Click for larger image. Graphic by Jason Jacobsen.
Vacancy is down and lease rates are up for Boise-area commercial real estate, according to Thornton Oliver Keller?s Market Watch 2012 Year-End Report, released Jan. 29.
Though vacancy was low, non-premium properties remained more difficult to lease in 2012, according to the report.
Class B office space remains abundant in West Boise. Class B and C industrial space remains abundant and difficult to lease, and the disparity is predicted to continue as more tenants seek higher-quality space.
In the retail sector, older and poorly designed properties that have been vacant for some time are expected to stay empty, as more conservative retailers prefer to pay a higher rent for a proven location.
The report indicates the commercial real estate landlord-tenant balance evened out some in 2012.
In the office sector, leases are returning to three- and five-year terms, while tenant improvement allowances and free rent are decreasing.
In the industrial market, the gap between asking and actual rates was the smallest it had been since 2008. The more closely aligned expectations between landlords and tenants helped spur leasing activity, the report states.
While asking rates for retail properties remained flat in 2012, actual rates rose. New retail centers on Eagle Road commanded prices as high as $35 per square foot, nearly triple the market average, according to TOK?s report.
Buyers and sellers were not on the same page in the investment market. While buyers are looking for bottom-of-the market deals, some sellers are overestimating the value of their assets, the report states. While stabilized, investment-grade properties are sought-after, the inventory of such properties is low.
Most office construction activity happened in the health care industry, according to the report. Leases and build-to-suits have declined for smaller medical offices, but hospitals are buying land and buildings for future development, and are leasing large office buildings.
The rebound of the residential market is having an effect on commercial real estate as well, according to the report. Tenants in the industrial sector may seek larger spaces as their business increases, and tenants in incubator spaces may also look for more space when their leases expire.
Permits for multifamily development, along with projects already under way, may lead to an overbuilt multifamily sector, the report states. Multifamily developers must still compete with low mortgage payments on starter homes, and multifamily land sales will likely slow as developers wait to see if the new inventory of apartments in progress is absorbed.
Surfer Garrett McNamara catches what could be the largest wave ever surfed, off the coast of Nazare, Portugal, on Jan. 29. The estimated 100-foot wave, if confirmed, would beat the current world record of 78 feet, which McNamara has held since 2011. According to SurferToday.com:
Garrett McNamara traveled from Hawaii and hit the water with Kealii Mamala - with whom he surfed waves generated by glacier blocks in Alaska - Kamaki Worthington and Hugo Vau, as their support team on the jet ski. The conditions in Nazar? were heavenly perfect. Light southern winds and strong swell coming from northwest and hitting the local canyon as it should.
Judges with Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards will work to determine the actual size of the wave.
McNamara's surfing skills developed when his family moved to Hawaii from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, when he was 11 years old. As a professional big wave surfer, he regularly seeks out the largest waves in the world.
"It's like riding a moving mountain," said McNamara to TODAY after he broke the last world record in 2011. Watch the video.
Vancouver children's optometrist, Dr. M.K. Randhawa, developmental optometrist at Vision Source, on children's vision, eye health and vision development. We have one of the largest pediatric optometry practices in Vancouver, British Columbia where we treat myopia, strabismus, amblyopia, convergence insufficiency, dry eye, eye allergies, visual skills deficits, brain injuries, learning and attention disorders and more.
Jan. 29, 2013 ? By allowing employees to participate in a work-sponsored internal social networking site, a company can improve morale and reduce turnover, according to a Baylor University case study published in the European Journal of Information Systems.
The study, which looked at a financial institution's efforts to acclimate new employees into the organization, also found that participation led to a greater sense of well-being and organizational commitment and better employee engagement.
"For millennials, mixing their work life and their social life via an online social networking created positive emotions for the employees who use the system," said Hope Koch, Ph.D., Baylor University associate professor of information systems in the Hankamer School of Business and study co-author. "These emotions led to more social networking and ultimately helped the employees build personal resources like social capital and organizational learning."
SNSs can have a positive impact on IT employees and their workplace, especially when the new employees are relocating to unfamiliar areas and need to build a network, assume highly technical jobs and become integrated into a large organization where it may be difficult to know where to go for help, according to Koch.
The study centered on a financial institution's efforts to reduce IT employee turnover by starting a social and work-related online networking site. Under the supervision of executives, the IT new hires developed and managed the site's content. Since most new hires had moved hundreds of miles to start their new jobs with the institution, they initially used the social pages as an introduction to the community. After a year or so with the organization, the more senior new hires began using the system to acclimate and mentor incoming new hires.
All study respondents worked in the institution's IT department and included new hires, middle managers and executives. With less than three years of experience, most new hires and interns were men between 21 and 27 years old. The middle managers and executives were baby boomers or members of generation X.
The internal social networking site helped the new hires build social capital in several ways, according to Koch.
"It gave them access to people who could provide useful information and new perspectives and allowed them to meet more senior new hires and executives. These relationships set the new hires at ease during work meetings, helped them understand where to go for help and increased their commitment to the financial institution's mission," she said.
Ironically, middle managers, even though they wanted freedom from mentoring new hires, developed a negative attitude toward online social networking when they realized that the new hires had managed to accrue social capital and social experiences with senior executives that they had not had access to in their many years of work.
The SNS system also helped the new hires maintain relationships with one another, thus facilitating a network of acquaintances that can do small favors and help build emotionally close friendships. Finally, by allowing the new hires to access information on the SNS, meet other new hires and develop and maintain relationships with their peer group, the financial institution was able to shift some of the burden of acclimating the new hires away from middle managers and human resources.
Despite the good outcome of this institution's experience, the study data suggest that organizations should move cautiously when implementing SNSs, Koch said. "While the new hires enjoyed using the system, the middle managers experienced frustration, isolation and envy, and the senior executives were somewhat circumspect.
"Before beginning an internal social networking initiative, organizations should consider analyzing how the system may impact both its users and non-users, paying particular attention to potential isolation of non-users and the negative stigma associated with SNS in the workplace," Koch said.
Co-authors of the study were Dorothy Leidner, Ph.D., Ferguson Professor of Information Systems at Baylor; and Ester Gonzalez from Washington State University.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Baylor University, via Newswise.
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Journal Reference:
Hope Koch, Ester Gonzalez, Dorothy Leidner. Bridging the work/social divide: the emotional response to organizational social networking sites. European Journal of Information Systems, 2012; 21 (6): 699 DOI: 10.1057/ejis.2012.18
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.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 65 people were found shot dead with their hands bound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a "new massacre" in the near two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.
Opposition campaigners blamed the government but it was impossible to confirm who was responsible. Assad's forces and rebels have been battling in Syria's commercial hub since July and both have been accused of carrying out summary executions.
More than 60,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Syrian war, the longest and deadliest of the revolts that began throughout the Arab world two years ago.
The U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday the fighting had forced more than 700,000 people to flee. World powers fear the conflict could increasingly envelop Syria's neighbors including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, further destabilizing an already explosive region.
Opposition activists posted a video of a man filming at least 51 muddied male bodies alongside what they said was the Queiq River in Aleppo's rebel-held Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood.
The bodies had bullet wounds in their heads and some of the victims appeared to be young, possibly teenagers, dressed in jeans, shirts and trainers.
Aleppo-based opposition activists who asked not to be named for security reasons blamed pro-Assad militia fighters.
They said the men had been executed and dumped in the river before floating downstream into the rebel area. State media did not mention the incident.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which says it provides objective information about casualties on both sides of Syria's war from a network of monitors, said the footage was evidence of a new massacre and the death toll could rise as high as 80.
"They were killed only because they are Muslims," said a bearded man in another video said to have been filmed in central Bustan al-Qasr after the bodies were removed from the river. A pickup truck with a pile of corpses was parked behind him.
STALEMATE
It is hard for Reuters to verify such reports from inside Syria because of restrictions on independent media.
Rebels are stuck in a stalemate with government forces in Aleppo - Syria's most populous city which is divided roughly in half between the two sides.
The revolt started as a peaceful protest movement against more than four decades of rule by Assad and his family, but turned into an armed rebellion after a government crackdown.
About 712,000 Syrian refugees have registered in other countries in the region or are awaiting processing as of Tuesday, the U.N. refugee agency Said on Tuesday.
"We have seen an unrelenting flow of refugees across all borders. We are running double shifts to register people," Sybella Wilkes, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters in Geneva.
On Monday, the United Nations warned it would not be able to help millions of Syrians affected by the fighting without more money and appealed for donations at an aid conference this week in Kuwait to meet its $1.5 billion target.
Speaking ahead of that conference, Kuwait's foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah said on Tuesday there was concern Syria could turn into a failed state and put the entire region at risk.
Aid group M?decins Sans Fronti?res said the bulk of the current aid was going to government-controlled areas and called on donors in Kuwait to make sure they were even-handed.
MISSILES
In the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, insurgents including al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters captured a security agency after days of heavy fighting, according to an activist video issued on Tuesday.
Some of the fighters were shown carrying a black flag with the Islamic declaration of faith and the name of the al-Nusra Front, which has ties to al Qaeda in neighboring Iraq.
The war has become heavily sectarian, with rebels who mostly come from the Sunni Muslim majority fighting an army whose top generals are mostly from Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Assad has framed the revolt as a foreign-backed conspiracy and blames the West and Sunni Gulf states.
Fighting also took place in the northern town of Ras al-Ain, on the border with Turkey, between rebels and Kurdish militants, the Observatory said.
In Turkey, a second pair of Patriot missile batteries being sent by NATO countries are now operational, a German security official said on Tuesday.
The United States, Germany and the Netherlands each committed to sending two batteries and up to 400 soldiers to operate them after Ankara asked for help to bolster its air defenses against possible missile attack from Syria.
(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall in Kuwait, Sabine Siebold in Berlin and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama thinks his health care law makes states an offer they can't refuse.
Whether to expand Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor and disabled, could be the most important decision facing governors and legislatures this year. The repercussions go beyond their budgets, directly affecting the well-being of residents and the finances of critical hospitals.
Here's the offer:
If states expand their Medicaid programs to cover millions of low-income people now left out, the federal government will pick up the full cost for the first three years and 90 percent over the long haul.
About 21 million uninsured people, most of them adults, eventually would gain health coverage if all the states agree.
Adding up the Medicaid costs under the law, less than $100 billion in state spending could trigger nearly $1 trillion in federal dollars over a decade, according to the nonpartisan Urban Institute.
"It's the biggest expansion of Medicaid in a long time, and the biggest ever in terms of adults covered," said Mark McClellan, who ran Medicare and Medicaid when George W. Bush was president.
"Although the federal government is on the hook for most of the cost, Medicaid on the whole is one of the biggest items in state budgets and the fastest growing. So there are some understandable concerns about the financial implications and how implementation would work," McClellan said.
A major worry for states is that deficit-burdened Washington sooner or later will renege on the 90-percent deal. The regular Medicaid match rate averages closer to 50 percent. That would represent a significant cost shift to the states.
Many Republicans also are unwilling to keep expanding government programs, particularly one as complicated as Medicaid, which has a reputation for being inefficient and unwieldy.
Awaiting decisions are people such as Debra Walker of Houston, a part-time home health care provider. She had a good job with health insurance until she got laid off in 2007.
Walker was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and she's trying to manage by getting discounted medications through a county program for low-income uninsured people.
Walker estimates she earned about $10,000 last year, which means she would qualify under the income cutoff for the Medicaid expansion. But that could happen only if Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, reconsiders his opposition.
"I think that would be awesome if the governor would allow that program to come into the state," Walker said. "That would be a help for me, robbing Paul to pay Peter for my medicines."
She seems determined to deal with her diabetes problem. "I don't want to lose a limb later on in life," said Walker, 58. "I want to beat this. I don't want to carry this around forever."
As Obama's law was originally written, low-income people such as Walker would not have had to worry or wait. Roughly half the uninsured people gaining coverage under the law were expected to go into Medicaid. The middle-class uninsured would get taxpayer-subsidized private coverage in new insurance markets called exchanges.
But last year the Supreme Court gave states the right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion. The court upheld the rest of the law, including insurance exchanges and a mandate that virtually everyone in the United States have health coverage, or face a fine.
The health care law will go into full effect next Jan. 1, and states are scrambling to crunch the numbers and understand the Medicaid trade-offs.
States can refuse the expansion outright or indefinitely postpone a decision. But if states think they'll ultimately end up taking the deal, there's a big incentive to act now: The three years of full federal funding for newly eligible enrollees are only available from 2014 through 2016.
So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have said they'll take it. That group includes three Republican-led states, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was prominent among GOP leaders who had tried get the law overturned.
An additional 11 states, all led by Republicans, say they want no part of it. Perry says it tramples states' rights.
The remaining states are considering options.
In some cases, GOP governors are trying to persuade balky legislatures led by Republicans. Hospitals treating the uninsured are pressing for the expansion, as are advocates for the poor and some chambers of commerce, which see an economic multiplier from the infusion of federal dollars. Conservative foes of "Obamacare," defeated at the national level, want to hold the line.
The entire debate is overshadowed by some big misconceptions, including that the poor already have Medicaid.
Many of them do, but not all. Medicaid generally covers low-income disabled people, children, pregnant women and some parents. Childless adults are left out in most states.
The other misconception is that Medicaid is so skimpy that people are better off being uninsured.
Two recent studies debunked that.
One found a 6 percent drop in the adult death rate in states that already have expanded Medicaid along the lines of the federal health care law. A second looked at Oregonians who won a lottery for Medicaid and compared them with ones who weren't picked and remained uninsured. The Medicaid group had greater access to health care, less likelihood of being saddled with medical bills, and felt better about their overall health.
Skeptics remain unconvinced.
Louisiana's health secretary, Bruce D. Greenstein, is concerned that the Medicaid expansion could replace private insurance for many low-wage workers in his state, dragging down quality throughout the health care system because the program pays doctors and hospitals far less than private insurance. He says the Obama administration and Congress missed a chance to overhaul Medicaid and give states a bigger say in running the program.
"Decisions are made by fiat," he said. "There is not any sense of a federal-state partnership, what this program was founded on. I don't feel in any way that I am a partner." The Obama administration says it is doing its best to meet state demands for flexibility.
But one thing the administration has been unwilling to do is allow states to partly expand their Medicaid programs and still get the generous matching funds provided by the health care law.
That could have huge political implications for states refusing the expansion, and for people such as Walker, the diabetes patient from Houston.
These numbers explain why:
Under the new law people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, about $15,400 for an individual, are eligible to be covered by Medicaid.
But for most people below the poverty line, about $11,200 for an individual, Medicaid would be the only option. They cannot get subsidized private coverage through the new health insurance exchanges.
So if a state turns down the Medicaid expansion, some of its low-income people still can qualify for government-subsidized health insurance through the exchanges. But the poorest cannot.
In Texas, somebody making a couple of thousand dollars more than Debra Walker still could get coverage. But Walker would be left depending on pay-as-you-go charity care.
"It's completely illogical that this has happened," said Edwin Park, a health policy expert with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income people.
Federal officials say their hands are tied, that Congress intended the generous federal matching rate solely for states undertaking the full expansion. States doing a partial expansion would have to shell out more of their own money.
"Some people are going to be between a rock and a hard spot," said Walker.
A Franciscan friar who was accused of abuse by dozens of his former male students has committed suicide.
Brother Stephen Baker, TOR, worked as a teacher and coach at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Warren, Oh., from 1986 to 1992 and at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown, Penn., from 1992 to 2002.
In 1998, Brother Baker also served as one of nine members of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown?s confirmation committee.
In October, the Diocese of Youngstown and the Immaculate Conception Province of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular settled with 11 former students. As news of the settlement became known, dozens more of his former students have come forward in recent weeks.
A different province of the Third Order Regular is associated with Saint Francis University in Loretto, Penn., and Franciscan University of Steubenville.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to assign significantly more personnel in coming years to counter increasing threats against U.S. government computer networks and conduct offensive operations against foreign foes, a U.S. defense official said on Sunday.
The plan, which would increase both military and civilian staffing at U.S. Cyber Command, comes as the Pentagon moves toward elevating the new command and putting it on the same level as the major combatant commands.
The official said no formal decisions had been made on the expanding staffing levels or changing Cyber Command into a "unified" command like U.S. Strategic Command, which currently oversees cyber command and the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.
Any changes to the combatant command structure would be made based on strategic and operational needs, and take into account the need for efficient use of taxpayer dollars, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon was working closely with U.S. Cyber Command and the major military commands to develop "the optimum force structure for successfully operating in cyberspace," the official said.
The Washington Post, quoting senior defense officials, reported late Sunday that the Pentagon had decided to expand Cyber Command's current staffing level of 900 to 4,900 in coming years.
The official confirmed that Cyber Command planned to expand its force significantly, but said the specific numbers cited by the Post were "pre-decisional."
The newspaper said senior Pentagon officials had agreed to increase the force late last year amid a string of attacks, including one that wiped out more than 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company. it said
The plan calls for creating three types of force under the Cyber Command, said the defense official.
"National mission forces," would protect computer systems that undergird electrical grids and other kinds of infrastructure. "Combat mission forces," would help commanders abroad execute attacks or other offensive operations, while "cyber protection forces," would focus on protecting the Defense Department's own systems.
Details were still being worked out, the official said.
(Reporting by Sarah Lynch and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
Looks like Yakko, Wakko, et al. have been overlooked for yet another executive level position at their namesake corporation. Instead, Time Warner has opted to promote Kevin Tsujihara to CEO at Warner Bros. Tsujihara, who will be replacing Barry Meyer, has been at the company since 1994. Since 2005, he's served as the president of the company's Home Entertainment Group. The transition will occur in March, leaving Meyer in the chairman role at least through the end of the year. Tsujihara, who also sits on the MPAA's board of directors, "currently oversees the company's home video, digital distribution, video games, anti-piracy and emerging technology operations," according to a press release issued by Time Warner.
Show full PR text
Time Warner Announces Kevin Tsujihara to Become CEO of Warner Bros.
Time Warner Inc. TWX -0.37% Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes and Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer today announced that Kevin Tsujihara will become the next Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros. Entertainment. Mr. Tsujihara will become CEO beginning March 1, 2013, succeeding Mr. Meyer, who will remain as Chairman through 2013.
In making the announcement Mr. Bewkes said, "Kevin is one of the most effective and respected executives within Time Warner, and the right leader to ensure Warner Bros.' preeminence into the future. He brings the perfect combination of strategic thinking, financial discipline, digital vision, and management style to build on Warner Bros.' track record of success under Barry Meyer."
Mr. Meyer added, "In working with Kevin for nearly 20 years, I've come to know and value a talented executive with a passion for this company and its people. He has skillfully guided one of the most complex businesses at Warner Bros. during a time of transition in the home entertainment sector, and has a deep appreciation and respect for the films and TV shows we create. Kevin has a rare combination of extraordinary business acumen and a love for the art of storytelling, and I'm confident he will be a great leader for Warner Bros."
Over the next several months, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Tsujihara will work together with other members of Warner Bros. senior executive team, including Warner Bros. Television President Bruce Rosenblum and Warner Bros. Pictures President Jeff Robinov, to ensure an orderly transition.
As President of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group since 2005, Mr. Tsujihara currently oversees the company's home video, digital distribution, videogames, anti-piracy, and emerging technology operations.
Mr. Tsujihara said, "It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead this storied business. We're at a pivotal moment in the histories of Hollywood and entertainment: technology is changing the canvas we use to create theatrical releases; home entertainment is rapidly evolving; and the definition of television now includes viewing across a wide range of devices and services. But in my mind one thing remains clear and constant: Warner Bros.' unmatched ability to tell stories that inspire, educate, and entertain global audiences. We are extremely fortunate to have strong relationships with some of the industry's most gifted talent and together we will continue to use those relationships, our scale, and our passion to build on Warner Bros. great legacy."
Mr. Tsujihara joined Warner Bros. in 1994 as Director, Special Projects, Finance to assist in the management of the company's interest in Six Flags. Across his nearly two decades with the company he has served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Business Development & Strategy, Warner Bros. Entertainment and, Executive Vice President, New Media, responsible for the oversight of all Warner Bros.' new media endeavors.
Mr. Tsujihara received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and his MBA from Stanford University. He sits on the Board of Directors for the MPAA, City Year Los Angeles, an education focused, nonprofit organization, the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, Kabam, the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation, and the Entertainment Software Association.
About Time Warner Inc.
Time Warner Inc., a global leader in media and entertainment with businesses in television networks, film and TV entertainment and publishing, uses its industry-leading operating scale and brands to create, package and deliver high-quality content worldwide through multiple distribution outlets.
Hundreds of chimpanzees at NIH facilities should no longer be used as test subjects, the panel said, but 50 should be kept as a contingency, adding that all the chimps should be housed more comfortably.
By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / January 23, 2013
Ron, featured in the film 'Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History', was born in a research lab and spent most of his life in isolation. Subsequently, he went to live at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
Courtesy of Save the Chimps /PBS
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A senior scientific advisory panel at the National Institutes of Health, in a step toward phasing out the use of chimpanzees in federally funded medical research,?has found "no compelling evidence" to support keeping hundreds of chimpanzees at NIH facilities and recommends that all but about 50 chimps be retired.
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This small group would remain available as a contingency should some unforeseen disease emerge for which chimps would be the best stand-ins for humans. But they, along with the retirees, would be housed in facilities designed to more adequately accommodate the full range of normal chimp physical and social activities ? from climbing, foraging, and daily nest-building to hanging out in sizable groups on branches high off the ground, according to the panel.
The panel also recommends ending 16 of 30 research projects involving chimpanzees that the NIH currently is funding. The largest proportional hit falls on biomedical research, one of three categories of projects. Six out of nine current biomedical projects would end.
The ultimate driver behind the recommendations: concerns about the value and ethics of using chimpanzees, biologically the nearest relative to humans, for physically painful and intrusive infectious-disease research.
If the 28 recommendations are implemented, the effort would represent "an historic step forward" in moving chimps out of the lab and into sanctuaries, says Kathleen Conlee, vice-president for animal-research issues at the Humane Society of the United States, based in Washington.
Even foes of federal legislation to greatly restrict the use of chimps and other "great apes" in biomedical research see merit in the new recommendations.
As a stand-in for humans, "the chimpanzee has played a very important role in the evolution of biomedical research," notes Frankie Trull, president of the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) in Washington, which fought against the Great Apes Protection and Cost Reduction Act of 2011, which died in December with the end of the 113th Congress.
But biomedical science has advanced, Ms. Trull continues. And keeping chimpanzees is expensive; chimps are not euthanized but must be cared for until they die naturally. Researchers have found alternative animal models for some of the kinds of studies that once centered on chimps.
Although NABR opposed the Great Ape Protection and Cost Reduction Act, the group is comfortable with the recommendations the NIH is now considering, Trull says.
The case for change and the steps to take came from the scientific community, she observes, adding, "scientists should determine what animal models should be used, not Congress."
Chimpanzees represent a tiny proportion of animals used in biomedical research. The overwhelming majority of animals used are either rodents or zebra fish.
The recommendations represent the outcome of a process that began at the end of 2010, when three US senators asked the US National Academies to examine the issue, as did the NIH. A year later, the National Academies' Institute of Medicine released its report.
The 86-page report released for comment on Jan. 22 was pulled together by a senior working group that the NIH gathered to turn the Institute of Medicine's report into specific recommendations.
If adopted, the recommendations would apply only to NIH-owned chimps and those used in the course of NIH-funded research. Of 670 chimps the NIH owns or supports, 219 have been retired. Some 282 are research-ready. Another 169 have been labeled "research inactive," a kind of bridge category between the first two.
By some estimates, another 350 chimps would fall outside the purview of these recommendations because they are owned either by private pharmaceutical companies or by universities.
Indeed, the Human Society's Ms. Conlee suggests the Great Ape Protection Act is likely to be reintroduced this year to broaden restrictions to chimps not covered by the new recommendations.
Friday January 25, 2013, 7:08 pm (Image: FBI and SKYPE logos)
CNET learns the FBI is quietly pushing its plan to force surveillance backdoors on social networks, VoIP, and Web e-mail providers, and that the bureau is asking Internet companies not to oppose a law making those backdoors mandatory.
The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.
In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.
The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.
"If you create a service, product, or app that allows a user to communicate, you get the privilege of adding that extra coding," an industry representative who has reviewed the FBI's draft legislation told CNET. The requirements apply only if a threshold of a certain number of users is exceeded, according to a second industry representative briefed on it.
The FBI's proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, that currently applies only to telecommunications providers, not Web companies. The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband networks
FBI Director Robert Mueller is not asking companies to support the bureau's CALEA expansion, but instead is "asking what can go in it to minimize impacts," one participant in the discussions says. That included a scheduled trip this month to the West Coast -- which was subsequently postponed -- to meet with Internet companies' CEOs and top lawyers.
A further expansion of CALEA is unlikely to be applauded by tech companies, their customers, or privacy groups. Apple (which distributes iChat and FaceTime) is currently lobbying on the topic, according to disclosure documents filed with Congress two weeks ago. Microsoft (which owns Skype and Hotmail) says its lobbyists are following the topic because it's "an area of ongoing interest to us." Google, Yahoo, and Facebook declined to comment.
In February 2011, CNET was the first to report that then-FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni was planning to warn Congress of what the bureau calls its "Going Dark" problem, meaning that its surveillance capabilities may diminish as technology advances. Caproni singled out "Web-based e-mail, social-networking sites, and peer-to-peer communications" as problems that have left the FBI "increasingly unable" to conduct the same kind of wiretapping it could in the past.
In addition to the FBI's legislative proposal, there are indications that the Federal Communications Commission is considering reinterpreting CALEA to demand that products that allow video or voice chat over the Internet -- from Skype to Google Hangouts to Xbox Live -- include surveillance backdoors to help the FBI with its "Going Dark" program. CALEA applies to technologies that are a "substantial replacement" for the telephone system.
"We have noticed a massive uptick in the amount of FCC CALEA inquiries and enforcement proceedings within the last year, most of which are intended to address 'Going Dark' issues," says Christopher Canter, lead compliance counsel at the Marashlian and Donahue law firm, which specializes in CALEA. "This generally means that the FCC is laying the groundwork for regulatory action."
Subsentio, a Colorado-based company that sells CALEA compliance products and worked with the Justice Department when it asked the FCC to extend CALEA seven years ago, says the FBI's draft legislation was prepared with the compliance costs of Internet companies in mind.
In a statement to CNET, Subsentio President Steve Bock said that the measure provides a "safe harbor" for Internet companies as long as the interception techniques are "'good enough' solutions approved by the attorney general."
Another option that would be permitted, Bock said, is if companies "supply the government with proprietary information to decode information" obtained through a wiretap or other type of lawful interception, rather than "provide a complex system for converting the information into an industry standard format."
A representative for the FBI told CNET today that: "(There are) significant challenges posed to the FBI in the accomplishment of our diverse mission. These include those that result from the advent of rapidly changing technology. A growing gap exists between the statutory authority of law enforcement to intercept electronic communications pursuant to court order and our practical ability to intercept those communications. The FBI believes that if this gap continues to grow, there is a very real risk of the government 'going dark,' resulting in an increased risk to national security and public safety."
Next steps
The FBI's legislation, which has been approved by the Department of Justice, is one component of what the bureau has internally called the "National Electronic Surveillance Strategy." Documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that since 2006, Going Dark has been a worry inside the bureau, which employed 107 full-time equivalent people on the project as of 2009, commissioned a RAND study, and sought extensive technical input from the bureau's secretive Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Va. The division boasts of developing the "latest and greatest investigative technologies to catch terrorists and criminals."
But the White House, perhaps less inclined than the bureau to initiate what would likely be a bruising privacy battle, has not sent the FBI's CALEA amendments to Capitol Hill, even though they were expected last year. (A representative for Sen. Patrick Leahy, head of the Judiciary committee and original author of CALEA, said today that "we have not seen any proposals from the administration.")
Mueller said in December that the CALEA amendments will be "coordinated through the interagency process," meaning they would need to receive administration-wide approval.
Stewart Baker, a partner at Steptoe and Johnson who is the former assistant secretary for policy at Homeland Security, said the FBI has "faced difficulty getting its legislative proposals through an administration staffed in large part by people who lived through the CALEA and crypto fights of the Clinton administration, and who are jaundiced about law enforcement regulation of technology -- overly jaundiced, in my view."
On the other hand, as a senator in the 1990s, Vice President Joe Biden introduced a bill at the FBI's behest that echoes the bureau's proposal today. Biden's bill said companies should "ensure that communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications when appropriately authorized by law." (Biden's legislation spurred the public release of PGP, one of the first easy-to-use encryption utilities.)
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. An FCC representative referred questions to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which declined to comment.
From the FBI's perspective, expanding CALEA to cover VoIP, Web e-mail, and social networks isn't expanding wiretapping law: If a court order is required today, one will be required tomorrow as well. Rather, it's making sure that a wiretap is guaranteed to produce results.
But that nuanced argument could prove radioactive among an Internet community already skeptical of government efforts in the wake of protests over the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, in January, and the CISPA data-sharing bill last month. And even if startups or hobbyist projects are exempted if they stay below the user threshold, it's hardly clear how open-source or free software projects such as Linphone, KPhone, and Zfone -- or Nicholas Merrill's proposal for a privacy-protective Internet provider -- will comply.
The FBI's CALEA amendments could be particularly troublesome for Zfone. Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP who became a privacy icon two decades ago after being threatened with criminal prosecution, announced Zfone in 2005 as a way to protect the privacy of VoIP users. Zfone scrambles the entire conversation from end to end.
"I worry about the government mandating backdoors into these kinds of communications," says Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has obtained documents from the FBI relating to its proposed expansion of CALEA.
As CNET was the first to report in 2003, representatives of the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section in Chantilly, Va., began quietly lobbying the FCC to force broadband providers to provide more-efficient, standardized surveillance facilities. The FCC approved that requirement a year later, sweeping in Internet phone companies that tie into the existing telecommunications system. It was upheld in 2006 by a federal appeals court.
But the FCC never granted the FBI's request to rewrite CALEA to cover instant messaging and VoIP programs that are not "managed"--meaning peer-to-peer programs like Apple's Facetime, iChat/AIM, Gmail's video chat, and Xbox Live's in-game chat that do not use the public telephone network.
If there is going to be a CALEA rewrite, "industry would like to see any new legislation include some protections against disclosure of any trade secrets or other confidential information that might be shared with law enforcement, so that they are not released, for example, during open court proceedings," says Roszel Thomsen, a partner at Thomsen and Burke who represents technology companies and is a member of an FBI study group. He suggests that such language would make it "somewhat easier" for both industry and the police to respond to new technologies.
But industry groups aren't necessarily going to roll over without a fight. TechAmerica, a trade association that includes representatives of HP, eBay, IBM, Qualcomm, and other tech companies on its board of directors, has been lobbying against a CALEA expansion. Such a law would "represent a sea change in government surveillance law, imposing significant compliance costs on both traditional (think local exchange carriers) and nontraditional (think social media) communications companies," TechAmerica said in e-mail today.
Ross Schulman, public policy and regulatory counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, adds: "New methods of communication should not be subject to a government green light before they can be used."
***numerous links within body of article at VISIT SITE***
By:
Declan McCullagh | CNET |
Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. Declan previously was a reporter for Time and the Washington bureau chief for Wired and wrote the Taking Liberties section and Other People's Money column for CBS News' Web site.
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When it comes to the largest selection of console titles, there isn?t a console, old or new, that can hold a candle to the immense collection of Playstation 2 titles available.
The Playstation 2 was originally released in March of 2000 and officially discontinued in January of 2013. ?In the nearly 13 years of active production over 2,000 titles were released for the console. ?This volume places the title list for the Playstation 2 well beyond any other console and miles beyond other sixth generation consoles such as the Gamecube (646 titles), the Xbox (986 titles), and the Dreamcast (720 titles).
Toronto mayor Rob Ford will apparently be keeping his job. An appeals court has overturned a previous court decision that had said that Ford had violated the province?s conflict of interest law.
The decision came down today from the Divisional Court which heard Ford?s appeal of his November conviction. The panel of three judges has now concluded that the original trial judge had made an error in finding Ford guilty under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Many Torontonians were bewildered by the original verdict, and by the fact that it could result (as required by the Act) in Ford?s removal from office and a multi-million dollar by-election. Ford?s offence, after all, was hardly armed robbery. He was merely accused of participating in a city council vote on a relatively small financial matter. The question under consideration at that vote was whether he, Ford, should return a few thousand dollars? worth of donations that the city?s integrity commissioner says were improperly gathered. So it?s not as if Ford had stolen the money, or embezzled it. And garnering the donations was not itself a legal offence. The problem lay solely in his having voted on this matter, a matter in which he had a personal stake. Many people wondered how it could be that Toronto could lose its duly elected mayor over such a small procedural matter.
But bewilderment about that initial verdict says more about public understanding of conflict of interest than it does about the substance of this case. Conflict of interest isn?t about numbers; it?s about loyalty. And when we think someone has violated a conflict of interest rule it?s not necessarily because we think he or she has made an improper decision, but rather that we think he or she has failed to keep personal business and official duties separate, and that as a result we cannot be sure about what factors may have influenced that decision. It is also, in the end, about public faith in the decision-making processes of our most important institutions.
Be that as it may, today?s decision means that Ford is not guilty of violating the Act, and hence gets to keep his job. My non-lawyer?s understanding of the verdict is this. The decision seems to turn on a technicality. Ford had been accused of wrongfully participating in a February 2012 debate and vote by Toronto city council over whether he, Ford, should return the improperly-gathered donations. A council vote 2 years earlier had required Ford to pay back that money. But, according to today?s ruling, Council didn?t have the authority to engage in that earlier vote. So it was legally null ? effectively, it never happened at all, from a legal point of view. And if the earlier vote ?didn?t happen,? then the February 2012 vote that essentially responded to that earlier vote was really moot. And if that vote was moot, it cannot have been improper for Ford to participate.
But the court?s decision today is far from a vindication. Ford keeps his job on a legal technicality, the sort of thing that a layperson could never foresee from a reading of the plain wording of the relatively brief and clear Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
That?s fair enough, from a procedural point of view, but it doesn?t mean that the mayor didn?t do anything wrong. He still took part in a decision in which he had a personal stake. And as a man in a position of power and trust, he not only should not have done so, but he should have known better than to do so. Even if he knew in his heart that his vote in the matter was unbiased, he should have known that that?s beside the point. What matters is that trust in the system requires decision makers to remove themselves from decisions that pertain to their own affairs. Doing so is essential for maintaining public trust in the system.
We can only hope that Ford will proceed now with uncharacteristic humility, and with more eagerness to learn the rules that govern his position than he has thus far demonstrated.
Contact: Monika Landgraf presse@kit.edu 49-721-608-47414 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
This press release is available in German.
The detector combines near-unity detection efficiency with high timing resolution and has a very low error rate. The results have been published by Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/ncomms2307).
Ultrafast, efficient, and reliable single-photon detectors are among the most sought-after components in photonics and quantum communication, which have not yet reached maturity for practical application. Physicist Dr. Wolfram Pernice of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in cooperation with colleagues at Yale University, Boston University, and Moscow State Pedagogical University, achieved the decisive breakthrough by integrating single-photon detectors with nanophotonic chips. The detector combines near-unity detection efficiency with high timing resolution and has a very low error rate. The results have been published by Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/ncomms2307).
Without reliable detection of single photons, it is impossible to make real use of the latest advances in optical data transmission or quantum computation; it is like having no analog-digital converter in a conventional computer to determine whether the applied voltage stands for 0 or 1. Although a number of different single-photon detector models have been developed over the past few years, thus far, none have provided satisfactory performance.
Several new ideas and advanced developments went into the prototype developed within the "Integrated Quantum Photonics" project at the DFG Center of Functional Nanostructures (CFN). The new single-photon detector, tested in the telecommunications wavelength range, achieves a previously unattained detection efficiency of 91%.
The detector was realized by fabricating superconducting nanowires directly on top of a nanophotonic waveguide. This geometry can be compared to a tube that conducts light, around which a wire in a superconducting state is wound and, as such, has no electric resistivity. The nanometer-sized wire made of niobium nitride absorbs photons that propagate along the waveguide. When a photon is absorbed, superconductivity is lost, which is detected as an electric signal. The longer the tube, the higher is the detection probability. The lengths involved are in the micrometer range.
A special feature of the detector is its direct installation on the chip, which allows for it to be replicated at random. The single-photon detectors built thus far were stand-alone units, which were connected to chips with optical fibers. Arrangements of that type suffer from photons being lost in the fiber connection or being absorbed in other ways. These loss channels do not exist in the detector that is now fully embedded in a silicon photonic circuit. In addition to high detection efficiency, this gives rise to a remarkably low dark count rate. Dark counts arise when a photon is detected erroneously: for instance, because of a spontaneous emission, an alpha particle, or a spurious field. The new design also provides ultrashort timing jitter of 18 picoseconds, which is 18 times 10-12 seconds.
The novel solution also makes it possible to integrate several hundreds of these detectors on a single chip. This is a basic precondition for future use in optical quantum computers.
The detector demonstrated in this study was designed to work at wavelengths in the Telekom bandwidth. The same detector architecture can also be used for wavelengths in the range of visible light. This would allow the principle to be employed in analyses of all structures that emit little light, i.e., photons, such as single molecules or bacteria.
###
C.V. Dr. Wolfram Pernice
Dr. Wolfram Pernice studied Microsystems Technology at Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg. After winning a research grant of the British Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council he obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Oxford, England where he explored the Development of Efficient Numerical Methods for Simulating Photonic Devices. In 2008 he joined Yale University where, supported by a Humboldt scholarship, he analyzed nano-opto-mechanical systems in the group of Hong Tang. In summer 2011, the German Research Association (DFG) appointed him as head of an Emmy Noether Research Group. His research into integrated quantum optical and nano-opto-mechanical systems had convinced the committee, and as the recipient of an Emmy Noether grant, he chose to pursue his work at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since October 2011, he has worked here as a Junior Group Leader at the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT). At the beginning of the year, he also won a Helmholtz International Research Group grant, which he wants to use to fund another post-graduate student in his Karlsruhe team.
The DFG Center of Functional Nanostructures (CFN) devotes its attention to the important area of nanotechnology and functional nanostructures. Its objective is to carry out excellent interdisciplinary and international research in order to produce nanostructures with new technical functions and take the first step from fundamental research to application. At the present time, more than 250 scientists and engineers cooperate in more than 80 sub-projects networked through the CFN in Karlsruhe, focusing on the areas of nano-photonics, nano-electronics, molecular nanostructures, nano-biology, and nano-energy. www.cfn.kit.edu
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Wrttemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.
This press release is available on the Internet at www.kit.edu.
A print-quality photo may be downloaded under www.kit.edu or requested by mail (presse@kit.edu) or phone (+49 721 608-47414). The photo may only be used in the context mentioned above.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Monika Landgraf presse@kit.edu 49-721-608-47414 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
This press release is available in German.
The detector combines near-unity detection efficiency with high timing resolution and has a very low error rate. The results have been published by Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/ncomms2307).
Ultrafast, efficient, and reliable single-photon detectors are among the most sought-after components in photonics and quantum communication, which have not yet reached maturity for practical application. Physicist Dr. Wolfram Pernice of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in cooperation with colleagues at Yale University, Boston University, and Moscow State Pedagogical University, achieved the decisive breakthrough by integrating single-photon detectors with nanophotonic chips. The detector combines near-unity detection efficiency with high timing resolution and has a very low error rate. The results have been published by Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/ncomms2307).
Without reliable detection of single photons, it is impossible to make real use of the latest advances in optical data transmission or quantum computation; it is like having no analog-digital converter in a conventional computer to determine whether the applied voltage stands for 0 or 1. Although a number of different single-photon detector models have been developed over the past few years, thus far, none have provided satisfactory performance.
Several new ideas and advanced developments went into the prototype developed within the "Integrated Quantum Photonics" project at the DFG Center of Functional Nanostructures (CFN). The new single-photon detector, tested in the telecommunications wavelength range, achieves a previously unattained detection efficiency of 91%.
The detector was realized by fabricating superconducting nanowires directly on top of a nanophotonic waveguide. This geometry can be compared to a tube that conducts light, around which a wire in a superconducting state is wound and, as such, has no electric resistivity. The nanometer-sized wire made of niobium nitride absorbs photons that propagate along the waveguide. When a photon is absorbed, superconductivity is lost, which is detected as an electric signal. The longer the tube, the higher is the detection probability. The lengths involved are in the micrometer range.
A special feature of the detector is its direct installation on the chip, which allows for it to be replicated at random. The single-photon detectors built thus far were stand-alone units, which were connected to chips with optical fibers. Arrangements of that type suffer from photons being lost in the fiber connection or being absorbed in other ways. These loss channels do not exist in the detector that is now fully embedded in a silicon photonic circuit. In addition to high detection efficiency, this gives rise to a remarkably low dark count rate. Dark counts arise when a photon is detected erroneously: for instance, because of a spontaneous emission, an alpha particle, or a spurious field. The new design also provides ultrashort timing jitter of 18 picoseconds, which is 18 times 10-12 seconds.
The novel solution also makes it possible to integrate several hundreds of these detectors on a single chip. This is a basic precondition for future use in optical quantum computers.
The detector demonstrated in this study was designed to work at wavelengths in the Telekom bandwidth. The same detector architecture can also be used for wavelengths in the range of visible light. This would allow the principle to be employed in analyses of all structures that emit little light, i.e., photons, such as single molecules or bacteria.
###
C.V. Dr. Wolfram Pernice
Dr. Wolfram Pernice studied Microsystems Technology at Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg. After winning a research grant of the British Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council he obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Oxford, England where he explored the Development of Efficient Numerical Methods for Simulating Photonic Devices. In 2008 he joined Yale University where, supported by a Humboldt scholarship, he analyzed nano-opto-mechanical systems in the group of Hong Tang. In summer 2011, the German Research Association (DFG) appointed him as head of an Emmy Noether Research Group. His research into integrated quantum optical and nano-opto-mechanical systems had convinced the committee, and as the recipient of an Emmy Noether grant, he chose to pursue his work at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since October 2011, he has worked here as a Junior Group Leader at the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT). At the beginning of the year, he also won a Helmholtz International Research Group grant, which he wants to use to fund another post-graduate student in his Karlsruhe team.
The DFG Center of Functional Nanostructures (CFN) devotes its attention to the important area of nanotechnology and functional nanostructures. Its objective is to carry out excellent interdisciplinary and international research in order to produce nanostructures with new technical functions and take the first step from fundamental research to application. At the present time, more than 250 scientists and engineers cooperate in more than 80 sub-projects networked through the CFN in Karlsruhe, focusing on the areas of nano-photonics, nano-electronics, molecular nanostructures, nano-biology, and nano-energy. www.cfn.kit.edu
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Wrttemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.
This press release is available on the Internet at www.kit.edu.
A print-quality photo may be downloaded under www.kit.edu or requested by mail (presse@kit.edu) or phone (+49 721 608-47414). The photo may only be used in the context mentioned above.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
MADRID/CARACAS (Reuters) - Spain's influential El Pais newspaper apologized on Thursday for splashing a "false photo" of Venezuela's cancer-stricken leader Hugo Chavez on its front page, prompting a furious response from the government in Caracas, which vowed to take legal action.
Within minutes of posting the image online as a global exclusive, El Pais said it had discovered from social media that the photo was not of Chavez. It removed it from its website and withdrew its print edition.
Venezuela's government said the publication of the photo - which showed the head of a man lying down with a breathing tube in his mouth - was "grotesque," while Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez, a close ally of Chavez, called it vile.
"El Pais apologizes to its readers for the damage caused. The newspaper has opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of what happened and the errors that were committed in the verification of the photo," the paper said.
Chavez, 58, is fighting to recover in Cuba after undergoing his fourth cancer operation in just 18 months. He has not spoken or appeared in public for six weeks, fuelling speculation about how serious his condition is.
El Pais, one of the world's biggest Spanish-language publications and an institution both in Spain and in Latin America, said it received the grainy image from the agency Gtres Online, which it said represents 60 other agencies in Spain.
In a statement, El Pais said the newspaper was told it had been taken seven days earlier by a Cuban nurse who was part of Chavez's medical team, and was then sent to the nurse's sister, who lives in Spain.
"The agency has acknowledged it was deceived by those who provided the material and will take legal action," El Pais said.
The photo was on the newspaper's website for half an hour and also appeared in early editions of the print version that were then pulled from newsstands and replaced with a new edition with a different front page.
In Venezuela, anxious Chavez supporters and opponents alike are waiting for any new picture, video or audio message from the socialist leader, who is famed for filling the airwaves with long-winded speeches, jokes and withering jabs at his foes.
NO SIGHT OF CHAVEZ
Officials say his condition is improving after he suffered multiple complications, including unexpected bleeding and a severe respiratory problem following the December 11 surgery.
But, in contrast to Chavez's previous visits to Havana, officials have not published any evidence of his condition. In 2011, with great fanfare, they broadcast video footage of him reading a newspaper, walking in a garden, and chatting with his friend and mentor, Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro.
In the absence of such proof this time, many Venezuelans are questioning the terse official bulletins and suspect Chavez's extraordinary 14 years in power could be coming to an end.
The president has never said exactly what type of cancer he has, only that the initial tumor found in mid-2011 was in his pelvic area and was the size of a baseball.
Venezuelan opposition leaders have long accused the government of secrecy over his illness, while supporters accuse "bourgeois" local and foreign media of being in league with the opposition to spread rumors he is at death's door.
The handling of information relating to Chavez's health has become as contentious as the man himself, and his administration's updates have been confusing and contradictory.
The government says it has never been more transparent. It described El Pais's publication of the picture - a screengrab from an unrelated 2008 video - as part of efforts by far-right political forces to attack Chavez's self-styled revolution.
It said it would take appropriate legal action, and that the newspaper's apology to its readers was not enough.
"Neither their disgusting photos nor their systematic campaigns will stop the president's advance," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas told a news conference in Caracas.
"Would El Pais publish a similar photo of a European leader? Of its director? Sensationalism is valid if the victim is a revolutionary 'sudaca'," he added, using a pejorative term that is sometimes used in Spain to refer to Latin Americans.
The butt of a long-running joke on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the actor opened Thursday night's show as a kidnapper who tied Kimmel to a chair with duct tape and gagged him with his own tie.
"There's a new host in town and his initials are M.D.," Damon said. "That's right, the doctor is in."
For years, Kimmel has joked at the end of his show that he ran out of time and was unable to bring Damon on as a guest. Kimmel was the silent one Thursday, watching from the back of the stage as Damon did his job.
Damon tormented Kimmel by bringing on a succession of big-name guests. Robin Williams stopped by to finish the monologue. Ben Affleck had a walk-on role. Sheryl Crow was the bandleader and performed her new single. Nicole Kidman, Gary Oldman, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon and Demi Moore all crowded the talk show's couch.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time," Damon said. "This is like when I lost my virginity, except this is going to last way longer than one second."
Damon's guest hosting turn came at a key time for Kimmel. ABC earlier this month moved the show to 11:35 p.m. ET and PT after a decade of airing it a half hour later, putting him in direct competition with Jay Leno and David Letterman.
Thursday's special program aimed for the same water-cooler status as a memorably lewd short film Damon made for the show a few years ago with Kimmel's then-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman. It went viral and remains probably the best-known skit in the show's history.
To twist the knife even further, Damon brought Silverman on as his final guest Thursday night, with Kimmel looking on forlornly as she likened their five-year relationship to an unfortunate trip to a hot dog vendor.
"Is there anything you'd like to say to Jimmy?" Damon asked.
"No, I'm good," Silverman replied.
Then came the sweetest revenge of all, with Damon promising to ungag Kimmel in the show's final minutes.
24 January 2013Last updated at 06:03 ETBy Smitha MundasadBBC News
Digestive juices normally used to break down food can turn against the body and start damaging it when people are critically unwell, research suggests.
The study undertaken in rats looks closely at why the body starts to shut down when facing overwhelming illness.
And this research could help explain why vital organs often fail during sepsis and shock, University of California researchers say.
But more work is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn, experts say.
Continue reading the main story
The digestive enzymes are powerful - they have an amazing ability to digest most biological material?
End QuoteDr Geert Schmid-ShonbeinUniversity of California, San Diego
Shock, overwhelming infections and multi-organ failure are terminal conditions that are commonly seen in intensive care.
But why the body starts to shut down in these ways, or how best to treat it when it does, are not fully understood.
Previous research has shown that the intestine plays an important role in these often lethal scenarios.
But scientists at the University of California, San Diego, say they are the first to consider how the enzymes in the gut, which normally digest our food, could play a key role in this process.
In the study the researchers infused chemicals which block digestive enzymes into the intestines of seriously ill rats.
They found these rodents were more quick to recover from shock and less likely to die than rats that did not receive this treatment.
Corrosive effect
The rats were also quicker to return to their everyday behaviours than the ones that did not get the enzyme-blocking drugs, shows the study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Dr Geert Schmid-Schonbein, co-author of the study, said: "Many of the events that typically occur in shock - organ injury and increased chance of death - were totally turned around when we blocked these enzymes."
The enzymes the researchers worked on are normally made in the pancreas and most organs are shielded from their corrosive effects by tough membrane walls.
"The digestive enzymes are powerful - they have an amazing ability to digest most biological material," Dr Schmid-Schonbein said.
But when a person is in shock, their organ walls become more permeable, letting harmful substances in and out more indiscriminately, researchers say.
High death rate
The scientists think once the rats were in a state of shock, the walls of the intestines become leaky, allowing the "self-eating" enzymes to flow into them more freely.
In the rats, the enzymes then appear to eat through the intestinal walls and can travel in the blood to the lungs, liver and kidneys, Dr Schmid-Schonbein said.
"No organ is spared," he says.
The researchers think the high death rate from sepsis and shock may have its origin in the digestive system and that using enzyme-blocking drugs may help reduce the harmful effects.
But Dr Bob Winter, president of the Intensive Care Society, is more cautious. "This is very early work in a rat model. Lots of treatments have shown positive results in a rat model and then failed in human trials of sepsis," he said.
"Having said that we know there are reductions in gut blood flow in all forms of shock and blocking digestive enzymes does have some biological plausibility."
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Public release date: 25-Jan-2013
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