.

One patient, Orville Marshall, said he didn't meet Harrington until after he had two wisdom teeth pulled about five years ago at the Owasso clinic. A nurse inserted the IV for his anesthesia; Harrington was there when Marshall came to.

"It's just really scary. It makes you doubt the whole system, especially with how good his place looked," said Marshall, 37.

An instrument set reserved for use on patients with infectious diseases was rusty, preventing its effective sterilization, and the office autoclave ? a pressurized cleaner ? was used improperly and hadn't been certified as effective in at least six years, according to the complaint.

Dr. Matt Messina, a Cleveland dentist and a consumer adviser for the American Dental Association, said creating a safe and hygienic environment is "one of the fundamental requirements" before any dental procedure can be performed.

"It's not hard. It just takes effort," he said.

Weekly autoclave testing can be performed for less than $400 annually, according to the website of the Autoclave Testing Services of Pearl River, New York.

Autoclaves typically can be purchased for $1,000 to $8,000, depending on their size and features. And an average dental practice can expect to pay more than $40,000 a year in equipment, tools and supplies alone, according to several dental organizations.

Attempts to reach Harrington have been unsuccessful. No one answered the door Thursday at his Oklahoma home, which property records show is worth more than $1 million. His practice a few miles away, in a tony section of Tulsa where plastic surgeons operate and locals congregate at bistros and stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, has a fair-market value of around $851,000.

Property and tax records show Harrington owns another residence in Carefree, Ariz., in an area of upscale homes tucked into in the boulder-strewn mountains north of Phoenix.

Nobody was at home Saturday at the low-slung, 1950s-style vacation home, across from the Boulders Resort. Neighbors said they had seen a lot of activity at the home in recent weeks.

Harrington's malpractice lawyer, Jim Secrest II, did not respond to phone messages left Thursday or Friday. A message at Harrington's Tulsa office said it was closed and an answering service referred callers to the Tulsa Health Department.

Suzy Horton, an old friend of Harrington's, said she can't believe the allegations about the man who removed two of her teeth in the early '90s. Horton's ex-husband sold Harrington his home in Carefree ? a home where she once lived.

"I've been to dentists my whole life, so I know what a professional office looks like," Horton, who now lives in Phoenix, said in a telephone interview. "His was just as professional as anybody."

Horton hasn't seen Harrington in years, but she said he has sent her a Christmas card and wreath every year since her 1999 divorce.

"It was a long time ago, so I suppose anything can change, but the kind of person they're portraying in the news is not the kind of person who sends you a Christmas" card, she said.

___

Associated Press writers Traci Carl in Carefree, Ariz., and Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-30-Dentist%20Investigation-Testing/id-19d4d577670640b3b74a2ce8f44643ef

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Signetique Launches CloudStore - Web Hosting Talk

(Gawkwire) - Signetique, a leader in cloud and dedicated hosting services, today officially launched CloudStore, its cloud-based online backup service for SMEs. CloudStore is Signetique's remote backup solution for businesses requiring an online backup service for their desktops, laptops and servers. CloudStore is compatible with most operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris. According to Signetique, CloudStore can be used to back up virtually any form of data, including Microsoft Exchange databases and even individual Exchange mailboxes.

?Hard disk failures, accidental deletion and laptop thefts are some of the most common causes for data loss. CloudStore addresses these issues that affect data security in an affordable and easy-to-use solution,? said CEO of Signetique, Raymond Tan. ?Customers, especially SMEs, will find CloudStore immensely vital to protecting their data and should form the nucleus of their disaster recovery efforts. This is especially good news for security-conscious customers who are wary of committing their precious data to free, mass-market solutions that are commonly available today.?

Among others, CloudStore features a flexible scheduling system, including continuous data protection, military-grade 448-bit Blowfish encryption, lossless compression, incremental backups and support for bare metal recovery. Signetique also provides an optional CloudStore seeding service where the initial data dump can be backed up offline.

?We understand from customers that backing up the initial large block of data to a remote server is challenging as it may mean transmitting gigabytes or even terabytes of data over the Internet and that can take days, if not weeks,? Kenneth Tan, COO Signetique. ?The CloudStore seeding service removes that barrier as our customers can back up that data in their office, have it couriered to us and thereafter uploaded to their accounts. Once done, CloudStore will incrementally backup new data online. The CloudStore seeding service not only saves time, bandwidths and money, our customers can have the absolute confidence that their data is secure as it is encrypted at source.?

Some of the features of CloudStore are:

Supports Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris operating systems

Supports MSQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle databases

Large files support so that interrupted transfers will continue from where it was left off

Multiple recovery points to restore business applications instantly to a specific point in time

Support for Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) for backing up Open Files in Windows

Backup to the mailbox level in Microsoft Exchange

Backup Active Directory and System State

Supports bare metal restoration (BMR)

Flexible scheduling, including Continuous Data Protection (CDP)

Supports P2V (physical to virtual server) migration

Full Scalability

CloudStore is available in two editions: CloudStore for Business and CloudStore for Servers. CloudStore for Business caters to companies requiring backup of their laptops and desktops while CloudStore for Servers is suitable for companies requiring online backup service for their dedicated servers.

To celebrate this launch, Signetique is offering a special 10% discount on all CloudStore products in April. Use promo code: "cloudstorepromo10" when ordering. To learn more about CloudStore, please visit http://www.webhosting.com.sg/cloudstore

About Signetique

Signetique is one of the largest Singapore-based web hosting providers. It provides shared, virtual and dedicated hosting services and maintains facilities in Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China and Japan. Customers requiring a one-stop Asia Pacific hosting solution can do so through their Singapore sales office. It pioneered the sub $100 dedicated hosting solution in Singapore and continues to provide cost-effective hosting solutions to its customers. Apart from providing standard dedicated server solutions, Signetique also allows complete customization of its servers that encompasses redundancy, high availability, disaster recovery and enterprise email hosting solutions. Signetique's customer profile ranges from small local businesses to multi-nationals and has been in the business for over 15 years. For more information about Signetique, please visit http://www.webhosting.com.sg

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/signetique_launches_cloudstore.html

Source: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/news/signetique-launches-cloudstore/

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GameStick dev unit found at GDC 2013, we go eyes-on

GameStick is here ... er, sort of. The development units are at least here at GDC 2013, quietly hanging out behind a nondescript computer monitor running a few Android games paired with a Nyko wireless controller. That's right, it wasn't running with the proprietary GameStick controller, but a third-party wireless -- we'll go hands-on with the company's internally built controller later this evening, and thusly we didn't want to offer a half-impression with the third-party units available on the show floor. Stay tuned for more, and take a gander at the gallery below for now.

Gallery: GameStick Dev Unit (GDC 2013)

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/27/gamestick-dev-unit-eyes-on/

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Health Center Employees Test New Technology | UConn Today

Dr. Kourosh Parham, ear, nose and throat specialist, checks out one of the mobile carts on display in Keller Lobby during the ACC Technology Fair on March 26, 2013. (Sarah Turker/UConn Health Center Photo)

The outpatient medical building being constructed on lower campus won?t be finished until early 2015 but some of the equipment that will be used in the new building is being decided on now.

More than a dozen vendors from across the country set up shop in Keller lobby Tuesday and Wednesday to display the latest technology in mobile cart and wall mounted equipment. There were also representatives from Dell, HP and Microsoft demonstrating their latest laptops, tablets, small personal computers, and NextPens which will be used on the carts and wall mounts.

Medical staff, who will be treating patients in the Ambulatory Care Center or ACC, got a first-hand look at the equipment and can vote on what they prefer.

?They are completing two types of surveys ? the beauty pageant portion of what they see, what they like, what feels good to them,? explains Bert Romeo, IT project manager who helped organize the event. ?Then I have another questionnaire at Survey Monkey that asks more specific questions.? For example, if you chose a wall mount, do you want it on the left or the right? If you chose the cart, would you leave it in one room or would you move it around? What PC configuration did you like and why? We want them to participate in their future and what their lives are going to be like in the new building.?

The 300,000-square-foot building will have 260 exam rooms. It will consolidate all of the outpatient faculty practices and clinical programs currently located in the Dowling North and South buildings into one location. The ACC will also be the new home for the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is currently located in the main hospital building.

Follow work on the construction project by checking out the ACC web cam.

Chief of Medical Staff Dr. Richard Simon listens as a vendor representative explains his mobile cart technology during the ACC Technology Fair. (Sarah Turker/UConn Health Center Photo)

An HP representative shows off the latest laptop with a pivoting screen. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health Center Photo)

---

Follow?the UConn Health Center on?Facebook,?Twitter and?YouTube.

Source: http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2013/03/health-center-employees-test-new-technology/

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James Holmes offers guilty plea in exchange for life in prison

The man accused of killing 12 people and injuring dozens more in a Colorado movie theater last summer may plead guilty, according to documents filed by his attorneys Wednesday. If prosecutors agree to life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty, the case could be resolved as early as Monday.?

By Keith Coffman,?Reuters, Chris Frantz,?Reuters / March 27, 2013

James Holmes, Aurora theater shooting suspect, sits in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo. Holmes' attorneys are prepared to enter a guilty plea for him if the prosecution team agrees to a life in prison sentence instead of the death penalty.

RJ Sangosti/Denver Post/AP

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Defense attorneys for the former graduate student accused of killing 12 people at a Denver area movie theater last July have offered to have him plead guilty in exchange for a life prison term, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.

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Public defenders for?James Holmes, 25, said in the?Arapahoe?County District Court filing that prosecutors have so far not accepted the offer, which would spare their client the death penalty in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

Holmes faces multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 20 massacre at a showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in?Aurora,?Colorado?that also wounded 58 people.

Arapahoe County?District Attorney George Brauchler has said that he would formally inform the court during a hearing scheduled for Monday whether his office would seek the death penalty against Holmes.

Brauchler has not made his decision public, but in February announced that he had added a death penalty lawyer to the prosecution team.

All three of?Colorado's death row inmates were convicted and sentenced in?Arapahoe County. At a state legislative hearing earlier in March, Brauchler testified in favor of keeping the death penalty on the books in?Colorado.

A spokeswoman for the?Arapahoe County?District Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

"Prior to arraignment, Mr. Holmes?made an offer to the prosecution to resolve the case by pleading guilty and spending the rest of his life in prison without the opportunity for parole,"?lawyers for Holmes?say in the papers.

Holmes was arraigned on March 12. At that hearing,?Arapahoe?County District Judge William Sylvester entered a not guilty plea on his behalf after defense attorneys said they were not prepared to enter a plea.

Insanity defense?

In Wednesday's pleading, defense lawyers said that if prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table for Holmes?the case could be resolved at Monday's hearing.

Attorneys for the former?University of Colorado?neuroscience?graduate student, who surrendered to officers outside the theater minutes after the shooting rampage, had been expected to mount an insanity defense on his behalf at trial.

"As previously stated in court, counsel for Mr. Holmes?are still exploring a mental health defense, and counsel will vigorously present and argue any and all appropriate defenses at a trial or sentencing proceeding as necessary," defense lawyers said in the court papers.

"Nevertheless, Mr. Holmes?is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceedings to a speedy and definite conclusion for all involved," the defense said.

Lawyers for Holmes?have said in court filings that their client has been hospitalized twice since his arrest, once after hitting his head against a cell wall.

Holmes was also held in restraints for several days at a psychiatric hospital in November after jail officials determined he was a threat to himself, according to his defense team.

In a separate written ruling on Wednesday, Sylvester denied a request by Fox News journalist Jana Winter to postpone her testimony, scheduled for Monday, about confidential sources she cited in a story about the shooting rampage.

Sylvester ordered Winter to take the witness stand as he tries to determine who leaked information to the New York-based journalist despite a gag order he issued in the case.

Winter's attorneys sought a delay while she filed an appeal of Sylvester's ruling on the grounds that she was protected against revealing her sources by New York's shield law for journalists.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman and Chris Frantz; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Tim Dobbyn and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/kO2V5mP1gDM/James-Holmes-offers-guilty-plea-in-exchange-for-life-in-prison

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Hang Up and Listen: They Might Be Giant Killers Edition

Listen to "Hang Up and Listen" with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

Hang Up and Listen is brought to you by?Stamps.com.?Click on the radio microphone and enter HANGUP to get our $110 bonus offer.

In this week?s episode of?Slate?s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca talk about Florida Gulf Coast?s unlikely journey to the Sweet 16 and the upset-filled opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. Next, they are joined by Thurl Bailey to discuss Survive and Advance, Jonathan Hock?s new ?30 for 30? documentary on Jim Valvano and North Carolina State?s 1983 championship team. Finally, they speak with Sports Illustrated?s Grant Wahl about the U.S. men?s soccer team?s snow game against Costa Rica and the quest to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:

Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo. Our intern is Eric Goldwein.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=b0f559c148f29f83019bee01fe4bc3e0

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Ash from refuse could become hydrogen gas

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Every year, millions of tons of environmentally harmful ash is produced worldwide, and is mostly dumped in landfill sites or, in some countries, used as construction material. The ash is what is left when rubbish has been burnt in thermal power stations. A researcher from Lund University in Sweden has now developed a technique to use the ash to produce hydrogen gas. The method is presented in a new thesis.

The technique has significant potential: 20 billion litres of hydrogen gas a year, or 56 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Calculated as electricity, the energy is the equivalent of the annual needs of around 11 000 detached houses. Hydrogen gas is valuable and is viewed by many as an increasingly important energy source, for example as a vehicle fuel.

"The ash can be used as a resource through recovery of hydrogen gas instead of being allowed to be released into the air as at present. Our ash deposits are like a goldmine," said Aamir Ilyas, Doctor of Water Resources Engineering at Lund University and the developer of the technique. Refuse incineration is a widespread practice in Europe.

The technique involves placing the ash in an oxygen-free environment. The ash is dampened with water, whereupon it forms hydrogen gas. The gas is sucked up through pipes and stored in tanks.

It is the heavy, grit-like bottom ash that is used. In combustion, a lighter fly ash is also formed. The bottom ash remains in quarantine, in the open air, at the site for up to six months to prevent leaching of environmentally harmful metals and the risk of hydrogen gas being formed, since accumulation of hydrogen during indoor storage can result in explosion.

"A bonus is that this method removes the risk of hydrogen gas. It also reduces the strain on our landfill sites."

In some countries, processed bottom ash is sometimes used as a construction material for roads and buildings. This doesn't happen at present in Sweden because the ash contains hazardous substances that do not meet the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's strict requirements. Usually it is used as top cover at landfills.

Today, hydrogen gas is mainly produced from natural gas. However, biogas, oil and coal can also be used as the raw material. Hydrogen gas is an important raw material in industry and is used in refineries and to manufacture ammonia. Hydrogen gas has the potential to produce electricity and heat and also to become a vehicle fuel; a number of car manufacturers are investing in hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars. Hydrogen gas is not expensive, but because there is a lack of infrastructure for the production of the gas, the production and handling costs are high. However, these costs would decrease in the future once a production system is established.

"There will not be one universal solution that will be used to generate energy. We need to find a number of solutions," said Kenneth M. Persson, Professor of Water Resources Engineering and one of Aamir Ilyas's supervisors.

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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_technology/~3/OaBhRP3mmHQ/130325093536.htm

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The Weinstein Company buys Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weinstein-company-buys-nicole-kidman-grace-kelly-013418799.html

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James Cameron to Donate Deep-Sea Craft to Woods Hole Institute

[unable to retrieve full-text content]James Cameron, who rode the Deepsea Challenger into the sea?s deepest spot last year, hopes the collaboration will speed ocean exploration.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/science/earth/james-cameron-to-donate-deep-sea-craft-to-woods-hole-institute.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Musharraf returns to Pakistan amid death threats

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) ? Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on Sunday after more than four years in exile, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants.

The journey from Dubai to the southern port city of Karachi was intended as the first step in his goal of rebuilding his image after years on the political margins. But the former military strongman was met by no more than a couple thousand people at the airport, who threw rose petals and waved flags emblazoned with his image ? a small turnout by the standards of Pakistani politics and a testament to how much his support in the country has fallen since he was pushed from power in 2008.

Musharraf struck a defiant tone when he spoke to his supporters outside a terminal at the airport, saying he had proved those people wrong who said he would never return after he failed to follow through on previous promises. He also said he was not cowed by a threat by the Pakistani Taliban to kill him.

"I'm not scared. I'm only afraid of God," Musharraf told his supporters. "For the sake of my country, wherever I need to go, I will go."

Since the former general stepped down in the face of mounting discontent, Pakistan's civilian leadership has struggled with a sinking economy, resilient Islamic extremist factions and tensions with Washington over drone strikes and the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Musharraf represents a polarizing force that could further complicate Pakistan's attempt to hold parliamentary elections in May and stage its first transition from one civilian government to another.

He is viewed as an enemy by many Islamic militants and others for his decision to side with America in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Saturday, the Pakistani Taliban vowed to mobilize death squads to send Musharraf "to hell" if he returns.

Also Saturday, militants launched a suicide car bomb attack against a military check post in the country's northwest tribal region, killing 17 soldiers, the army said.

Musharraf's supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan's influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice ? even just in parliament ? could help stabilize the country.

Musharraf also faces legal charges, including some originating from the probe of the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who also spent time in self-imposed exile in Dubai before returning.

The flight from Dubai came after several failed promises to return in recent years. Musharraf announced in early March that he would lead his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in May elections.

Musharraf met briefly with reporters in Dubai before heading to the airport wearing a white shalwar kameez ? the traditional loose-fitting outfit in Pakistan ? and sandals from the country's Peshawar region near the Afghan border. He mingled with supporters aboard the plane on the way to Karachi, as some of them chanted slogans for his party.

Musharraf tweeted that he was "thrilled to be back home" soon after he landed in Karachi. But there were moments of tension among his supporters when security forces whisked him away in a convoy of about a dozen vehicles, raising concerns he was being detained for the legal charges against him. It turns out he was simply being shifted to a different terminal, and his supporters had to wait over two hours before he came out to address them.

The former president plans to spend a few days at a hotel in Karachi, where he and his team will hash out their plan for the upcoming election, said spokeswoman Saima Ali Dada. He will then travel to Islamabad. Meanwhile, his legal team will meet to decide the best way to respond to the charges against him.

"He is hoping for the best," said Dada.

Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and was forced out of office in 2008 amid growing discontent over his rule and the threat of impeachment by the country's two most powerful political parties. He has since lived in Dubai and London.

His decision to return was given a boost last week when a Pakistani court granted him pre-emptive bail ? essentially preventing his immediate arrest ? in three cases in which he's implicated, including Bhutto's death. He now has 10 days to appear in court. He has dismissed the various charges as baseless.

His return comes as Pakistan seeks for the first time to hand power from one elected government to another.

On Sunday, the country's election commission appointed a former high court chief justice nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serve as caretaker prime minister in the run-up to the election. The commission chose Mir Hazar Khan Khoso out of four nominees, two submitted by the recently ruling Pakistan People's Party and two by the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N.

Khoso served as the chief justice to the high court in southwest Baluchistan province and also briefly served as the acting governor of the province.

The election comes as the country is struggling with rolling blackouts, rising inflation and widespread security problems.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Taliban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taliban broke Rashid out of prison last year, along with nearly 400 other detainees.

"The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell," said Rashid, who spoke in the video in front of a group of about 20 militants holding rifles. "We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon."

Musharraf had been expected to address supporters at a gathering Sunday in Karachi near the mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah. But police decided to cancel his permit because of a "very serious threat," said Tahir Naveed, the deputy inspector general of Karachi police. He said Musharraf would be provided with an armored vehicle to protect him. Banners and billboards welcoming Musharraf back to Pakistan lined the street from the airport.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf came under intense pressure from the U.S. to back the Americans in the coming war in Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taliban, which he did. For that, militants as well as many other Pakistanis saw him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.

He's also vilified by militants for ordering the 2007 raid against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan's support of the war in Afghanistan. At least 102 people were killed in the weeklong operation, most of them supporters of the mosque.

Militants tried to kill Musharraf twice in December 2003 in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military is headquartered. First they placed a bomb intended to go off when his convoy passed by. When that didn't work, suicide attackers tried to ram his motorcade with explosives-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 others died.

In addition to the Bhutto case, Musharraf also faces charges resulting from investigations into the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he's accused of illegally removing a number of judges including the chief justice of the supreme court.

___

Santana reported from Karachi, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/musharraf-returns-pakistan-amid-death-threats-080248691.html

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Why do we give tax breaks to country clubs? (Offthekuff)

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Bloomberg, NRA Brace for Senate Showdown on Guns

With the U.S. Senate slated to consider comprehensive gun legislation next month, two powerful voices on different sides of the gun debate - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre - are bracing for the upcoming legislative showdown on guns.

Bloomberg's gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, announced this weekend that it will pour $12 million into advertising in 13 key states to convince potentially persuadable Democratic and Republican senators to vote in favor of gun legislation, specifically focusing on the controversial universal background checks; a measure that an ABC News-Washington Post poll found is supported by 91 percent of the public.

"We're trying to do everything we can to impress upon the senators that this is what the survivors want, this is what the public wants," Bloomberg said on NBC's "Meet the Press" today. "If 90 percent of the public want something, and their representatives vote against that, common sense says, they are going to have a price to pay for that."

The two TV ads, titled "Responsibility" and "Family," feature a hunter sitting on the bed of a pickup truck with a hunting rifle across his lap while children play on a tire-swing in the background as he argues for universal background checks.

"For me, guns are for hunting and protecting my family. I believe in the Second Amendment and I'll fight to protect it but with rights come responsibility. That's why I'm for comprehensive background checks so criminals and the dangerously mentally ill can't buy guns. That protects my rights and my family," the man says in one ad.

The ads will target Republican and Democratic senators in Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

But LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, today dismissed Bloomberg's ad buy and called the mayor's positions on guns "reckless" and "insane."

"He can't spend enough of his $27 billion to impose his will on the American people," LaPierre said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"They don't want him in their restaurants. They don't want him in their homes. They don't want him telling what food to eat. They sure don't want him telling what self-defense firearms to own. He can't buy America."

The Senate will consider a comprehensive gun package when it returns from the holiday recess next month. For many Republicans and moderate Democrats, the universal background-check requirement, which LaPierre called "a speed bump for the law-abiding," is the sticking point in the package.

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced that the controversial assault-weapons ban would not be included as part of the package. Instead, it will receive a vote as an amendment but is not expected to receive approval from the full Senate.

Despite the measure's not making it into the comprehensive plan, Bloomberg stood behind the assault-weapons ban while acknowledging the measure is "difficult" for some lawmakers to sign onto.

"I don't think there's ever been an issue where the public has spoken so clearly, where Congress hasn't eventually understood and done the right thing," Bloomberg said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. I don't think we should give up on the assault weapons ban. But clearly it is a more difficult issue for a lot of people."

President Obama urged lawmakers to thoroughly consider all the gun measures that have been presented in the Senate, including the assault weapons ban, in his weekly address Saturday.

"These ideas shouldn't be controversial," he said. "They're common sense. They're supported by a majority of the American people. And I urge the Senate and the House to give each of them a vote.

"Right now, we have a real chance to reduce gun violence in America, and prevent the very worst violence. We have a unique opportunity to reaffirm our tradition of responsible gun ownership, and also do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals or people with a severe mental illness," he said.

"We've made progress over the last three months, but we're not there yet. And in the weeks ahead, I hope members of Congress will join me in finishing the job; for our communities and, most importantly, for our kids."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bloomberg-nra-brace-senate-showdown-guns-201508065--abc-news-politics.html

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Senate narrowly passes first budget in four years (tbo)

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Senate Democratic budget extends standoff with GOP

The setting sun is reflected in the windows of the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill, Friday, March 22, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The setting sun is reflected in the windows of the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill, Friday, March 22, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? An exhausted Senate gave pre-dawn approval Saturday to a Democratic $3.7 trillion budget for next year that embraces nearly $1 trillion in tax increases over the coming decade but shelters domestic programs targeted for cuts by House Republicans.

While their victory was by a razor-thin 50-49 vote, it allowed Democrats to tout their priorities. Yet it doesn't resolve the deep differences the two parties have over deficits and the size of government.

Joining all Republicans voting no were four Democrats who face re-election next year in potentially difficult races: Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., did not vote.

White House spokesman Jay Carney praised the Senate plan, saying in a statement it "will create jobs and cut the deficit in a balanced way."

While calling on both sides to find common ground, Carney did not hold out much hope for compromise with Republicans. The rival budget passed by the GOP-led House cuts social programs too deeply, he said, and fails "to ask for a single dime of deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected."

The Senate vote came after lawmakers labored through the night on scores of symbolic amendments, ranging from voicing support for letting states collect taxes on Internet sales to expressing opposition to requiring photo IDs for voters.

Final approval came at around 5 a.m. EDT, capping an extraordinary 20 hours of votes and debate. As the night wore on, virtually all senators remained in the chamber, a rarity during a normal business day. But at that hour, most had nowhere else to go.

The Senate's budget would shrink annual federal shortfalls over the next decade to nearly $400 billion, raise unspecified taxes by $975 billion and cull modest savings from domestic programs.

In contrast, a rival budget approved by the GOP-run House balances the budget within 10 years without boosting taxes.

That blueprint? by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., his party's vice presidential candidate last year ? claims $4 trillion more in savings over the period than Senate Democrats by digging deeply into Medicaid, food stamps and other safety net programs for the needy. It would also transform the Medicare health care program for seniors into a voucher-like system for future recipients.

"We have presented very different visions for how our country should work and who it should work for," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash.

The long debate got testy at times.

As the clock ticked past 1 a.m., Murray asked senators to show respect for colleagues "who may not be able to stand as long as us, or who are elderly." Sen. David Vitter, R-La., shot back that Republicans were not trying to delay anything, and wondered what flights or other appointments would be missed if senators voted until 7 a.m.

The loudest acclaim came toward the end, when senators rose as one to cheer a handful of Senate pages ? high school students ? for their work in the chamber since the morning's opening gavel. Senators then left town for a two-week spring recess.

Congressional budgets are planning documents that leave actual changes in revenues and spending for later legislation, and this was the first the Democratic-run Senate has approved in four years. That lapse is testament to the political and mathematical contortions needed to write fiscal plans in an era of record-breaking deficits, and to the parties' profoundly conflicting views.

Republicans said the Democratic budget wasn't much of an accomplishment. "The only good news is that the fiscal path the Democrats laid out...won't become law," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

"I believe we're in denial about the financial condition of our country," Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, top Republican on the Budget panel, said of Democratic efforts to boost spending on some programs. "Trust me, we've got to have some spending reductions."

Though budget shortfalls have shown signs of easing slightly and temporarily, there is no easy path for the two parties to find compromise ? which the first months of 2013 have amply illustrated.

Already this year, Congress has raised taxes on the rich after narrowly averting tax boosts on virtually everyone else, tolerated $85 billion in automatic spending cuts, temporarily sidestepped a federal default and prevented a potential government shutdown.

By sometime this summer, the government's borrowing limit will have to be extended again ? or a default will be at risk ? and it is unclear what Republicans may demand for providing needed votes. It is also uncertain how the two parties will resolve the differences between their two budgets, something many believe simply won't happen.

Both sides have expressed a desire to reduce federal deficits. But President Barack Obama is demanding a combination of tax increases and spending cuts to do so, while GOP leaders say they won't consider higher revenues but want serious reductions in Medicare and other benefit programs that have rocketed deficits skyward.

Obama plans to release his own 2014 budget next month, an unveiling that will be studied for whether it signals a willingness to engage Republicans in negotiations or play political hardball.

The amendments senators considered during their long day of debate were all nonbinding, but some delivered potent political messages.

They voted in favor of giving states more powers to collect sales taxes on online purchases their citizens make from out-of-state Internet companies, and to endorse the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that is to pump oil from Canada to Texas refineries.

They also voiced support for eliminating the $2,500 annual cap on flexible spending account contributions imposed by Obama's health care overhaul and for charging regular postal rates for mailings by political parties, which currently qualify for the lower prices paid by nonprofits.

In a rebuke to one of the Senate's most conservative members, they overwhelmingly rejected a proposal by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to cut even deeper than the House GOP budget and eliminate deficits in just five years.

The Democratic budget's $975 billion in new taxes would be matched by an equal amount of spending reductions coming chiefly from health programs, defense and reduced interest payments as deficits get smaller than previously anticipated.

This year's projected deficit of nearly $900 billion would fall to around $700 billion next year and bottom out near $400 billion in 2016 before trending upward again.

Shoehorned into the package is $100 billion for public works projects and other programs aimed at creating jobs.

__

Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

___

Follow Alan Fram on Twitter: https://twitter.com/asfram

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-23-Budget%20Battle/id-236c1d68017b495ebbd8201d65f7aeb2

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FCC chief Genachowski to step down, touts expanded broadband

By Alina Selyukh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Julius Genachowski said on Friday he will step down as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in the coming weeks after four years on the job, and touted his record of working to expand broadband Internet service to Americans.

Genachowski, whose term was due to end in June, told FCC staffers he would be leaving his post "in the coming weeks" but did not give a date. He told Reuters after his announcement that he has no career plans lined up for after his FCC tenure ends.

"I'm still focused on the work of the agency," Genachowski said, adding that he expects the FCC, which maintains a Democratic majority, to keep its policy direction after he leaves.

Asked to describe his tenure at the FCC in three words, Genachowski answered "unleashing broadband's benefits."

His exit from the agency that oversees telecommunications and broadcast policies was widely expected after President Barack Obama's re-election. Obama will nominate a successor to Genachowski, who has headed the FCC since 2009.

In a statement, Obama praised Genachowski, the president's classmate at Harvard Law School, for giving the FCC a "clear focus" on encouraging innovation and competitiveness, attracting "jobs of tomorrow" and improving high-speed Internet access and mobile devices sector growth.

"I am grateful for his service and friendship, and I wish Julius the best of luck," Obama said.

The FCC is also losing its senior Republican commissioner. Robert McDowell said on Wednesday he will depart his post in a few weeks, leaving the five-member panel with two Democrats, one Republican and two vacancies.

Among the possible candidates to head the FCC is Tom Wheeler, a venture capitalist and an Obama ally and fundraiser. Wheeler headed the National Cable Television Association and the wireless industry group CTIA.

Two other possible contenders are: Lawrence Strickling, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which advises the president on telecommunications and information policy; and Karen Kornbluh, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international economic body.

The next FCC chief faces a list of projects to complete. One major one is Genachowski's plan for a complex incentive auction of spectrum that is meant to free up airwaves for better wireless Internet access.

The auction relies on TV stations to give up some of their airwaves to be auctioned off to wireless companies or opened up for shared use. The broadcasters would get a portion of the proceeds and the rest would pay for a public-safety program and go to the U.S. Treasury.

Also on the list is the delayed loosening of rules on media ownership.

Asked whether he would like to see a vote on those rules before he leaves the FCC, Genachowski said only that the commission will "continue to work on the agenda."

Later this year, a federal court will also hold hearings in a case against Genachowski's net neutrality rules for Internet service providers that could have broad implications for the breadth of the FCC's regulatory power.

'AN UNEASY DANCE'

In his FCC tenure, Genachowski oversaw an overhaul of the multibillion-dollar Universal Service Fund from a project to spread telephone service in rural America to one focused on broadband access. He also spearheaded the creation of a strategy known as the National Broadband Plan and later pushed Internet providers to step up the speediness of their services.

The FCC's priorities under Genachowski reduced the influence of U.S. broadcasters, the relationship with whom has been "an uneasy dance," according to Medley Global Advisors telecommunications policy analyst Jeffrey Silva.

Also left disappointed were liberal-leaning organizations including consumer interest groups. Harold Feld of advocacy group Public Knowledge said Genachowski is leaving more tasks for his successor to finish than most of his predecessors.

"It's true to some degree of every chairman, but this chairman in particular came in with a lot of expectations," Feld said. "And then, as people say, he wrote a lot of checks that he's now leaving for the next chair to figure out how to cash."

Genachowski, who charted a centrist course in his chairmanship, defended his tenure, which also included the FCC's rejection of a landmark 2011 merger bid between U.S. No. 2 wireless carrier AT&T Inc and fourth-largest provider T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom. The bid was dropped after the Justice Department sued to block the deal.

In pushing against the merger, Genachowski stood up against the prospect of a duopoly in the wireless market by AT&T and the largest carrier, Verizon, analysts say, as it retained T-Mobile as a competitor and protected the third-biggest player Sprint from being overwhelmed.

"This sector has always been and will always be characterized by a robust debate," Genachowski said.

"Some people say the commission has gone too far, some people say the commission hasn't gone far enough. What we've been focused on are the right actions to drive the economy and to improve the lives of the American people."

Genachowski came to the FCC after advising Obama on telecommunications policy and working at several tech investment firms. He had previously served as chief counsel for former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.

(Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fcc-chairman-genachowski-announce-departure-friday-sources-005908756--finance.html

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Daughter No. 3 for 'Lost' star Harold Perrineau

Getty Images file

Brittany and Harold Perrineau.

By Us Weekly

Behind every good man is a great woman -- or, in Harold Perrineau's case, a great woman and three great girls. The "Lost" star and his wife, Brittany, welcomed their third child, a daughter, on Thursday, March 21, the actor's rep confirmed to Us Weekly.

PHOTOS: Famous dads and daughters

Holiday Grace Perrineau was born at 2:54 a.m. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and measured 21 inches long at the time of her birth, the rep tells Us.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's cutest kids

This is the third child -- and the third girl -- for Perrineau, 49, and Brittany, 37. The couple are already parents to daughters Aurora, 18, and Wynter Aria, 4.

PHOTOS: 2012's babies of the year

Perrineau rose to fame playing Augustus Hill on the HBO drama "Oz" and, later, as Michael Dawson on "Lost." More recently, he appeared in the Oscar-nominated film "Zero Dark Thirty" and on season five of the FX series "Sons of Anarchy." His wife is a former model who had a small role as a love interest for Sawyer (Josh Holloway) on "Lost."

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Marin Software rises in debut on the NYSE

March 22 (Reuters) - San Marino 0 England 8 - World Cup qualifying Group H result. In Serravalle Scorers: Alessandro Della Valle 12og, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 28, Jermain Defoe 35, 78, Ashley Young 39, Frank Lampard 42, Wayne Rooney 54, Daniel Sturridge 70 Halftime: 0-5 Teams: San Marino: 1-Aldo Simoncini; 2-Fabio Vitaioli, 5-Alessandro Della Valle, 6-Davide Simoncini, 3-Mirko Palazzi; 4-Alex Gasperoni, 7-Matteo Vitaioli, 8-Fabio Bollini (19-Carlo Valentini 81), 11-Enrico Cibelli (15-Lorenzo Buscarini 68); 9-Michele Cervellini, 10-Andy Selva (18-Danilo Rinaldi 75) England: 1-Joe Hart; 2-Kyle ...

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FAA to close 149 control towers to meet budget cuts (reuters)

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IRS calls 'Star Trek' parody video a mistake

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Nobody's going to win an Emmy for a parody of the TV show "Star Trek" filmed by Internal Revenue Service employees at an agency studio in Maryland.

Instead, the IRS got a rebuke from Congress for wasting taxpayer dollars.

The agency says the video, along with a training video that parodied the TV show "Gilligan's Island," cost about $60,000. The "Star Trek" video accounted for most of the money, the agency said.

The IRS said Friday it was a mistake for employees to make the six-minute video. It was shown at the opening of a 2010 training and leadership conference but does not appear to have any training value.

The video features an elaborate set depicting the control room, or bridge, of the spaceship featured in the hit TV show. IRS workers portray the characters, including one who plays Mr. Spock, complete with fake hair and pointed ears.

The production value is high even though the acting is what one might expect from a bunch of tax collectors. In the video, the spaceship is approaching the planet "Notax," where alien identity theft appears to be a problem.

"The IRS recognizes and takes seriously our obligation to be good stewards of government resources and taxpayer dollars," the agency said in a statement. "There is no mistaking that this video did not reflect the best stewardship of resources."

The agency said it has tightened controls over the use of its production equipment to "ensure that all IRS videos are handled in a judicious manner that makes wise use of taxpayer funds while ensuring a tone and theme appropriate for the nation's tax system."

The agency also said, "A video of this type would not be made today."

The video was released late in the day Friday after investigators from the House Ways and Means Committee requested it.

"There is nothing more infuriating to a taxpayer than to find out the government is using their hard-earned dollars in a way that is frivolous," said Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., chairman of the Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. "The IRS admitted as much when it disclosed that it no longer produces such videos."

The film was made at an IRS studio in New Carrollton, Md., a suburb of Washington. The agency said it uses the studio to make training films and informational videos for taxpayers.

"The use of video training and video outreach through the in-house studio has become increasingly important to the IRS to reach both taxpayers and employees," the agency said. "In the current budget environment, using video for training purposes helps us save millions of dollars and is an important part of successful IRS cost-efficiency efforts."

IRS YouTube videos have been viewed more than 5 million times, the agency said. A video on the IRS website called "When Will I Get My Refund?" has been seen 950,000 times this filing season.

The disclosure of the "Star Trek" video comes as agencies throughout the federal government face automatic spending cuts, including employee furloughs at many of them.

Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller has told employees they could be furloughed five to seven days this summer. The furloughs, however, will be delayed until after tax filing season so refunds should not be affected.

The agency said the "Star Trek" video "was a well-intentioned, light-hearted introduction to an important conference during a difficult period for the IRS."

Congressional investigators initially sought both the "Star Trek" video and the "Gilligan's Island" video but after viewing them determined that the "Gilligan's Island" video was a legitimate training video. The IRS did not release the "Gilligan's Island" video.

"The video series with an island theme provided filing season training for 1,900 employees in our Taxpayer Assistance Centers in 400 locations," the IRS said. "This example of video training alone saved the IRS about $1.5 million each year compared to the costs of training the employees in person."

___

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Associated Press

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Robot-delivered speech and physical therapy a success

Mar. 20, 2013 ? In one of the earliest experiments using a humanoid robot to deliver speech and physical therapy to a stroke patient, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst saw notable speech and physical therapy gains and significant improvement in quality of life.

Regarding the overall outcome, speech language pathologist and study leader Yu-kyong Choe says, "It's clear from our study of a 72-year-old male stroke client that a personal humanoid robot can help people recover by delivering therapy such as word-retrieval games and arm movement tasks in an enjoyable and engaging way."

A major focus of this case study was to assess how therapy interventions in one domain, speech, affected interventions in another, physical therapy, in two different delivery scenarios. Despite the importance of working with other professionals, the authors point out, until now it has been "largely unknown how interventions by one type of therapy affects progress in others."

The client, with aphasia and physical disability on one side, completed a robot-mediated program of only speech therapy for five weeks followed by only physical therapy for five weeks in the sole condition, but for the sequential condition he attended back-to-back speech and physical therapy sessions for five weeks.

Over the course of the experiment, the client made "notable gains in the frequency and range of the upper-limb movements," the authors say. He also made positive gains in verbal expression. Interestingly, his improvements in speech and physical function were much greater when he engaged in only one therapy than when the two therapies were paired in sessions immediately following each other. The authors summarize that in such a sequential schedule "speech and physical functions seemed to compete for limited resources" in the brain. Their work is described in the current issue of the journal Aphasiology.

Choe and computer science researcher and robot expert Rod Grupen, director of the Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics at UMass Amherst, are in the second year of a $109,251 grant from the American Heart Association to investigate the effect of stroke rehabilitation delivered by a humanoid robot, uBot-5. It is a child-sized unit with arms and a computer screen through which therapists interact with the client.

Choe, Grupen and colleagues are seeking ways to bring more and longer-term therapy and social contact to people recovering from stroke. It's estimated that 3 million Americans daily experience the debilitating effects of stroke. But even after years, they can recover significant function with intensive rehabilitation, says Choe. The bad news is that this is rarely available or accessible due to a shortage of therapists and lack of coverage for long-term treatment. Many people are left with chronic low function, which can lead to social isolation and depression.

While some may object to robots delivering therapy, the need is great and definitely not being met now, especially in rural areas, Grupen and Choe point out. They hope to aid human-to-human interaction, so a robot can temporarily take the therapist's place. Grupen says, "In addition to improving quality of life, if we can support a client in the home so they can delay institutionalization, we can improve outcomes and make a huge impact on the cost of elder care. There are 70 million baby boomers beginning to retire now."

"Stroke rehabilitation is such a monumental financial problem everywhere in the world, that's where it can pay for itself," he adds. "A personal robot could save billions of dollars in elder care while letting people stay in their own homes and communities. We're hoping for a win-win where our elders live better, more independent and productive lives and our overtaxed healthcare resources are used more effectively."

Choe and Grupen's study is ongoing and they continue to enroll participants who are recovering from stroke.?

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst, via Newswise.

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. Yu-kyong Choe, Hee-Tae Jung, Jennifer Baird, Roderic A. Grupen. Multidisciplinary stroke rehabilitation delivered by a humanoid robot: Interaction between speech and physical therapies. Aphasiology, 2013; 27 (3): 252 DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2012.706798

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/H-JXLAF6_mc/130320212622.htm

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