ChanneledKnowledgeTV

ChanneledKnowledgeTV

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cameras Being Allowed in Federal Courts

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- The judge in the huge class-action pollution trial against Monsanto issued an order clarifying permissible media coverage of the trial.

Mercer Circuit Judge Derek Swope said he will allow cameras and audio equipment in the courtroom as permitted by the West Virginia Trial Court Rules, which govern, among other things, media coverage.

Only one still camera and one video camera will be allowed in the courtroom each day and cannot be set up or taken down while court is in session, Swope wrote.

"The various media outlets can work out the coverage between themselves. If a long-term agreement cannot be worked out, the first source to report to the Courtroom Bailiff will be allowed to cover the courtroom proceedings for that day," Swope wrote.

Swope's order forbids the media from filming or photographing jurors and says that no coverage in the courtroom is allowed until a jury has been selected and placed.

The court referred further media inquiries about coverage of the trial to Jennifer Bundy, the public information officer at the West Virginia Supreme Court.

A national media organization, Courtroom View Network (CVN) headquartered in Atlanta, had requested they be permitted to continuously stream coverage of the trial over the Internet. Swope denied their request last month, noting that the proceedings would be shown via closed circuit to an off-site remote viewing area in the old courtroom in the Putnam County Courthouse.

David Siegel, director of court relations for CVN, said Tuesday that after reviewing Swope's order about media coverage, "unless we hear otherwise, we're going to assume we're approved to cover the trial." Siegel wrote an email to the Gazette.

Siegel said he believes Swope gave local television stations the network's information to contact about pooling coverage. He said the network has been in contact with several television stations, which have agreed to allow the network to film the trial and provide them access to their coverage.

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- The judge in the huge class-action pollution trial against Monsanto issued an order clarifying permissible media coverage of the trial.
Mercer Circuit Judge Derek Swope said he will allow cameras and audio equipment in the courtroom as permitted by the West Virginia Trial Court Rules, which govern, among other things, media coverage.

Only one still camera and one video camera will be allowed in the courtroom each day and cannot be set up or taken down while court is in session, Swope wrote.

http://wvgazette.com/News/201201100181

"The various media outlets can work out the coverage between themselves. If a long-term agreement cannot be worked out, the first source to report to the Courtroom Bailiff will be allowed to cover the courtroom proceedings for that day," Swope wrote.

Swope's order forbids the media from filming or photographing jurors and says that no coverage in the courtroom is allowed until a jury has been selected and placed.

The court referred further media inquiries about coverage of the trial to Jennifer Bundy, the public information officer at the West Virginia Supreme Court.

A national media organization, Courtroom View Network (CVN) headquartered in Atlanta, had requested they be permitted to continuously stream coverage of the trial over the Internet. Swope denied their request last month, noting that the proceedings would be shown via closed circuit to an off-site remote viewing area in the old courtroom in the Putnam County Courthouse.

David Siegel, director of court relations for CVN, said Tuesday that after reviewing Swope's order about media coverage, "unless we hear otherwise, we're going to assume we're approved to cover the trial." Siegel wrote an email to the Gazette.

Siegel said he believes Swope gave local television stations the network's information to contact about pooling coverage. He said the network has been in contact with several television stations, which have agreed to allow the network to film the trial and provide them access to their coverage.

"He wouldn't have asked the fox/abc guys to contact us to arrange pool coordination if we were still denied," Siegel wrote.

Swope was not available for comment.

Jury selection began last Tuesday, and courthouse insiders said nine jurors had been cleared to serve as of last Friday afternoon. A total of 28 jurors must be qualified before lawyers select 12 to serve. The trial is expected to last three to six months.

The plaintiffs in the case are thousands of current and former Nitro residents who claim that Monsanto polluted their town during the days when it made the Vietnam-era defoliant Agent Orange at a nearby facility.

The lawsuit seeks medical monitoring for at least 5,000 -- and perhaps as many as 80,000 -- current and former Nitro residents.

Reach Kate White at kate.wh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.







More Articles in News 1 | 2 | Next Page »

K-MART and SEARS theaten to shut down 100-120 locations

.....Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores.Zoom Photos. .This Nov. 9, 2011 photo, shows signs at at Kmart store, in New York. Sears Holdings Corp. said Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, it plans to close 100 to 120 of its Sears and Kmart stores as its holiday sales disappointed and it looks to reduce costs. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK -- Between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores are shutting down after terrible holiday sales during the most crucial time of the year for retailers.

Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, said in a news release Tuesday the company has not yet determined which stores will close.

The company said the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash in inventory sales. The retailer anticipates additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate holdings.

The retailer says that same-store revenue fell 5.2 percent to date for the quarter at both Sears and Kmart. Kmart's declining sales were blamed on diminished layaways and a drop in clothing and consumer electronics sales. Sears' cited lackluster consumer electronics and home appliance sales.

Sears has more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Springfield has a Sears store inside White Oaks Mall and Kmarts on Wabash Avenue and Clear Lake Avenue.

http://www.sj-r.com/breaking/x1980200937/Sears-to-close-100-to-120-Kmart-Sears-stores

Monday, January 9, 2012

Microsoft Set to MAke Noise in 2012


Microsoft at CES 2012: Nothing to see here?

by  
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES 2011.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
LAS VEGAS--Expect Microsoft, in its last ever Consumer Electronics Show, to end its long run with more of a whimper than a bang.
No doubt, there will be some pizzazz to tonight's keynote address from CEO Steve Ballmer. The opening keynote address at the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow is a marketing opportunity like few others. The company will showcase its key consumer products, demonstrating them with some flair and perhaps a celebrity or two.
But Microsoft doesn't plan to unveil any new major products at the show. That may seem odd in a year that promises big news for several of the company's consumer products. Microsoft will likely launch the next version of Windows, called Windows 8, as well as update its mobile phone operating system, Windows Phone 7.5, in 2012. And there is some expectation that it will announce plans this year for the next version of its Xbox console, which a source on the Xbox team says is targeted to debut in 2013.
But each of those big news events will come later this year. When Microsoft announced last month that this CES will mark its last keynote presentation and booth at the confab, head spokesman Frank Shaw noted that "our product news milestones generally don't align with the show's January timing." What's more, with so many companies announcing so much at CES, it's hard for a product announcement to rise above the noise.
So rather than force news that's not quite ready, and fight for attention with the other product launches at CES, Microsoft will use this year's event to highlight announcements it's already made. Ballmer is likely to spend a chunk of his keynote speaking about Windows, but much of that talk will focus on Windows 7, which debuted more than two years ago. There will likely be looks at new thin laptops, dubbed ultrabooks, that partners will debut at the show.
Ballmer isn't going to ignore Windows 8, the touch-ready operating system that the company will rely on to compete with Apple's iPads, as well as power a new generation of PCs. But Ballmer is expect to go over features the company previewed at its Build conference in September, and in subsequent announcements in the following months.
As for Windows Phone, Microsoft's key partners will unveil new models at CES, most notably Nokia, which is rumored to be readying its sleek Lumia 900, to be sold by AT&T in the United States. Indeed, CES may well be a momentum builder for the mobile operation system, which has won some kudos from the tech press. While Microsoft will likely highlight those new devices in the keynote and during the show, it will allow handset makers take the limelight for their products.
There's little doubt that Ballmer will use his keynote to talk up the momentum garnered by the Xbox. The console continues to be the best-selling game machine in the United States. And the Kinect motion-sensing controller also flew off shelves over the holidays. Ballmer is likely, too, to talk about new partnerships that are bring live programming to its Xbox Live service, some of which were highlighted as the company revamped the interface last month.
But the big news about the debut of a new console will wait, perhaps coming at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, where the audience is more focused on gaming and the timing is closer to a possible launch.
Microsoft is clearly set to make plenty of noise in the consumer electronics world in 2012. It's just not likely to crank up the volume too high at CES.


Read more: http://www.cnet.com/8301-33372_1-57354724/microsoft-at-ces-2012-nothing-to-see-here/#ixzz1izTjh0E7

Nigeria facing Strike


Nigeria faces mass strike and protests over discontinued state fuel subsidy

Thousands expected to march through streets of Lagos and Abuja after petrol pump prices more than double overnight
Nigerian petrol attendants serve customers ahead of a nationwide strike over cuts in state fuel subsidy. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP
The timing could hardly have been worse. Already grappling with a string of attacks by a violent Islamist group in recent weeks, Nigeria's government now faces an indefinite mass strike and protests that threaten to shut down the country.
Thousands in Africa's most populous nation have poured onto the streets since the government announced on 1 January that it would discontinue a state fuel subsidy programme, which has kept fuel cheap for decades – but diverted valuable funds needed to invest in infrastructure for Nigeria's booming population.
Overnight, petrol pump prices in Africa's largest oil-producing country more than doubled to about $1 per litre.
With the fuel subsidy eating into a quarter of the annual budget, the government says it will save £4.2bn annually to invest in underperforming refineries that have forced Nigeria to import its own oil once it has been refined.
Seun Kuti, the son of afrobeat musician and vocal anti-government critic Fela Kuti, said he would lead supporters through the choked streets of Lagos on Monday.
"I'm not talking economics here, I'm just talking common sense," he said, as he handed out flyers to students, labourers and market workers who planned to attend the rally. "You cannot charge $1 a litre when the [majority of the] population lives on less than a dollar a day."
Defying a court injunction that banned the strikes because they are unrelated to a labour dispute, leaders of the country's largest trade union asked more than 2 million members to begin an "indefinite" strike on Monday, which could paralyse road and air traffic and shut down power grids.
Armoured police vehicles – many already in place after sectarian bombings killed dozens across the country in recent weeks – fanned out across the capital, Abuja, and other major cities ahead of the strikes.
Security sources say 15,000 police will be deployed in the capital, Abuja, on Monday.
President Goodluck Jonathan attempted to quell the growing public discontent in a special televised address late on Saturday. "I personally feel pained to see the sharp increase in transport fares and the prices of goods and services. If I were in your shoes at this moment, I probably would have reacted in the same way," he said, before announcing a 25% pay cut for cabinet ministers.
His administration argues that the subsidy hands over billions of dollars annually to a cartel of fuel importers, while dampening appetite for private investment in Nigeria's under-performing refineries.
"I understand fully well that deregulation is not a magic formula that will address every economic challenge, but it provides a good entry point for transforming the economy," the president said.
Jonathan, who took office in May last year, has struggled to win over weary Nigerians who have rarely benefited from the nation's two million barrel-per-day oil industry. The president's belated address to the nation has been largely drowned out by a storm of debate across radio and TV shows.
Calls from Nigerians with access to Facebook and Twitter accounts – a minority in a country where 70% live on less than $2 a day — for sit-in movements similar to the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States have gained steady momentum in major urban centres.
But the debate has spawned vocal critics on either side of the divide. Student Onyewu Ahubi asked: "Where were these protestors when education funding was being cut? Is it only because they can't fill up their big cars now they are protesting?" He said protests were lacklustre in the largely rural state of Benue, where pump prices routinely outstrip those in urban centres.
The planned shutdown comes amid a state of emergency declared in the several northern states after the violent Islamist group Boko Haram stepped up a long-simmering insurgency when it attacked four churches simultaneously on Christmas day. The group has killed at least 40 people in the past two weeks, threatening to ignite a sectarian civil conflict.
Bismarke Rewane, a former economic advisor to the President said, the government lacked credibility among Nigerians. "We have a political and sectarian crisis both looming at the same time. Even if the strike is called off by labour unions, I don't think the protests will go away. Right now people are united because of the common pain," he added.


US Patent #5676977 said to cure AIDS

Method of curing AIDS with tetrasilver tetroxide molecular crystal devices 

Abstract
The diamagnetic semiconducting molecular crystal tetrasilver tetroxide (Ag.sub.4 O.sub.4) is utilized for destroying the AIDS virus, destroying AIDS synergistic pathogens and immunity suppressing moieties (ISM) in humans. A single intravenous injection of the devices is all that is required for efficacy at levels of about 40 PPM of human blood. The device molecular crystal contains two mono and two trivalent silver ions capable of "firing" electrons capable of electrocuting the AIDS virus, pathogens and ISM. When administered into the bloodstream, the device electrons will be triggered by pathogens, a proliferating virus and ISM, and when fired will simultaneously trigger a redox chelation mechanism resulting in divalent silver moieties which chelate and bind active sites of the entities destroying them. The devices are completely non-toxic. However, they put stress on the liver causing hepatomegaly, but there is no loss of liver function.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5676977.PN.&OS=PN/5676977&RS=PN/5676977

New Icelandic volcano eruption could have global impact

Hundreds of metres under one of Iceland's largest glaciers there are signs of a looming volcanic eruption that could be one of the most powerful the country has seen in almost a century.
Mighty Katla, with its 10km (6.2 mile) crater, has the potential to cause catastrophic flooding as it melts the frozen surface of its caldera and sends billions of gallons of water surging through Iceland's east coast and into the Atlantic Ocean.
"There has been a great deal of seismic activity," says Ford Cochran, the National Geographic's expert on Iceland.
There were more than 500 tremors in and around the caldera of Katla just in October, which suggests the motion of magma.
"And that certainly suggests an eruption may be imminent."
Scientists in Iceland have been closely monitoring the area since 9 July, when there appears to have been some sort of disturbance that may have been a small eruption.
Graphic
Eruption 'long overdue'?
Even that caused significant flooding, washing away a bridge across the country's main highway and blocking the only link to other parts of the island for several days.
"The 9 July event seems to mark the beginning of a new period of unrest for Katla, the fourth we know in the last half century," says Professor Pall Einarsson, who has been studying volcanoes for 40 years and works at the Iceland University Institute of Earth Sciences.

Start Quote

It means you actually see the crust of the earth ripping apart”
Ford CochranIceland expert, National Geographic
"The possibility that it may include a larger eruption cannot be excluded," he continues. "Katla is a very active and versatile volcano. It has a long history of large eruptions, some of which have caused considerable damage."
The last major eruption occurred in 1918 and caused such a large glacier meltdown that icebergs were swept into the ocean by the resulting floods.
The volume of water produced in a 1755 eruption equalled that of the world's largest rivers combined.
Thanks to the great works of historic literature known as the Sagas, Iceland's volcanic eruptions have been well documented for the last 1,000 years.
But comprehensive scientific measurements were not available in 1918, so volcanologists have no record of the type of seismic activity that led to that eruption.
All they know is that Katla usually erupts every 40 to 80 years, which suggests the next significant event is long overdue.
Smoke billows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull on 16 April 2010Eyjafjallajokull's relatively small eruption in 2010 halted air traffic across Europe
Katla is part of a volcanic zone that includes the Laki craters. In 1783 volcanoes in the area erupted continuously for eight months, generating so much ash, hydrogen fluoride and sulphur dioxide that it killed one in five Icelanders and half of the country's livestock.
"And it actually changed the Earth's climate," says Mr Cochran.
"Folks talk about a nuclear winter - this eruption generated enough sulphuric acid droplets that it made the atmosphere reflective, cooled the planet for an entire year or more and caused widespread famine in many places around the globe.
"One certainly hopes that Katla's eruption will not be anything like that!"
The trouble is scientists do not know what to expect. As Prof Einarsson explains, volcanoes have different personalities and are prone to changing their behaviour unexpectedly.
"When you study a volcano you get an idea about its behaviour in the same way you judge a person once you get to know them well.
"You might be on edge for some reason because the signs are strange or unusual, but it's not always very certain what you are looking at. We have had alarms about Katla several times."
Changing climate
He says the fallout also depends on the type of eruption and any number of external factors.
Iceland fissures 1 December 2010Iceland is the only place where the mid-Atlantic rift is visible above the surface of the ocean
"This difficulty is very apparent when you compare the last two eruptions in Iceland - Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 and Grimsvotn in 2011.
"Eyjafjallajokull, which brought air traffic to a halt across Europe, was a relatively small eruption, but the unusual chemistry of the magma, the long duration and the weather pattern during the eruption made it very disruptive.
"The Grimsvotn eruption of 2011 was much larger in terms of volume of erupted material.
"It only lasted a week and the ash in the atmosphere fell out relatively quickly.
"So it hardly had any noticeable effect except for the farmers in south-east Iceland who are still fighting the consequences."
Of course, volcanoes are erupting around the world continuously. Scientists are particularly excited about an underwater volcano near El Hierro in the Canary Islands, which is creating new land.
But Iceland is unique because it straddles two tectonic plates and is the only place in the world where the mid-Atlantic rift is visible above the surface of the ocean.
"It means you actually see the crust of the earth ripping apart," says Mr Cochran. "You have an immense amount of volcanic activity and seismic activity. It's also at a relatively high latitude so Iceland is host to among other things, the world's third-largest icecap."
But the biggest threat to Iceland's icecaps is seen as climate change, not the volcanoes that sometimes melt the icecaps.
They have begun to thin and retreat dramatically over the last few decades, contributing to the rise in sea levels that no eruption of Katla, however big, is likely to match.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15995845




FDA says Walnuts are Drugs After seller says they reduce Heart Disease


Walnuts are DRUGS! FDA makes bizarre claim after seller says they 'reduce risk of heart disease and cancer' 

Last updated at 6:53 AM on 26th July 2011
Hard drugs? The FDA allegedly classed walnuts as a drug because of claims they are good for your health
Hard drugs? The FDA allegedly classed walnuts as a drug because of claims they are good for your health
They may just be the hardest drugs on the market, if the FDA are to be believed.
A company which sells walnuts has been told they are dealing in drugs because their packaging suggests health benefits which the Food and Drug Administration has not approved, it has been reported.
A fiercely-worded letter from the agency allegedly insisted Diamond Foods, from Stockton, California, remove the health claims or send off for a new drug application if it did not wish to be closed down.
The nut company has been selling its products with packaging which states the omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.
But while the claims are backed up by research, including 35 published medical papers supporting assertions that eating walnuts improves vascular health and may reduce risk of heart attacks, the FDA is said to have insisted the company is 'misbranding' its foods because the 'product bears health claims that are not authorised by the FDA'.
The letter from the FDA reportedly stated: 'We have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.'
 
It went on to emphasise that the nuts are 'misbranded' because they 'are offered for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners.
'Therefore, adequate directions for use cannot be written so that a layperson can use these drugs safely for their intended purposes.'
Critics have slammed the FDA for the supposedly 'tyrannical' manner in which they have accused the walnut sellers of dealing in drugs.
William Faloon, from Life Extension Magazine, said: 'The FDA’s language resembles that of an out-of-control police state where tyranny [reigns] over rationality.
'This kind of bureaucratic tyranny sends a strong signal to the food industry not to innovate in a way that informs the public about foods that protect against disease.
'While consumers increasingly reach for healthier dietary choices, the federal government wants to deny food companies the ability to convey findings from scientific studies about their products.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018807/Walnuts-DRUGS-FDA-makes-bizarre-claim-seller-says-reduce-risk-heart-disease-cancer.html#ixzz1iwo5wM1Z

7.0 Earthquake shakes JApan on New Years


Japan hit by force 7 earthquake just hours after celebrating the New Year

Last updated at 10:56 AM on 1st January 2012

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7 hit eastern and northeastern Japan today, but there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no danger of a tsunami.
The quake, which measured 4 in central Tokyo, Fukushima and their surrounding areas, struck 217 miles below the sea surface at 2.28pm (5.27am GMT).
Such a deep jolt is less likely to cause damage than one close to the surface.
People watch the rising sun on New Year's Day at the tsunami struck Yuriage district of Natori city in Miyagi prefecture on January 1, 2012
People watch the rising sun on New Year's Day at the tsunami struck Yuriage district of Natori city in Miyagi prefecture on January 1, 2012
Devastation: The tsunami which hit Japan killing thousands last March after a massive earthquake
Devastation: The tsunami which hit Japan killing thousands last March after a massive earthquake
It was centred near Japan’s Izu Islands, about 307 miles south-southwest of the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 
Buildings swayed in Tokyo, but did not disrupt the final of the Emperor's Cup football tournament being played at the National Stadium.
A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said there were no reports of any irregularities at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plan.
Some roads were temporarily closed and high-speed train services in northern Japan were suspended for a short time.
The Hawaii-based US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has not issued a tsunami.
Last year's devastation: A Toyota dealership is seen at a devastated area after the earthquake in Miyagi prefecture in March 2011
Last year's devastation: A Toyota dealership is seen at a devastated area after the earthquake in Miyagi prefecture in March 2011
John Roos, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said in a message on Twitter: ' 'Memorable start to New Year — about to greet Emperor and Empress for New Year when Imperial Palace began to shake.'
Japan, which lies along the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' is one of the world's most seismically active countries.
It accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
Last March, the northeast coast was struck by a record magnitude 9 earthquake, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl.
The disaster left more than 20,000 dead or missing.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080895/Japan-earthquake-Force-7-quake-shakes-Tokyo-hours-new-year.html#ixzz1iwmMBgNo



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080895/Japan-earthquake-Force-7-quake-shakes-Tokyo-hours-new-year.html