Matthew Fox wants jury trial in bus driver suit

(AP) ? Matthew Fox wants a jury trial in a Cleveland civil lawsuit claiming the former star of TV's "Lost" punched the driver of a chartered party bus.

Online court records show Fox made the demand in a counterclaim filed Thursday.

In her lawsuit, driver Heather Bormann of Cleveland alleges that Fox punched her in the breast, groin, arm and legs after she blocked him from boarding the bus on Aug. 28. Fox was in Cleveland for a movie shoot.

Bormann's suit says she needed medical treatment for injuries that led to a loss of income. She's seeking at least $75,000 in damages.

Cleveland prosecutors reviewed the case and declined to file charges against the actor.

Messages for comment were left early Tuesday for the attorneys for both Fox and Bormann.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-08-Bus%20Dispute-Matthew%20Fox/id-f668e1776cc341adb17906b39918aadb

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#SciAmBlogs Tuesday - asteroid miss, GPS in court, Siri and more...


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Bora ZivkovicBora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

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--> Bora ZivkovicBora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz. Bora ZivkovicBora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz. Bora ZivkovicBorn in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), Bora was always interested in animals and nature. His studies in veterinary medicine were interrupted by the 1990s war in the Balkans, when he arrived in the USA. He went to graduate school at North Carolina State University where he studied how bird brains measure time of day (circadian rhythms) and time of year (photoperiodism). He started ‘A Blog Around The Clock’ in 2004. He teaches introductory biology to non-traditional students at North Carolina Wesleyan College, organizes the annual ScienceOnline conference, and edits Open Laboratory – the annual anthology of the best writing on science blogs. - http://coturnix.org - boraz Contact Bora Zivkovic via email.
Follow Bora Zivkovic on Twitter as @boraz. Or visit their website.-->

#SciAmBlogs Tuesday ? asteroid miss, GPS in court, Siri and more?

Bora ZivkovicAbout the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=71906868fe152c921c23ac7c204bd5fb

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Has the government attached GPS to your car?

Supreme Court justices hear a challenge to the growing police practice of secretly installing tracking devices on the cars of unsuspecting drivers. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

By Suzanne Choney

Most of us really appreciate the benefits of GPS?? except when it's surreptitiously attached to our vehicle?by the government. And how would you know?

You wouldn't. That's the point, of course: Feds and police agencies investigating bad guys don't want them to know they're being tracked. But what if you're not a bad guy? What if you're just ... you?

Several justices on the U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday they have reservations about allowing law enforcement to do such monitoring without a warrant. If the federal government wins the case before the Supremes, it would "suddenly produce what sounds like '1984,' " said Justice Stephen Breyer.

Another Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagan, said with GPS being able to track a person's movements 24 hours a day, "that seems too much to me."

The court heard arguments in the case, which is an appeal by the federal government of a lower-court decision that tossed out a drug conspiracy conviction of a Maryland man. In that case, the FBI and local police didn't have a valid search warrant when they put a GPS device on the man's car, the lower court ruled.

Justice Department attorney Michael Dreeben told the high court Tuesday that GPS devices are very helpful especially in the initial stages of an investigation, when GPS can do the monitoring work that might be otherwise be required of a team of officers. And, he argued, GPS is only one of many police tools that don't require a warrant; others include going through a person's trash or following a suspect 24/7.

Cases of surprised citizens finding government GPS units on their car aren't everyday occurrences, but they are happening.

In March, an Egyptian-American college student filed suit against the FBI for secretly putting a GPS tracking device on his car. Yasir Afifi, a California native who said he had and has nothing to hide, said a mechanic doing an oil change on his car found the device between his car's right rear wheel and exhaust.

At a news conference, Afifi said when he asked the FBI about the device, the agency did not give him a clear answer as to why he was being monitored.

"I'm sure I have done nothing wrong to provoke anyone's interest," Afifi said in an Associated Press report, "although he noted that his family is from Egypt, he's a young man and he makes a lot of calls overseas. 'So I'm sure I fit their profile.' "

Perhaps Greg also fits that profile. Wired's Threat Level reports Tuesday that Greg, a "Hispanic American who lives in San Jose at the home of his girlfriend?s parents," contacted the publication after finding not one, but two hidden GPS devices on his Volvo SUV:

After contacting Wired and allowing a photographer to snap pictures of? (the first) device, it was swapped out and replaced with a second tracking device. A witness also reported seeing a strange man looking beneath the vehicle of the young man?s girlfriend while her car was parked at work, suggesting that a tracking device may have been retrieved from her car.

Then things got really weird when police showed up during a Wired interview with the man.

The monitoring, Greg told Wired, "most likely involves a criminal drug investigation centered around his cousin, a Mexican citizen who fled across the border to that country a year ago and may have been involved in the drug trade as a dealer."

And when the Wired reporter "drove down to meet Greg and photograph the second tracker with photographer Snyder, three police cars appeared at the location that had been pre-arranged with Greg, at various points driving directly behind me without making any verbal contact before leaving."

College student Afifi, who spoke to msnbc.com's Kari Huus recently, said when he found the GPS device on his car, he photographed it and posted the pictures on the Internet. A few days later, he said, FBI agents showed up at his house, demanding he return the tracker. He did so but declined to answer questions or allow them in the house without a warrant, he told Huus.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule before June on the issue of whether a warrant is needed for GPS monitoring. Until then, wouldn't hurt to check your car or ask your mechanic to do so. Just in case.

Related stories:

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/08/8702995-has-the-government-attached-gps-to-your-car

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Verizon Roadmap Leak Details Galaxy Nexus and Xoom 2 Launch [Verizon]

A leaked Verizon document on Droid Life is an unverified glimpse into the company's future releases. Too bad it's filled with web only and Wednesday-release weirdness. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/RTLXylx6aGM/verizon-roadmap-leak-details-galaxy-nexus-and-xoom-2-launch

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Sponsored Post: Sims 3 Pets Caption Contest - Lolcats 'n' Funny ...

Source: http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/11/06/sponsored-post-sims-3-pets-caption-contest/

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Ohio voters to decide bargaining rights for public employees

Echoing Wisconsin and other states, Ohio is considering a law that would limit public employees' collective bargaining rights. The law, pushed by Republican Gov. John Kasich, faces a referendum vote.

Ohio voters this coming Tuesday will decide whether or not to uphold a controversial labor law designed to change the face of the public sector labor force in the state.

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If passed, the new law will replace a 28-year-old collective bargaining law with a new version that restricts the bargaining terms for the state?s nearly 400,000 public employees, prohibits striking, and gives management the final say on such topics as health insurance.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed Senate Bill 5 into law in late March to replace the 1983 law with one he said would close the state?s budget gap and save the state $8 billion.

Opponents cried foul, saying the bill?s true purpose is to weaken the state?s unions, a charge made often in Wisconsin earlier this year when that state?s Republican leadership pushed through a similar bill that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the state capital to protest for weeks.

National attention on the issue is corresponding to the money filtering into the state from special interest groups.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, We Are Ohio, a national labor group opposing the bill, is leading the money drive, having raised $19 million since July. Building a Better Ohio, a group advocating the law, raised $7.6 million in that same time period.

Building a Better Ohio and other groups backing the bill reportedly have ties to billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch and to Mary Cheney, daughter of the former vice president.

Last-minute media blitzes are also spanning the state. This weekend, Ohio voters are receiving robo-calls from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) asking them to uphold the bill. On her Facebook page, Ms. Palin calls herself ?a proud former union member? and said the new bill ?will help restore fairness to Ohio taxpayers and help balance the budget.?

Polling suggests that public support for both the bill and Gov. Kasich is eroding.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Hamden, Conn. released polling results last week that showed the bill failing by a 25-point margin. Last month, the same pollsters showed the bill failing by a 14-point margin. Last week?s poll also showed Kasich?s approval rating at 36 percent, a four-point drop from the earlier poll. His disapproval rating is currently at 52 percent.

The governor held rallies last week throughout the state to galvanize support for the referendum. Talking to reporters Thursday before a rally in Independence, Ohio, he said he understood that passing the bill would not be easy.

?I'm not a guy who goes and hides?. This is a tough, uphill fight,? he said.

Among the measures in the new bill:

???? Public workers are prohibited from striking; employers are required to deduct twice a day?s pay for each day of a strike, should it occur.

???? Health coverage is excluded from collective bargaining; management has the authority to decide whether or not other topics, such as starting and quitting times, and work assignments, can be negotiated.

???? Performance-based pay replaces seniority-based scales; an evaluation system is established for teachers.

???? Performance, not seniority, becomes the main factor in layoffs.

???? Employees must pay at least 15 percent of health insurance costs, and management has the option of bargaining for more. Management also determines benefits.

The law has not taken effect with the referendum pending.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/OKk6KY9jvx8/Ohio-voters-to-decide-bargaining-rights-for-public-employees

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Smallpox vaccine extends life in cancer trial (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? A genetically engineered smallpox vaccine reduced the risk of death for patients with advanced liver cancer by nearly 60 percent in a mid-stage study, prompting the launch of a later-stage trial.

Scientists at institutions including the University of California, San Diego, and privately held biotech company Jennerex Inc presented Phase 2 trial data on Saturday showing that patients given high doses of the altered vaccine, known as JX-594, lived for a median of 13.8 months compared with 6.7 months for patients treated with one-tenth of that dose.

The small 30-patient study found that 66 percent of the high-dose patients were alive after one year, compared with 23 percent of the low-dose group.

Temporary flu-like symptoms were the main side effect seen in the trial, which was presented in San Francisco at a meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Scientists have been intrigued for decades with the idea of using viruses to alert the immune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells. That interest has taken off in recent years as advances in genetic engineering allow them to customize viruses that target tumors.

JX-594 is derived from a strain of the virus vaccinia, once commonly used to vaccinate children against smallpox.

"Viruses are inherently cancer selective and tumor cells are inherently susceptible to viral attack," said Dr. David Kirn, chief medical officer at Jennerex. "We enhance selectivity by further attenuating and weakening the virus in normal tissue."

He said the first patient has been enrolled in a Phase 2b study comparing JX-594 with standard care in 120 liver cancer patients who have stopped responding to Nexavar, also known as sorafenib, sold by Onyx Pharmaceuticals.

Patients in the trial will first be given an intravenous infusion of JX-594, followed by direct injections into the tumor. Dr. Kirn said the trial will also allow for more continuous dosing than in earlier studies.

Jennerex plans to launch next year a Phase 3 head-to-head trial comparing JX-594 with Nexavar and is conducting earlier-stage trials in other types of cancer.

Other forays into using engineered viruses include biotech giant Amgen Inc's deal in January to pay up to $1 billion for BioVex and its cancer drug development platform based on the herpes simplex virus.

Amgen said last month that it had completed enrollment in a Phase 3 trial of the therapy in melanoma patients.

Jennerex is primarily funded by investors from Canada and South Korea. European rights to JX-594 have been licensed to Transgene SA. Other regional licenses are held by Lee's Pharmaceutical Ltd for China and Green Cross Corp for South Korea.

(Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111105/hl_nm/us_cancer_virus

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Google's Eric Schmidt Is Scared of Siri [Google]

Maybe it's just a bit of false modesty, but chairman Eric Schmidt told a Senate subcommittee recently that he believes Apple's Siri technology poses a threat to Google in the search market. More »


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Groupon shares surge but concerns linger (Reuters)

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? The shares of daily deals site Groupon Inc rose as much as 56 percent in their stock market debut on Friday, with at least some of the exuberance the result of the small number of shares sold.

The shares rose as high as $31.14, or 55.7 percent above the IPO price, in early trading on the Nasdaq, at one point pushing the market value of the company to $19.9 billion. The shares later eased to close at $26.11, 31 percent above their $20 IPO price, giving the company a market value of about $16.7 billion.

Groupon had the third-highest trading volume on the Nasdaq on Friday, with nearly 50 million trades.

Groupon sells Internet coupons for everything from spa treatments to nose jobs and is one of this year's most closely watched IPOs.

The offering, one of the largest in recent years, may be a barometer of investor appetite for IPOs. A strong first few trading days could help other private Internet companies -- such as Angie's List, Zynga and even Facebook -- pursue their own IPOs.

There is a huge backlog of companies that filed to go public earlier this year. Most put their plans on hold when the stock market slumped in August. Groupon is the first major IPO since then.

Chief Executive Andrew Mason and Chairman Eric Lefkofsky hugged in Times Square after ringing the opening bell on the Nasdaq. Employees at company headquarters in Chicago donned lime green T-shirts emblazoned with the company's ticker symbol "GRPN" printed in old, ticker-tape-style lettering.

The company declined Reuters' requests for interviews. One employee in Chicago, who declined to give his name, said workers had been discouraged from speaking to the media. Several uniformed security guards walked the perimeter of the building, keeping an eye on Groupon workers who came outside on their cigarette breaks.

All of the shares sold in the IPO were new, which means early equity holders may sell a portion of their stake next spring, once the 6-month lock-up period expires. It also means that, for now, Andrew Mason's newly-minted $1.2 billion remains paper wealth.

Some analysts and investors warn that Groupon's early surge could be a short-term phenomenon and its shares could reverse course and trade down like those of Internet radio station Pandora Media Inc.

There are still lingering questions about Groupon's business model and about competition from better-funded rivals such as Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc.

Groupon has lost two chief operating officers in the past year and had to adjust its accounting twice under regulatory pressure.

"They wanted to have a decent pop on the stock so they didn't take that much public," said David Berman, a consumer technology and retail specialist at hedge fund firm Durban Capital. "They created demand by limiting supply, and they got the pop."

Michael Yoshikami head of money-management firm YCMNET Investment Committee, agreed.

"Much of this pop is based on low float. We continue to be concerned about Groupon's model, especially given the low barrier for entry into this space. But it's a familiar name and investors tend to gravitate to familiar names at first," he said.

On Thursday, Groupon upsized its IPO and sold 35 million shares for $20 each. But that stake amounts to only about 5 percent of the company.

The $700 million raised was on the larger side for a U.S. IPO, but the 5.5 percent represented the second-smallest share float in the United States in the past decade, according to capital markets data provider Ipreo.

Groupon was founded in October 2008 and has never been profitable. In the nine months ended September 30, it posted a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $308.1 million on revenue of $1.1 billion.

A spokeswoman for Deutsche Boerse AG's International Securities Exchange said it expects to list options on Groupon on November 14, with other major exchanges expected to follow suit. Options can be used to bet on the direction of stocks, including a decline. They are often used by traders to hedge stock positions.

Underwriters on the IPO were led by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin, Brendan McDermid, Rodrigo Campos, Edward Krudy and Phil Wahba in New York, Alistair Barr in San Francisco and James Kelleher and Doris Frankel in Chicago; editing by Derek Caney, Gerald E. McCormick, Steve Orlofsky and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111104/bs_nm/us_groupon_finalpricing

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