Job Market Tough for Young Adults With Autism (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- More children are being diagnosed with autism than ever before and now many of these children are graduating from high school and entering, or at least trying to enter, the workforce.

Unfortunately, this critical crossroads is precisely the time that supportive services for this population tend to peter out.

"What we're seeing now is this group of adults with the autism diagnosis who have been more empowered and supported than ever before, but they're leaving behind the school structure and special-ed structure," said Scott Standifer, a clinical associate professor at the University of Missouri's School of Health Professions. "The system of adult disability support is very different, so they're having trouble figuring out and making that transition. The world of work is not the same as the world of school."

The result? People with autism have higher rates of unemployment and, when they do work, tend to earn less.

According to a fact sheet compiled by Standifer based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources, less than one-third of people with a disability aged 16 to 65 were working in 2010, compared with about two-thirds of people without a disability. And people with autism were only about half as likely to be working as people with disabilities in general (33 percent compared with 59 percent).

One study found that almost 40 percent of young adults with autism get no medical, mental health or case management services to help them make the transition into adulthood.

Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in 110 children in the United States has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by problems with language and social interactions.

It is these communication issues that may pose the greatest obstacle for adults with autism both to find a job and to keep it, Standifer noted.

"Autism doesn't qualitatively change when you hit adulthood. You've got the same issue with reading social signals, with understanding instructions," said Standifer, whose office provides training and consultation to State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies. "We forget how important social relationships are in maintaining employment."

For instance, one of the most trying parts of the workday for an individual with autism is the lunch break and its almost mandatory socializing requirement. "There's no script. [Individuals with autism] don't know what to do," said Standifer, who organizes an annual "Autism Works" conference.

But even something as mundane as a stapler missing off a desk can also upset a person with autism, who then may not have the skills to express their frustration or confusion.

Families of people with autism as well as employers and co-workers can all help to make the employment experience a positive one for these individuals. Here are some tips:

• Families should start preparing for their teens' transition into adulthood and the work force well in advance, perhaps even as much as two or three years before graduation. "People with autism are often so anchored in routines that it is important to have new, productive routines in place for them well before they hit graduation and leave school behind," Standifer said.
• Find a job that matches their more general abilities and strengths. Although it's hard to generalize, people with autism often do well doing gardening, simple bookkeeping, merchandising (such as folding or organizing clothes in a department store), as well as in library and school settings, said Charles Archer, CEO of the Evelyn Douglin Center for Serving People in Need, in Brooklyn, N.Y., an organization that helps people with disabilities live independently.
• Take advantage of local vocational rehabilitation counselors, more of whom are cropping up all over the country, Standifer said.
• Find jobs with consistent routines. "Individuals with autism need a workplace that is structured, that's non-judgmental, that provides ongoing training and very, very strong levels of consistency either in work and/or communication," said Archer.
• Create accessible work environments. This might include providing written instructions for a task rather than verbal ones.

More information

Autism Speaks has a transition toolkit for young adults with autism.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111028/hl_hsn/jobmarkettoughforyoungadultswithautism

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Stewart J. Lawrence: Newt Gingrich to the Rescue? The GOP?s Improbable ?Dark Horse?

Former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich is coming off his best GOP presidential debate performance yet, and as I reported three weeks ago, he's experiencing a significant surge in the polls, inching past Texas Gov. Rick Perry for sole possession of third place nationally, and occupying second place in a growing number of states, including West Virginia, North Carolina, and Nebraska.

But horse-race polls tell only part of the story. Thanks largely to his debate performances, Gingrich's image as a political has-been and one-time party firebrand-turned-gadfly is giving way to a new-found respect among GOP voters, and his "favorability" ratings -- a net negative for most of the campaign -- have correspondingly soared. While Gingrich is unlikely to surge past either Mitt Romney or Herman Cain, who are increasingly locked in a moderate-conservative stand-off at the top of the GOP heap, he could eventually turn out to be everyone's favorite second choice for the nomination, the one man who can weld the GOP establishment and the insurgent Tea party together, and keep the party focused on beating President Obama rather than tearing itself apart.

Preposterous you say? A month ago, most everyone would have agreed. Gingrich, after all, had already lost his entire campaign team last summer, including his top fundraisers. And partly as a result, his vaunted financial empire, including his powerful "527" group, American Solutions, which had outspent all other such groups during last year's mid-terms ($28 million, to be exact, twice what its nearest competitor, SEIU, spent) had crumbled. But now, with Gingrich seemingly in contention, the money's starting to trickle back in, and Gingrich is rebuilding his campaign apparatus in the early primary states, including New Hampshire, where he insists that Romney, despite a huge polling lead, is still vulnerable.

Don't count "Newtie" out. He still has an email list of donors that dwarfs that of the other candidates combined, reportedly 1.7 million names compared to just several hundred thousand for Romney. He also has a deep bench of policy wonks and prospective campaign staffers at his immediate disposal, thanks to the vast network of non-profits he has built up in the decade and a half since he was dumped as his party's top leader, and lost his re-election. And there's his personal fortune, which has mushroomed since 2009, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Gingrich, unlike Tim Pawlenty or even Michele Bachmann, is not entirely "cash-poor," and could, if the need arises, self-finance his campaign. And though Gingrich is likely to rely heavily on social media rather than traditional campaign advertising, he has an impressive video and television production operation already in place that could help even the score with the better-funded Romney and Perry campaigns.

In fact, in one critical primary state -- Iowa -- Gingrich has been quietly working behind the scenes for months to build bridges to local "influencers," sussing out their ideas on how best to reform the health care system, or a possible compromise on immigration, for example. While other candidates have shaken hands, and engaged in relatively superficial "retail politics," Gingrich has been weighing in with financial support to conservative causes, like a successful effort to replace three Supreme Court judges, which Iowa evangelical leaders say could not have been done without him. Should Gingrich get a more viable campaign infrastructure established, he would tap a reservoir of enormous good will, and could draw away some tea partiers previously aligned with Michele Bachmann, who seems to be fading fast.

But could Gingrich actually win the nomination? Normally, a candidate would need to win at least one of the early critical primaries to be considered a real contender. And in Gingrich's case, that seems highly unlikely. But this year, the GOP is preparing an historic change in its primary rules: instead of winner-rake-all contests, delegates in most primaries may well be assigned proportionately, based on the share of the vote received. That means even second- and third-place finishers could well survive all the way up to the convention, and might find themselves in a powerful brokering role. Gingrich, for all his new-found enthusiasm for campaigning, is highly unlikely to win any of the major primaries but he could conceivably accumulate enough delegates over time to finish in the top tier -- perhaps, as his poll numbers, suggest, third in the overall delegate total.

So here's one possible scenario: Romney, leveraging his support among party moderates, wins in New Hampshire and Florida, but remains pitted against Cain, who, with strong support from the tea party, captures South Carolina and Iowa, leaving the GOP badly split. Even worse, neither wing of the party is prepared to back the other's candidate. In this scenario, Gingrich, already trusted by the Tea party far more than Romney, and by party moderates and the GOP establishment far more than Cain or even Perry, could become everyone's favorite second choice. Thus, seemingly from out of nowhere, and with no single primary win to point to, Gingrich could find himself the nominee.

Sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but when you consider who's left in the GOP stable -- with top-notch prospects like Mitch Daniels, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie all having declined to run -- a "dark horse" elder GOP statesman who can authentically link the current tea party insurgency to the heyday of post-Reagan conservativism could provide a badly-needed trump card to President Obama's argument that Republicans are still the "party of Bush." Remember, too, that Gingrich has a solid record of bipartisan deal-making as House speaker -- winning plaudits from none other than Bill Clinton -- at a time when Congress' public approval rating has just fallen to an all-time low of 9 percent. Independents, to say nothing of the country in general, are thoroughly disgusted with the hyper-partisanship coming out of Washington, and as the only man in the race who can credibly call himself an "establishment conservative" -- without it being viewed as an oxymoron -- Gingrich may be just what Republicans need to refurbish their tarnished brand.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Insuremenot/~3/l4AHbarSQzA/

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There?s an app for reporting handicapped parking space violators (Offthekuff)

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Intestinal stem cells respond to food by supersizing the gut

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2011) ? A new study from University of California, Berkeley, researchers demonstrates that adult stem cells can reshape our organs in response to changes in the body and the environment, a finding that could have implications for diabetes and obesity.

Current thinking has been that, once embryonic stem cells mature into adult stem cells, they sit quietly in our tissues, replacing cells that die or are injured but doing little else.

But in working with fruit flies, the researchers found that intestinal stem cells responded to increased food intake by producing more intestinal cells, expanding the size of the intestines as long as the food keeps flowing.

"When flies start to eat, the intestinal stem cells go into overdrive, and the gut expands," said UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow Lucy O'Brien. "Four days later, the gut is four times bigger than before, but when food is taken away, the gut slims down."

Just as in humans and other mammals, O'Brien added, the fly intestine secretes its own insulin. In flies, intestinal insulin seems to be the signal that makes stem cells "supersize the gut."

"Because of the many similarities between the fruit fly and the human, the discovery may hold a key to understanding how human organs adapt to environmental change," said David Bilder, UC-Berkeley associate professor of molecular and cell biology.

The research will be published in the Oct. 28 issue of the journal Cell.

Experiments such as this "could provide important insights into the therapeutic use of stem cells for treatment of different gastrointestinal and metabolic disorders such as diabetes," wrote Abby Sarka and Konrad Hochedlinger of Harvard University in a Cell perspective accompanying the publication.

Stem cells key to adaptability

Many tissues grow or shrink with usage, including muscle, liver and intestine. Human intestines, for example, regrow after portions have been surgically removed because of cancer or injury, and hibernating animals see their intestines shrink to one-third their normal size during winter.

"One strategy animals use to deal with environmental variability is to tune the workings of their organ systems to match the conditions at hand," O'Brien said. "How exactly this 'organ adaptation' happens, particularly in adult animals that are no longer growing, has long been a mystery."

Following the surprising discovery of stem cells in the intestines of fruit flies five years ago, O'Brien and Bilder decided to investigate the role of adult stem cells in normal intestinal growth in hopes of finding clues to their role in vertebrates like us.

"I looked at stained stem cells in the fruit fly intestine, and they are studded throughout like jewels. The tissues were so beautiful, I knew I had to study them," O'Brien said.

O'Brien, Bilder and their colleagues discovered that when fruit flies feed, their intestines secrete insulin locally, which stimulates intestinal stem cells to divide and produce more intestinal cells.

"The real surprise was that the fruit fly intestine is capable of secreting its own insulin," BIlder said. "This intestinal insulin spikes immediately after feeding and talks directly to stem cells, so the intestine controls its own adaptation."

Stem cells can divide either asymmetrically, producing one stem cell and one intestinal cell, or symmetrically, producing two stem cells. The team found that, in response to food, intestinal stem cells underwent symmetric division more frequently than asymmetric division, which had the effect of maintaining the proportion of stem cells to intestinal cells, and is a more efficient way of ramping up the total number of cells, O'Brien said.

"Adaptive resizing of the intestine makes sense from the standpoint of physiological fitness," she said. "Upkeep of the intestinal lining is metabolically expensive, consuming up to 30 percent of the body's energy resources. By minimizing intestinal size when food is scarce, and maximizing digestive capacity when food is abundant, adaptive intestinal resizing by stem cells helps animals survive in constantly changing environments."

Bilder and O'Brien's coauthors on the Cell paper are UC Berkeley staff researchers Sarah S. Soliman and Xinghua Li.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and, for O'Brien, by a Genentech Foundation Fellowship of the Life Sciences Research Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Berkeley. The original article was written by Robert Sanders.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Lucy Erin O'Brien, Sarah S. Soliman, Xinghua Li, David Bilder. Altered Modes of Stem Cell Division Drive Adaptive Intestinal Growth. Cell, 2011; 147 (3): 603-614 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.08.048

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027150209.htm

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Japan tsunami debris floating toward Hawaii (AP)

HONOLULU ? Up to 20 million tons of tsunami debris floating from Japan could arrive on Hawaii's shores by early 2013, before reaching the West Coast, according to estimates by University of Hawaii scientists.

A Russian training ship spotted the junk ? including a refrigerator, a television set and other appliances ? in an area of the Pacific Ocean where the scientists from the university's International Pacific Research Center predicted it would be. The biggest proof that the debris is from the Japanese tsunami is a fishing boat that's been traced to the Fukushima Prefecture, the area hardest hit by the March 11 disaster.

Jan Hafner, a scientific computer programmer, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that researchers' projections show the debris would reach the coasts of Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Canada around 2014.

They estimate the debris field is spread out across an area that's roughly 2,000 miles long and 1,000 miles wide located between Japan and Midway Atoll, where pieces could wash up in January. Just how much has already sunk and what portion is still floating is unknown.

"It's a common misconception it's like one mat that you could walk on," he said.

Hafner and the principal researcher in the project, oceanographer Nikolai Maximenko, have been researching surface ocean currents since 2009. When the Japan earthquake and tsunamis struck, they applied their research to the rubble sucked into the Pacific Ocean from Japan. They used computer models to track its path, but until the Russian ship STS Pallada sailing from Honolulu contacted them last month, they had no direct observation of the massive debris field.

"From a scientific point of view, it was confirmation that our research was doing something right," Hafner said. "It was big news for us. But it was mixed feelings because you can't be excited about something as tragic as a tsunami."

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake produced the sort of devastation Japan hadn't seen since World War II, leaving more than 21,000 dead or injured. The tsunami that followed engulfed the northeast and wiped out entire towns.

The waves inundated the Fukushima plant, triggering the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. However, it's highly unlikely the tsunami-generated debris would be contaminated with radioactive material, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine debris program. NOAA is also gathering information about debris sightings.

After news of the Russian ship's findings, the scientists have been receiving calls from media worldwide.

The scientists want boaters venturing in the area of the debris to send them details about what they see. Researchers want to know details such as GPS position, time, weather and descriptions of the items.

"We are trying to get across our message that it is coming and it's about time to start planning some action," Hafner said.

___

Online:

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/iprc/index.php

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_re_us/us_tsunami_debris

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Timberlake: I stole a golf cart with Ryan Gosling

Who knew Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling used to be partners in crime?

"In Time's" Timberlake, 30, recently stopped by "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," where he reminisced about his days on "The Mickey Mouse Club" with former costar Gosling, 30.

PHOTOS: Ryan Gosling through the years

"We used to do terrible things. We thought we were so cool," Timberlake recalled. "Looking back on them, they weren't as bad as I thought they were at the time. We stole a golf cart. And we were like, 'Yeah, man. We're stealing a golf cart!'"

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"We drove into MGM Studios, which is totally illegal by the way," he added. "I was like, 'What do you want to do thug? And Ryan was like, 'I don't know, cuz...because that's definitely how we talked."

PHOTOS: Justin's many women

All kidding aside, the future A-listers bonded after Timberlake's mother, Lynn Harless, became Gosling's legal guardian for six months. "His mother had to keep her job in Canada the second year that we were on the television show," Timberlake explained. "We were probably a little closer than the rest of the kids that were on the show just because we had to share a bathroom."

PHOTOS: Justin's style evolution

Though Timberlake said it's been "hard to keep up with" Gosling since their "MMC" days, he thinks Gosling has become an "unbelievable" leading man. "I think one of the best actors of our generation."

Timberlake's apperance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" airs Thursday.

Copyright 2011 Us Weekly

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45040259/ns/today-entertainment/

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Assange: Financial blockade may close WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, right, talks to members of the media, during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON (AP) ? WikiLeaks ? whose spectacular publication of classified data shook world capitals and exposed the inner workings of international diplomacy ? may be weeks away from collapse, the organization's leader warned Monday.

Although its attention-grabbing leaks spread outrage and embarrassment across military and diplomatic circles, WikiLeaks' inability to overturn the block on donations imposed by American financial companies may prove its undoing.

"If WikiLeaks does not find a way to remove this blockade we will simply not be able to continue by the turn of the new year," founder Julian Assange told journalists at London's Frontline Club. "If we don't knock down the blockade we simply will not be able to continue."

As an emergency measure, Assange said his group would cease what he called "publication operations" to focus its energy on fundraising. He added that WikiLeaks ? which he said had about 20 employees ? needs an additional $3.5 million to keep it going into 2013.

WikiLeaks, launched as an online repository for confidential information, shot to notoriety with the April 2010 disclosure of footage of two Reuters journalists killed by a U.S. military strike in Baghdad.

The Pentagon had claimed that the journalists were likely "intermixed among the insurgents," but the helicopter footage, which captured U.S. airmen firing on prone figures and joking about "dead bastards," unsettled many across the world.

The video was just a foretaste. In the following months, WikiLeaks published nearly half a million secret military documents from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a whole the documents provided an unprecedented level of detail into the grueling, bloody conflicts. Individually, many raised concerns about the actions of the U.S. and its local allies ? for example by detailing evidence of abuse, torture and worse by Iraqi security forces.

Although U.S. officials railed against the disclosures, claiming that they were putting lives at risk, it wasn't until WikiLeaks began publishing a massive trove of 250,000 U.S. State Department cables late last year that the financial screws began to tighten.

One after the other, MasterCard Inc., Visa Europe Ltd., Bank of America Corp. Western Union Co. and Ebay Inc.'s PayPal stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks, starving the organization of cash as it was coming under intense political, financial and legal pressure.

Assange said Monday that the restrictions ? imposed in early December ? had cut off some 95 percent of the money he believes his organization could have received.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson defended the estimate as "conservative," noting that in 2010 the average monthly donation to WikiLeaks had been more than 100,000 euros ($140,000), while in 2011 the amount had fallen to between 6,000 and 7,000 euros.

Each company has given its own explanation for the blockade, expressing some level of concern over the nature of the secret-spilling site. But WikiLeaks supporters often point out that MasterCard and Visa still process payments for fringe groups such as the American KKK or the far-right British National Party and that neither WikiLeaks nor any of its staff have been charged with any crime.

Assange said his group was being subjected to corporate censorship, a sentiment backed by Dave Winer, a visiting scholar at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

"This was done without due process, without any charges, and has been in place since December last year," he said in a blog post about the blockade. "If I want to give $100 to WikiLeaks, and if I want to use my credit card to do so, who are they to say I can't?"

WikiLeaks has recently taken steps to work around the blockade, including a series of auctions and moves toward cell phone-enabled donations. Assange said Monday that his group was switching its focus from soliciting small-time donations, which typically net about $25, to getting money from a "constellation of wealthy individuals."

He didn't elaborate, but Assange has several wealthy backers, including Frontline Club founder Vaughan Smith, whose manor house in eastern England has been put at Assange's disposal while he fights extradition to Sweden on sex crime allegations.

A decision on whether to extradite him is expected in the next few weeks. Speaking to journalists after Monday's appearance, Assange put his chances of being extradited without the possibility of appeal at "30 percent."

Also looming in the background is a U.S. grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks' disclosures. Earlier this month a small California-based Internet provider became the second company to confirm it was fighting a court order demanding customer account information as part of the American WikiLeaks inquiry.

WikiLeaks' suspected source, U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, remains in custody at Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas.

___

Online:

WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.ch/

Frontline Club: http://www.frontlineclub.com/

___

Raphael G. Satter can be reached at: http://twitter.com/razhael

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-24-EU-Britain-WikiLeaks/id-794c862c548a4136aceca3b818915c10

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Libya declared free, but Gadhafi death questioned

Wahab Al Ghazali of Libya, left, poses next to a poster of Moammar Gadhafi reading "End of Dictator, Libya is Free, Thanks to the Blood of its Martyrs" as they celebrate at Saha Kish Square in Benghazi, Libya, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 as Libya's transitional government declared the liberation of Libya after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Wahab Al Ghazali of Libya, left, poses next to a poster of Moammar Gadhafi reading "End of Dictator, Libya is Free, Thanks to the Blood of its Martyrs" as they celebrate at Saha Kish Square in Benghazi, Libya, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 as Libya's transitional government declared the liberation of Libya after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Libyan celebrate at Saha Kish Square in Benghazi, Libya, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 as Libya's transitional government declares the official liberation of Libya after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Libyans celebrate at Saha Kish Square in Benghazi, Libya, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 as Libya's transitional government declare liberation of Libya after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A Libyan uses his cell phone to picture fireworks amid celebrations at Saha Kish Square in Benghazi, Libya, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 as Libya's transitional government declared the liberation of Libya after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Wahab Al Ghazali of Libya, left, poses next to a poster of Moammar Gadhafi reading "End of Dictator, Libya is Free, Thanks to the Blood of its Martyrs" as they celebrate at Saha Kish Square in Benghazi, Libya, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 as Libya's transitional government declared the liberation of Libya after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) ? Libya's interim rulers declared the country liberated on Sunday after an 8-month civil war, launching the oil-rich nation on what is meant to be a two-year transition to democracy. But they laid out plans with an Islamist tone that could rattle their Western backers.

The joyful ceremony formally marking the end of Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year tyranny was also clouded by mounting pressure from the leaders of the NATO campaign that helped secure victory to investigate whether Gadhafi, dragged wounded but alive out of a drainage ditch last week, was then executed by his captors.

The circumstances of Gadhafi's death remain unclear. In separate accounts late Sunday, two Libyan fighters said Gadhafi was hurt after being captured, but was able to stand. One said that when he and others placed Gadhafi in an ambulance, the former Libyan leader had not yet suffered what Libya's chief pathologist said was a fatal gunshot to the head.

Critics said the gruesome spectacle of his blood-streaked body laid out as a trophy for a third day of public viewing in a commercial freezer tests the new leadership's commitment to the rule of law.

Britain's defense secretary, Philip Hammond, said the Libyan revolutionaries' image had been "a little bit stained" by Gadhafi's violent death. Both he and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said a full investigation is necessary.

Gadhafi's capture and the fall of his hometown of Sirte, the last loyalist stronghold, set the stage for the long-awaited declaration of liberation, delivered by the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil.

He did not mention the circumstances surrounding Gadhafi's death ? mobile phone videos showed the wounded leader being taunted and beaten by a mob after his capture. But he urged his people to avoid hatred.

"You should only embrace honesty, patience, and mercy," Abdul-Jalil told a flag-waving crowd of several thousand at the declaration ceremony in the eastern city of Benghazi, the birthplace of the uprising against Gadhafi.

Abdul-Jalil laid out a vision for a new Libya with an Islamist tint, saying Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation, and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified.

He outlined several changes to align with Islamic law, including putting caps on interest for bank loans and lifting restrictions on the number of wives Libyan men can take. The Muslim holy book, the Quran, allows men up to four wives.

Abdul-Jalil thanked those who fought and fell in the war, saying they "are somewhere better than here, with God." Displaying his own piety, he then stepped aside from the podium and knelt to offer a prayer of thanks.

Using Sharia as the main source of legislation is stipulated in the constitution of neighboring Egypt. Still, Egyptian laws remain largely secular as Sharia does not cover all aspects of modern life.

Libya's revolt erupted in February as part of anti-government protests spreading across the Middle East. Islamist groups stand to gain ground in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt, which shook off their dictators several months ago. Tunisia has taken the biggest steps so far on the path to democracy, voting Sunday for a new assembly, while Egypt's parliamentary election is set for next month.

Libya's struggle has been the bloodiest so far in the region. Mass protests turned into a civil war that killed thousands and paralyzed the country. Gadhafi loyalists held out for two more months after the fall of the capital of Tripoli in late August. Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte fell last week, but Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, apparently escaped with some of his supporters.

The anti-Gadhafi forces enjoyed strong Western political and military support during their revolt, especially from the U.S., Britain and France, and NATO airstrikes were key to their victory.

Abdul-Jalil paid tribute to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation alliance led by Saudi Arabia, the Arab League and the European Union. NATO performed its task with "efficiency and professionalism," he said.

President Barack Obama congratulated Libyans on the declaration.

"After four decades of brutal dictatorship and eight months of deadly conflict, the Libyan people can now celebrate their freedom and the beginning of a new era of promise," he said.

In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the declaration and said NATO's mission in Libya "is very close to completion," referring to the alliance's decision to end air patrols on Oct. 31.

In Libya, leaders have said a new interim government is to be formed within a month, following by elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months. Elections for a parliament and president would follow in the year after that.

Gadhafi's body remained on display Sunday in a produce locker in the port city of Misrata, which suffered from a weeks-long bloody siege by regime forces in the spring. People have lined up since Friday to view the body, which was laid out on a mattress on the freezer floor. The bodies of Gadhafi's son Muatassim and his ex-defense minister Abu Bakr Younis also were put on display, and people wearing surgical masks filed past, snapping photos of the bodies.

It remains unclear what happened between the time Gadhafi was captured alive in Sirte on Thursday and arrived dead in Misrata. Libyan leaders say he was killed in crossfire during battles for Sirte, but revolutionaries who were present for Gadhafi's capture ? and even one who was in the ambulance with him ? said nothing about additional fighting in interviews with The Associated Press.

Dr. Othman al-Zintani, Libya's chief forensic pathologist, said he performed an autopsy that confirmed that Gadhafi was killed by a gunshot to the head. That finding did not clear up the circumstances of his death, and al-Zintani said he could not elaborate until a full report has been sent to the attorney general.

Al-Zintani told the AP that Gadhafi's body was removed from the freezer and taken to a secret location for the autopsy. He said he also examined the body of Muatassim.

In new testimony late Sunday, two fighters said revolutionary forces encountered heavy resistance from Gadhafi loyalists near the drainage tunnel where Gadhafi and others were hiding.

Omar al-Shibani, commander of a group of fighters involved in the capture, said one of his men found the wounded Gadhafi in the tunnel, disarmed him, pulled him out and walked him to one of the fighters' vehicles.

Another fighter at the scene, Jibril Othman, said it was difficult for Gadhafi to stand. According to both accounts, the fighters put Gadhafi on the hood of the vehicle, and drove with him for some distance. Othman said a crowd gathered, and that he and others were beating Gadhafi.

Othman said that when Gadhafi was eventually placed in an ambulance, he had not yet suffered a shot to the head. Al-Shibani said Gadhafi had been shot in the abdomen and suffered a head injury, but that he "was fine up to that point."

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch, which viewed the bodies, said video footage, photos and other information it obtained indicate that Moammar and Muatassim Gadhafi "might have been executed after being detained."

"Finding out how they died matters," said Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch. "It will set the tone for whether the new Libya will be ruled by law or by summary violence."

Mahmoud Jibril, the acting Libyan prime minister, said he would not oppose an inquiry into Gadhafi's death, but added that there is "no reason" to doubt the credibility of an official report that he died in crossfire.

Addressing the celebrations around Gadhafi's body, Jibril told the BBC in an interview on Sunday: "You have to appreciate the agony that people went through for 42 years."

___

Associated Press writers Rami al-Shaheibi in Misrata, Libya and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-23-ML-Libya/id-63f6e69687bd4fe9adeb033d9573e26a

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NATO tries to remove Kosovo Serb roadblocks (AP)

MITROVICA, Kosovo ? NATO-led peacekeepers tried to remove roadblocks in northern Kosovo on Saturday, but were prevented by Serbs guarding the blockade that has paralyzed travel in the tense region.

The troops in full riot gear tried overnight to push through three of the 16 roadblocks formed from vehicles, rocks, mud and logs. But they were met by hundreds of Serbs who sat on the roads to stop the advance.

No force was used and no injuries were reported during the tense six-hour standoff.

Kosovo Serbs have been blocking roads to stop the country's ethnic Albanian leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs.

Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence and consider the region a part of neighboring Serbia. They say the peacekeepers are biased against them.

The NATO-led troops say they want to establish freedom of movement for all citizens and ensure supply of their troops stationed in Kosovo.

In July, ethnic Albanian authorities deployed their security forces to two border posts in northern Kosovo to enforce a trade ban with Serbia. Serbs reacted by blocking roads and triggering clashes with Kosovo police that left one police officer dead.

Kosovo Serb leaders say they are willing to negotiate free passage for the 5,500-strong peacekeeping force ? known as KFOR ? but only if it doesn't transport Kosovo officials.

"As long as KFOR tries to deploy Kosovo authorities in the north of Kosovo by force, freedom of movement is impossible," said Kosovo Serb official Slavisa Ristic.

On Friday, the commander of NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo Maj. Gen. Erhard Drews again told Serbs to remove their roadblocks, warning that otherwise force would have to be used.

___

Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111022/ap_on_re_eu/eu_kosovo_tense_north

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Nearby planet-forming disk holds water for thousands of oceans

Friday, October 21, 2011

For the first time, astronomers have detected around a burgeoning solar system a sprawling cloud of water vapor that's cold enough to form comets, which could eventually deliver oceans to dry planets.

Water is an essential ingredient for life. Scientists have found thousands of Earth-oceans' worth of it within the planet-forming disk surrounding the star TW Hydrae. TW Hydrae is 176 light years away in the constellation Hydra and is the closest solar-system-to-be.

University of Michigan astronomy professor Ted Bergin is a co-author of a paper on the findings published in the Oct. 21 edition of Science.

The researchers used the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) on the orbiting Hershel Space Observatory to detect the chemical signature of water.

"This tells us that the key materials that life needs are present in a system before planets are born," said Bergin, a HIFI co-investigator. "We expected this to be the case, but now we know it is because have directly detected it. We can see it."

Scientists had previously found warm water vapor in planet-forming disks close to the central star. But until now, evidence for vast quantities of water extending into the cooler, far reaches of disks where comets and giant planets take shape had not emerged. The more water available in disks for icy comets to form, the greater the chances that large amounts will eventually reach new planets through impacts.

"The detection of water sticking to dust grains throughout the planet-forming disk would be similar to events in our own solar system's evolution, where over millions of years, these dust grains would then coalesce to form comets. These would be a prime delivery mechanism for water on planetary bodies," said principal investigator Michiel Hogerheijde of Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Other recent findings from HIFI support the theory that comets delivered a significant portion of Earth's oceans. Researchers found that the ice on a comet called Hartley 2 has the same chemical composition as our oceans.

HIFI is helping astronomers gain a better understanding of how water comes to terrestrial planets---Earth and beyond. If TW Hydrae and its icy disk are representative of many other young star systems, as researchers think they are, then the process for creating planets around numerous stars with abundant water throughout the universe appears to be in place, NASA officials say.

###

University of Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/

Thanks to University of Michigan for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114527/Nearby_planet_forming_disk_holds_water_for_thousands_of_oceans

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Microsoft Looks To Cut Windows Phone Production Costs? In Half

Microsoft is looking to cut manufacturing costs on its Windows Phone 7 handsets, according to statements made by WinPho boss Andy Lees in Hong Kong today. The company has struggled through its push into mobile since the launch of the Windows Phone platform last year, which honestly made more of a ripple than a splash in the market. Now that Mango is ready to emerge as a "third mobile ecosystem," as Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams would put it, Microsoft wants to step up its volume, and cutting production costs seems to be the means to that end. Lees said Redmond is looking to cut manufacturing costs in half, taking them from around $400 per handset (which was the cost when the software debuted last year) to less than $200 per handset.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8uRks9EaUvE/

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JURIST - Paper Chase: UN legal chief urges Cambodia government ...

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.

Friday, October 21, 2011 UN legal chief urges Cambodia government not to interfere with Khmer Rouge tribunal John Paul Putney at 7:10 AM ET [JURIST] UN Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs Patricia O'Brien on Thursday urged the government of Cambodia to refrain from interfering with the UN-backed tribunal tasked with trying those alleged responsible for mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge [JURIST news archive; BBC backgrounder]. In a meeting in with Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An to discuss recent developments at the tribunal?the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive]?O'Brien expressed concern and reiterated the call to respect the integrity and independence of the tribunal. In an official statement, her office noted: The Legal Counsel strongly urged the Royal Government of Cambodia to refrain from statements opposing the progress of Cases 003 and 004 and to refrain from interfering in any way whatsoever with the judicial process. She emphasized the obligation of the Royal Government of Cambodia to cooperate fully with the ECCC. The pressure for UN action results from the resignation of Siegfried Blunk [JURIST report], one of the judges for the ECCC, who blamed political interference for his decision. Earlier this week, the UN-backed ECCC announced that the trial of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders will begin [JURIST report] on Monday, November 21. Last week, rights groups urged the UN [JURIST report] to assure that Cambodia will not interfere with the tribunal's work. In September, the ECCC ordered the trials of four alleged Khmer Rouge leaders be split into a series of smaller trials [JURIST report]. The ECCC said that the separation of trials will allow the tribunal to deliberate more quickly in the case against the four elderly defendants. Link | | ?| print | subscribe | | latest newscast | Facebook page For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...

LATEST LEGAL NEWS ? UN rights expert warns lethal force during arrests could violate international standards 12:50 PM ET, October 22 ? EPA to develop standards for fracking wastewater discharge 3:39 PM ET, October 21 ? Canada rights group files torture complaint against Bush 2:55 PM ET, October 21 ? click for more... Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail! LATEST FORUM Combatant Immunity and the Death of Anwar al-Awlaqi Morris Davis Howard University School of Law ABOUT Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format. CONTACT Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@pitt.edu

Source: http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/10/un-legal-chief-urges-cambodia-government-not-to-interfere-with-khmer-rouge-tribunal.php

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