Sunday, December 18, 2011

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Barry Bonds gets 30-day home sentence _ at worst

(AP) ? Eight years of being investigated over steroid allegations ended for baseball's home run king Barry Bonds on Friday with a 30-day sentence to be served at home. No more ? and maybe less.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston immediately delayed imposing the sentence while Bonds appeals his obstruction of justice conviction. The former star was found guilty in April not of using steroids, but of misleading grand jurors.

Even without prison time, the case has left its mark on the seven-time National League MVP. His 762 career home runs, and 73 homers in 2001, may forever be seen as tainted records, and his ticket to baseball's Hall of Fame is in doubt.

Bonds declined to speak in court. Well-wishers hugged the 47-year-old in the hallway courtroom after the hearing was over, and a smattering of fans cheered him as he left the courthouse. It was a marked departure from his initial court appearance four years ago, when guards had to clear a path for Bonds to get through dozens of onlookers to his SUV.

"Whatever he did or didn't do, we all lie," said Esther Picazo, a fan outside the courthouse. "We all make mistakes. But I don't think he should've gotten any kind of punishment at all."

Bonds was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and 30 days of home confinement. It will take time to determine whether he serves any of it; his appellate specialist, Dennis Riordan, estimated it would take nearly a year and a half for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella called the sentence a "slap on the wrist" and the fine "almost laughable" for a superstar athlete who made more than $192 million for playing baseball.

Parrella had sought 15 months in prison and argued that home confinement wasn't punishment enough "for a man with a 15,000-square-foot house with all the advantages." Bonds lives in a six-bedroom, 10-bath house with a gym and swimming pool.

"The defendant basically lived a double life for decades before this," Parrella said. He ripped Bonds not only over performance-enhancing drugs but over his personal life: "He had mistresses throughout his marriages."

Parrella said Bonds made lots of money due in part to his use of performance enhancers and that he has been "unrepentant" and "unapologetic" about it.

Illston said none of that had any bearing on Bonds' sentencing.

She said she agreed with a probation department report that called Bonds' conviction an "aberration" in his life. She said she received dozens of letters in support of Bonds, some discussing how he has given money and time "for decades" to charitable causes.

Bonds is the last ? and highest-profile ? defendant in the government's investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO, a steroids distribution ring. The ex-slugger has long denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Illston said she was compelled to give Bonds a sentence similar to the two she meted out to other figures convicted after trial of lying to the grand jury and federal investigators about their connection to steroids.

The case against Bonds after he testified before the grand jury Dec. 3, 2003. Prosecutors revised his original 2007 indictment several times and spent a year unsuccessfully appealing a key evidentiary ruling before jurors deadlocked in April on three of the four remaining charges related to his grand jury testimony.

On the final charge, the trial jury convicted Bonds of purposely answering questions about steroids with rambling non sequiturs in an attempt to mislead the grand jury.

"I think he probably got off a little easy," said Jessica Wolfram, one of the jurors who convicted Bonds of obstruction. "He was just so clearly guilty, so I actually am happy he got sentenced to something."

Wolfram said she researched the case after the trial and viewed evidence not presented then. After that, she felt even more comfortable that Bonds was guilty.

Besides Bonds, 10 people were convicted of various charges in BALCO cases. Six of them, including track star Marion Jones, were ensnared for lying to grand jurors, federal investigators or the court. Others, including Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges.

The government's top BALCO investigator, Jeff Novitzky, declined to comment outside the courtroom after attending the hearing.

Bonds was one of two former baseball superstars to stand trial in doping-related cases this year. The trial of pitcher Roger Clemens was halted after just two days in July because prosecutors used inadmissible evidence. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has set a new trial for April 17.

Both men will face a different judgment day in 2013, when they'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

__

Associated Press writers Jason Dearen in San Francisco and Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-16-Bonds%20Steroids/id-945031a700f24d98956475f36c977259

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BP Reaches $250 Million Settlement with Cameron Over Gulf Oil Spill (ContributorNetwork)

According to the Associated Press, BP and Cameron International have made an agreement under a legal settlement in which $250 million will be paid to the oil giant. Cameron was the manufacturer of the blowout preventer that failed to stop BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

BP has stated the agreement is not an admission of liability and both parties will still be involved in the federal trial coming this February. BP has already settled claims with three other companies and is continuing to pursue spill-related liability claims against Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Corp. Here are some facts about the other companies involved in the liability and settlements related to the oil spill:

Halliburton Corp.

Although it was BP's well, Halliburton had provided oil-services to the oil company, specifically cementing for Deepwater Horizon reported the Huffington Post. Cementing involves plugging holes in the pipeline seal by filling them with cement. According to Forbes, earlier this month, BP accused Halliburton of destroying evidence that showed the cement used was not stable enough to seal the well. Despite this claim and the Presidential committee's findings that conclude the cement played a role in the well blowout, Halliburton asserts that BP is merely trying to shift the blame away from its own mistakes.

Transocean Ltd.

Reuters reported that the oil rig was owned and operated by Transocean, the company that had leased to BP. But an initial report from the Coast Guard released in April showed serious lapses in safety, including poor maintenance of electrical equipment and a lack of training for emergencies, in the years leading up to the explosion and oil spill. BP filed a lawsuit against Transocean earlier this year, seeking at least $40 billion in damages, noted the Wall Street Journal. In response, Transocean filed a cross-claim against BP and several other parties involved.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Anadarko had not been involved in the operation of the well, but due to owning a 25 percent stake, BP pursued a settlement against the company, according to the Telegraph. Anadarko initially refused to pay for the $42 billion in costs and filed a lawsuit claiming BP was responsible for the entire amount. In October, Anadarko, based in the U.S., dropped the claim and agreed to pay BP $4 billion.

Weatherford International

The Houston Chronicle noted that Weatherford, a manufacturer of oil field equipment, reached a $75 million settlement with the British oil giant. Weatherford had made the poorly-functioning float collar, a device meant to prevent a backup flow of cement, used in the final cementing of the well. Before reaching the settlement, the manufacturer filed its own lawsuits against BP, but dropped them after the $75 million agreement.

Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111216/us_ac/10696333_bp_reaches_250_million_settlement_with_cameron_over_gulf_oil_spill

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Chat Service Meebo Launches New Version Of Site Designed Around Competitive Sharing (!)

Screen Shot 2011-12-13 at 6.11.24 PMYou probably know Meebo as a service that lets you easily chat with friends across different IM services, but the company is now rolling out a reimagined version designed around sharing. Think competitive sharing, like who can get the most traffic from their articles. It's a big switch from the former Meebo Messenger IM site (which you can still find here). I've been playing around with it, and here are some initial impressions.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NP444rrAXTw/

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Stillbirth Mysteries Revealed in New Studies (LiveScience.com)

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy complications, such as a woman going into labor too soon, or abnormalities of the placenta, a new analysis of the causes of stillbirths finds.

On the other hand, a woman's characteristics at the start of her pregnancy, such as her weight, blood sugar levels and smoking habits, did not account for much of her stillbirth risk.

The extent of the risk also differed by ethnic group, the researchers said.

"Stillbirth is more common than people realize, affecting one out of every 160 pregnancies in the United States," said study researcher Dr. Robert Silver, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Still more work is needed to understand why stillbirths happen, the researchers said. More autopsies as well as additional studies of early pregnancy may help pin down its causes, the researchers said.

Stillbirth causes

The new results are based on two studies conducted by The Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network Writing Group, which was established by the National Institutes of Health to find the causes of stillbirth.

In one study, the researchers examined 512 cases of stillbirth (death of a baby at or after the 20th week of pregnancy) at 59 hospitals in five states (Georgia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas and Utah.) Each case underwent a complete evaluation, including autopsy, to determine the cause of death.

A probable cause of death was found in 312 of the stillbirths (60.9 percent) and a possible or probable cause in 390 cases (76.2 percent). Earlier studies, which typically were limited to analyzing medical records, could identify a cause of death in only about 50 percent of cases.

Pregnancy or birth-related complications contributed to the largest proportion of stillbirths: 29 percent.? Such complications can include preterm labor or a premature rupture of the membranes that hold the amniotic fluid.

Other causes identified were abnormalities of the placenta (24 percent of cases), genetic conditions or birth defects (14 percent), infection (13 percent), problems with the umbilical cord (10 percent), maternal high blood pressure (9 percent) and other medical conditions affecting the mother (8 percent).?

The study authors noted that fewer than 50 percent of stillbirths in the United States undergo an autopsy exam. To better understand why stillbirths happen, researchers need more information to be gathered from autopsies, placental exams and examinations of the fetus's chromosomes the researchers said.

Predicting stillbirth

In a second study, researchers compared 614 cases of stillbirth with 1,816 live births in an effort to identify factors present at the start of pregnancy that could indicate an increased risk for stillbirth.

A number of factors were associated with stillbirth, including previous history of stillbirth, pregnancy with twins, black race/ethnicity, diabetes and a history of drug use with addiction.

However, apart from having a previous stillbirth or pregnancy loss, the other risk factors had only a small effect on a mother's risk of stillbirth, the researchers said.

"It is extremely difficult to predict stillbirth risk based on risk factors that can be identified at the start of a pregnancy," Silver said. "The more we learn about causes and risk factors for stillbirth, the better we will become at designing strategies to reduce or prevent stillbirth."

Both studies will be published tomorrow (Dec. 14) in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Pass it on: Many stillbirths are caused by pregnancy complications and placenta abnormalities, but more work is needed to determine additional predictive factors.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111213/sc_livescience/stillbirthmysteriesrevealedinnewstudies

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Getting a Cheap Teenage Auto Insurance | Cheapest Car Insurance

It?s quite difficult to acquire inexpensive auto insurance with regard to young motorists nowadays. The main reason for fatalities in the US relates to automobile mishaps which are growing each year. Many of these mishaps include young motorists since they?re vulnerable to possess careless driving habits. Because of the fact that adolescent motorists tend to be close to road incident, it will likely be costly to buy auto insurance on their behalf. Nevertheless, it?s very required for teenagers to possess insurance coverage in addition to their vehicle. It can help all of them a great deal in the event of road mishaps.

The concern of the parents is definitely the security of the kids. Auto insurance with regard to young motorists may cover the actual costs for that damage sustained throughout the incident as well as it can benefit to prevent serious monetary problems. The key of getting efficient auto insurance would be to understand your financial allowance, way of life, along with other elements. Despite the fact that the competition amongst insurance providers is actually restricted, it?s nevertheless feasible to get cheapest auto insurance for young drivers.

Information drive regarding auto insurance ought to be the very first move to make amongst young motorists. You will find 3 typical kinds of insurance coverage for example comprehensive, theft and fire, and liability. Probably the most costly between the 3 insurance policies may be the comprehensive insurance coverage. This might not be your best option for all those looking for inexpensive choice. Theft and fire insurance coverage is actually less expensive compared to comprehensive insurance coverage however it?s nevertheless costly. Liability insurance coverage is really a recommended choice under regular conditions. This kind of insurance plan is only going to cover the costs in the damage brought on by the policy holder.

Among the best methods to have the cheapest car insurance is actually to possess a great credit score. Inexpensive auto insurance for young motorists can be done actually with regard to college students who?ve much better levels. Particular discount rates may also be given for all those college students along with superb grades. A great driving background additionally provides great effect within obtaining an inexpensive quotation. Whenever possible, refrain from having traffic infractions such as racing, and so on. Signing up to sophisticated driving programs may also end up being advisable since it provides you with the trustworthiness of getting much better and secure driving abilities.

Utilizing old vehicles for teenage motorists is definitely a not so famous technique to acquire inexpensive car insurance. This method may be rejected rapidly by teenage motorists however getting a classic old vehicle provides you with an affordable premium cost. Sports cars are required to possess greater insurance costs compared to old vehicles. Mother and father possess essential functions to perform about this component in order to persuade their own kids to not drive extravagant vehicles. Rather, allow all of them to choose old however dependable vehicles.

Auto insurance quotes may also be on the web. Lots of websites are created to meet this particular objective. It might be simpler that you should understand numerous companies as well as their own quotes whenever you go to their respective websites. Whilst requesting their own quotes, it?s also great in your part to hand a few queries as well as reveal your own driving record. It might be advantageous for you to use this stuff to get inexpensive car insurance.

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Source: http://cheapestcarautoinsurance.com/auto-insurance/getting-a-cheap-teenage-auto-insurance/

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