The throng of Wal-Mart shoppers had been building all night, filling sidewalks and stretching across a vast parking lot at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County police had to be called in for crowd control, and an officer with a bullhorn pleaded for order.
Tension grew as the 5 a.m. opening neared. Someone taped up a crude poster: “Blitz Line Starts Here.”
By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.
Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said.
Some workers who saw what was happening fought their way through the surge to get to Mr. Damour, but he had been fatally injured, the police said. Emergency workers tried to revive Mr. Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, at the scene, but he was pronounced dead an hour later at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream.
Four other people, including a 28-year-old woman who was described as eight months pregnant, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries.
Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, who is in charge of the investigation for the Nassau police, said the store lacked adequate security. He called the scene “utter chaos” and said the “crowd was out of control.” As for those who had run over the victim, criminal charges were possible, the lieutenant said. “I’ve heard other people call this an accident, but it is not,” he said. “Certainly it was a foreseeable act.”
But even with videos from the store’s surveillance cameras and the accounts of witnesses, Lieutenant Fleming and other officials acknowledged that it would be difficult to identify those responsible, let alone to prove culpability.
Some shoppers who had seen the stampede said they were shocked. One of them, Kimberly Cribbs of Queens, said the crowd had acted like “savages.” Shoppers behaved badly even as the store was being cleared, she recalled.
“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’ ” Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.”
Wal-Mart security officials and the police cleared the store, swept up the shattered glass and locked the doors until 1 p.m., when it reopened to a steady stream of calmer shoppers who passed through the missing doors and battered door jambs, apparently unaware that anything had happened.
Ugly shopping scenes, a few involving injuries, have become commonplace during the bargain-hunting ritual known as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. The nation’s largest retail group, the National Retail Federation, said it had never heard of a worker being killed on Black Friday.
Wal-Mart declined to provide details of the stampede, but said in a statement that it had tried to prepare by adding staff members. Still, it was unclear how many security workers it had at the Valley Stream store for the opening on Friday. The Green Acres Mall provides its own security to supplement the staffs of some large stores, but it did not appear that Wal-Mart was one of them.
A Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Folgleman, called it a “tragic situation,” and said the victim had been hired from a temporary staffing agency and assigned to maintenance work. Wal-Mart, in a statement issued at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said: “The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this tragic time."
Wal-Mart has successfully resisted unionization of its employees. New York State’s largest grocery union, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, called the death of Mr. Damour “avoidable” and demanded investigations.
“Where were the safety barriers?” said Bruce Both, the union president. “Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner? This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart.”
While other Wal-Mart stores dot the suburbs around the city, the outlet at Valley Stream, less than two miles from New York City’s southeastern border, draws customers from Queens, Brooklyn and the densely populated suburbs of Nassau County. And it was not the only store in the Green Acres Mall that attracted large crowds.
Witnesses said the crowd outside Wal-Mart began gathering at 9 p.m. on Thursday. The night was not bitterly cold, and the early mood was relaxed. By the early morning hours, the throngs had grown, and officers of the Fifth Precinct of the Nassau County Police Department, who patrol Valley Stream, were out in force, checking on crowds at the mall.
Mr. Damour, who lived in Queens, went into the store sometime during the night to stock shelves and perform maintenance work.
On Friday night, Mr. Damour’s father, Ogera Charles, 67, said his son had spent Thursday evening having Thanksgiving dinner at a half sister’s house in Queens before going directly to work. Mr. Charles said his son, known as Jimmy, was raised in Queens by his mother and worked at various stores in the area after graduating from high school.
Mr. Charles said he had not seen his son in three months, and heard about his death about 7 a.m. Friday, when a friend of Mr. Damour’s called him at home. He arrived at Franklin Hospital Medical Center an hour later to identify the body. Mr. Charles said he was angry that no one from Wal-Mart had contacted him or had explained how his son had died. Maria Damour, Mr. Damour’s mother, was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but was on her way back to the United States, Mr. Charles said.
About the time that Mr. Damour was killed, a shopper at a Wal-Mart in Farmingdale, 15 miles east of Valley Stream, said she was trampled by a crowd of overeager customers, the Suffolk County police reported. The woman sustained a cut on her leg, but finished her shopping before filing the police report, an officer said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?_r=1
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Forces fight through siege hotels
Commandos are fighting room-by-room through two luxury hotels in Mumbai, nearly 24 hours after a series of devastating attacks across the city.
Indian officials said the Taj Mahal hotel had nearly been cleared of gunmen and trapped guests were being freed.
Security forces have freed some of the people trapped in two hotels
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to track down the attackers. At least 110 people have been killed.
Another 300 people were injured when gunmen targeted at least seven sites in Mumbai late on Wednesday.
A security official said one gunman remained in the Taj Mahal hotel and that the military was in control of the situation.
Commandos were continuing their sweep of another hotel, the Oberoi-Trident, where a number of guests were trapped in their rooms or being held hostage, said JK Dutt, of the National Security Guards.
A home ministry official said earlier there might be 20-30 people being held hostage at the Oberoi-Trident. Owners said some 200 people were trapped in the hotel.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: "Whatever measures are necessary"
But Maj Gen Hooda said he did not think there were any hostages there, and 39 people had been rescued.
"When the search was carried out from room to room these were the people, they had locked themselves into the rooms," he said.
At a third stand-off, at a Jewish centre, seven hostages had been released, a security official said.
One militant reportedly phoned local TV from the centre offering to negotiate over the release of hostages.
Israel's embassy in New Delhi had earlier said at least 10 Israeli nationals were trapped or being held hostage in Mumbai.
In other developments:
· The Indian navy said it was searching ships off the west coast following reports that gunmen had arrived in Mumbai by boat
· The UK Foreign Office said a British national, Andreas Liveras had died; a German, a Japanese man and an Italian are also among the dead
· The Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, which has been blamed for past bombings in India, denied any role in the attacks
In a televised address, Mr Singh said the government "will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens".
He said the attackers were based "outside the country" and that India would not tolerate "neighbours" who provide a haven to militants targeting it.
He described the attacks as "well-planned and well-orchestrated... intended to create a sense of panic by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners".
Flames and black smoke billow from the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Mumbai, on 27/11/08
India has complained in the past that attacks on its soil have been carried out by groups based in Pakistan, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years and Pakistani leaders were swift to condemn the latest attacks.
Maj Gen Hooda said authorities had intercepted conversations between some of the attackers speaking in Punjabi, an apparent reference to Pakistan-based militants.
Earlier reports said the attackers spoke Hindi, indicating they were from India.
But Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in New Delhi for talks, said no-one should be blamed until investigations were finished.
"Our experience in the past tells us that we should not jump to conclusions," he told Dawn television.
Amid international condemnation of the attacks, US President George W Bush telephoned Mr Singh to offer his condolences and support.
Claim of responsibility
In the attacks late on Wednesday night gunmen, using grenades and automatic weapons, targeted at least seven sites including the city's main commuter train station, a hospital and a restaurant popular with tourists.
Police say 14 police officers, 81 Indian nationals and six foreigners have been killed.
Four suspected terrorists have also been killed and nine arrested, they add.
At the height of the stand-off at the Taj Mahal hotel, gunfire and explosions could be heard from inside.
Earlier eyewitness reports from the hotels suggested the attackers were singling out British and American passport holders.
If the reports are true, our security correspondent Frank Gardner says it implies an Islamist motive - attacks inspired or co-ordinated by al-Qaeda.
A claim of responsibility has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen. Our correspondent says it could be a hoax or assumed name for another group.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7753177.stm
Indian officials said the Taj Mahal hotel had nearly been cleared of gunmen and trapped guests were being freed.
Security forces have freed some of the people trapped in two hotelsIndian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to track down the attackers. At least 110 people have been killed.
Another 300 people were injured when gunmen targeted at least seven sites in Mumbai late on Wednesday.
A security official said one gunman remained in the Taj Mahal hotel and that the military was in control of the situation.
Commandos were continuing their sweep of another hotel, the Oberoi-Trident, where a number of guests were trapped in their rooms or being held hostage, said JK Dutt, of the National Security Guards.
A home ministry official said earlier there might be 20-30 people being held hostage at the Oberoi-Trident. Owners said some 200 people were trapped in the hotel.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: "Whatever measures are necessary"
But Maj Gen Hooda said he did not think there were any hostages there, and 39 people had been rescued.
"When the search was carried out from room to room these were the people, they had locked themselves into the rooms," he said.
At a third stand-off, at a Jewish centre, seven hostages had been released, a security official said.
One militant reportedly phoned local TV from the centre offering to negotiate over the release of hostages.
Israel's embassy in New Delhi had earlier said at least 10 Israeli nationals were trapped or being held hostage in Mumbai.
In other developments:
· The Indian navy said it was searching ships off the west coast following reports that gunmen had arrived in Mumbai by boat
· The UK Foreign Office said a British national, Andreas Liveras had died; a German, a Japanese man and an Italian are also among the dead
· The Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, which has been blamed for past bombings in India, denied any role in the attacks
In a televised address, Mr Singh said the government "will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens".
He said the attackers were based "outside the country" and that India would not tolerate "neighbours" who provide a haven to militants targeting it.
He described the attacks as "well-planned and well-orchestrated... intended to create a sense of panic by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners".
Flames and black smoke billow from the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Mumbai, on 27/11/08
India has complained in the past that attacks on its soil have been carried out by groups based in Pakistan, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years and Pakistani leaders were swift to condemn the latest attacks.
Maj Gen Hooda said authorities had intercepted conversations between some of the attackers speaking in Punjabi, an apparent reference to Pakistan-based militants.
Earlier reports said the attackers spoke Hindi, indicating they were from India.
But Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in New Delhi for talks, said no-one should be blamed until investigations were finished.
"Our experience in the past tells us that we should not jump to conclusions," he told Dawn television.
Amid international condemnation of the attacks, US President George W Bush telephoned Mr Singh to offer his condolences and support.
Claim of responsibility
In the attacks late on Wednesday night gunmen, using grenades and automatic weapons, targeted at least seven sites including the city's main commuter train station, a hospital and a restaurant popular with tourists.
Police say 14 police officers, 81 Indian nationals and six foreigners have been killed.
Four suspected terrorists have also been killed and nine arrested, they add.
At the height of the stand-off at the Taj Mahal hotel, gunfire and explosions could be heard from inside.
Earlier eyewitness reports from the hotels suggested the attackers were singling out British and American passport holders.
If the reports are true, our security correspondent Frank Gardner says it implies an Islamist motive - attacks inspired or co-ordinated by al-Qaeda.
A claim of responsibility has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen. Our correspondent says it could be a hoax or assumed name for another group.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7753177.stm
101 killed as gunmen rampage in India city
MUMBAI, India – Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish center, killing at least 101 people and holding Westerners hostage in coordinated attacks on India's commercial center that were blamed on Muslim militants. Dozens of people were still trapped or held captive Thursday.
Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and dozens of people were believed held hostage or trapped inside the besieged buildings. Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry said 101 people were killed and 314 injured.
Among the dead were at least one Australian, Japanese and British national he said. Officials said eight militants had also been killed in the coordinated attacks on at least 10 sites that began around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch. Indian commandos surrounded the building Thursday morning and witnesses said gunfire was heard from the building.
Police loudspeakers declared a curfew around Mumbai's landmark Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area, apparently the beginning of an assault on gunmen who had taken hostages in the hotel.
Soldiers outside the hotel said forces were moving slowly, from room to room, looking for gunmen and traps. At noon, two bodies covered with white cloth were wheeled out of the entrance and put in ambulances.
A series of explosions had rocked the Taj Mahal just after midnight. Screams were heard and black smoke and flames billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Firefighters sprayed water at the blaze and plucked people from balconies with extension ladders. By dawn, the fire was still burning.
At the nearby upscale Oberoi hotel, soldiers could be seen on the roof of neighboring buildings. A banner hung out of one window read "save us." No one could be seen inside the room from the road.
Officials at Bombay Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Japanese man had died there and nine Europeans had been admitted, three of them in critical condition with gunshots. All had come from the Taj Mahal, the officials said.
At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed, said and A.N. Roy, a top police official.
The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans at the hotels and restaurant, witnesses said.
Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News television that a gunman ushered 30 to 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered everyone to put up their hands.
"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything — and thank God they didn't," he said.
Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but he thought much of the group was being held hostage.
The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.
Mumbai, on the western coast of India overlooking the Arabian Sea, is home to splendid Victorian architecture built during the British Raj and is one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million crammed into shantytowns, high rises and crumbling mansions. The Taj Mahal hotel, filled with Oriental carpets, Indian artifacts and alabaster ceilings, overlooks the fabled Gateway of India that commemorated the visit of King George V and Queen Mary.
A spokesman for the Lubavitch movement in New York, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, said attackers "stormed the Chabad house" in Mumbai.
"It seems that the terrorists commandeered a police vehicle which allowed them easy access to the area of the Chabad house and threw a grenade at a gas pump nearby," he said.
Around 10:30 a.m., three people were led from the building and escorted away by police: a woman, a child and an Indian cook, said one witness, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he did not know the status of occupants of the house, which serves as an educational center and a synagogue.
Early Thursday, state Home Secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents in Mumbai when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said four more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were arrested. They declined to provide any further details.
"We're going to catch them dead or alive," Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."
An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to several media outlets. There was no way to verify that claim.
The state government ordered schools and colleges and the Bombay Stock Exchange closed Thursday.
Police reported hostages being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, two of the best-known upscale destinations.
Gunmen who burst into the Taj "were targeting foreigners. They kept shouting: `Who has U.S. or U.K. passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the hotel.
Authorities believed up to 15 foreigners were hostages at the Taj Mahal hotel, said Anees Ahmed, a top state official.
It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing that was in flames, and a more modern tower.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said U.S. officials were not aware of any American casualties, but were still checking.
"We condemn these attacks and the loss of innocent life," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
Blood smeared the grounds of the 19th century Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station — a beautiful example of Victorian Gothic architecture — where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal.
Photos in the Mumbai Mirror newspaper showed a young gunman — dressed like a college student in cargo pants and a black T-shirt — walking casually through the station, an assault rifle hanging from one hand and two knapsacks slung over a shoulder.
Nasim Inam, a witness said four of the attackers gunned down scores of commuters. "They just fired randomly at people and then ran away. In seconds, people fell to the ground."
Other gunmen attacked Leopold's restaurant, a landmark popular with foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks took place. The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there was blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers. Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed.
Early Thursday, several European lawmakers were among those who barricaded themselves inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city's best-known destinations.
"I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit.
As he turned to get away, "all of a sudden another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press over his mobile phone.
Hours later, Karim remained holed up in a hotel restaurant, unsure if it was safe to come out.
India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.
Since May a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130 people. The most recent was in September, when explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100.
Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India's 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14 percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence since British-ruled India was split into independent India and Pakistan in 1947.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_india_shooting
Friday, November 21, 2008
The year 2025: Oil, dollar out; Russia, Islam in
WASHINGTON – Global warming could be a boon to Russia, a European country could be overrun by organized crime and the U.S. and its dollar could further decline in importance during the next two decades, says a U.S. intelligence report with predictions for the world in 2025.
The report, Global Trends 2025, is published every four years by the National Intelligence Council to give U.S. leaders insight into looming problems and opportunities.
The report says the warming earth will extend Russia and Canada's growing season and ease their access to northern oil fields, strengthening their economies. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says.
Analysts also warn that the same kind of organized crime plaguing Russia could eventually take over the government of an Eastern or Central European country. The report is silent on which one.
It also says countries in Africa and South Asia may find themselves unstable and ungoverned, as state regimes collapse or wither away under security problems and water and food shortages brought about by climate change and a population increase of 1.4 billion.
The potential for conflict will be greater in 2025 than it is now, as the world's population competes for declining and shifting food, water and energy resources.
Despite a more precarious world situation, the report also says al-Qaida's terrorist franchise could decay "sooner than people think." It cites its growing unpopularity in the Muslim world, where it kills most of its victims.
"The prospect that al-Qaida will be among the small number of groups able to transcend the generational timeline is not high, given its harsh ideology, unachievable strategic objectives and inability to become a mass movement," the report states.
The report forecasts a geopolitical rise in non-Arab Muslim states outside of the Middle East, including Turkey and Indonesia, and says Iran could also be a central player in a new world order if it sheds its theocracy.
The report, a year in the making, also suggests the world may complete its move away from its dependence on oil, and that the U.S. dollar, while remaining important, will decline to "first among equals" among other national currencies.
U.S. global power also will likely decline, as Americans' concerns about putting resources into solving domestic problems may cause the United States to pull resources from foreign and global problems.
___
On the Net:
Global Trends 2025: http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_go_ot/intel_trends
The report, Global Trends 2025, is published every four years by the National Intelligence Council to give U.S. leaders insight into looming problems and opportunities.
The report says the warming earth will extend Russia and Canada's growing season and ease their access to northern oil fields, strengthening their economies. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says.
Analysts also warn that the same kind of organized crime plaguing Russia could eventually take over the government of an Eastern or Central European country. The report is silent on which one.
It also says countries in Africa and South Asia may find themselves unstable and ungoverned, as state regimes collapse or wither away under security problems and water and food shortages brought about by climate change and a population increase of 1.4 billion.
The potential for conflict will be greater in 2025 than it is now, as the world's population competes for declining and shifting food, water and energy resources.
Despite a more precarious world situation, the report also says al-Qaida's terrorist franchise could decay "sooner than people think." It cites its growing unpopularity in the Muslim world, where it kills most of its victims.
"The prospect that al-Qaida will be among the small number of groups able to transcend the generational timeline is not high, given its harsh ideology, unachievable strategic objectives and inability to become a mass movement," the report states.
The report forecasts a geopolitical rise in non-Arab Muslim states outside of the Middle East, including Turkey and Indonesia, and says Iran could also be a central player in a new world order if it sheds its theocracy.
The report, a year in the making, also suggests the world may complete its move away from its dependence on oil, and that the U.S. dollar, while remaining important, will decline to "first among equals" among other national currencies.
U.S. global power also will likely decline, as Americans' concerns about putting resources into solving domestic problems may cause the United States to pull resources from foreign and global problems.
___
On the Net:
Global Trends 2025: http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_go_ot/intel_trends
Thursday, November 20, 2008
e=mc2: 103 years later, Einstein's proven right
PARIS (AFP) — It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.
A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.
According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.
The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?
The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons.
In other words, energy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905.
The e=mc2 formula shows that mass can be converted into energy, and energy can be converted into mass.
By showing how much energy would be released if a certain amount of mass were to be converted into energy, the equation has been used many times, most famously as the inspirational basis for building atomic weapons.
But resolving e=mc2 at the scale of sub-atomic particles -- in equations called quantum chromodynamics -- has been fiendishly difficult.
"Until now, this has been a hypothesis," France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said proudly in a press release.
"It has now been corroborated for the first time."
For those keen to know more: the computations involve "envisioning space and time as part of a four-dimensional crystal lattice, with discrete points spaced along columns and rows."
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYftcP0kR2mf032kK3WFVR9k_O2A
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Would-be buyer publicizes man’s immigrant status
Both lose in aborted home sale
Lorenzo Jimenez poses in front of a home he owns in Roswell. He lost his job and is now in danger of being deported.
Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time.
Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house, even though signing the papers meant raising the risk: He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter’s name and Social Security number on the title.
And it worked, for a while. Jimenez and his family lived happily enough for several years alongside “regular” metro Atlanta citizens in Roswell.
Nicole Griffin’s mom lived a few doors away, and when Griffin visited, she said, her kids played with the Jimenez children. When Jimenez put his four-bedroom, two-bathroom home up for sale last spring, wanting more space, Griffin was immediately interested.
A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn’t. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.
As a result, agents came knocking last month, and now Jimenez is fighting to keep from being deported. He also lost his job.
“I’m very sad and very worried,” said Jimenez, 32. “I can’t sleep because I’m thinking about my family. What’s going to happen? I don’t know.”
Griffin insists her intent was to buy the house, nothing else. The 28-year-old single mother of two maintains she was wronged first, so she acted to protect her interests. She has no regrets.
“At the end, do I feel bad the family got in trouble? No, not at all,” she said.
Those who enter the U.S. illegally often say they’re just striving for the same things that most American citizens want out of life — a good job, homeownership, maybe a chance to get a little bit ahead.
But the ambitions of citizens and noncitizens can collide and, as the painful entanglement between Jimenez and Griffin shows, both sides can wind up feeling like victims.
Daughter on title
Jimenez, who is Mexican, has been in the U.S. for about a decade. When he bought the house four years ago, the real estate agent handling the sale told him he could get a better interest rate using his daughter’s information on the closing documents than he could using the federal tax identification number he uses to pay income tax here.
Jimenez later filed papers to have his own name added to the title, and that’s how it stayed until Griffin spotted the “for sale” sign and $164,500 list price this spring.
With both sides enthusiastic about the sale, a deal was reached and the closing was set for May 15.
Griffin, a payroll clerk and first-time homebuyer, asked to postpone the closing until June 1 because she had problems locking in her interest rate. Jimenez agreed but asked that she move into the house as planned and pay rent until the closing.
Shortly after Griffin moved in, her attorney said there was a problem with the title on the house, namely that Jimenez’s young daughter’s name was on the title but her signature wasn’t on the sale documents.
Attorneys said some extra paperwork — establishing a conservatorship to watch out for the child’s interest, the first step in getting the title transferred solely to her father — would clear the title, and everyone agreed to postpone again.
Griffin didn’t pay the rent, however, claiming she was promised three months free since the delay was Jimenez’s fault. She has an e-mail from his real estate agent, Alina Carbonell, saying he’d made the offer.
Jimenez’s lawyer, Erik Meder, told her that offer was never firm and insisted she pay rent or vacate the house.
Locked in a letter war with Meder, Griffin escalated her actions. She contacted the FBI, the Roswell Police Department, local media, the state attorney general’s office and the governor’s office, among others. She asked her congressman, Rep. Tom Price, for help, saying she felt Jimenez and Meder had deceived her. Price’s office, in turn, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Brendan Buck, a Price spokesman.
“I am a law-abiding American merely trying to purchase a home,” Griffin wrote in mid-July in a letter to American Homebuyers, a nonprofit that helps low- to moderate-income families buy homes. “An illegal family fraudulently obtained a mortgage using a 1 yr old SSN, and appear to have all the rights in this situation — How can this be when they shouldn’t even be in America?”
She said she contacted anyone she could think of who might be able to help the sale go through.
Jimenez said she started making his life a nightmare. He claims she caused cosmetic damage to the house and intentionally clogged the plumbing, both of which she denies.
Griffin also went after Carbonell, the real estate agent. She contacted the Georgia State Real Estate Commission to try to get her license revoked. Carbonell said the threat to her reputation and to her career caused her so much stress she had to take a leave of absence.
Griffin said she reported Carbonell because the agent knew Jimenez’s daughter’s name was on the title from the beginning but didn’t tell her right away. (Carbonell was not the real estate agent who originally advised Jimenez to use his daughter’s name.)
In September, Meder got a judge to order Griffin to pay retroactive rent and get out of the house within a week.
Griffin then went to the upscale Atlanta restaurant where Jimenez worked as a cook and told his boss he was undocumented, which Jimenez said resulted in his firing.
“It was my last resort,” Griffin said, “but once I realized my family had seven days to get out of a house that a family’s not even legally supposed to own, I did go to his employer and I did let his employer know.”
She also put bright red signs in the yard reading, “This house is owned by an illegal alien.” When Jimenez tore them down, she put up new ones.
Griffin said she wanted the neighbors to share her outrage over what was happening.
“I don’t feel bad for anything that happens to the Jimenez family at this point,” Griffin said recently, “because no one feels bad that all I tried to do was buy a house, and I ended up living back with my mother.”
Living in limbo
In early October, plainclothes ICE agents showed up at Jimenez’s apartment. They asked him about his residency status and his purchase of the house, then handcuffed him and took him away. He was released a few hours later and is due before a judge in January and could face eventual deportation.
His lawyers plan to apply to keep Jimenez in the country permanently, a process that could last several years. While it’s pending, he will be eligible for a work permit. But even if he gets one, Jimenez will be living in limbo. His application to stay could be rejected, which means he still could be ordered to leave the country.
Jimenez has taken the house off the market but doesn’t want to move his family back in amid the uncertainty, so they’re still in the apartment that was supposed to be a transitional stop until they bought a bigger place.
Griffin hasn’t tried to buy another home, in part because she can’t afford to, so she and her kids are still staying with her mother.
Down the street, the Jimenez house sits empty.
Source: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2008/11/17/illegal_immigrant_house.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Lorenzo Jimenez poses in front of a home he owns in Roswell. He lost his job and is now in danger of being deported.
Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time.
Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house, even though signing the papers meant raising the risk: He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter’s name and Social Security number on the title.
And it worked, for a while. Jimenez and his family lived happily enough for several years alongside “regular” metro Atlanta citizens in Roswell.
Nicole Griffin’s mom lived a few doors away, and when Griffin visited, she said, her kids played with the Jimenez children. When Jimenez put his four-bedroom, two-bathroom home up for sale last spring, wanting more space, Griffin was immediately interested.
A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn’t. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.
As a result, agents came knocking last month, and now Jimenez is fighting to keep from being deported. He also lost his job.
“I’m very sad and very worried,” said Jimenez, 32. “I can’t sleep because I’m thinking about my family. What’s going to happen? I don’t know.”
Griffin insists her intent was to buy the house, nothing else. The 28-year-old single mother of two maintains she was wronged first, so she acted to protect her interests. She has no regrets.
“At the end, do I feel bad the family got in trouble? No, not at all,” she said.
Those who enter the U.S. illegally often say they’re just striving for the same things that most American citizens want out of life — a good job, homeownership, maybe a chance to get a little bit ahead.
But the ambitions of citizens and noncitizens can collide and, as the painful entanglement between Jimenez and Griffin shows, both sides can wind up feeling like victims.
Daughter on title
Jimenez, who is Mexican, has been in the U.S. for about a decade. When he bought the house four years ago, the real estate agent handling the sale told him he could get a better interest rate using his daughter’s information on the closing documents than he could using the federal tax identification number he uses to pay income tax here.
Jimenez later filed papers to have his own name added to the title, and that’s how it stayed until Griffin spotted the “for sale” sign and $164,500 list price this spring.
With both sides enthusiastic about the sale, a deal was reached and the closing was set for May 15.
Griffin, a payroll clerk and first-time homebuyer, asked to postpone the closing until June 1 because she had problems locking in her interest rate. Jimenez agreed but asked that she move into the house as planned and pay rent until the closing.
Shortly after Griffin moved in, her attorney said there was a problem with the title on the house, namely that Jimenez’s young daughter’s name was on the title but her signature wasn’t on the sale documents.
Attorneys said some extra paperwork — establishing a conservatorship to watch out for the child’s interest, the first step in getting the title transferred solely to her father — would clear the title, and everyone agreed to postpone again.
Griffin didn’t pay the rent, however, claiming she was promised three months free since the delay was Jimenez’s fault. She has an e-mail from his real estate agent, Alina Carbonell, saying he’d made the offer.
Jimenez’s lawyer, Erik Meder, told her that offer was never firm and insisted she pay rent or vacate the house.
Locked in a letter war with Meder, Griffin escalated her actions. She contacted the FBI, the Roswell Police Department, local media, the state attorney general’s office and the governor’s office, among others. She asked her congressman, Rep. Tom Price, for help, saying she felt Jimenez and Meder had deceived her. Price’s office, in turn, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Brendan Buck, a Price spokesman.
“I am a law-abiding American merely trying to purchase a home,” Griffin wrote in mid-July in a letter to American Homebuyers, a nonprofit that helps low- to moderate-income families buy homes. “An illegal family fraudulently obtained a mortgage using a 1 yr old SSN, and appear to have all the rights in this situation — How can this be when they shouldn’t even be in America?”
She said she contacted anyone she could think of who might be able to help the sale go through.
Jimenez said she started making his life a nightmare. He claims she caused cosmetic damage to the house and intentionally clogged the plumbing, both of which she denies.
Griffin also went after Carbonell, the real estate agent. She contacted the Georgia State Real Estate Commission to try to get her license revoked. Carbonell said the threat to her reputation and to her career caused her so much stress she had to take a leave of absence.
Griffin said she reported Carbonell because the agent knew Jimenez’s daughter’s name was on the title from the beginning but didn’t tell her right away. (Carbonell was not the real estate agent who originally advised Jimenez to use his daughter’s name.)
In September, Meder got a judge to order Griffin to pay retroactive rent and get out of the house within a week.
Griffin then went to the upscale Atlanta restaurant where Jimenez worked as a cook and told his boss he was undocumented, which Jimenez said resulted in his firing.
“It was my last resort,” Griffin said, “but once I realized my family had seven days to get out of a house that a family’s not even legally supposed to own, I did go to his employer and I did let his employer know.”
She also put bright red signs in the yard reading, “This house is owned by an illegal alien.” When Jimenez tore them down, she put up new ones.
Griffin said she wanted the neighbors to share her outrage over what was happening.
“I don’t feel bad for anything that happens to the Jimenez family at this point,” Griffin said recently, “because no one feels bad that all I tried to do was buy a house, and I ended up living back with my mother.”
Living in limbo
In early October, plainclothes ICE agents showed up at Jimenez’s apartment. They asked him about his residency status and his purchase of the house, then handcuffed him and took him away. He was released a few hours later and is due before a judge in January and could face eventual deportation.
His lawyers plan to apply to keep Jimenez in the country permanently, a process that could last several years. While it’s pending, he will be eligible for a work permit. But even if he gets one, Jimenez will be living in limbo. His application to stay could be rejected, which means he still could be ordered to leave the country.
Jimenez has taken the house off the market but doesn’t want to move his family back in amid the uncertainty, so they’re still in the apartment that was supposed to be a transitional stop until they bought a bigger place.
Griffin hasn’t tried to buy another home, in part because she can’t afford to, so she and her kids are still staying with her mother.
Down the street, the Jimenez house sits empty.
Source: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2008/11/17/illegal_immigrant_house.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Effectiveness Of Bone Marrow Transplant In Suppressing HIV Creates Hope For Gene-Therapy Strategies In Treating Virus, Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal on Friday examined the case of an HIV-positive person who underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia and who has had undetectable HIV viral loads for almost two years. The procedure -- performed by German hematologist Gero Hutter of Berlin's Charite Medical University on a 42-year-old American living in the city -- "is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies on the far edges of AIDS research might someday cure the disease," the Journal reports.
For the procedure, Hutter, who is not an HIV/AIDS specialist, replaced the patient's bone marrow cells with those from a donor with a naturally occurring gene mutation that provides immunity to almost all strains of HIV by preventing the CCR5 molecule from appearing on the surface of cells. According to the Journal, about 1% of Europeans, and even more in northern Europe, inherit the CCR5 mutation from both parents, and people of African, Asian and South American descent almost never carry it. Of 80 compatible blood donors living in Germany, Hutter's colleague Daniel Nowak found one who had inherited the mutation from both parents on the 61st sample he tested. According to the Journal, because immune-system cells are created in bone marrow, "transplanting mutant bone-marrow cells would render the patient immune to HIV into perpetuity, at least in theory."
The Journal reports that prior to the transplant, Hutter administered a standard regimen of powerful drugs and radiation to kill the patient's bone marrow cells and many immune-system cells, which may have helped the treatment succeed because the procedure killed many cells that harbor HIV. Transplant specialists then ordered the patient to stop taking his antiretroviral drugs when they transfused the donor cells because they were concerned that the drugs might undermine the cells' ability to survive in their new host. Although the plan was to resume the antiretroviral regimen once HIV re-emerged in the patient's blood, more than 600 days later, standard tests have not detected HIV in his blood, or in brain and rectal tissues where the virus often hides.
David Baltimore, who won a Nobel prize for his research on tumor viruses, said the case is "a very good sign" and a virtual "proof of principle" for gene-therapy approaches, but he cautioned that it could be a fluke. However, researchers who recently have reviewed the case believe that although it is likely that some HIV remains in the patient, it cannot "ignite a raging infection, most likely because its target cells are invulnerable mutants." According to the Journal, the researchers agreed that the patient is "functionally cured." Nevertheless, research has shown that blocking CCR5 can have fatal consequences, and bone-marrow transplants, which are given only to later-stage cancer patients, can result in death among 30% of patients. The Journal reports that although "scientists are drawing up research protocols to try this approach on other leukemia and lymphoma patients, they know it will never be widely used to treat AIDS because of the mortality risk."
Although re-engineering a patient's own cells through gene therapy could be a safer alternative, such strategies face "daunting technical challenges," the Journal reports. However, several research groups are testing different approach to treating HIV/AIDS, "[e]xpecting that gene therapy will eventually play a major role in medicine" (Schoofs, Wall Street Journal, 11/7).
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/128681.php
For the procedure, Hutter, who is not an HIV/AIDS specialist, replaced the patient's bone marrow cells with those from a donor with a naturally occurring gene mutation that provides immunity to almost all strains of HIV by preventing the CCR5 molecule from appearing on the surface of cells. According to the Journal, about 1% of Europeans, and even more in northern Europe, inherit the CCR5 mutation from both parents, and people of African, Asian and South American descent almost never carry it. Of 80 compatible blood donors living in Germany, Hutter's colleague Daniel Nowak found one who had inherited the mutation from both parents on the 61st sample he tested. According to the Journal, because immune-system cells are created in bone marrow, "transplanting mutant bone-marrow cells would render the patient immune to HIV into perpetuity, at least in theory."
The Journal reports that prior to the transplant, Hutter administered a standard regimen of powerful drugs and radiation to kill the patient's bone marrow cells and many immune-system cells, which may have helped the treatment succeed because the procedure killed many cells that harbor HIV. Transplant specialists then ordered the patient to stop taking his antiretroviral drugs when they transfused the donor cells because they were concerned that the drugs might undermine the cells' ability to survive in their new host. Although the plan was to resume the antiretroviral regimen once HIV re-emerged in the patient's blood, more than 600 days later, standard tests have not detected HIV in his blood, or in brain and rectal tissues where the virus often hides.
David Baltimore, who won a Nobel prize for his research on tumor viruses, said the case is "a very good sign" and a virtual "proof of principle" for gene-therapy approaches, but he cautioned that it could be a fluke. However, researchers who recently have reviewed the case believe that although it is likely that some HIV remains in the patient, it cannot "ignite a raging infection, most likely because its target cells are invulnerable mutants." According to the Journal, the researchers agreed that the patient is "functionally cured." Nevertheless, research has shown that blocking CCR5 can have fatal consequences, and bone-marrow transplants, which are given only to later-stage cancer patients, can result in death among 30% of patients. The Journal reports that although "scientists are drawing up research protocols to try this approach on other leukemia and lymphoma patients, they know it will never be widely used to treat AIDS because of the mortality risk."
Although re-engineering a patient's own cells through gene therapy could be a safer alternative, such strategies face "daunting technical challenges," the Journal reports. However, several research groups are testing different approach to treating HIV/AIDS, "[e]xpecting that gene therapy will eventually play a major role in medicine" (Schoofs, Wall Street Journal, 11/7).
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/128681.php
Friday, November 7, 2008
Craigslist to Crack Down on Prostitution Ads
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Under the watchful eye of law enforcement in 40 states, Craigslist pledged Thursday to crack down on ads for prostitution on its Web sites.
As part of Craigslist's agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an "erotic services" ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed.
Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, said the deal will allow legitimate escort services to continue advertising, while providing a strong disincentive to companies that are conducting illegal business.
"We don't view it as a penalty, we view it as raising the accountability," he said. "A legitimate business should have no problem with that. They should have no problem providing a phone number or credit card credentials."
Craigslist filed lawsuits this week against 14 software and Internet companies that help people who post erotic service ads to circumvent the Web site's defenses against inappropriate content and illegal activity.
Craigslist, which posts 30 million ads every month for everything from apartment rentals to jobs in hundreds of cities, will also begin using new search technology in an effort to help authorities find missing children and victims of human trafficking.
Police across the country have been arresting people for using Web sites like Craigslist to advertise the sexual services of women and children.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who brokered the agreement, said his office contacted Craigslist after receiving several complaints from users late in 2007 about photographs depicting nudity on the site. He said Craigslist cooperated fully and there was never a need to threaten legal action against the company.
"The dark side of the Internet must be stopped from eclipsing its immense potential for good," Blumenthal said.
He added: "I am fully convinced that Craigslist wants to stop this activity as much as we do."
Buckmaster said the agreement does not cover Craigslist's personal ads, where prostitutes have been found advertising for "dates." But he said the San Francisco-based company has been working with authorities on that issue and on cutting down on the sale of stolen merchandise on its sites.
"We are experimenting with telephone verification in those sections," he said. "We don't have any plans to use credit card verification in that section currently. But this partnership is going to be active in that area as well, anywhere where crime does or could occur."
The agreement was joined by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"The criminals engaged in the sexual trafficking of children no longer parade them on the streets of America's cities," said the center's chief executive, Ernie Allen. "Today, they market them via the Internet."
The states that signed the agreement are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam also joined.
Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TEC_CRAIGSLIST_PROSTITUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
As part of Craigslist's agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an "erotic services" ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed.
Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, said the deal will allow legitimate escort services to continue advertising, while providing a strong disincentive to companies that are conducting illegal business.
"We don't view it as a penalty, we view it as raising the accountability," he said. "A legitimate business should have no problem with that. They should have no problem providing a phone number or credit card credentials."
Craigslist filed lawsuits this week against 14 software and Internet companies that help people who post erotic service ads to circumvent the Web site's defenses against inappropriate content and illegal activity.
Craigslist, which posts 30 million ads every month for everything from apartment rentals to jobs in hundreds of cities, will also begin using new search technology in an effort to help authorities find missing children and victims of human trafficking.
Police across the country have been arresting people for using Web sites like Craigslist to advertise the sexual services of women and children.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who brokered the agreement, said his office contacted Craigslist after receiving several complaints from users late in 2007 about photographs depicting nudity on the site. He said Craigslist cooperated fully and there was never a need to threaten legal action against the company.
"The dark side of the Internet must be stopped from eclipsing its immense potential for good," Blumenthal said.
He added: "I am fully convinced that Craigslist wants to stop this activity as much as we do."
Buckmaster said the agreement does not cover Craigslist's personal ads, where prostitutes have been found advertising for "dates." But he said the San Francisco-based company has been working with authorities on that issue and on cutting down on the sale of stolen merchandise on its sites.
"We are experimenting with telephone verification in those sections," he said. "We don't have any plans to use credit card verification in that section currently. But this partnership is going to be active in that area as well, anywhere where crime does or could occur."
The agreement was joined by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"The criminals engaged in the sexual trafficking of children no longer parade them on the streets of America's cities," said the center's chief executive, Ernie Allen. "Today, they market them via the Internet."
The states that signed the agreement are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam also joined.
Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TEC_CRAIGSLIST_PROSTITUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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