Business, labor close on deal for immigration bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Prospects for a Senate deal on an ambitious rewrite of the nation's immigration laws improved markedly as business and labor appeared ready to set aside their differences over a new low-skilled worker program holding up the agreement.

The AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce had been fighting over wages for tens of thousands of low-skilled workers who would be brought in under the new program to fill jobs in construction, hotels and resorts, nursing homes and restaurants, and other industries. But on Friday, officials from both sides said there was basic agreement on the wage issue, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said a final deal on the low-wage worker dispute was very close.

That likely would clear the way for Schumer and seven other senators in a bipartisan group to unveil legislation the week of April 8 to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, strengthening the border, cracking down on employers, allowing in tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers and providing a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

"We're feeling very optimistic on immigration: Aspiring Americans will receive the road map to citizenship they deserve and we can modernize 'future flow' without reducing wages for any local workers, regardless of what papers they carry," AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Hauser said in a statement. "Future flow" refers to future arrivals of legal immigrants.

Under the emerging agreement between business and labor, a new "W'' visa program would bring tens of thousands of lower-skilled workers a year to the country. The program would be capped at 200,000 a year, but the number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and data collected by a new federal bureau pushed by the labor movement as an objective monitor of the market.

The workers would be able to change jobs and could seek permanent residency. Under current temporary worker programs, personnel can't move from employer to employer and have no path to permanent U.S. residence and citizenship. And currently there's no good way for employers to bring many low-skilled workers to the U.S. An existing visa program for low-wage nonagricultural workers is capped at 66,000 per year and is supposed to apply only to seasonal or temporary jobs.

The Chamber of Commerce said workers would earn actual wages paid to American workers or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department determines prevailing wage based on customary rates in specific localities, so that it varies from city to city.

There was also disagreement about how to deal with certain higher-skilled construction jobs, such as electricians and welders, and it appears those will be excluded from the deal, said Geoff Burr, vice president of federal affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors. Burr said his group opposes such an exclusion because, even though unemployment in the construction industry is high right now, at times when it is low there can be labor shortages in high-skilled trades, and contractors want to be able to bring in foreign workers. But unions pressed for the exclusion, Burr said.

The low-skilled worker issue had loomed for weeks as perhaps the toughest matter to settle in monthslong closed-door talks on immigration among the senators, including Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida. The issue helped sink the last major attempt at immigration overhaul in 2007, when the legislation foundered on the Senate floor after an amendment was added to end a temporary worker program after five years, threatening a key priority of the business community.

The amendment passed by just one vote, 49-48. President Barack Obama, a senator at the time, joined in the narrow majority voting to end the program after five years.

___

Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-labor-close-deal-immigration-bill-185315130.html

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Austrian police chase herd of cattle through town

VIENNA (AP) ? Austrian police and firefighters have taken on the role of urban cowboys in a two-day round-up of a herd of cattle that broke out of a fenced-off pasture and decided to go into town.

A police statement says the 43 steers defied attempts by police and volunteer firefighters to recapture them after wandering off Thursday and heading toward the Upper Austrian town of Freistadt. After being chased away from the railway station, they endangered motorists by stampeding onto a two-lane highway before running into a town suburb.

Two firefighters who tried to stop them were injured and needed hospital treatment.

The statement says 18 of the animals remain on the loose Friday. The rest have been corralled or tranquilized.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/austrian-police-chase-herd-cattle-town-120729765.html

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Taylor Swift, Katy Perry Helped Inspire Debby Ryan's Debut Album

'Jessie' actress also inspired by fellow Disney starlet Demi Lovato: 'She is one of the best vocalists of our generation, hands down.'
By Christina Garibaldi

Debby Ryan
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704512/debby-ryan-debut-taylor-swift-katy-perry.jhtml

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North Korea turns up volume by silencing final military hot line

What happens now?

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / March 27, 2013

South Korean Army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday. North Korea said Wednesday that it had cut off a key military hot line with South Korea that allows cross-border travel to a jointly run industrial complex in the North.

Ahn Young-joon/AP

Enlarge

North Korea's edgy game of war talk continued?at ever higher volumes today with the announcement that it will cut off the last military hot line with South Korea.

Skip to next paragraph Robert Marquand

Staff writer

Over the past three decades, Robert Marquand has reported on a wide variety of subjects for?The Christian Science Monitor, including American education reform,?the wars in the Balkans, the Supreme Court, South Asian politics, and the oft-cited "rise of China." In the past 15 years he has served as the Monitor's bureau chief in Paris, Beijing, and New Delhi.?

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?Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep North-South military communications,? said the regime, according to the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang.

The severed line of communication comes as the North, under young and new President Kim Jong-un, has said it is moving into its highest military alert status and has threatened to target Hawaii and Guam with rockets, after last month conducting its third nuclear test.?

The escalating rhetoric has brought a new agreement between US and South Korean officials that would dictate military action should the North cross the border, shell islands, or harm shipping in the kind of low-level actions Pyongyang has attempted in recent years.?

US military officials called the North Korean statement ?bellicose.??Many have expressed doubt that North Korea?s rockets have the range to reach US bases in Guam and Hawaii, but a few, including the?editor of Jane?s Defense Weekly, estimated they could reach US military bases in Japan, according to USA Today.?

Yesterday the small, poor state that is anchored by devotion to the Kim family dynasty, and is now nearly entirely dependent on China for basic sustenance but has also devoted considerable resources to its military, repeated a longstanding threat to turn Seoul into a ?sea of fire,? among other similarly colorful threats.

Earlier this year, the North said it would no longer answer?a hot line at the Demilitarized Zone. The hot line that the country is now threatening to shut down linked the two Koreas at the?Kaesong industrial park, created in the North during the warming winds of unification in the 2000s. The economic complex has long been a symbol of the potential for North-South cooperation.?

The New York Times today notes the North?s threat on the hot line follows comments from?Park Geun-hye,?the newly elected president of South Korea, that North Korea needed to end its nuclear threats in order to gain better traction with the South:

?If North Korea provokes or does things that harm peace, we must make sure that it gets nothing but will pay the price, while if it keeps its promises, the South should do the same,? she said during a briefing from her government?s top diplomats and North Korea policy-makers. ?Without rushing and in the same way we would lay one brick after another, we must develop South-North relations step by step, based on trust, and create sustainable peace.?

Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, a veteran Korea-watcher once based in Seoul, tells The Christian Science Monitor that Pyongyang's main grievance appears to be recent United Nations sanctions targeted at the North.

Mr. Snyder argues that the meaning of the North?s sudden blustery behavior will only become clearer ?once the question of the consolidation of [Kim Jong-un?s] power becomes clearer.?

Agence France-Presse today said that a significant meeting among party elites and power brokers in the closed world of Pyongyang is about to take place.

"They will discuss how to handle the nuclear issue, inter-Korean relations and North Korea's longstanding demand for a peace treaty with the United States," Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul told AFP.

Comparisons between the new Kim and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the patriarch of North Korea, are flowing freely, since there is a resemblance between the two. But Snyder notes that too little is yet known of the young Kim, who took over from his father Kim Jong-il last year, and that his youth is not necessarily a plus in such a high-stakes game.

?Right now the song is the same, but the volume is a lot louder. We don?t know his risk tolerance yet ? does he understand the game he is playing??

The US-South Korea military agreement follows a recent scrapping by the North of the historic legal armistice that effectively ended the Korean war in the 1950s. It came on the anniversary of the infamous sinking of the Choenan Navy vessel in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of 46 South Korean sailors, something that has had powerful emotional resonance in the South. (The Choenan was raised from the ocean floor, and forensics by the South claim the vessel was torpedoed by the North, something the North denies.)?

USA Today quotes an Asia-watcher who feels the key to dealing with Pyongyang runs through Beijing:

US diplomats should talk to their Chinese counterparts and say, "Your ally North Korea is acting in a very belligerent and destabilizing way," said [Richard] Bush, who heads the Brookings Institution Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. "They're acting in ways that are contrary to the principles you [China] have laid out. The situation is somewhat dangerous. You need to restrain your ally."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/P8CCMVqq_nQ/North-Korea-turns-up-volume-by-silencing-final-military-hot-line

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GE's Barista Bots are exactly what SXSW needs: coffee-printing robotic arms

The best way to get the attention of a bunch of sleep-deprived, possibly hungover SXSW Interactive attendees? Coffee-slinging robotic arms, naturally. GE's fully embracing Austin's caffeinated food trick culture with a pair of Barista Bots, arms that operate similarly to your standard 3D printer, moving along the X, Y and Z axes to extrude coffee through a syringe, atop a latte's foam. The process starts when one of the robot's human barista counterparts takes a shot of an image with a webcam, digitizing it on a nearby computer. Then the arm goes to work.

It's an imperfect science, of course. For one thing, foam is a really difficult canvas to work on, what with all the unevenness of constantly popping bubbles. There's also an awful lot of wind in Austin today, and with all those people inside, the van did a little bit of rocking. We saw some more complex images that didn't come out particularly well (facial scans, for one thing), so we decided to throw something a simpler at the 'bot, drawing our "e" logo on a sheet of paper.

Gallery: GE Barista Bot hands-on

Filed under: Household

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/l1QoDBEPmpo/

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In China, public anger over secrecy on environment

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - When China's environment ministry told attorney Dong Zhengwei he couldn't have access to two-year old data about soil pollution because it was a "state secret", it added to mounting public outrage over the worsening environment.

Microbloggers, state media and even delegates to this week's session of the National People's Congress, the largely rubber-stamp parliament, were already critical of the government for poor air and water quality. Now they are also expressing disquiet over the scarcity of information about the environment available to them.

For incoming President Xi Jinping, who formally takes over towards the end of the parliament session, the two-pronged challenge is to find the balance between growth and further degradation of the environment, and also to decide whether to level with citizens just how bad the problem is.

"The significance of this event goes far beyond just environmental protection," said Dong, in an interview with Reuters. "It concerns the problem China has had for many years - the issue of government transparency. (They) shouldn't use 'state secrets' as a shield when they're not in the right."

The environment has already been one of one of the most frequently raised issues at the annual parliament session and China's authoritarian government has admitted it has a problem.

"Our country, in a very short time over the past 30 years, has achieved brilliant economic achievements," Xin Chunying, vice-director of the NPC standing committee's working group on the legal system, told reporters on Saturday.

"But at the same time, we have paid a heavy price with the environment. This price must stop, it has to be reduced, we must say ?no' to the status quo."

China does not usually allow public scrutiny of governance, particularly on sensitive issues such as corruption and security. But public anger over the environment may force authorities to accommodate the public in small ways.

"In other areas it is still dangerous," said Gary Liu, a professor at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. "But pollution is a relatively safe area, because people have enough justification to fight against the government and they can easily get enough public support because everybody is in the same country, breathes the same air."

SILENT KILLER

A choking smog in Beijing in January, far above hazardous levels, has been one of the most dramatic signs of China's environmental problems, but Dong is convinced that soil pollution is the country's "silent killer."

About 40 percent of China's agricultural land is irrigated with underground water, of which 90 percent is polluted, according to Liu Xin, a food and health expert and a member of an advisory body to parliament, who was quoted in the Southern Metropolitan Daily.

Citing "state secrets", the environment ministry last month denied a request from Dong for information on data on soil samples that was collected in a national survey that started in 2006 and ended in 2010.

The decision was perplexing to Dong, since he had been given signals that authorities would be accommodating on environmental issues.

He said after filing more than 10 lawsuits against other government departments in 2008, officials from the legislative affairs office of the State Council, or cabinet, pleaded with him to stop suing those agencies and "sue the environment ministry on the basis of the public's interest".

The government has caved in to public pressure for access to environmental information before. In early 2012, amid growing public outrage about air quality in the capital city, Beijing began announcing publicly the amount of tiny pollution particles in the air that measure 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter.

"Before the release of PM 2.5, there was controversy, some people thought that releasing the information on air quality may lead to panic in the society," Yan Chengzhong, a Shanghai delegate, said on the sidelines of the parliament session, according to the Wen Wei Po newspaper.

"But the facts proved this is not the case. 'Being unaware' would only cause people to panic."

And just last month, the government acknowledged for the first time that pollution had given rise to "cancer villages", admitting that cancer rates in villages near factories and polluted rivers were far higher than they should be.

But examples of the environment ministry's shortcomings abound.

Pan Zhizhong, a resident in Panguanying village in northeastern Hebei province, has led his village of 1,900 people in protesting against the construction of an incinerator plant since 2009.

When Pan sued the Hebei Department of Environmental Protection in 2011, he was given access to the environmental impact assessment that the environment ministry claimed it had done in the village. Pan discovered that the assessment, carried out by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, had names of people who had left the village two decades previously and even a person who had been dead for two years - all "expressing favor" for the project.

Pan surveyed 100 people in his village, showing them the purported environmental impact study. The majority of them gave him written statements that declared: "I've never seen this form," according to documents seen by Reuters.

A PRICE TO PAY

Sometimes, challenging the government comes at a cost.

Chen Yuqian, 60, a farmer from the town of Pailian in eastern Zhejiang province, said he has been beaten up five times in his decade-long fight against soil and water pollution --beatings for which he blames local officials.

On February 20, Chen issued a challenge on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, daring officials from the local environment protection bureau to swim in a stretch of polluted river. He offered 300,000 yuan ($48,200) as a reward.

Four days later, dozens of men, carrying sticks and rocks, charged into his home and started smashing things, Chen said.

"They are trying to scare me so that I don't petition anymore, so that I don't report on the pollution anymore," Chen said.

Xu Shuifa, the Communist Party secretary of the district that governs Chen's village, told Reuters by telephone that he had no links to the attackers and said the attack was linked to a land dispute Chen has with three of his neighbors.

Back in Beijing, Dong, the attorney, said he had filed an appeal with the environment ministry for the soil survey data and expected a decision within two months. He said he would go to court if he was denied.

(Additional reporting by Hui Li and Beijing Newsroom in BEIJING and John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI, Editing by Bill Powell and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-public-anger-over-secrecy-environment-033012400--business.html

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Temp-controlled 'nanopores' may allow detailed blood analysis

Mar. 8, 2013 ? Tiny biomolecular chambers called nanopores that can be selectively heated may help doctors diagnose disease more effectively if recent research by a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Wheaton College, and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) proves effective. Though the findings* may be years away from application in the clinic, they may one day improve doctors' ability to search the bloodstream quickly for indicators of disease -- a longstanding goal of medical research.

The team has pioneered work on the use of nanopores -- tiny chambers that mimic the ion channels in the membranes of cells -- for the detection and identification of a wide range of molecules, including DNA. Ion channels are the gateways by which the cell admits and expels materials like proteins, ions and nucleic acids. The typical ion channel is so small that only one molecule can fit inside at a time.

Previously, team members inserted a nanopore into an artificial cell membrane, which they placed between two electrodes. With this setup, they could drive individual molecules into the nanopore and trap them there for a few milliseconds, enough to explore some of their physical characteristics.

"A single molecule creates a marked change in current that flows through the pore, which allows us to measure the molecule's mass and electrical charge with high accuracy," says Joseph Reiner, a physicist at VCU who previously worked at NIST. "This enables discrimination between different molecules at high resolution. But for real-world medical work, doctors and clinicians will need even more advanced measurement capability."

A goal of the team's work is to differentiate among not just several types of molecules, but among the many thousands of different proteins and other biomarkers in our bloodstream. For example, changes in protein levels can indicate the onset of disease, but with so many similar molecules in the mix, it is important not to mistake one for another. So the team expanded their measurement capability by attaching gold nanoparticles to engineered nanopores, "which provides another means to discriminate between various molecular species via temperature control," Reiner says.

The team attached gold nanoparticles to the nanopore via tethers made from complementary DNA strands. Gold's ability to absorb light and quickly convert its energy to heat that conducts into the adjacent solution allows the team to alter the temperature of the nanopore with a laser at will, dynamically changing the way individual molecules interact with it.

"Historically, sudden temperature changes were used to determine the rates of chemical reactions that were previously inaccessible to measurement," says NIST biophysicist John Kasianowicz. "The ability to rapidly change temperatures in volumes commensurate with the size of single molecules will permit the separation of subtly different species. This will not only aid the detection and identification of biomarkers, it will also help develop a deeper understanding of thermodynamic and kinetic processes in single molecules."

The team is researching ways to improve semiconductor-based nanopores, which could further expand this new measurement capability.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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. Joseph E. Reiner, Joseph W. F. Robertson, Daniel L. Burden, Lisa K. Burden, Arvind Balijepalli, John J. Kasianowicz. Temperature Sculpting in Yoctoliter Volumes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (8): 3087 DOI: 10.1021/ja309892e

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/health_medicine/genes/~3/spP3yUnnAcQ/130308183832.htm

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March 8, 2013

It?s essential to have a home inspection after putting an offer on a house. The inspector will take two to four hours to go over every detail so you know what you?re getting yourself into.

Lots of folks back out of the deal after reading the inspector?s report. That?s fine, but there?s no need to waste the $500-$1000 fee if you know what to look for prior to making an offer.

The first time you look at the house, the only items on your mind are location, size and style, right? It?s either a fixer upper or ?renovated?. Total fixer uppers are easy. You know it?s gonna be a money pit. But those ?renovated? homes are a bit trickier.

On your second visit to the house, take your time to snoop around some more. Here?s what you?re looking for:

1. Floors. Are they bouncy or soggy? If there?s carpeting, what?s underneath? If it?s tongue and groove, check to make sure they have some sanding life left in them. You can tell by the thickness of the boards. It?s not a big deal to replace floors. It?s just an expense.

2. Basement. Do you see any water marks? Is there a dehumidifier down there? A sump pump? If so, ask why.

3. Basement II. Check out the boiler, water heater and electric panel. Let?s keep this fairly simple. How old or new do they look? Do they have maintenance stickers?

4. Basement III. Look up at the ceiling. The floor joists are those 2x6ish pieces of wood spanning every 12?-16?. The beams are chunkier. Maybe they are 4?4 or larger. Maybe they are steel. You want to make sure there are enough posts holding up those beams if it?s wood. The posts should be sitting on concrete, not dirt. If any of this stuff is rotted, they will need to be replaced or ?sistered?. Rot could be a sign of larger issues such as water leakage from above or termite infestation.

5. Exterior. If it?s stone, does it have cracks? If brick, will it need pointing? If wood, do you see any peeling paint or wood rot? How are the gutters and flashing? Check the pitch of the landscape to see if water would puddle up and/or enter the house. Are there drains in the back yard?

6. Electric. Make sure there are enough outlets in each room. They should all be three prong. Bathrooms and kitchens should have GFI outlets near water sources. If none of the above, the electric will need an upgrade.

7. Plumbing. Look at the drains under sinks to make sure there there are no leaks. Also check for leaks around toilets and bathtubs. Oh, almost forgot! Go back down to the basement and make sure the copper pipes are not corroded.

8. Follow your nose. Do you smell gas? Mold?

9. Windows. How old do they look? If they are original, have they been maintained or are there storm windows? Do you feel drafts around the windows meaning it?s not insulated?

10. Work quality. This is my own theory. I don?t think an inspector will voice concern about a house if it has a bad caulking job, but hear me out. If the finished product looks sloppy, chances are a low end contractor was used to save costs and that means there may just be band-aids on some problem areas. Look for overuse of caulk, grout film on tile, bumpy sheetrock seams and messy paint jobs. I go a step further and even turn my nose up at material quality. Cheap Home Depot wainscoting is usually covering something nasty! I shouldn?t say that. You?re right. I?m a snob. But buyer beware!

Again, nobody is telling you to be the inspector but these are some things you should look for. Are they fixable? Absolutely! But it?s better to know what you?re getting into before you put in an offer. And that, my friends, is the reason I always buy total wrecks.

Good luck!

Source: http://reclaimedhome.com/2013/03/08/pre-offer-home-inspection/

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US Bank intros BillPay feature for iOS and Android, lets you set up bill payments with a pic

Judging by recently announced projects like Go Mobile, it's quite clear that US Bank is working hard at keeping up with the mobile banking curve. With today's introduction of its new Mobile Photo BillPay feature, the company's giving customers using an iOS or Android device yet another nifty tool to take advantage of while on the go -- one that's set to make it easy to set up bill payments by simply taking a shot of any invoice and uploading it to an account from within the app. The experience itself is rather similar to what we're accustomed to seeing when doing things like, say, depositing checks, and US Bank's quick to point out that it's one of the first major banks in the US to bring a mobile bill-paying solution to its users. Speaking of which, US Bank account holders can try out BillPay now -- links to download from Google Play and the App Store are after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Comments

Via: PhoneScoop

Source: US Bank (App Store), (Google Play)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/prBCNwmn5Ss/

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Curiosity sleeps as solar blast races toward Mars

This image provided by NASA shows an image captured by NASA?s Solar Dynamics Observatory of a blast of plasma streaming from the sun in August 2012. Scientists say a solar eruption was detected on March 5, 2013 and was headed toward Mars. NASA?s Curiosity rover will postpone some activities but other Mars missions will operate normally.(AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA shows an image captured by NASA?s Solar Dynamics Observatory of a blast of plasma streaming from the sun in August 2012. Scientists say a solar eruption was detected on March 5, 2013 and was headed toward Mars. NASA?s Curiosity rover will postpone some activities but other Mars missions will operate normally.(AP Photo/NASA)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Curiosity hunkered down after the sun unleashed a blast that raced toward Mars.

While the hardy rover was designed to withstand punishing space weather, its handlers decided to power it down as a precaution since it suffered a recent computer problem.

"We're being more careful," project manager Richard Cook of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Wednesday.

While Curiosity slept, the Opportunity rover and two NASA spacecraft circling overhead carried on with normal activities.

On Tuesday, scientists noticed a huge flare erupting from the sun that hurled a stream of radiation in Mars' direction. The solar burst also spawned a cloud of superheated gas that barreled toward the red planet at 2 million mph.

The eruption did not appear severe or extreme, but "middle of the road, all things considered" said space weather chief Bob Rutledge at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The solar tempest was not expected to have an impact on Earth. In the past, such outbursts have triggered solar storms with the ability to disrupt utility grids, airline flights, satellite networks and GPS services. They're also known to produce shimmering auroras in places farther from the poles.

Since Mars lacks a planet-wide magnetic field, it does not experience geomagnetic storms. Rather, the planet sees a spike in radiation, Rutledge said.

Powerful solar blasts can cause trouble to Mars spacecraft. In 2003, an intense solar flare knocked out the radiation detector on the Odyssey orbiter.

NASA does not expect similar drama from the latest solar activity.

In the worst-case scenario, one or more of the working Mars spacecraft may enter "safe mode" in which science activities are halted but they remain in contact with Earth.

"We'll be watching and seeing what happens," said Roger Gibbs, JPL deputy manager for the Mars exploration program.

The unsettled space weather comes as Curiosity is recovering from a memory hiccup that put its science experiments on hold. It was the first major problem to hit the car-size rover since it landed last year in an ancient crater near the Martian equator to hunt for the chemical building blocks of life.

Engineers were in the middle of troubleshooting when they decided to wait for the weather to pass. The delay means it'll take longer for Curiosity to return to analyzing the pinch of rock powder it collected from a recent drilling.

Since its instruments are turned off, it can't use its radiation sensor to track the solar particles.

"It's just bad timing," Cook said.

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-03-07-US-SCI-Mars-Space-Weather/id-a07481fba8e5440ba46a821fe3dbad3b

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Scientists eradicate lung tumors in a pre-clinical mouse model

Mar. 5, 2013 ? Scientists at the Vall d?Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona, Spain, report that they have eradicated lung tumours in a pre-clinical mouse model.

Previous studies had already shown that Myc was a key protein in tumour development and had established how to inhibit Myc through gene therapy. This protein is involved in the development of diverse tumours and so Myc-targeted therapy could make a positive contribution to the therapeutic options for different types of cancer.

The study, led by the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), demonstrated the elimination of mouse lung tumours by inhibiting Myc, a protein that plays a key role in the development of many different tumours. The results, published in the journal Genes & Development, confirm that repeated, long-term treatment does not cause side effects. Even more importantly, no resistance to treatment has been encountered, which is one of the biggest concerns with anticancer therapies. These results show that anticancer therapies based on Myc inhibition are a safe, effective therapeutic option in new drug development.

Myc is a protein that plays a big role in regulating gene transcription and it is involved in cell processes such as proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis (programmed cell death -- an essential part of regenerating tissues and eliminating damaged cells). It acts as a regulator gene that controls the expression of some 15% of human genes. However, imbalances in this protein bring about uncontrolled cell growth which in turn can lead to the onset of cancer in different tissues. In fact, deregulated Myc is found in most tumours, including cervical, breast, colon, lung and stomach cancer.

From protein to therapy: a long haul

The work conducted by the Mouse Models of Cancer Therapy group at the VHIO, led by Dr Laura Soucek, shows that Myc can be controlled and inhibited through a mutant called Omomyc that hijacks Myc and prevents it from acting. "Even if we clearly identify a mechanism behind tumour development, it is still extremely complex to pinpoint how to intervene in cells' internal machinery or modify genetic processes," explained Dr Soucek. "We have found a way to inhibit Myc through Omomyc," she continued. "We induced Omomyc expression in mice through gene therapy and managed to activate and deactivate it by administering an antibiotic to the mice in their drinking water."

In the study, multiple lung tumours were induced in the mouse (up to 200 tumours in each individual) and Myc inhibition episodes were achieved by activating Omomyc expression for 4-weeks, followed by 4-week rest periods. This therapy -- known as metronomic therapy -- was maintained for more than a year, regularly checking tumour progress in each mouse. All mice became tumour free after the first inhibition period, but 63% of cases then relapsed. After the second Myc inhibition period, only 11% of the initial tumours reappeared. According to Dr Soucek, "the most important finding was that there were no signs of resistance to treatment. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of many anticancer therapies: the disease develops resistance and can return even more aggressively."

Finally, only two remaining tumours were found after more than one year of treatment among the mice that received eight inhibition and rest cycles. Dr Soucek found that Omomyc expression had been suppressed in these tumours, and this was the only adaptive mechanism that mice developed to treatment. "These results are hugely positive for us, because one year of life in a mouse is equivalent to almost 40 human years. The fact that the results are maintained over time, that there is no tumour relapse and no resistance, suggests that Myc-targeted therapy may offer an unprecedented way forward."

A study full of surprises

Previous studies conducted by Dr Soucek had already shown that Myc inhibition could halt tumour processes, making it an interesting therapeutic target for new drug development. However, in view of the protein's major role as a regulator gene, there was concern that long-term treatment could cause significant and uncontrollable side effects, such as epithelial tissue or bone marrow atrophy.

The potential for resistance was also questioned, since this occurs in many other similar treatments. The results of this latest study confirm that after multiple and periodic applications of Omomyc (the Myc inhibitor), tumours do not develop any resistance, side effects are mild and completely reversible, and almost all initial tumours are eradicated, even in advanced disease. "To make sure resistance was really non-existent, we applied the worst case scenario," said Dr Soucek, "which was to assess the effect of Myc inhibition while suppressing p53 (a cell cycle regulator protein), because without p53, a tumour can accumulate a large number of mutations. If there were any chance of a mutation appearing and managing to resist Myc inhibition, this would have happened in the absence of p53. So we have now demonstrated that long-term Myc inhibition not only stops lung tumour growth indefinitely, but also progressively eradicates tumour growth, without side effects or resistance. These results confirm that Myc is a firm target for new cancer drugs," she asserted.

These encouraging results provide sufficient scientific evidence to consider taking the next step: inhibiting Myc in patients. "Now our challenge for the future is to make Myc inhibition feasible from a pharmacological point of view, so that it can be administered, and done so safely. This will be the last step before designing clinical trials with Myc inhibitors," explained Dr Soucek. "We're so excited about reaching this turning point and I am quite certain that it will change the course of cancer therapy, despite there being a long road ahead."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Vall d?Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), via AlphaGalileo.

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

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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/health_medicine/genes/~3/TiUw-akCh3Q/130307190542.htm

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York College baseball team rides big sixth inning vs. Mt. Aloysius

The Spartan baseball team scored seven runs that inning to beat Mt. Aloysius, 10-2.

York, PA -

The Spartans batted around during a seven-run sixth inning to that gave York College a 10-2 baseball victory against Mt. Aloysius on Wednesday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Justin Cohen doubled in a run to start the scoring, and he also drove in the inning's final run with a single. Drew Frankenfield added a two-run single, Russ Patti hit an RBI double, and Jimmy King and Colin Porter each hit an RBI single in the Spartans' outburst.

Porter and Frankenfield both finished 3-for-4 at the plate, and Frankenfield totaled three RBIs.

Brad Wenzel dominated on the mound for York, pitching eight strong innings and striking out two. Reliever Chris Wolf retired the side in order to close out the ninth inning.

York College plays again today against Eastern in their final game in Myrtle Beach.
?
at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
YORK COLLEGE 10, MT. ALOYSIUS 2
Mt. Aloysius? ?000??000??020 -- ??2????6??0
York? ?100??027??00x -- 10??14??0
???Mt, Cameron Kyle, Brady Ring (5), Brady Wright (5), Brad Ewing (6), and Patrick Gulley; YC, Brad Wenzel, Chris Wolf (9), and Russ Patti, SO-BB -- Mt, Kyle 1-1, Ring 1-1, Wright 1-1, Ewing 2-0; YC Wenzel 2-2, Wolf 0-0,W -- Wenzel. L -- Kyle. 2B -- Mt, Ian Helsel (2); YC Drew Frankenfield, Justin Cohen, Russ Patti.
?

York College 12, North Carolina Wesleyan 3: Justin Cohen drove in four runs as the Spartans offense erupted in a victory in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Cohen walked with the bases loaded to plate a run in the first inning. He hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and added an RBI double in the seventh. Colbe Herr went 4-for-6 at the plate with two doubles and a triple for York, which outhit the Battling Bishops, 15-4.

Spartans pitcher Josh Miller struck out six in six innings. Miller was relieved by Zach Phillipi, who struck out five in his three innings.
?
at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
YORK COLLEGE 12, N.C. WESLEYAN 3
York? ?301?220?121 -- 12?15?3
N.C. Wes? ?200?000?100 -- ??3???4?3
???YC, Josh Miller , Zach Phillippi (7) and Colbe Herr; NC, Zach Collins, George Moore (1), James Lovett (4), Andrew Franklin (5), and Lee Dunn SO-BB -- YC, Miller 6-3, Phillippi 5-2; NC, Collins 2-5, Moore 1-3, Lovett 0-1, Franklin 4-4 W -- MIller. L -- Collins 2B -- YC Justin Cohen (2), Herr (2).3B -- YC, Herr; NC, Jason Riley. HR -- YC, Cohen.
??

Softball

York College 6, Penn State Hazleton 2: The Spartans battled to a victory in Myrtle Beach, S.C., thanks to a three-run inning late in the sixth. York scattered 10 hits throughout the game while committing no errors.

York's Aryn Johnston went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs, including a double and a home run in the bottom of the fifth.

Morgan Levine relieved starter Cory Urkuski in the third inning and claimed the victory. Levine struck out five and walked two in five innings of work.
?
at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
YORK COLLEGE 6, PENN ST. HAZELTON
P.S. Hazelton? ?001??000??1 -- 2????7??1
York? ?020??013??x -- 6??10??0
???PSH, Martina Herring and Jaqueline Furch; YC Cory Urkuski, Morgan Levine (3) and Sarah Harris. SO-BB -- U Herring 1-1; YC Urkuski 1-0, Levine 5-2. W -- Levine. L -- Herring. 2B -- U, Sabrina Bubula; YC, Aryn Johnston, Jena Ruby, Urkuski. HR -- Johnston.
?

Ursinus 15, York College 6 (5):The Spartans couldn't rebound from an eight-run third inning from Ursinus in a loss in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Ursinus scored 15 runs on 16 hits in just five innings of play.

Sara Thacker doubled for York, driving in a run. Kayleen Bell also drove in two runs for the Spartans.
?
at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
URSINUS 15, YORK COLLEGE 6 (5)
Ursinus? ?108?60 -- 15?16?2
York? ?030?21 -- ??6???5?4
???U, Zoe Heinke and Emelie McFarland; YC Morgan Levine and Sarah Harris. SO-BB -- U, Heinke 1-7; YC, Levine 6-1. W -- Heinke. L -- Levine. 2B -- U, Monica Bonitatis, Allison Pfrommer (2); YC Sara Thacker. 3B --U, Bontatis.
??

Men's tennis

???York College 5, Malone 4: The Spartans won four of the six singles matches and picked up their final point when Matt Rosenkrantz and Jake Greenstein won their No. 2 doubles match against Brett Krejci and Andrew Hill in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Rosenkrantz and Greenstein edged the Malone team by a 9-7 score. Rosenkrantz won his No. 4 singles match in straight sets, as did Nathaniel Hoskins and Mario Herrera. Daniel Erk also won in singles for the Spartans.

?
at Hilton Head, S.C.
YORK COLLEGE 5, MALONE 4
Singles
???Youseff Sonbaty, Mal def Tyler Cheatman, 6-2, 6-0; Nate Davis, Mal, def Eric Cooperman, 6-4, 6-1; Nathaniel Hoskins, YC def Vladslav Dyenyezhka, 6-4, 6-0; Matt Rosenkrantz, YC def Alex Steinmetz, 6-1, 6-2; Daniel Erk, YC def Steffan Dwarkasingh, 2-6, 7-6, 1-0; Mario Herrera, YC, def Andrew Hill, 7-6, 6-4
Doubles
???Sonbaty-Davis, Mal def Cheatham-Hoskins, 8-4; Rosenkrantz- Greenstein, YC def Krecji-Hill, 9-7; Steinmetz-Dwarkasingh, Mal def Herrara-Sosa, 8-6

Source: http://www.ydr.com/sports/ci_22735733/york-college-baseball-team-rides-big-sixth-inning?source=rss

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Syrian rebels seize U.N. peacekeepers

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have seized a convoy of U.N. peacekeepers near the Golan Heights and say they will hold them captive until President Bashar al-Assad's forces pull back from a rebel-held village which has seen heavy recent fighting.

The capture was announced in rebel videos posted on the Internet and confirmed on Wednesday by the United Nations, which said about 20 peacekeepers had been detained.

The seizure is the most direct threat to U.N. personnel in the nearly two-year-old uprising against Assad, and Human Rights Watch said it was investigating the same brigade for past executions.

It came on the day Britain said it would increase aid to the opposition forces and the Arab League gave a green light to member states to arm the rebels.

The Arab League also invited the opposition Syrian coalition to take Syria's seat at a meeting of the regional body in Doha later this month. Syria was suspended in November 2011 in response to its crackdown on protests which has since spiralled into civil war.

In the latest attack by the Syrian military, warplanes bombarded the northeastern provincial capital of Raqqa for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people, opposition activists said. Video footage showed fighters putting dismembered bodies in an ambulance.

The peacekeepers of the UNDOF mission have been monitoring a ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, captured by the Jewish state in a 1967 war, for nearly four decades.

Israel has warned that it will not "stand idle" as Syria's civil war spills over into the Golan region.

The United Nations in New York said its peacekeepers had been detained by around 30 fighters in the Golan Heights. The Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the seizure of U.N. observers and demanded their immediate release.

"The U.N. observers were on a regular supply mission and were stopped near Observation Post 58, which had sustained damage and was evacuated this past weekend following heavy combat in close proximity at Al Jamla," the United Nations said, referring to a village which saw fierce clashes on Sunday.

It did not mention the nationality of the observers, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which is in contact with the rebel brigade, said they were Filipino.

In one rebel video, a young man saying he was from the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" brigade stood surrounded by several rebel fighters with assault rifles in front of two white armoured vehicles and a truck with "UN" markings.

"The command of the Martyrs of Yarmouk ... is holding forces of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force until the withdrawal of forces of the regime of Bashar al-Assad from the outskirts of the village of Jamla," said the man, who was wearing civilian clothes.

At least five people could be seen sitting in the vehicles wearing light blue U.N. helmets and bulletproof vests.

"If no withdrawal is made within 24 hours we will treat them as prisoners," the man said, accusing them of collaborating with Assad's forces to push the rebels out of Jamla.

Nearly two years after the uprising started, rebels are distrustful of the United Nations, which they say has failed to support their cause.

MILITARY AID

Earlier on Wednesday, the United Nations said the number of refugees who have fled Syria had reached 1 million, part of an accelerating exodus from a conflict which is approaching its second anniversary with no prospect of an end to the bloodshed.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, pledging support for Assad's opponents, said the civil war had reached catastrophic proportions and that international efforts to stem the violence had been an abject failure.

Senior U.S. and Russian diplomats will discuss the conflict at a meeting in London on Thursday, Russia said, the latest in a series of meetings aimed at seeking an end to the fighting.

But Hague said the chances of getting an immediate political solution to the crisis were slim and that diplomacy was taking too long.

"If a political solution to the crisis in Syria is not found and the conflict continues, we and the rest of the European Union will have to be ready to move further, and we should not rule out any option for saving lives," he said.

However, Hague played down the prospect of direct Western military intervention.

While Moscow has been one of Assad's main protectors, members of an Islamist insurgency involved in daily clashes in Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus and their compatriots have trickled into Syria to fight on the rebels' side.

A Syrian rebel leader sought to persuade European governments to lift an arms embargo for the rebels, saying any weapons provided would be accounted for and possibly returned.

"The weapons are registered on lists with numbers on each weapon. We distribute those weapons. And we know precisely who has received them," Brigadier Selim Idris told a news conference in Brussels.

ONE MILLION REFUGEES

At a registration centre for Syrians in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, a 19-year-old mother of two registered on Wednesday as the millionth refugee to flee her country.

"The situation is very bad for us. We can't find work," said the teenage mother, wearing a green headscarf and holding her daughter as she spoke to reporters.

"I live with 20 people in one room. We can't find any other house as it is too expensive. We want to return to Syria. We wish for the crisis to be resolved."

Syrians started trickling out of the country 23 months ago when Assad's forces shot at pro-democracy protests inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere.

The uprising has since turned into an increasingly sectarian struggle between armed rebels and government soldiers and militias. An estimated 70,000 people have been killed.

Around half the refugees are children, most of them aged under 11, and the numbers leaving are mounting every week, the United Nations refugee agency said in statement.

"With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ant?nio Guterres said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Dominic Evans and Laila Bassam in Beirut and Jonathon Burch in Anakara; Editing by Michael Roddy and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-seize-un-peacekeepers-near-golan-heights-182322374.html

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Cocktail-dispensing robot can mix a drink in seconds

Some tasks are better left up to computers, like playing "Jeopardy," calculating pi, and mixing cocktails. Wait ... mixing cocktails? If you don't think a computer can whip up a compelling cocktail, then you haven't met Bartendro.

A creation of the awesomely named company Party Robotics, Bartendro is a robot mixologist crafted from peristaltic pumps, Raspberry Pi, custom electronic dispenser boards, and food-grade tubing. It may simultaneously be the least-necessary and most-desirable robot in the world.

The cocktail-dispensing machine can turn out a drink in less than 10 seconds. It can churn out 200 cocktails in an evening -- and it won't break a sweat, take a bathroom break, or hit on your girlfriend. Don't worry, you can still sit there and tell it all your problems. It won't interrupt and it won't judge you.

Perhaps the best part of Bartendro is that it's not relegated to a lab somewhere far away where you'll never get to bask in its boozy glory. It's on Kickstarter. Early backers can get in on a Shotbot for $249, a working robot that dispenses shots from a single bottle.

Let's be realistic, though. You won't be satisfied with just a Shotbot. You're going to want to move up the pledge ranks and jump straight to the $2,499 level for a 15-bottle Bartendro. You just need to provide a tablet or smartphone to tell it what to do. Sure, the smaller Bartendros cost a lot less money, but for sheer overpowering robotic cocktail mayhem, you can't beat a Bartendro 15.

Let's raise a glass to Bartendro. I'm hoping it reaches its $135,000 goal, and Party Robotics is able to put the machines into wider production. If I had one of these, I would never leave my house again.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bartendro-robot-mixologist-crafts-cocktails-with-raspberry-pi-234747689.html

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Martha Stewart denies wrongdoing in Penney deal

Martha Stewart arrives at New York State Supreme Court in New York, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Stewart, 71, is scheduled to take the stand Tuesday in a legal battle between two of the nation's largest retailers ? Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Macy's sued the media and merchandising company Stewart founded for breaching an exclusive contract when she signed a deal with Penney in December 2011 to open shops at most of its stores this spring. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Martha Stewart arrives at New York State Supreme Court in New York, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Stewart, 71, is scheduled to take the stand Tuesday in a legal battle between two of the nation's largest retailers ? Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Macy's sued the media and merchandising company Stewart founded for breaching an exclusive contract when she signed a deal with Penney in December 2011 to open shops at most of its stores this spring. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Martha Stewart arrives at New York State Supreme Court in New York, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Stewart, 71, is scheduled to take the stand Tuesday in a legal battle between two of the nation's largest retailers ? Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Macy's sued the media and merchandising company Stewart founded for breaching an exclusive contract when she signed a deal with Penney in December 2011 to open shops at most of its stores this spring. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Martha Stewart arrives to court in New York, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Macy's Inc. is suing the media and merchandising company Stewart founded for breaching an exclusive contract when she signed a deal with J.C. Penney in December 2011 to open shops at most of its stores this spring.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Martha Stewart arrives at New York State Supreme Court in New York, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Stewart, 71, is scheduled to take the stand Tuesday in a legal battle between two of the nation's largest retailers ? Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Macy's sued the media and merchandising company Stewart founded for breaching an exclusive contract when she signed a deal with Penney in December 2011 to open shops at most of its stores this spring. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Martha Stewart arrives at New York State Supreme Court in New York, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Stewart, 71, is scheduled to take the stand Tuesday in a legal battle between two of the nation's largest retailers ? Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Macy's sued the media and merchandising company Stewart founded for breaching an exclusive contract when she signed a deal with Penney in December 2011 to open shops at most of its stores this spring. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Home decor and food guru Martha Stewart testified in court on Tuesday that she did nothing wrong when she signed an agreement to open shops within most of J.C. Penney's stores across the country.

Stewart testified in New York state court in a trial over whether the company she founded breached its contract to sell cookware, bedding and other items exclusively at Macy's when she inked the deal with Penney.

During three hours of testimony, Stewart, who founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., denied Macy's allegations that she did anything unethical and said she was only looking to expand her brand.

In fact, Stewart said it's Macy's that didn't uphold its end of the agreement to try to maximize the potential of her business. She said her brand had grown to about $300 million at Macy's, but the business was now "static" at the department store chain. She said she had hoped the business would exceed $400 million.

"We were disappointed," Stewart, 71, wearing a light brown tunic and a mini skirt, testified. " We got to a certain dollar amount and struggled and never got any further."

The trial, which began Feb. 20, focuses on whether Macy's has the exclusive right to sell some Martha Stewart branded products such as cookware, bedding and bath items.

Penney signed a pact in December 2011 with Martha Stewart Living to open shops at most of its 1,100 stores by this spring. A month later, Macy's renewed its long-standing exclusive deal with Martha Stewart until 2018, then it sued both Martha Stewart Living and Penney.

Macy's is trying to block Penney's from opening the shops. The company also is seeking to stop Martha Stewart from providing any designs to Penney ? whether or not they carry the Martha Stewart label.

Martha Stewart and Penney are using what they believe is a loophole in the agreement between Macy's and Martha Stewart to move forward with their deal. It's a provision that allows Martha Stewart to sell some of the products that it offers in Macy's stores at Martha Stewart stores, too.

According to Martha Stewart lawyers, because the Macy's agreement doesn't specify that Martha Stewart stores have to be "stand alone" stores, the mini shops within Penney's stores would not violate the contract. Stewart said in court Tuesday that even Amazon.com could be considered a store, given that shoppers are shifting more to online buying.

"I don't think you need walls to be a store," she said.

The trial has revealed some of the drama that took place behind-the-scenes between Stewart and the CEOs of Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co.

During his testimony on Friday, Penney CEO Ron Johnson rejected claims by Macy's lawyers that he plotted to push Martha Stewart to breach her deal with Macy's with the goal of eventually becoming the sole carrier of some of Stewart's products.

Johnson, dressed in a dark suit and striped navy tie, said during his testimony that he just wanted to get a piece of the action while helping the Martha Stewart's business grow. He also said that the expanded partnership could be good for all parties involved, including Macy's.

Macy's attorneys, meanwhile, have portrayed Stewart as someone who turned her back on a good friend, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, to broker a deal with a rival company. During testimony earlier in the trial, Lundgren, who wore a suit, said that he hung up on Stewart after she told him about the deal she'd reached with Penney. He said he hasn't spoken to her since.

"I was quite taken back by his response and when he hung up on me I was quite flabbergasted," Stewart testified Tuesday.

Stewart also testified that she couldn't discuss the impending Penney deal with Lundgren sooner because the negotiations were "confidential." But Theodore Grossman, an attorney representing Macy's, presented an email on Tuesday that showed that Stewart had discussed it with Millard Drexler, CEO of the J. Crew clothing chain, before the deal was complete.

Stewart's testimony comes as the company she founded continues to struggle. Martha Stewart Living just finished its fifth straight year of losses. The company has also had steep sales declines.

Martha Stewart Living had taken a when Stewart was convicted in March 2004 of lying to prosecutors about a stock sale. After Stewart's release, business began to recover as advertisers who had fled returned. But in the past few years, Martha Stewart Living has been grappling with a consumer shift to the Web and mobile devices to get the latest recipes and other food tips.

Martha Stewart Living has been trying to bolster its merchandising business, which represents 30 percent of the company's annual revenue, to offset declines in its broadcast and publishing divisions. The biggest opportunities for Martha Stewart Living are in selling products for the home, including bedding, bath and kitchen merchandise. That's because as the housing recovery gains momentum in the economic recovery, people likely will put more money into their homes.

During her testimony on Tuesday, Stewart said she always wanted to open big shops within Macy's stores, but the retailer never embraced that concept. Instead, she said the merchandise in Macy's stores is just "here and there."

That's why she said that a proposal from Penney's Johnson to create shops filled with home merchandise was appealing to her.

"We hoped this business would be growing," Stewart said. "It just boggles my mind that we're here sitting in front of you, judge."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-05-US-Martha-Stewart-Trial/id-0a18ce85a16843cd8b3352753262810b

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