HBT: Grace begins four-month jail sentence

Mark Grace was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to felony endangerment and misdemeanor driving under the influence, and the former Cubs and Diamondbacks first baseman turned announcer began serving his sentence yesterday.

Grace is at Maricopa County Jail, which is famous for sheriff Joe Arpaio?s tent city that houses non-violent offenders, and ABC-15 in Arizona reports that he?ll be granted work release along with two years of supervised probation.

Obviously serving four months in jail is never fun and Arpaio?s place is well known for being particularly rough, but as Calcaterra pointed out at the time of Grace?s sentencing at least by going in now he avoids being stuck outside in the middle of an Arizona summer.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/11/mark-grace-began-his-four-month-jail-stint/related/

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Papal resignation sparks global disbelief, grief

Worshippers attend the 12 noon Mass in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. Worshippers at New York's St. Patrick Cathedral are among those surprised to hear that the Pope plans to resign later this month. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Worshippers attend the 12 noon Mass in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. Worshippers at New York's St. Patrick Cathedral are among those surprised to hear that the Pope plans to resign later this month. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Seller Jorge Sanchez shows an image of Pope Benedict XVI at a religious store near to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he would resign Feb. 28, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A child prays with his rosary during an evening mass at a Catholic church in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. In Africa, where the Catholic church continues to grow, worshippers and clergy greeted Pope Benedict XVI's announcement Monday that he planned resign with hopes that the continent would see one of its own rise to lead the faithful. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

A lady studies a hymn book during an evening mass at a Catholic church in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. In Africa, where the Catholic church continues to grow, worshippers and clergy greeted Pope Benedict XVI's announcement Monday that he planned to resign with hopes that the continent would see one of its own rise to lead the faithful (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

FILE - In this Nov. 26, 2007 file photo, Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer of Sao Paolo is applauded during an audience with Pope Benedict XVI and the new cardinals in the Paul VI hall at The Vatican. After the resign of Pope Benedict XVI, announced on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, Cardinal Scherer allegedly is among the contenders to be the pope's successor. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? From the parishes of Poland to the churches of Chile, Roman Catholics around the world were stunned Monday at the first papal resignation in six centuries, even as many prayed for a new charismatic pontiff who could lead the church into a new era after decades of disaffection and mistrust.

Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto, Canada, echoed the sentiments of many of the faithful Monday when he said, "It was quite a shock. I was like, 'The pope has resigned?'"

"We received the news with great regret and much surprise," said Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, who is among the Latin American prelates under speculation as possible papal successors. "This is something completely new for the Catholic Church though it was discussed during the illness of Pope John Paul II.? I didn't know Pope Benedict XVI would make this decision, but the last time I talked to him he seemed physically tired."

Alis Ramirez, an ice cream seller headed to church in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, insisted, "He can't quit like that. This can't be."

But a few didn't consider it bad news at all.

"I don't care or feel sorry that that the Pope resigned because he never entered my heart like John Paul II did," said Rosita Mejia, who sells religious icons outside La Merced church in downtown Santiago, Chile. "In fact, it's good that he leaves. He's done his job and it's time for him to rest. In five years outside this church, only one person asked me for a Benedict stamp, while hundreds asked for John Paul's stamp."

Inside, Pedro Prado mopped the shiny wooden floor of La Merced, where he has been the sexton for more than 25 years. ?

"It's not normal for the pope to resign. I just hope health is the real reason. There were a lot of issues coming out with the pope's butler papers," said Prado, referring to the scandal over a former butler stealing documents from the papal apartment.

The pope's announcement that he will step aside on Feb. 28 brought reawakened calls for a more energetic successor, perhaps from Africa or Latin America ? long considered a bulwark against continued losses in church membership in Europe and the United States. While the church has been battered by growing secularism and sex abuse scandals in the northern hemisphere, the number of believers is growing in Africa, as well as Latin America.

"Europe today is going through a period of cultural tiredness, exhaustion, which is reflected in the way Christianity is lived," said Bishop Antonio Marto, of Fatima in central Portugal. "You don't see that in Africa or Latin America where there is a freshness, an enthusiasm about living the faith."

In Latin America, home to about 40 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, believers hoped the cardinals who select Benedict's successor will pay close attention to candidates from their region.

"I think it's time to name a pope from Latin America," 65-year-old homemaker Josefa Sanchez said at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Santa Tecla, a city on the outskirts of El Salvador's capital of San Salvador. "Really, they should name one of ours, they've only named Europeans until now."

In Brazil, Zulma Alves, a cook who was lighting candles in front of a Rio de Janeiro church that was closed for Carnival, said: "We need someone young who can bring back the dynamism to the church."

But Ferya Caicedo, of Pradera, Colombia, said in the end "It doesn't matter who it is: be it a Latino, European or Asian."

"This world is crazy, with lots of violence, lots of corruption," she said. "We are killing one another for crumbs and we need God's messenger, whoever it may be, to get us out of this situation because we are lost."

African Catholics also expressed hope for a leader from their midst.

Some 176 million people in Africa are Catholic, roughly a third of all Christians across the continent, according to a December 2011 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Meanwhile, the number of Catholics in Europe, the traditional stronghold of the church, has dropped in recent years.

The African nation with the biggest Christian population, Nigeria, has some 20 million practicing Catholics. In Lagos, its largest city, trader Chukwuma Awaegwu put his feelings simply Monday: "If I had my way an African should be the next pope, or someone from Nigeria."

"It's true; they brought the religion to us, but we have come of age," he said. "In America, now we have a black president. So let's just feel the impact of a black pope."

Elaine Herald, manager at St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus Parish in New Cumberland, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, welcomed the speculation about a progressive pope, perhaps a black person.

"We're kind of excited at the (prospect) of a pope that our Catholics seem to be screaming for," Herald said.

Others praised Benedict precisely for his defense of traditional values.

"He has always been a defender of the faith against women in the clergy, against Planned Parenthood, against abortion. He's been a defender of the faith against heresies in the church," said Eric Husseini, a member of the conservative Catholic movement Opus Dei, after attending morning Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hagerstown, Md.

Many Catholics, however, said they admired Benedict for his bravery and modesty in deciding to step aside.

The resignation was an act of deference to the greater good by a man "demonstrating his humanity," said Father Luis Rivero, Archdiocesan director of campus ministry for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.

"There are times that only we know that we have to let go. And sometimes people may see that as a failure, but it's honorable when someone reaches their point they have to let go because they can't do this effectively anymore."

____

Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas, Venezuela; Rob Gillies in Toronto, Canada; Alberto Arce in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal; Dave Dishneau, in Hagerstown, Md.; Peter Jackson in New Cumberland, Pa.; Yinka Ibukun in Lagos, Nigeria; Marcos Aleman in San Salvador, El Salvador; Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; Suzette Laboy, in Miami, Fl.; and Cesar Garcia, in Bogota, Colombia contributed to this report.

____

AP video online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8flqf9_Vfs

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-11-Pope-World-Perspective/id-aa9d6f9f09c14d76b6235346d3f6c3a0

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Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 to land in Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G forms

A trio of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 variants are to be released, latest reports surrounding the heavily rumoured stylus-friendly tablet have suggested.

Widely expected to be heading for an official unveiled at MWC 2013 later this month, latest reports have suggested that a hat-trick of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablets will be launched, with Wi-Fi only, 3G and 4G variants to be made available.

According to leaked product reference numbers, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will see wannabe owners able to choose from a selection of connectivity options with the Wi-Fi only variant of the 8-inch device (GT-N5100) to line up alongside more costly Wi-Fi plus 3G (GT-N5110), and Wi-Fi plus 3G and 4G counterparts (GT-N5105).

Seemingly set to land alongside the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, the Korean manufacturer has been rumoured to be prepping a revised range of Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 devices, with each 7-inch, 8.9-inch and 10.1-inch option tipped for Wi-Fi only and cellular connectivity renditions.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Rumours
Set to follow the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and larger Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 into the company? s stylus loving tablet fray, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has been repeatedly rumoured to enter the realms of reality at MWC 2013. The Barcelona-based conference is due to be held between February 25 and February 28.

Like many current high-end devices making it to market, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has been tipped to land running Google?s latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS, with the iPad mini rivalling tablet getting its ?Note? branded credentials from the handset?s S-pen stylus compatibility.

With a 1.6GHz quad-core processor rumoured to feature as the tablet?s engine block, recently leaked Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 specs have suggested the device will play host to 2GB of RAM, 16GB of integrated storage and, as its name suggests, an 8-inch touchscreen display with a 1280 x 800p resolution.

Completing the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 features list, the mid-sized tablet is expected to sport a 5-megapixel rear-mounted camera.

Are you tempted by the sound of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 or do you see styluses as outdated tablet fare? Let us know via the TrustedReviews Twitter and Facebook feeds or through the comment boxes below.

Via: UnwiredView

Source: http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-8-0-to-land-in-wi-fi-3g-and-4g-forms

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Rebels, troops battle for key Damascus highway

BEIRUT (AP) ? Opposition forces targeted Damascus with mortars, a roadside bomb and a suicide attack on Sunday as they pressed ahead in their quest for the seat of President Bashar Assad's power.

Outside the capital, government troops battled rebels for the fifth straight day for control of a key highway. Both sides consider the fight for Damascus the most likely endgame in a nearly two-year-old civil war that has already killed more than 60,000 people.

Sunday's fighting was the heaviest in Damascus since the first rebel push into the capital in July. The rebels then managed to capture several neighborhoods, but were soon bombed out during a punishing government counteroffensive.

Since then, the rebels have threatened the heavily fortified capital from opposition strongholds around the city. Damascus, however, has been spared the kind of violence and destruction that has been seen in other major urban centers during the conflict.

Checkpoints on the main artery into the capital have changed hands several times since Wednesday when the latest rebel campaign for Damascus started. The road is strategically important because it leads to northern Syria and the regime uses it to move troops and supplies. Rebels cut the road off from Damascus with burning tires on Friday after seizing checkpoints from regime troops in fighting that brought the civil war within a mile of the heart of the capital.

A rebel fighter told The Associated Press that opposition forces on Sunday overran another roadblock, al-Adnan checkpoint in Jobar, northeast of Damascus. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

But the Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-regime activist group, said that while the fight for the highway continues, government troops regained control of the area on Sunday after using fighter jets to bomb rebel positions the day before.

A mortar that hit a Damascus street near Shabandar Square killed four people and injured several others, a government official told the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief the media.

State-run SANA news agency said a roadside bomb detonated at Arnous street, in the heart of Damascus, injuring several people. In another part of the city, a suicide bomber blew himself up. He was the only one who died in the blast in Rouken al-Deen neighborhood, the official news service said.

The rebels' latest push for Damascus is similar to rebel offensives in other Syrian cities. The opposition controls large swathes of land outside urban centers ? like Homs in central Syria and Deir el-Zour in the east, and even whole neighborhoods like in the northern city of Aleppo ? but cannot oust all government troops because of the regime's superior fire power.

The fighting has settled into a bloody stalemate and shows no signs of stopping, despite several tentative proposals from both sides to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Also on Sunday, rebels fought a fierce battle with troops for control of military airport and artillery base that houses the Syrian army's 113th Brigade just outside the city of Dei el-Zour, the Observatory said. The Observatory said the rebels were using tanks they previously captured from the military in their assault on the regime's outposts in the city, which has the same name as the oil-rich province along Syria's border with Iraq that has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the civil war.

Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi reiterated the regime's mantra that the only solution to the conflict is national dialogue in Syria, among Syrians, without foreign interference and in line with Assad's peace proposal that would keep him in charge of a reconciliation process.

"There is absolutely no other alternative," al-Zoubi told reporters after attending the enthronement of a new patriarch in Damascus. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, who was also at the ceremony, warned the West to stop interfering in Syrian affairs and called on opposition leaders to start talks with the regime without preconditions.

The opposition in January rejected Assad's initiative because it would keep him in power. The opposition and its Western backers insist Assad step down before any talks can begin. Late last month, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, Mouaz al-Khatib, changed course, saying he was willing to talk to the regime if it would help end bloodshed.

He suggested that Assad release tens of thousands of political prisoners as a first step.

Members of the opposition criticized al-Khatib's offer to talk to the regime, and the government flatly rejected it.

Late Friday, al-Zoubi said Damascus was ready for dialogue with the opposition so long as the rebels lay down their weapons. He said anyone who responds will not be harmed.

The initiative is unlikely to gain any traction among the Syrian opposition and fighters on the ground, a highly decentralized force with weak links to the political leaders that deeply distrusts the regime. Most groups are unlikely to stop fighting so long as Assad remains president.

In Cairo, al-Khatib met with international peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, to discuss the opposition leader's initiative for talks with the Assad regime, according to a U.N. statement. The statement said the envoy "reiterated his support for (al-Khatib's) initiative and encouraged the coalition to continue in this direction."

Brahimi's efforts to stop the fighting in Syria have failed so far, leaving the international community at a loss for ways to end the civil war.

___

Associated Press writer Zeina Karam and Aya Batrawy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-troops-battle-key-damascus-highway-133319530.html

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Bacchus parade is on in La. despite weather threat

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Even with nasty weather potentially on its way, one of the biggest parades in the run-up to Mardi Gras is set to roll.

The Krewe of Bacchus, led by Actor G.W. Bailey, was scheduled to roll at 5:15 Sunday evening, even though the National Weather Service said thunderstorms were likely from 3 to 6 p.m.

Parades sometimes roll early or on another day due to weather, but so far, not this one.

Bacchus spokesman Clark Brennan said, "We're rollin'."

Bailey co-stars on "Major Crimes" on TNT and is known for the "Police Academy" movies and the series "The Closer."

He also runs a nonprofit group that focuses on children being treated for cancer. Bailey invited more than two dozen from across the country to join him in Sunday's parade.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bacchus-parade-la-despite-weather-threat-185341919.html

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Video: Durbin weighs in on drone policy

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032608/vp/50761055#50761055

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Combining plasma screening with genetic screening better identifies diagnostic and therapeutic targets

Feb. 8, 2013 ? For the first time, scientists have combined genomic and proteomic analysis of blood plasma to enhance identification of genetically regulated protein traits. This could be applied to any large association study of civilization diseases where blood plasma has been collected, vastly improving a clinician's ability to identify disease susceptibility in individuals and populations.

"We hope that combining genome-wide with proteome-wide screening of blood plasma will aid in the identification of molecular disease mechanisms," said Daniel Teupser, M.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Institute of Laboratory Medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, in Munich, Germany. "The methodology is applicable to many frequent diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer and might accelerate identification of novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets."

To make this advance, Teupser and colleagues analyzed 455 plasma samples from the offspring of two different inbred mouse strains using mass spectrometry. This allows researchers to distinguish proteins based on differences in their molecular weight. The resulting protein phenotypes of all 455 F2 mice were associated with 177 genetic markers evenly distributed over the mouse genome. This led to the identification of genetically regulated plasma proteins. The strongest two associations were with the genes encoding hemoglobin and apolipoprotein 2. The responsible genetic variants were identified in additional functional experiments.

Mass spectrometry has already been adapted for clinical applications, and plasma is often the target because of it easy accessibility. Since plasma comes in contact with most tissues, it often mirrors metabolism and disease. This study pioneers a promising approach to identify novel disease-associated proteins, which could provide novel diagnostic or therapeutic targets of disease. ? "Gene variants are now easy to identify, so what's become limiting is the traits -- the phenotype -- to link to those variants. This study goes a long way to opening up that bottleneck. The high-throughput screening the authors describe holds tremendous promise for finding diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets of disease," said Mark Johnston, Editor-in-Chief of the journal GENETICS.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Genetics Society of America, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. L. M. Holdt, A. von Delft, A. Nicolaou, S. Baumann, M. Kostrzewa, J. Thiery, D. Teupser. Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping of the Mouse Plasma Proteome (pQTL). Genetics, 2012; 193 (2): 601 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.112.143354

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/kcvnXaqFSL0/130208105301.htm

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