As Egypt votes, a surprising calm. But real test still to come

The first day of voting in Egypt's parliamentary election has been surprisingly calm and orderly. But the process will stretch out over three rounds set to culminate in January.

After a week of revolutionary upheaval, with state violence against democracy protesters leaving dozens dead in Cairo, Egypt began voting today in its first parliamentary election since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak.

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While the protests against Egypt's military rulers and attendant violence had many people questioning whether the first round of parliamentary elections could be fairly held today, most observers on the ground ? including our correspondent Kristen Chick ? are reporting a surprising amount of calm and order.

In Cairo and Alexandria at least, there were long lines of voters at multiple polling stations, and reports of a generally buoyant mood. The hard-core activists in Tahrir Square, still insisting that elections be delayed this morning, have had little impact on the day so far.

While these are positive early signs, stress must be placed on "early." Egypt's parliamentary election is being stretched out over three stages and two months. The ballots' hodge-podge of party lists, individual candidates, and parliamentary quota requirements for ill-defined "farmers" and "workers" is very hard to disentangle, increasing the likelihood that voters will make mistakes.

The election itself is being run and overseen by the same bureaucracy that oversaw Egypt's sham elections of 2005 and 2010. Fraud in ballot counting is still possible. Even if the count is fairly clean, convincing the public of that fact could prove a challenge given Egypt's history of stolen elections. There were delays in opening dozens of polling places, and the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party looks set to make a strong showing today, is beginning to field accusations of ballot-stuffing from secularist rivals.

Future trouble can't be discounted. Violence on behalf of individual candidates is common in Egyptian elections (at least eight people were killed across the country in the rigged 2010 parliamentary election), particularly in rural areas where independent oversight and monitoring is weaker. Once the election is finished and parliament sits, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) will continue to hold executive power.

Will the next parliament defy SCAF, and seek to grab full authority to write a new constitution for itself? Will it be filled with former stalwarts of Mr. Mubarak's regime (and therefore likely quiescent in the face of military pressure)? Will the Brotherhood dominate the parliament and guide Egypt in a much more overtly Islamist direction?

These are just some of the questions looming over this election and its outcome. The process has started, but answers remain months away.

Follow Dan Murphy on Twitter.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/fi2EQWm7XB0/As-Egypt-votes-a-surprising-calm.-But-real-test-still-to-come

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First of 3 arrested US students leaves Egypt

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 file image from Egyptian state television, three American students are displayed to the camera by Egyptian authorities following their arrest during protests in Cairo, where an Egyptian official said they were throwing firebombs at security forces. A spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo identified the students as Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind.; Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo.; and Gregory Porter, a 19 year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa. An official says an Egyptian court has ordered release of 3 US students arrested during Cairo unrest.(AP Photo/ Egyptian TV, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 file image from Egyptian state television, three American students are displayed to the camera by Egyptian authorities following their arrest during protests in Cairo, where an Egyptian official said they were throwing firebombs at security forces. A spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo identified the students as Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind.; Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo.; and Gregory Porter, a 19 year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa. An official says an Egyptian court has ordered release of 3 US students arrested during Cairo unrest.(AP Photo/ Egyptian TV, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? The first of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo has left Egypt, an airport official and an attorney for one of the trio confirmed on Friday.

The three Americans were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square last Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

Luke Gates, 21, left Cairo early Saturday morning on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany.

An Egyptian court ordered the release of Gates, along with Derrik Sweeney and Gregory Porter, both 19, on Thursday. All were studying at the American University in Cairo.

The other two are expected to leave on separate flights later Saturday morning, the airport official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said police escorted the students to the Cairo airport Friday.

"I am pleased and thankful to report that Gregory Porter is in the air. He has departed Egyptian airspace and is on his way home," Simon said later Friday.

Simon did not give an estimate of when Porter would be arriving in the U.S.

Simon said he and Porter's mother both spoke by phone with the student, who is from the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside.

"He clearly conveyed to me ... that he was OK," Simon told the AP.

Joy Sweeney told the AP her son, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Missouri, would fly from Frankfurt to Washington, then on to St. Louis. She said family will meet him when he arrives late Saturday.

"I am ecstatic," Sweeney said Friday. "I can't wait for him to get home tomorrow night. I can't believe he's actually going to get on a plane. It is so wonderful."

The 21-year-old Gates is a student at Indiana University.

Sweeney said she had talked with her son Friday afternoon and "he seemed jubilant."

"He thought he was going to be able to go back to his dorm room and get his stuff," she said. "We said, 'No, no, don't get your stuff, we just want you here.'"

She said American University will ship his belongings home.

Sweeney had earlier said she did not prepare a Thanksgiving celebration this week because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.

"I'm getting ready to head out and buy turkey and stuffing and all the good fixings so that we can make a good Thanksgiving dinner," she said Friday.

___

Kozel reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia and Dana Fields in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-25-Egypt-American%20Students/id-9843f0bced184e0aa1cb517fccf1a950

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NASA?s Curiosity Rover Sets Off for Mars Mission

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The one-ton Curiosity is a mobile, nuclear-powered laboratory holding 10 scientific instruments that will sample Martian soil and rocks.

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After five months in space, ISS astronauts land in Kazakhstan

A trio of astronauts in a Russian Soyuz capsule parachuted back to Earth Tuesday, touching down on a frigid, snowy steppe in Central Kazakhstan.?

Three astronauts inside a Russian Soyuz capsule parachuted safely back to Earth Tuesday after nearly six months on the International Space Station (ISS), the first landing since NASA retired its space shuttles this summer.

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U.S. astronaut Mike Fossum, Japan's Satoshi Furukawa and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov landed at 0226 GMT, shortly before sunrise on the snowbound steppe of central Kazakhstan, NASA TV showed.

"The landing was great. Everything's good," said Volkov, flashing a thumbs-up signal after he was extracted from a Soyuz TMA-02 capsule blackened by the extreme temperatures on re-entry to the atmosphere.

The closure of NASA's shuttle program means Russian spaceships are the only way to ferry goods and crews to and from the $100-billion ISS, which is shared by 16 nations, until commercial firms develop the ability to transport crews.

Russia hopes the textbook landing will help to restore confidence in its space program after the August crash of an unmanned Russian cargo flight suspended manned spacemissions.

The returning crew have been replaced in orbit by NASA's Daniel Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, whose successful launch last week allayed fears that the station would be left empty for the first time in a decade.

But the troubles have left the space station with half the usual handover time. The new crew had only six days with the outgoing astronauts to get up to speed on the quirks of life in space and the station's operations.

NASA said the Soyuz capsule had landed on its side, not unusual in windy conditions, about 90 km (55 miles) north of the town of Arkalyk. Temperatures at the landing site were 15 degrees Celsius below zero.

The three-man crew had spent 167 days in space and their return to Earth took about three-and-a-half hours.

Volkov, huddled in a thermal blanket, is a second-generation cosmonaut and was following in the footsteps of his father, NASA said. It called him: "a rising star in the cosmonaut corps."

Fossum, second to emerge from the capsule, called his loved ones by satellite phone from the landing site. Furukawa, a 47-year-old professional surgeon, was last to emerge. An assistant mopped sweat from his brow.

After initial medical checks in an inflatable tent on site, the returning crew will be taken be helicopter to the city of Kostanai in northern Kazakhstan.

The ISS will regain full, six-person occupancy with the late December launch of U.S. astronauts Don Pettit, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/3wyPL3HupoU/After-five-months-in-space-ISS-astronauts-land-in-Kazakhstan

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Gallery crackdown on Leonardo da Vinci show tickets (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? London's National Gallery said on Wednesday it would crack down on the re-sale of tickets to its blockbuster show of Leonardo da Vinci paintings which are being offered online at up to 300 pounds each ($470).

The normal price of a ticket to "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan," billed as the most complete collection of Leonardo's few surviving paintings ever staged, is 16 pounds.

"We are obviously very disappointed at the resale of these tickets for profit," said a spokeswoman for the gallery.

"The resale of tickets for the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition is against the terms and conditions of their sale and this information is printed on the tickets.

"Our website clearly states: 'Tickets that have been resold will be canceled without refund and admission will be refused to the bearer.'"

She added that the gallery was in the process of contacting companies and websites offering to re-sell tickets and requesting that they "stop immediately.

"We are conducting checks on Leonardo tickets."

The exhibition, which opened on November 9 to rave reviews and closes on February 5, 2012, quickly sold out as art lovers from Britain and abroad scrambled for access.

The gallery has withheld a limited number of tickets to be sold each day, but on its website it warns visitors they may have to wait for up to three hours and then wait again to enter the show.

The website also advises ticket holders unable to attend to provide a signed letter of authorization if they wish to hand them over to somebody else.

On Wednesday, two tickets were offered on the eBay online auction website for 600 pounds, although most were priced significantly lower and in some cases at a discount to face value.

On the Viagogo online ticket exchange a pair of tickets was on sale for up to 227 pounds.

The exhibition boasts nine of 15 or 16 known Leonardo paintings, including "Christ as Salvator Mundi" which was only recently attributed to Leonardo, although its authenticity is still questioned by some.

Listed by the National Gallery as an original, the painting was sold at Sotheby's for 45 pounds in 1958, when it was believed to be by one of Leonardo's pupils.

According to ARTnews, the work is now owned by a consortium of dealers, including Robert Simon, a specialist in Old Masters in New York. Valued by experts at up to $200 million, Simon told the publication the work was not for sale.

The National Gallery has collected virtually all of the known Leonardo paintings from Milan, where he was court artist to the city's ruler Ludovico Sforza from around 1482-1499.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Triple bombings in Iraq kill 19

BASRA, Iraq?? A string of bombings in a southern oil city killed several people Thursday evening and injured dozens more, a grim sign of the security challenges Iraq will face after American troops go home.

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Iraqi officials raised the death toll to 19.

The U.S. military is drawing down its troops ahead of an end-of-December deadline to have all American forces out of the country. Incidents like Thursday's triple bombing in a city seen as key to Iraq's economic development show the dangerous prospects awaiting Iraqis next year.

Three bombs went off in a popular open-air market in Basra, police officials said.

The third bomb exploded a few minutes after Iraqi army and police forces arrived on the scene in response to the earlier blasts, officials said. The third blast caused all the fatalities and almost all of the injuries, the officials said.

Among the dead and wounded were many policemen and Iraqi army soldiers.

The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Kamal Ali was working at a clothing shop across the street when the blasts went off. He said after the first explosion, bystanders rushed to help the victims. When another blast went off about five minutes later, the terrified people ran to escape.

Then police and soldiers rushed to the scene before the third and most deadly bomb went off.

"Most of the casualties are police and Iraqi troops who rushed to help the victims and cordoned off the scene. They sacrificed their lives for the poor people," Ali said.

The head of the Basra provincial council, Ahmed al-Sulaiti, confirmed the incident.

"We can't blame the security forces for this act. They were the people most hurt," he said by telephone from Basra.

Basra is about 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad It is considered the center of Iraq's burgeoning oil sector.

Many foreign oil companies have offices there. The country is relying on foreign companies to bring the money and expertise needed to develop Iraq's vast oil sector, which has been ravaged by war, sanctions and neglect.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, and it was not clear whether it was the work of Sunni extremists like al-Qaida, or by Shiite militias. Sunni militants often stagger their blasts in order to cause the most carnage, and they often target security officials, whom they see as propping up the Shiite-led government.

The area where the blasts occurred is also a stronghold for Shiite militia members, who have been known to use violence as they jockey for power and control.

__

Associated Press writers Mazin Yahya and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45429892/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Scientists working hard to build a better turkey

The great majority of today's domesticated turkeys may not be able to fly, but their ancestors sure got around. The quintessential New World bird, Meleagris gallopavo, was already an Old World favorite by the time colonists in North America first celebrated any Thanksgiving feasts. Today's turkey researchers are investigating the big bird's genetic heritage and biology as part of an effort to improve several aspects of its cultivation.

In 2010, a team of researchers from numerous labs in the United States announced the sequencing of more than 90 percent of the turkey genome. This represented a big step in turkey research, but efforts continue.

"Once you identify genes, the next step is to figure out what they do," said Rami Dalloul, a poultry and immunology researcher at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg.

"What we've been doing for the past almost year is building upon that sequence and trying to figure out, are there traits in the original [wild] bird that might be useful for today's bird?" said Julie Long, a poultry researcher at the research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md.

The researchers have been working with the genetic material from the most popular domesticated commercial breed, the broad breasted white turkey. It is descended from turkeys domesticated in modern Mexico by predecessors of the Aztecs. The birds were well-established as a food source by the time the Conquistadors arrived. The Spanish took the birds back to Europe, and they quickly spread across the continent.

"Very quickly the domesticated turkey became, as far as I could tell, the real first New World food to be adopted in Europe," said Andrew F. Smith, a food historian and the author of "The Turkey: An American Story."

"When the Pilgrims and when the Jamestown colonists arrived, they had already eaten turkey," Smith said.

Smith said that by the 1550s, turkeys were already popular at Christmas dinners in England. When colonists came to the New World, they found large populations of wild birds that provided a reliable food source.

Colonists eventually began raising turkeys, but did not domesticate the wild birds.

"The commercial birds that we eat today were actually developed in the United States," said Long. "But they were developed on stocks that came from Europe that originally came from Mexico."

A whole different breed
After hundreds of years of breeding, today's commercial turkeys are far removed genetically from the wild turkeys from Mexico, which were already isolated from any of the five subspecies of wild turkeys found in the United States today.

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The genetic sequence of the domestic turkey differs from its wild turkey relatives, and can be used to illustrate differences between the animals.

"Once you have the baseline, which is the domestic turkey, then you have a good reference genome to come back to and then make a valid comparison," said Dalloul.

Wild turkeys have a gene that makes them resistant to a type of toxic fungus sometimes found in corn and soybeans. This toxin can be deadly on its own or lower a turkey's resistance to other infections and cause death that way.

The domestic breed no longer carries that resistant genetic trait.

"If you can bring back that gene into the domestic population, then you can have these birds again more resistant to [the toxin]," said Dalloul.

No natural mating
Even the intended consequences of commercial turkey breeds have introduced complications. Breeders developed birds with more white meat. The resulting turkeys, such as the broad breasted white, grow muscle quickly, and, as the name suggests, that muscle is concentrated in the breast area.

"[The breast] protrudes quite a bit and physically gets in the way when the birds need to reproduce," said Long. "In the commercial turkey industry there are no birds that naturally mate."

The great majority of turkey farmers must therefore depend upon artificial insemination, said Long. She suggested that there may be rare exceptions among small farms raising older breeds of turkeys, called heritage breeds, which may reproduce naturally. Artificial insemination is a laborious job in turkey facilities, as the sperm from male toms must be collected and female hens inseminated weekly.

"The amazing thing about the turkey hen is she's capable of keeping viable sperm cells for up to ten weeks after a single insemination," said Long. "The best we can do and still maintain high levels of fertility is about six hours."

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If turkey researchers could find a way to increase the amount of time that they can store sperm for later use, it might make the process of artificial insemination easier and less time-consuming. This is a primary area of research for Long, who hopes that further study of molecular DNA may help explain other reproductive issues as well, including why some hens lay more eggs than others.

More Thanksgiving science:

Chris Gorski is a writer and editor for Inside Science News Service. This report was originally published as "The Globe-Trotting Turkey" on the InsideScience.org website.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45422952/ns/technology_and_science/

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Pakistani ambassador's departure leaves void (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The departure of Pakistan's man in Washington, Ambassador Husain Haqqani, leaves U.S.-Pakistani relations temporarily adrift, with few trusted go-betweens after months of bruising political sparring that followed the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Haqqani resigned Tuesday over what has become known as "memo-gate" ? allegations that he sought U.S. help to head off a possible Pakistani military coup after the bin Laden operation. Former information minister Sherry Rehman, an important player in President Asif Zardari's ruling political party, was appointed Wednesday to replace Haqqani.

Haqqani's departure robs the two sides of a man who simultaneously was one of the Pakistani military's biggest critics and a constant, needling thorn in Washington's side, refusing American requests to expand the CIA's drone campaign against militants or increase American intelligence personnel on the ground.

When relations went south between the two sides, as they did after the SEALs killed bin Laden inside Pakistan, Haqqani, a former journalist with a prodigious Rolodex, kept lines of communication open with the White House, the CIA and the media by text, email and multiple daily tweets.

His history as a critic of the Pakistani military and intelligence services allowed him to act as a somewhat neutral go-between. He could smoothly shift from sympathetic listener to hard bargainer, as much counselor as diplomat, convincing the Americans he understood their frustration and assuring his Pakistani masters back home that he was standing firm against U.S. pressure.

Yet despite the fallout here, his departure is more about Pakistani political squabbles than U.S. relations, with Washington serving as foil to help the Pakistani military get rid of a longtime enemy, said Tim Hoyt, counterterrorism scholar at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

Haqqani's detailed account of the relationship between the Pakistani military and Islamic radicals in his 2005 book "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military" was seen "as a grievous betrayal," Hoyt said.

The book won him accolades in Pakistani civilian circles and helped secure academic positions as a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

The ease with which Haqqani moved in such rarefied U.S. circles "helps explain why the military, the intelligence services and many elites in Pakistan view him as dangerously pro-American," Hoyt said.

But it also made him effective. When U.S. lawmakers threatened to withdraw aid to Pakistan, Haqqani was credited with changing their minds. When then-U.S. military chief Adm. Mike Mullen accused Pakistan of complicity with the Haqqani militant network in attacking the U.S. Embassy in Kabul over the summer, the envoy went into overdrive, working the phones and persuading U.S. officials to meet him at his office or at the Army Navy Club near the White House ? discreet conversations that helped keep some forms of military cooperation moving forward.

The former ambassador has no family connection to the Haqqani militant network.

"Removing him at this juncture in U.S.-Pakistan relations can only be viewed as a self-inflicted wound," Hoyt said.

The charges against Haqqani remain unproven. They rise from a leaked memo he says he did not write, delivered by a Pakistani American businessman, Mansoor Ijaz, who lives in London and has a history of making such claims with little follow-through. The Pakistani government says it will investigate.

The envoy and his supporters have claimed the memo was a hoax cooked up by the military establishment to get rid of Haqqani and weaken the Zardari government and democratic institutions ? explosive charges in a country that has seen at least three military coups.

Ijaz claimed he received the missive from Haqqani and, following his instructions, passed it to Mullen through an intermediary after the bin Laden raid. A spokesman said Mullen had received it but considered it unreliable and ignored it.

The memo accuses army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani of plotting to bring down the government in the political turmoil and finger-pointing after the raid. It asks Mullen for his "direct intervention" to prevent a coup.

In return, it promises help in installing a "new security team" in Islamabad that would be friendly to Washington.

Ijaz has led a high-profile media campaign attacking the ambassador. He claimed that Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan's main intelligence agency, flew to London to meet with him last month. Ijaz said he provided Pasha with computer records implicating Haqqani.

Ijaz has a history of making claims to be well connected with U.S. politicians. During the Clinton administration, he said U.S. officials told him Sudan was willing to turn over then-fugitive bin Laden ? claims the U.S. administration immediately denied.

Haqqani returned to Pakistan over the weekend to face questioning over the alleged memo by the army and the intelligence chiefs.

"I have resigned to bring closure to this meaningless controversy threatening our fledgling democracy," he said in a statement. "It was an artificial crisis over an insignificant memo written by a self-centered businessman."

"I have much to contribute to building a new Pakistan free of bigotry & intolerance," Haqqani tweeted after his resignation. "Will focus energies on that."

Christine Fair, a Pakistan scholar who teaches at Georgetown University, said she didn't expect Haqqani's departure to lead to a further downturn in U.S.-Pakistan ties, noting that both countries were continuing with cooperation on targeting al-Qaida and on drone strikes in the Afghan border area.

"So we're still getting from them what we need in terms of a bare minimum," said Fair. "It would be surprising if a new ambassador would try to sabotage that ... but you can't rule it out."

___

Associated Press writers Chris Brummitt and Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Kimberly Dozier can be followed on Twitter (at)kimberlydozier.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_pakistan_envoy_scandal

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EU Commission sees eurobonds as way out of crisis (AP)

BRUSSELS ? The European Commission chief wants to introduce joint eurobonds of the 17 euro nations as an effective way to tackle the financial crisis, an idea which puts him on a collision course with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Jose Manuel Barroso said Monday that a eurobonds plan "makes sense" if linked to stringent fiscal rigor among the member states which would to make it impossible for profligate nations to live on the back of budget-conscious countries.

Germany has opposed the principle of eurobonds since it would expose its taxpayers to weaker countries' bad debt. Germany already funds the bulk of the existing bailouts.

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Today?s Fallout Firebreak (Balloon Juice)

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Parents: Hacking made us think Milly was alive (AP)

LONDON ? The mother of a murdered girl told a British courtroom Monday she believed her missing 13-year-old was still alive once she reached the girl's previously full voice mailbox ? only to learn later that her daughter's phone had been hacked into by a tabloid.

Sally Dowler said when she could finally leave a message on her daughter Milly's voice mail weeks after the girl disappeared in 2002, she shouted "She's picked up the voice mails! ... She's alive!"

In fact, messages on Milly's phone had been deleted not by Milly but by someone working for the News of the World tabloid while the Dowlers and the police were still searching for the girl, who was later found dead.

The Dowlers were the first in a string of high-profile witnesses, including celebrities such as Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller and author J.K. Rowling, testifying before a judicial inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron on how they were followed, photographed, entrapped and harassed by tabloid journalists.

The Dowlers also described their shock and anger when a private walk to retrace their missing daughter's last steps was secretly photographed by the tabloid.

Sally Dowler said she and her husband Bob had no idea they were being observed as they walked near their home in May 2002, but days later saw the pictures in the News of the World.

"It just felt like such an intrusion into a really, really private grief moment," she said. The couple said they later realized that their own phone, as well as their daughter's, had been hacked.

The Dowlers took the stand together and spoke in quiet, composed voices during their 30 minutes of nationally televised testimony. They described a tense July meeting with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of the now shuttered News of the World, when he apologized for the hacking.

"It was a very tense meeting," Sally Dowler said. "He was very sincere."

Cameron set up the inquiry into media ethics in the wake of a still-evolving scandal over phone hacking in Britain. Murdoch shut down the tabloid in July after evidence emerged that it had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of public figures, celebrities and even crime victims in its search for scoops.

More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested, and several senior Murdoch executives have resigned over the still-evolving scandal. Two top London police officers were forced to resign, along with Cameron's top media adviser.

The inquiry, led by judge Brian Leveson, could recommend major changes to the way the media in Britain is regulated.

The second witness Monday was journalist and novelist Joan Smith, whose phone was hacked while she was in a relationship with a politician, Denis MacShane. Smith said she was shocked when police said her name and details had been found in the notebooks of private eye Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for the News of the World and was jailed in 2007 for phone hacking.

"I don't think I'm somebody whose private life would be of much interest to the reading public," she said. "This could happen to almost anybody. That's the astonishing thing. You don't have to be an incredibly famous actress or actor ... you just have to tangentially come into the orbit of somebody who is well known."

Graham Shear, a sports and media lawyer who has represented many celebrities, told the inquiry the host of tabloid techniques he has encountered, from checkbook journalism to "kiss and tell girls" who target athletes.

Shear is suing the News of the World's parent company, alleging that his own voice mail messages, as well as those of his clients, were hacked.

He said tabloid journalism was "a business model that's become dependent and infatuated with sensationalist and titillating stories."

In that environment, he said, "the News of the World was at the front as the most effective story-gatherer."

Grant, a fierce critic of press intrusion, smiled for photographers as he arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice, where the hearings are being held. The actor is due to testify later Monday about the harassment suffered by his ex, Tinglan Hong, since she became pregnant with the pair's child.

Later this week the inquiry will hear from "Harry Potter" author Rowling, comedian Steve Coogan, actress Miller and former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley ? whose taste for sadomasochism was revealed in a widely publicized News of the World sting.

It's a courtroom lineup that Britain's celebrity-obsessed tabloids would love, if only they weren't the ones in the dock.

__

Associated Press writer Raphael G. Satter contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Sexual Seniors Are Happiest, Survey Finds (LiveScience.com)

Older married couples who engage in sexual activity are more likely to be happy both with their relationship and their lives than those who have more infrequent sex, according to new research.

The find reveals the importance of sexuality in adults ages 65 and older, said study researcher Adrienne Jackson, a professor at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee.

"Highlighting the relationship between sex and happiness will help us in developing and organizing specific sexual health interventions for this growing segment of our population," Jackson said in a statement.

The research is based on the 2004 General Social Surveys, a nationally representative public opinion poll of English- and Spanish-speaking Americans ages 18 and older. Among the survey respondents were 238 married individuals who were 65 and older.

In this group, sexual activity was linked with both general and marital happiness, the researchers found. While only 40 percent of the individuals who had not had sex in the last 12 months said they were "very happy" with life, the number of "very happy" people who had sex more than once a month was 60 percent. [8 Tips for Healthy Aging]

Likewise, 59 percent of people who engaged in no sexual activity in the year prior to the survey were happy in their marriage, compared with 80 percent who had sex frequently. "Sex" included oral, vaginal and anal sex, and the results held even after adjusting for happiness-influencing factors such as age, gender, health and finances.

The study is correlational, meaning that it's not clear whether sex makes older couples happy or whether happier older couples have more sex. But the results do highlight the need to consider the sexual lives of older adults, according to the researchers, who present their work Sunday (Nov. 20) at the Gerontological Society of America's annual meeting in Boston.

"This study will help open the lines of communication and spark interest in developing outside-the-box approaches to dealing with resolvable issues that limit or prevent older adults from participating in sexual activity," Jackson said.

One such barrier could be access to sexual education. Even if they got the best sex-ed course as teens, bodies and other sex-related factors change with age, said Michael Reece, a professor of health at Indiana University who wasn't involved in the current study, who spoke to LiveScience in February about adults having sex-toy parties to fill this education gap. Adult women are also turning to television personalities the likes of Dr. Oz for their sex questions.

And older adults do use this information, it seems, as another survey published in 2007 in the New England Journal of Medicine shows senior sex is swell. Though sexual frequency may decline with age, more than half of 75- to 85-year-olds in the study reported a roll in the hay at least two to three times a month, and 23 percent reported having sex at least once a week.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescienceand on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111120/sc_livescience/sexualseniorsarehappiestsurveyfinds

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Unlocking the Wisdom of the Message Board Ancients [Humor]

Sometimes, in our darkest hour, a hand reaches out through history, a fellow traveler from years ago who walked our same blighted road. Which is kind of magical, except when it's incredibly frustrating because he apparently didn't get his error message resolved either and ugh. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/oK6nXWpCkJI/unlocking-the-wisdom-of-the-message-board-ancients

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Army sergeant gets five years in Afghan misconduct probe (Reuters)

TACOMA, Wash (Reuters) ? A U.S. Army sergeant was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for crimes that included beating a subordinate whose whistle-blowing led to an investigation of rogue soldiers murdering unarmed Afghan civilians.

Staff Sergeant David Bram was found guilty by court-martial on most of the charges against him, becoming the 11th soldier convicted in connection with the widest-ranging prosecution of U.S. military atrocities and other misconduct during 10 years of war in Afghanistan.

The jury panel consisting of two officers and three enlisted men deliberated for 90 minutes before rendering its guilty verdict on all but two of the nine counts against Bram. It took the panel about another hour to decide his sentence.

Addressing the court before sentencing, Bram apologized to "the people of Afghanistan" and said, "I pray I have not deterred any young Americans from serving their nation.

"I truly do understand the weight of what I've done," he added, choking back tears. "I understand I must be punished for my actions. I ask for mercy, not for myself but for my beautiful children."

Bram, 27, the father of a young son and daughter, will be eligible for parole after serving about 3 years and four months of his five-year sentence. Prosecutors had recommended a prison term of seven years.

Bram was acquitted of charges that he mistreated a detainee while on patrol last year in Afghanistan's Kandahar province or that he planted evidence near the body of an Afghan casualty.

But he was found guilty of, among other offenses, solicitation to commit murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit assault and trying to impede an investigation.

He was also convicted of taking part with several soldiers in the May 2010 beating of Army Private Justin Stoner, an informant whose report of rampant hashish use in their platoon led Army investigators to uncover other crimes, including unprovoked killings of innocent villagers.

Pentagon officials have said misconduct exposed by the case had damaged the image of the United States around the globe.

Photographs entered as evidence in the investigation showed some of the soldiers casually posing with bloodied Afghan corpses, drawing comparisons to the 2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.

Five members of the infantry unit formerly known as the 5th Stryker Brigade ultimately were charged with premeditated murder for killing Afghan villagers in random slayings staged to look like legitimate combat engagements.

The accused ringleader, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, was convicted by court-martial last week of murdering three unarmed civilians, drawing an automatic life prison sentence, but he will be eligible for parole in 8-1/2 years.

His onetime right-hand-man turned chief accuser, Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock was sentenced in March to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to the same three murders. He also was one of several soldiers to testify against Bram.

A third soldier charged with murder, Adam Winfield, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to three years in prison. A fourth, Andrew Holmes, was sentenced to seven years after pleading guilty to a single count of murder. The fifth, Michael Wagnon, still faces court martial.

Bram received the stiffest penalty among seven other Stryker Brigade members who were charged with lesser offenses in the investigation.

The other six, convicted either by court-martial or guilty pleas, received sentences ranging from demotion or dishonorable discharge to 90 days of hard labor and jail terms of up to nine months.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111119/us_nm/us_soldiers_crimes

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Wis. couple accused of starving infant daughter (AP)

MADISON, Wis. ? A Wisconsin couple who were worried that their infant daughter would become obese starved her for months, causing the girl to gain just 5 pounds in the 14 months after her birth, prosecutors allege.

Christopher and Mary Sultze, of Appleton, were each charged this month with a felony count of child neglect, and each faces up to a year in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted.

Christopher Sultze, 35, appeared in Outagamie County Circuit Court on Thursday and was released from jail on bond on the condition that, among other things, he'd have no contact with the child. His preliminary hearing was rescheduled for next week.

Mary Sultze, 36, waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday in exchange for her release on bond so that she could tend to her other three children, said her attorney, Brandt Swardenski. She, too, was ordered to have no contact with the daughter she's accused of starving.

Neither has entered a plea.

"I have serious reservations about whether there's any criminal activity here or just misguided parenting intentions," Swardenski said. "This is a case where we need to reserve judgment until we learn more details on exactly what occurred."

Christopher Sultze's attorney, Michael Petersen, declined to comment.

According to the criminal complaint, the couple's daughter weighed slightly more than 8 pounds when she was born in July 2010 and weighed just 13 pounds this past September. A doctor told police the girl would have to weigh 22 pounds to even appear on the growth charts for her age. Another physician noted that the child had no subcutaneous fat on her body and was essentially starving.

Doctors began tracking the girl's lack of growth and weight gain at her four-month checkup in November 2010, when she weighed just 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

Her parents began to grow irritated that doctors were continually concerned about her weight, the complaint said. They insisted they were feeding her enough, and said their other children grew slowly and that they believed the girl would eventually gain weight.

Months went by with no significant improvement and tests for potential medical problems came back negative. In August, the family's doctor convinced the Sultzes to admit the girl to Children's Hospital of Fox Valley for an evaluation, investigators said.

The girl gained 8 ounces over a day at the hospital, but a social worker assigned to the family as part of the admittance process noted that the girl's parents were upset by recommendations that they needed to feed her more calories and said they wanted to take their daughter home, against the advice of her doctors.

According to the complaint, Christopher Sultze told a doctor he didn't want to have obese children and he kept insisting the girl would "get fat" at the hospital.

He later told police and another social worker that his family follows a very low cholesterol diet. He said he underwent bypass surgery for a blocked artery when he was 25 years old.

Court records show that Mary Sultze was charged in 2009 with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct for biting her four-year-old daughter on the arm. According to the criminal complaint in that case, she told police she bit her daughter to teach her a lesson after the girl bit her older sister. Mary Sultze acknowledged that "it probably wasn't right to do."

She ultimately pleaded no contest to the disorderly conduct charge, which is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes. Prosecutors dismissed the battery count.

Appleton, a city of about 70,000, is 125 miles northeast of Madison.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111118/ap_on_re_us/us_starving_baby

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(AP)

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111116/ap_on_re_eu/eu_apnewsalert

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Ricky Gervais to return as host of Golden Globes

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2011 file photo, Ricky Gervais attends the New York Comedy Festival's Stand Up For Heroes benefit in New York. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced through Twitter Wednesday, Nov. 16, that Gervais will host the ceremony in January. The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards will be held Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2011 file photo, Ricky Gervais attends the New York Comedy Festival's Stand Up For Heroes benefit in New York. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced through Twitter Wednesday, Nov. 16, that Gervais will host the ceremony in January. The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards will be held Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Ricky Gervais is returning as host of the Golden Globes.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced through Twitter on Wednesday that Gervais will take his third turn as Globes host in January.

Gervais left some wondering if he'd be back after his performance at this year's show, when he took pointed jabs at Hollywood stars and the HFPA, which puts on the annual ceremony.

The 50-year-old comedian posted a YouTube clip on his Twitter page Wednesday of his biting opening monologue from the 2011 show, promising "This (times) 10."

At the ceremony earlier this year, Gervais joked that the HFPA accepts bribes (just after the group was sued for allegations that it engaged in payola schemes) and swiped at stars such as Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis and Robert Downey Jr.

"I'm telling you now If you don't like it... (Expletive) you! If you do like it.. Love you!" Gervais tweeted Wednesday.

The HFPA acknowledged on its website that "not everyone is happy with the decision" to bring Gervais back because "his blunt one-liners targeting big-name celebrities caused anger and resentment in some quarters."

Downey said during the ceremony: "Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited, with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show is pretty good so far, wouldn't you?"

The HFPA said after the show that Gervais "pushed the envelope and occasionally went too far."

Still, the jabs paid off in ratings, drawing nearly 17 million viewers to the NBC broadcast and beating out its network competition in that time slot.

Gervais initially said after the show that he would not return as its host. Earlier this year, Philip Berk, who was president of the HFPA at the time, denied that Gervais had been invited to come back.

But the organization said Gervais "gradually warmed to the idea" and recently discussed his return with the HFPA's new president, Dr. Aida Takla-O'Reilly.

The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards will be held Jan. 15 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APSandy .

___

Online:

http://www.goldenglobes.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-16-Golden%20Globes-Ricky%20Gervais/id-5bbba974e1a3439ab61b5ddce6d0bd5f

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Cleaning cows from inside out

Public release date: 15-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rosalie Marion Bliss
rosalie.bliss@ars.usda.gov
301-504-4318
United States Department of Agriculture - Research, Education and Economics

This release is available in Spanish.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their collaborators have conducted a series of studies that explore non-antibiotic methods to reduce foodborne pathogens that are found in the gut of food animals.

The team consists of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Todd R. Callaway, with the agency's Food and Feed Safety Research Unit in College Station, Texas; ARS animal scientist and project leader Jeffery Carroll with the agency's Livestock Issues Research Unit in Lubbock, Texas; and John Arthington at the University of Florida in Ona.

ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA priorities of promoting international food security and ensuring food safety.

Early studies showed that citrus products provide cows with good roughage and vitamins, and the essential oils in such products provide a natural antibiotic effect.

Callaway's early data showed the feasibility of using orange pulp as a feed source to provide anti-pathogenic activity in cattle. He also showed that consumption of citrus byproducts (orange peel and pulp) by cattle is compatible with current production practices, and the byproducts are palatable to the animals.

Callaway then shed light on how to exploit the essential oils inside the peel and pulp that are natural antimicrobials. Collaborations with researchers Steven Ricke and Philip Crandall at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville also have identified specific essential oils that kill the pathogenic bacteria.

From the time Callaway began studying citrus as an animal gut cleanser, he recognized that citrus peel can be heavy and expensive to ship long distances, so his latest studies have investigated the use of processed orange peel pellets.

For one study, the team fed dried orange peel pellets to sheep as a model for cows for eight days. They found a tenfold reduction in Salmonella populations in the animals' intestinal contents. Callaway received a grant from the National Cattleman's Beef Association (Beef Checkoff funds) to help fund the study. Results from the 2011 study were published in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.

###

Read more about this research in the November/December 2011 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

---

[ | 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.

Public release date: 15-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rosalie Marion Bliss
rosalie.bliss@ars.usda.gov
301-504-4318
United States Department of Agriculture - Research, Education and Economics

This release is available in Spanish.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their collaborators have conducted a series of studies that explore non-antibiotic methods to reduce foodborne pathogens that are found in the gut of food animals.

The team consists of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Todd R. Callaway, with the agency's Food and Feed Safety Research Unit in College Station, Texas; ARS animal scientist and project leader Jeffery Carroll with the agency's Livestock Issues Research Unit in Lubbock, Texas; and John Arthington at the University of Florida in Ona.

ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA priorities of promoting international food security and ensuring food safety.

Early studies showed that citrus products provide cows with good roughage and vitamins, and the essential oils in such products provide a natural antibiotic effect.

Callaway's early data showed the feasibility of using orange pulp as a feed source to provide anti-pathogenic activity in cattle. He also showed that consumption of citrus byproducts (orange peel and pulp) by cattle is compatible with current production practices, and the byproducts are palatable to the animals.

Callaway then shed light on how to exploit the essential oils inside the peel and pulp that are natural antimicrobials. Collaborations with researchers Steven Ricke and Philip Crandall at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville also have identified specific essential oils that kill the pathogenic bacteria.

From the time Callaway began studying citrus as an animal gut cleanser, he recognized that citrus peel can be heavy and expensive to ship long distances, so his latest studies have investigated the use of processed orange peel pellets.

For one study, the team fed dried orange peel pellets to sheep as a model for cows for eight days. They found a tenfold reduction in Salmonella populations in the animals' intestinal contents. Callaway received a grant from the National Cattleman's Beef Association (Beef Checkoff funds) to help fund the study. Results from the 2011 study were published in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.

###

Read more about this research in the November/December 2011 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/usdo-ccf111511.php

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Teachers caught on tape bullying special-needs girl

When a 14-year-old special needs student in Ohio told her father she was being bullied at school, he figured it was something that many teenagers endure.

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Then he realized it was his daughter?s teachers doing the bullying.

?We were shocked,?? he tearfully said. ?We couldn?t know. We didn?t know.??

After being told repeatedly by school administrators that his daughter was lying about being harassed and bullied, he outfitted her with a hidden tape recorder under her clothes. For the next four days, she recorded a series of abusive and cutting remarks from a teacher and a teacher?s aide at Miami Trace Middle School in Washington Courthouse, Ohio.

The father, Brian, and his daughter, Cheyanne (their last names were withheld in the interview), appeared on TODAY with their attorneys Tuesday as snippets from the secret audio tapes were played.

When asked by Ann Curry how all of this made her feel, Cheyanne simply replied, ?Sad.??

Story: Reading, writing, rage: Are teachers going too far?

?Are you that damn dumb??
The tapes reveal teacher Christie Wilt and her teacher?s aide, Kelly Chaffins, saying disturbing things to Cheyanne in the classroom. Cheyanne, who is now in high school, was in Wilt?s class for three years of middle school. Chaffins has since resigned, while Wilt had to undergo eight hours of anti-bullying and child abuse training. On Monday, Wilt was put on unpaid leave for the rest of the school year, but Cheyanne?s family is hoping to prevent her from ever teaching or working with special needs students again.

Wilt, who did not respond to requests for an interview, can be heard on the recordings alongside Chaffins calling Cheyanne ?lazy? and ?dumb.?

?Cheyanne, are you kidding me? Are you that damn dumb? You are that dumb??? Chaffins can be heard saying in one instance. ?Oh my God. You are such a liar. You told me you don?t know. It?s no wonder you don?t have friends. No wonder nobody likes you because you lie, cheat.??

On another occasion, Chaffins can be heard poking fun at Cheyanne?s appearance.

?Cheyanne, don?t you want to do something to get rid of that belly? Well evidently you don?t because you don?t do anything at home. You sit at home and watch TV. All night. All weekend.??

In one instance, Wilt informs Cheyanne she has failed a test before Wilt even takes a glance at it.

?You know what? Just keep it,?? Wilt can be heard saying. ?You failed it. I know it. I don?t need your test to grade. You failed it.??

Video: Video shows teacher swear, toss chair

Punished on treadmill
?Listening to seven hours? worth of stuff on this tape, we were up all night, crying, upset, because we didn?t understand why,?? Cheyanne?s father said tearfully. ?Why would they do this???

On another day, Chaffins forced Chapin to walk on a treadmill as a punishment for getting a question wrong. The school district claimed the treadmill is just there to ?refocus?? students and not punish them. Chaffins later declares that Cheyanne has broken the treadmill and should run in place.

The problems for Cheyanne began in fifth grade and became progressively worse until culminating in an eighth-grade year that was ?just terrible,?? according to her father.

?She got to where she didn?t want to go to school,?? Brian told Curry. ?Cheyanne?s always loved school. We never had a problem with her. She was doing things, (and) starting to harm herself to keep from going to school, so we knew we had to do something at that point.??

Cheyanne?s parents repeatedly contacted the school, only to be consistently rebuffed.

Story: Teacher?s scary classroom eruption captured on video

?We weren?t getting anywhere,?? Brian said. ?Every time we called, it was always, ?Cheyanne?s lying, Cheyanne?s making up stories. She?s taking parts of this story, parts of that story, and making her own story.? ??

Her parents then went to the school?s principal, whose investigation consisted of speaking to Wilt and Chaffins, according to Brian. Feeling they were getting nowhere, Cheyanne?s parents then met with Miami Trace superintendent Dan Roberts.?

?(That was) the first time we ever spoke with the man,? Brian said, ?and he told us we were bordering on slander and harassment so (we should) let it go and he would guarantee me the best education possible,?? Brian said.

After the damning evidence on the tapes was brought to school administrators? attention, Chaffins was asked to resign, while Wilt, who was in charge of the classroom as the teacher, had to undergo the anti-bullying training. Roberts told a local television station that Wilt?s role in the incidents ?did not meet what the educational aide (Chaffins) had done.??

?I just hope they do something?
The family filed a civil lawsuit against the school district and were awarded $300,000 in damages. But Brian felt he needed to go public with the story to prevent Wilt from being allowed back in the classroom. The family?s attorneys indicated that they would like Wilt to be terminated from her position.

Video: Girl bullied by her own teachers (on this page)

?I just hope they do something with this teacher,?? Brian said. ?She doesn?t need to be around kids at all. She participated in it, she was right there. I?m looking out for (Cheyanne), but also I?m worried about the other children in that class and what they went through.

?She?s (Wilt) just as much to blame, if not more, because she?s the one who takes that oath to protect our children. She has more education than the teacher?s aide.??

As for Cheyanne, the full effects of the harassment on her are not yet known.

?Cheyanne right now, she?s doing OK,?? her father said. ?She?s trying to forget. She knows that they did something bad to her, but we don?t know years down the road what?s going to happen.??

? 2011 MSNBC Interactive.? Reprints

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45302947/ns/today-parenting/

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