Levin's retirement gives GOP rare shot at Senate

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, after the weekly Democratic policy luncheon. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, after the weekly Democratic policy luncheon. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? U.S. Sen. Carl Levin's decision not to seek another term gives Michigan Republicans the chance to prove they can win a Senate election, while Democrats are left scrambling to keep a seat that has not been closely contested since the Detroit Tigers last won the World Series in 1984.

Levin's announcement is expected to spark a frenzy of interest from candidates and parties. The outcome of the 2014 race will play a role in Michigan's clout in Congress, the battle for control of the 100-member Senate and possibly even Gov. Rick Snyder's re-election prospects.

"This offers the opportunity for a huge field," said Lansing-based political analyst Bill Ballenger.

Much of the early focus is on the state's congressional delegation, where at least five members are considered possible candidates to move to the upper chamber. GOP Reps. Justin Amash, Dave Camp and Mike Rogers are being mentioned as well as Democrats Gary Peters and Dan Kildee.

Peters, who represents the bellwether county north of Detroit, told The Associated Press Friday that is he is "very interested" in running for Senate.

"It is absolutely critical that Democrats hold this seat," he said, calling himself a battle-tested campaigner who has won three difficult races. "People don't win statewide without winning Oakland County, and that's my political base."

The three-term congressman said he would make a decision within weeks after talking with his family. He said the chance to move up within House leadership does "somewhat change with an open Senate seat."

Some other Democrats interested in running are national committeewoman Debbie Dingell, the wife of long-time Rep. John Dingell, and University of Michigan regent Mark Bernstein, part of a well-known family of plaintiffs' lawyers. Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm also is being mentioned. She could not be reached Friday.

One Republican to express interest was former two-term Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who previously considered running against Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

"The idea that you have to be (in Washington) 100 years to be effective has gone out the window," she said, saying she was excited by the way Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's 13-hour filibuster energized other newer senators. "Those are the ones making a difference."

Land, a Republican national committeewoman, said her decision on whether to run will depend in part on who else jumps into the race. With more voters identifying themselves as independents, she said, they want lawmakers who "can get something done."

Another interested candidate is Scott Romney, older brother of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to a state GOP official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about specific candidates.

GOP Rep. Candice Miller, a former secretary of state, said Friday she will not run for Senate. Other Republicans to rule out a bid were 2012 Senate candidate and charter schools founder Clark Durant, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, former Attorney General Mike Cox, and Amway heir and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.

A message was left for another potential candidate, Delta Air Lines executive and University of Michigan regent Andrea Fischer Newman.

Levin's departure puts Democrats at a disadvantage as they already are looking for someone to challenge the governor and take back control of a state government dominated by the GOP. But Democrats also have fared well in federal elections in a state that has gone for Democrats in six straight presidential races.

Just one Republican has won a Michigan Senate seat in 40 years, Spencer Abraham in 1994, a non-presidential year like 2014 will be. The last close race was in 2000, when Debbie Stabenow defeated Abraham.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for Republicans. This is like a once-in-decades opportunity," said Stu Sandler, a GOP consultant in Ann Arbor. "There's a pretty strong bench out there."

Amash, a second-term conservative adored by tea party groups, was removed from a committee assignment in December after casting votes defying party leadership. If he won the primary, some Republicans worry he would not appeal to independent voters in the general election.

A message was left for Amash. He tweeted Friday that the Michigan GOP "can't put up an unelectable establishment candidate for Senate who doesn't appeal to independent & moderate voters on federal issues."

Democratic consultant Joe DiSano in Lansing said Peters right now is the Democratic front-runner.

"He can raise money. He's the most tenacious and seasoned campaigner. He's survived in extremely tough Oakland County," he said.

Republicans say Levin's departure is good news for Snyder, whose popularity has waned after signing a right-to-work law in December, because Democrats have to focus on the Senate. Democrats counter that Michigan now will receive national attention due to the Senate race, boosting fundraising for the gubernatorial challenger and excitement for Democratic voters to turn out in a non-presidential election.

___

Email David Eggert at deggert(at)ap.org and follow him at http://twitter.com/DavidEggert00

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-08-US-Senate-Michigan/id-45da0588d05349ff8a439e259f3efd08

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Sturdy job gains offer bright sign for economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers stepped up hiring in February, adding a greater-than-expected 236,000 workers to their payrolls and helping to push the jobless rate to a four year-low in a bright signal on the economy's health.

The data from the Labor Department on Friday showed the economy gaining traction despite the blow from higher taxes and deep government spending cuts.

"This was a strong number and one of those rare cases where we were firing on all cylinders," said Jacob Oubina, a senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

The jobless rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, from 7.9 percent in January. The decline reflected both gains in employment and people leaving the labor force.

The upbeat report, which showed broad-based job gains, was another sign of the economy's fundamental health, and it added fuel to a rally in U.S. stock markets that had already propelled the Dow Jones industrial average to record highs.

At the same time, the dollar strengthened and the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose sharply.

Economists had expected a gain of just 160,000 jobs. Nonetheless, the data was not so strong as to deter the Federal Reserve in its efforts to foster even faster economic growth by buying bonds, a policy known as quantitative easing.

"We're in a sweet spot of sorts with the data showing a more robust recovery, which supports stocks and the dollar, yet not quite strong enough to declare an end to quantitative easing," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

Although December and January's employment data was revised to show 15,000 fewer jobs added than previously reported, details of the report were solid, with construction adding the most jobs since March 2007 and increased hours for all workers.

Job gains in February were well above the 195,000 monthly average for the three months through January.

FED STILL IN PLAY

Despite the pick up in hiring, the pace of gains is still below the roughly 250,000 jobs per month that economists say is needed on a sustained basis to significantly reduce unemployment.

With fiscal policy tightening, Fed officials are likely to remain leery of withdrawing their support for the economy too soon. A 2 percent payroll tax cut ended and tax rates went up for wealthy Americans on January 1. In addition, $85 billion in federal budget cuts that could slice as much as 0.6 percentage point from growth this year started on March 1.

The central bank is buying $85 billion in bonds per month and has said it would keep up asset purchases until it sees a substantial improvement in the labor market outlook.

Since the 2007-09 recession ended, the economy has struggled to grow above a 2 percent annual pace. In the fourth quarter, output barely expanded.

In February, the construction employment increased by 48,000 jobs after rising by 25,000 in January.

A decisive turnaround in the housing market and rebuilding on the East Coast after the destruction by Superstorm Sandy in late October is boosting jobs at construction sites.

Manufacturers stepped up hiring in February, although the pace was still well below early last year because of lackluster domestic demand and cooling growth overseas. Factory jobs increased 14,000 last month after rising 12,000 in January.

Retail employment increased 23,700 jobs, rising for an eighth straight month, and defying a recent slowdown in sales.

Healthcare and social assistance saw another month of solid job gains. The same was the case for leisure and hospitality.

Government continued to shed jobs, with payrolls dropping 10,000 last month after falling 21,000 in January.

The sustained steady job gains are lending some stability to wages. Average hourly earnings rose four cents last month. That was the fourth straight month of gains in hourly earnings.

They increased 2.1 percent in the 12 months through February after a similar advance in January.

The length of the average workweek increased to 34.5 hours from 34.4 hours in January.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman and Tim Ahmann)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steady-job-gains-seen-bolstering-economy-050326902--business.html

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Gardner Denver agrees to $3.73B sale

WAYNE, Pa. (AP) ? Industrial pump maker Gardner Denver said Friday that it has agreed to sell itself to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for about $3.73 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, the New York-based private equity firm will acquire the Wayne, Pa.-based company for $76 per share.

That represents a 3 percent premium over the company's Thursday closing stock price and a 39 percent premium over its closing stock price on Oct. 24, the day before it announced it was exploring a possible sale.

The companies valued the deal at $3.9 billion including the assumption of debt.

Gardner Denver said in October that it would be reviewing its "strategic options," which generally include a sale of all or part of a company. That came after the company's August announcement that it would restructure its business to improve its profitability by consolidating manufacturing facilities and cutting staff.

In recent weeks, Gardner Denver shares have jumped on media reports that KKR had made a bid for the company.

The deal has been approved by Gardner Denver's board, but remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. It's expected to close in the third quarter.

Shares of Gardner Denver Inc. rose 86 cents to $74.71 in morning trading Friday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-08-US-Kohlberg-Gardner-Denver/id-d17fa0d900f949e8bb4d479ace75969c

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Filipino sultan's quest sparks crisis in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Unlike many other Muslim royalties basking in grand palaces and opulent lifestyles, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III's kingdom sits in a rundown two-story house in a poor Islamic community in Manila, the only hint of power and glory the title attached to his name.

"I'm the poorest sultan in the world," the ailing Kiram, 74, told The Associated Press in an interview in his residence in Maharlika village in the Philippine capital.

Although largely forgotten and dismissed as a vestige from a bygone era, Kiram's sultanate, once based in the southern province of Sulu, has sparked the biggest security crisis in Malaysia and the Philippines in decades -- early last month, he sent his younger brother with about 200 followers, dozens of them armed, by boat from southern Philippines to a village in Sabah state in neighboring Malaysia to claim the land the sultanate insists belongs to them.

A stunned Malaysia, which runs the frontier resource-rich region of timberlands and palm oil plantations as its second-largest federal state, poured in elite police and army troops and called in airstrikes to quell what it saw as an armed intrusion.

After weeks of sporadic clashes that killed 19 intruders and eight policemen, troops launched a full-scale assault Tuesday, codenamed "Operation Sovereign," but failed to account for most of the Filipinos, who according to the Kiram family were unhurt.

Malaysian forces shot and possibly killed one of the men, who appear to be trying to escape the area, police said. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said later Wednesday that security forces combing the area found 12 bodies. However, it was not clear if they died in Tuesday's strike or in the previous weeks of clashes.

The crisis has tested the neighbors' friendly ties and hit the leaders of both nations at a delicate time politically.

The Kirams claim Sabah has belonged to their sultanate for centuries and was only leased to Malaysia, which they say pays them a paltry annual rent of 5,300 Malaysian ringgit ($1,708). Malaysian officials contend the payments are part of an arrangement under which the sultanate has ceded the 74,000 square kilometers (28,000 square miles) of Sabah territory to their country.

Philippine presidents have relegated the volatile feud to the backburner despite efforts by the Kirams to put it back to the national agenda. The Feb. 9 Sabah expedition by the sultan's younger brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, and the ensuing violence have resurrected the long-dormant issue with the murky history beyond anybody's expectations.

One big obstacle for the Philippines is a number of the Kiram heirs, all claiming to be the rightful sultan. That put the government in a quandary on who to deal with for the Sabah claim to be pursued, historian Manolo Quezon IIII said.

Overrun by history, the Kirams carry royal titles and nothing much else.

"When I was a child, I thought 'princess' was just my name because when you're a child, your idea of being a princess is one with a crown, a palace, a carriage," said Jacel Kiram, a 35-year-old daughter of the sultan, who is regarded a princess.

At his Maharlika village home, the sultan, who has failed kidneys and a heart ailment, struggled with slurred speech to proudly recount the saga of his clan's empire based in the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines. Chinese and European leaders, he said, once sent vassals to pay homage to his powerful forebears. The Sulu sultanate, which emerged in the 1400s, preceded both the Philippine republic and Malaysia by centuries.

The exploits of the sultanate's native Tausug warriors were so legendary, the Brunei sultan at the time sought their help in putting down a rebellion in the 1600-1700s. When the uprising was crushed, the Brunei sultan handed over Sabah ? then part of Brunei ? to his Sulu counterpart as a gift of gratitude.

A Filipino sultan later leased Sabah to a British colonial-era company. The territory was later annexed by Britain. In 1963, six years after colonial Malaya gained independence, Sabah voted to join the new Malaysia.

The Sulu sultanate had steadily declined through the centuries, its power passed on to a succession of leaders and heirs. Jamalul Kiram III is the 33rd sultan and a symbolic leader with followers in Sulu and nearby southern provinces, which are among the country's poorest and are troubled by Muslim rebels, al-Qaida-linked extremists and outlaws.

Born in Sulu's far-flung Maimbung town in 1938, Kiram is a beloved leader who in his youth turned to dance and singing and played sports, including his favorite, tennis. He once worked as a disc jockey in a Jolo radio station. He took up law but failed to take the bar exams when he joined a prominent cultural dance group in the 1960s, according to his wife, Fatima Celia.

He also ran for senator in 2007, backed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ? a tacit recognition of his sultanate leadership ? but lost, leaving his family in debt due to the high campaign expenses, she said.

Last year, the sultan was diagnosed with failed kidneys and began to receive dialysis treatment, causing family members to miss out on monthly payments for their house, which they nearly lost had friends not helped out, Celia said.

Since then, Kiram has mostly been sidelined to his bedroom, which resembles a hospital unit with two oxygen tanks and serves as an office where he met visitors and followers seeking all sorts of help.

In his younger years, Kiram said he traveled often to Sabah. "It's really very rich," he said of Sabah. "When I'm in Sabah, I feel at home."

Sabah and Sulu are separated by a narrow strip of the Sulu Sea that at its shortest span can be traversed by boat in 30 minutes. The two provinces have shared traditional ties, and people, who are of the same ethnic stock, frequently travel back and forth.

Some 800,000 Filipinos, mostly Muslims, have settled in Sabah over the years to seek work and stability.

Although tensions between the two communities are not uncommon, it is feared that the Kiram's claims and the violence over the past week will sour relations further and could lead to retaliation against the long-staying Filipino settlers.

It was his decrepit sultanate's inability to help out Filipino followers, who are seeking work and greener pastures, that he said prompted him to allow his brother to lead a first batch of settlers to relocate in a village in Sabah's coastal district of Lahad Datu, the event that triggered the three-week deadly standoff.

Worried about straining relations with affluent Malaysia, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has walked a delicate tightrope, careful to avoid a collision course with Malaysia and at the same time reach out to the Kirams, who accused him of mishandling the crisis and siding with Malaysia. The Sabah standoff erupted as Aquino was grappling with a separate rift with China over contested South China Sea territories.

Malaysia has also brokered peace talks between Manila and the largest Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines. Both countries are founding members of an influential regional bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In Malaysia, activists have called for tougher border security and immigration policies in Sabah, presenting a major political challenge to Prime Minister Najib Razak's ruling coalition, which faces general elections that must be held by the end of June.

James Chin, political science lecturer with Monash University in Malaysia, said that the crisis could spell trouble for Najib if the Filipino community in Sabah and Sarawak states, many who have assimilated into Malaysian society and hold identity cards, vote against his ruling coalition.

Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo jointly account for a quarter of parliamentary seats and are key to a victory for Najib's coalition.

The Kirams said the sultanate wanted the Philippine government to pursue their claim to Sabah, but successive presidents have ignored their plea.

Many stories of poor Filipinos illtreated by Malaysian authorities in Sabah provided the final straw, Kiram's wife said.

"It's good if they were placed in jail," she said. "The problem is they are caned, they are punished and then deported ... we couldn't do anything."

The sultan said his followers being hunted in Sabah were fighting for their rights and honor, something profoundly important among his followers. The Malaysians could wipe them out but the problem won't go away, his wife said.

"They would be replaced by others and generations more to come," she said.

___

Yoong contributed from Kuala Lumpur. Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur also contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-sultans-quest-sparks-crisis-malaysia-090010431.html

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Study: States with the most laws had lower gun death rate

CHICAGO (AP) ? States with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths, according to a study that suggests sheer quantity of measures might make a difference.

But the research leaves many questions unanswered and won't settle the debate over how policymakers should respond to recent high-profile acts of gun violence.

In the dozen or so states with the most gun control-related laws, far fewer people were shot to death or killed themselves with guns than in the states with the fewest laws, the study found. Overall, states with the most laws had a 42 percent lower gun death rate than states with the least number of laws.

The results are based on an analysis of 2007-2010 gun-related homicides and suicides from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers also used data on gun control measures in all 50 states compiled by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a well-known gun control advocacy group. They compared states by dividing them into four equal-sized groups according to the number of gun laws.

The results were published online Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

More than 30,000 people nationwide die from guns every year nationwide, and there's evidence that gun-related violent crime rates have increased since 2008, a journal editorial noted.

During the four-years studied, there were nearly 122,000 gun deaths, 60 percent of them suicides.

"Our motivation was really to understand what are the interventions that can be done to reduce firearm mortality," said Dr. Eric Fleegler, the study's lead author and an emergency department pediatrician and researcher at Boston Children's Hospital.

He said his study suggests but doesn't prove that gun laws ? or something else ? led to fewer gun deaths.

Fleegler is also among hundreds of doctors who have signed a petition urging President Barack Obama and Congress to pass gun safety legislation, a campaign organized by the advocacy group Doctors for America.

Gun rights advocates have argued that strict gun laws have failed to curb high murder rates in some cities, including Chicago and Washington, D.C. Fleegler said his study didn't examine city-level laws, while gun control advocates have said local laws aren't as effective when neighboring states have lax laws.

Previous research on the effectiveness of gun laws has had mixed results, and it's a "very challenging" area to study, said Dr. Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center For Gun Policy. He was not involved in the current study.

The strongest kind of research would require comparisons between states that have dissimilar gun laws but otherwise are nearly identical, "but there isn't a super nice twin for New Jersey," for example, a state with strict gun laws, Webster noted.

Fleegler said his study's conclusions took into account factors also linked with gun violence, including poverty, education levels and race, which vary among the states.

The average annual gun death rate ranged from almost 3 per 100,000 in Hawaii to 18 per 100,000 in Louisiana. Hawaii had 16 gun laws, and along with New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts was among states with the most laws and fewest deaths. States with the fewest laws and most deaths included Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

But there were outliers: South Dakota, for example, had just two guns laws but few deaths.

Editorial author Dr. Garen Wintemute, director the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, said the study doesn't answer which laws, if any, work.

Wintemute said it's likely that gun control measures are more readily enacted in states with few gun owners ? a factor that might have more influence on gun deaths than the number of laws.

___

Online:

JAMA Internal Medicine: http://www.jamainternalmed.com

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/more-gun-laws-fewer-deaths-50-state-study-224508338.html

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Fact and fantasy collide in NYC cannibalism trial

FILE- In this Feb. 25, 2013, courtroom sketch, former New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle, second right, is seated at federal court in New York. An FBI agent says a New York police officer accused of conspiring with others on the Internet to kill and eat women was cooperative and willing to help the agency catch dangerous people on the Internet, not just those role playing, when he was arrested in October. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

FILE- In this Feb. 25, 2013, courtroom sketch, former New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle, second right, is seated at federal court in New York. An FBI agent says a New York police officer accused of conspiring with others on the Internet to kill and eat women was cooperative and willing to help the agency catch dangerous people on the Internet, not just those role playing, when he was arrested in October. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A teenager posts a Twitter message saying he's going to blow up a school. A husband grumbles that he's looking for a hit man to kill his wife. A wannabe jihadist says in an Internet chat room that he is ready to become a martyr.

Are any of them serious? Or is it all bluster?

Separating real threats from idle talk is a workaday task for law enforcement. It is rarely easy, but it has taken on extreme complexity in the lurid case of Gilberto Valle, a New York City police officer charged with plotting to kidnap, cook and eat women he knew.

At a conspiracy trial now in its second week, a jury has heard how Valle was part of an international community of fetishists who got their kicks trading wild fantasies online about violent acts against women.

By all accounts, he was into some sick stuff. After fighting crime at his day job, Valle spent his free time logging in to websites like Dark Fetish, where users posted accounts of rape, necrophilia and women being strangled and burned at the stake.

The site carried a disclaimer: "This place is about fantasies only." But prosecutors claim Valle took steps to get into closer contact with some of the women he wrote about, including using a police department database to look up their personal information, emailing and texting them more often and meeting with at least one of them.

Jurors in what the tabloids have dubbed the "Cannibal Cop" case will have their hands full when they begin deliberations, possibly as early as Thursday.

Valle's lawyer has argued that it was all clearly fiction. The plans Valle gruesomely described were never carried out. He never purchased the torture implements he described in emails with his fetishist pen pals. He never met the men accused of being his co-conspirators. The women he wrote about learned of the plans only after his arrest, with the exception of his wife, who discovered her husband's pastime after installing spyware on his computer.

As strange as the case is, experts said it touches on a common challenge in law enforcement: deciphering intent without running afoul of the First Amendment right to free speech.

"Simply thinking bad thoughts is not a crime anywhere," said David Raskin, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted terrorism conspiracies.

Nor is spouting off about violence on the Internet. So when terrorist sympathizers go online and talk about wanting to blow up buildings, the FBI will often send in an operative to tease out how far they are really willing to go.

"Obviously, they are very, very different types of offenses," Raskin said. "But it's the same challenge from the law enforcement perspective, which is, 'How do we get inside the guy's head and figure out if he will act on the things he is saying?'"

Last year, the FBI ran that type of test on Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, a college student from Bangladesh who fell under scrutiny after he began using social media to seek support for a terror attack.

The sting ended with the 21-year-old sitting in a van in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, trying to detonate what he believed was a bomb. It was a fake, supplied by undercover agents. He pleaded guilty in February.

The FBI agents who investigated Valle never tried putting together a similar sting. The case against him is based mostly on his email exchanges.

Valle's attorney, Julia Gatto, opened her defense by arguing that the officer was being prosecuted purely for private speech.

"We don't convict people for sharing their thoughts, no matter how scary and disgusting they may be," she told the jury. "If we did, our prisons would be full with the directors of horror movies, with the producers of violent video games, with famous authors like Stephen King. We don't convict people because we don't like their thoughts. And you, ladies and gentlemen, are not deputy agents of the thought police."

A similar argument prevailed in the case of Jake Baker, a University of Michigan student who posted violent short stories about a female classmate in an Internet forum in 1994 and later exchanged emails with a man in which they discussed carrying out murder.

A federal appeals court ruled that the emails weren't "true threats," and the men were merely trying to "foster a friendship based on shared sexual fantasies."

If a jury reaches the same conclusion about Valle, it should acquit, said Andy Sellars, a staff lawyer for the Digital Medial Law Project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

"If this forum was nothing more than the sharing of repugnant stories, then we shouldn't hold them responsible," he said. "One of the things we protect in free speech is giving a person the opportunity to vent in order to relieve whatever disturbing thoughts they have on their mind."

Criminal law, he said, has historically given the benefit of the doubt to people who contemplate a crime but back away.

The catch in Valle's case is that he and the men he corresponded with talked in great detail about the twisted things they wanted to do. Maybe that was just to make the fantasy seem more real and feel more exciting. But maybe not.

The Russian entrepreneur who created Dark Fetish said in a video deposition taken in February that he himself had trouble discerning fact from fiction in some postings on his site, and had kicked users off for discussing things that sounded like real crimes.

"Let's say that it seemed not to be fantasy anymore," Sergey Merenkov said. "It could have led to something bad, yes."

Raskin, the former federal prosecutor, said that in arresting Valle, authorities did the safe thing. What if he really did kill someone?

"Just think of the story you would write if you found out that people knew about this guy before he did it. ... Half of law enforcement in New York City would get fired because of that story," Raskin said. "That is constantly on the mind of the people who are in charge of investigating these things. What if this is the guy who really isn't a wacko?"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-06-US-Cannibalism-Policing-Fantasy/id-d0f6950f7ae542c7aa720925a3de1ed1

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How to be a Public Speaking Star with The Use Of Computers ...

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All round the point is by employing a laptop you can save time which in turn will minimize tension for you.

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Source: http://culturapopulara.ro/?p=28588

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Sequester at Home: Medicare Cuts Mean Tough Choices for Colo. Hospitals

As federal employees are contemplating smaller paychecks this week, administrators at rural hospitals are struggling just to keep their balance sheets in the black, thanks to the sequester.

In 2011, Medicare payments to Colorado hospitals were $253 million less than in 2009, according to the Colorado Hospital Association. Now those same institutions are facing another 2 percent decrease in reimbursement for Medicare services. That one-two punch could knock some hospitals out of the ring, according to Russ Johnson, CEO of San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Colo.

"For those folks that don't have a balance sheet that's healthy, and they're already on the edge, it's a very significant jeopardy," Johnson told ABC News. "I would expect not just with sequestration but with what's happening in our country - maybe out of necessity to reduce costs - we're going to see some hospitals that have been struggling finally not be able to continue."

The New York Times reported on hospitals' fear of the sequester - the automatic government spending cuts that kicked in March 1 - in December, before Congress voted to push it off by a couple months. The $85 billion package of spending cuts officially went into effect last week, and now Steven Summer, president of the Colorado Hospital Association, said cuts were about to hit especially hard in a state facing a drought and other economic challenges. For Coloradans, it will mean doctors and patients will have to make sacrifices, according to Summer.

"It could potentially have patient waits increase," Summer said. "If it's a staffing question then certainly staffing has an impact on patient care."

Florida, a state with a higher-than-average Medicare-eligible population, is facing similar fears this spring.

READ MORE: Sequester at Home: Florida Could Lose Blue Angels Shows, Medicare Payments

Actual Medicare benefits are protected from sequester cuts, but that does not mean patients won't see a change in care. With a 2 percent reduction in payment for Medicare services, hospitals will have to look elsewhere to make up that lost revenue.

For Johnson's hospital in rural Colorado, Medicare makes up 37 percent of its business.

Cutting revenue will mean less funding available to support the clinics for patients with diabetes or those on blood thinners that the hospital provides, according to Johnson.

"All of those things right now in our current model aren't reimbursed, and so those are the things when you do get reimbursement cuts that you necessarily have to think through and ponder how do you continue to do that," Johnson told ABC News Wednesday. "This isn't the death knell for us. Two-percent cut to Medicare in this year isn't going to jeopardize our organization, but it's very likely to compromise some service and if this kind of a cut continues, then we will be changing kind of who we are as a hospital and what we're able to do in our community."

Nestled in a rural alpine valley surrounded by mountains and just over the border from New Mexico, Johnson's hospital has the only ICU, the only obstetric service and the only trauma surgeon for six counties, he said.

"It's not like people shop around and go to another location because there's only one that's able to serve this community," Johnson said.

Hospitals have to be very careful when implementing furloughs - the mandatory unpaid leave most government agencies are forcing on employees to offset budget cuts. While fewer inspectors on duty at U.S. Customs might mean longer lines at airports, the same situation in a hospital can mean life or death.

Johnson said many rural hospitals are already operating with minimal staff.

A 2004 report from the Institute of Medicine found uneven staffing was "posing risks to patient safety."

"The committee finds strong evidence that nurse staffing levels, the knowledge and skill levels of nursing staff, and the extent to which workers collaborate in sharing their knowledge and skills affect patient outcomes and safety," the report, called " Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses," said.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found short-staffing nurses in hospitals put patients in danger, with patients at understaffed hospitals more likely to die after their care there.

Beyond patient health, Medicare cuts mean Colorado hospitals have to re-evaluate how they adopt President Obama's health care law, the Affordable Care Act.

READ MORE: Sequester: What Will Happen, What Won't Happen and What We Don't Know

A timeline from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows implementing the Affordable Care Act will take eight years, with much of the work occurring in the next two years.

"This postpones the kinds of decisions we need to make to transform the health care system," Summer told ABC News. "All those decisions related to [the ACA] have to wait until we have the stability in the system, so we can implement some of those changes in the payment system."

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., introduced legislation to change the path of sequestration on Monday, but the bill does not specifically address Medicare payments.

The bottom line for Johnson is that there are ways to bring down health care costs responsibly, but sequestration isn't one of them.

"I am fully supportive of helping our country be fiscally responsible, and that means reducing health care costs," Johnson said. "But this way of doing it where we just kind of take a broad swath out of Medicare is really ill-conceived, when there's so many good ideas and so many proven options where we can remove costs from our system and from health care that don't harm the patient, that don't compromise our clinicians or our hospitals."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sequester-home-medicare-cuts-mean-tough-choices-colo-205817353--abc-news-politics.html

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Obama rounds out Cabinet with EPA, Energy picks (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Coffitivity Plays Ambient Coffee Shop Noise to Boost Your Productivity

Several studies have previously shown that coffee shop buzz is good for your creativity and productivity, thanks to providing "just the right amount" of background noise. You don't have to head outside your home, though, to get that work boost. The Coffitivity webapp plays that ambient coffee shop noise to get your creative juices flowing.

It's a pretty realistic recreation of a coffee shop's vibe, complete with clinking cups and background chatter. So you get all of that coffee shop buzz without having to fight for a seat or buy lattes all day.

Coffitivity

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/q6eL705oJqA/coffitivity-plays-ambient-coffee-shop-noise-to-boost-your-productivity

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Health benefits of marriage may not extend to all

Mar. 5, 2013 ? Marriage may not always be as beneficial to health as experts have led us to believe, according to a new study.

Researchers made two discoveries that explain why: First, marriage provides less protection against mortality as health deteriorates, even though it does seem to benefit those who are in excellent health. Secondly, married people tend to overestimate how healthy they are, compared to others.

"We believe marriage is still good for the health of some people, but it is not equally protective for everyone," said Hui Zheng, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of sociology at The Ohio State University.

"For those who are already in poor health, marriage doesn't seem to provide any extra benefits."

The results generally held true for both men and women. They were also similar for all types of unmarried people, including divorced, widowed and never married, as well as separated people.

Zheng conducted the study with Patricia Thomas of the University of Texas at Austin. Their results appear in the March 2013 issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

The researchers used data on about 789,000 people who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 1986 to 2004. In this survey, participants rated their own health on a five-point scale (excellent, very good, good, fair, poor). Zheng and Thomas then used follow-up data to identify the nearly 24,100 people who died between 1986 and 2006.

The self-rated health measure used in this study has been found to be one of the best predictors of whether a person will die in both the short and long term -- even better than doctor diagnosis in some cases, Zheng said.

The researchers used a statistical model to determine how self-rated health, marriage status and other factors related to mortality risk over a three-year period.

Overall, the researchers confirmed the volumes of previous research that has found that, overall, being unmarried -- including never married, separated, divorced and widowed -- significantly increases the risk of death within three years. For example, a never-married person who lists his health as "excellent" is two times more likely to die within three years than a similar married person in excellent health.

But their new finding is that as self-rated health declines (from excellent down to poor), the mortality advantage for married people diminishes.

For example, for never-married people, each unit decline in health (e.g., from fair to poor) decreases the risk of death compared to married people by 12 percent. When people rate their health as "poor," there is essentially no difference in mortality risks between married and unmarried people.

"These results suggest that marriage may be important for the prevention of disease, but not as helpful once people become seriously ill," Zheng said.

"That's why we see a protective effect of marriage when people are in excellent health, but not when they are in poor health."

The researchers confirmed that marriage offers diminishing protection against mortality at poorer levels of health by using another, more objective measure of health. They compared married and unmarried people's responses to questions about how well they could handle routine care activities such as eating and bathing, as well as activities that promote independent living, such as driving and cooking.

These results also showed that married and unmarried people have similar mortality rates when they have worse health as measured by limitations on their ability to perform these types of activities.

But the diminishing protection of marriage as health declines is only part of the explanation about why marriage may not guard health as much as assumed. The other explanation uncovered by the study is that married people overestimate how healthy they are.

"The married don't seem to report their health as being poor until they've already developed much more severe health problems," Zheng said.

"They have a different threshold for what they consider to be bad health compared to unmarried people."

That means that once a married person rates his health as "poor," he may be sicker than a similar single person who also lists his health as poor.

The reason may have to do with the social support married people receive from their spouses.

"Even when married people do get sick, the impact on their life may be less because of the support they receive from their husband or wife. They don't rate their health as low as do unmarried people, because their spouse helps them cope," Zheng said.

These results shouldn't be used to cast doubt on the validity of self-rated health measures, Zheng said. In general, self-rated health is still very useful and accurate in predicting mortality. However, the results here show researchers should use such measures cautiously when comparing people of different marital statuses.

People should also be clear about what marriage can and cannot do when it comes to health. "Marriage is helpful in persuading people to adopt a healthy lifestyle that can lead to a longer life," Zheng said. "But it is not as useful in helping people recover from a serious illness."

The research was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Health and Child Development.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University.

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. H. Zheng, P. A. Thomas. Marital Status, Self-Rated Health, and Mortality: Overestimation of Health or Diminishing Protection of Marriage? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/0022146512470564

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/seVKtDs4TGM/130305100926.htm

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Samsung Publicly Apologizes For Fatal Gas Leak At Semiconductor Plant

Samsung has issued a rare public apology for a January 28 gas leakage at one of the company’s semiconductor plants that resulted in the death of a contractor. The accident occurred at Samsung’s semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, and injured four other workers in addition to the worker that died. The public apology, made by company vice chairman Kwon Oh-hyun, comes after Samsung co-president Jeon Dong Su?apologized?to families of the workers affected and confirmed a third-party investigation into the causes of the hydrofluoric acid?gas leak. According to a report from Yonhap News Agency, hydrofluoric acid is a colorless acute poison that can damage the lungs and bones and affect the nervous system.?Two days after the incident, Samsung was fined?just one million won (about $1,000 USD) for not reporting the gas leak quickly enough. An official alert was not given until after the contractor had died in a hospital. Furthermore, police also said that an analysis of CCTV footage showed that hydrofluoric acid had leaked into the area around the plant after the accident, which conflicted with Samsung’s earlier statement that the situation had been contained. Police said they would not rule out the possibility that tens of thousands of residents living within a 2 kilometer radius of the Hwaseong plant have been partially affected by the gas. Kwon said in his statement that Samsung will revoke its application to have its Hwaseong plants certified as “green” by the government for the next five years. The company’s plants in Hwaseong were first certified as green in 1998, which meant they could bypass regular inspections. An application for re-designation had been submitted to the government in late August. Seven people, including three of Samsung’s officials, are being investigated on charges of negligence related to the hydrofluoric acid gas leak. Kwon said that the company is taking steps to prevent similar accidents from happening. “We plan to overhaul the system in a bid to better make environmentally-friendly workplaces,” Kwon said.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CutD1W2jRJM/

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Xbox 360's first exclusive movie, Pulp, launches today (video)

Ah, exclusivity. Typically the domain of movie theaters and premium cable subscriptions, now everyone's giving it a go. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is also joining the fray and has launched Pulp, a British indie comedy. The movie has already been shortlisted at several respectable film festivals but creator, Adam Hamdy, citing the high costs of marketing lesser-known films, said that a different approach was needed to get Pulp in front of audiences -- something that those 77 million Xbox 360 owners should be able to help with. Microsoft added that this won't be the only movie to debut on the Xbox Live's Video app, although it hasn't detailed how many more exclusives its salt-and-pepper console is likely to see.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: BBC Newsbeat, Xbox Marketplace

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/04/xbox-360-exclusive-movie-pulp-launch/

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Scientists identify 'clean-up' snafu that kills brain cells in Parkinson's disease

Public release date: 3-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kim Newman
sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu
718-430-3101
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

March 3, 2013 (Bronx, NY) Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells. The study, which published online today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, could also open up treatment possibilities for both familial Parkinson's and the more common form of Parkinson's that is not inherited.

Parkinson's disease is a gradually progressing disorder of the nervous system that causes stiffness or slowing of movement. According to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, as many as one million Americans are living with the disease.

The most common mutations responsible for the familial form of Parkinson's disease affect a gene called leucine-rich repeat kinase-2 (LRRK2). The mutations cause the LRRK2 gene to code for abnormal versions of the LRRK2 protein. But it hasn't been clear how LRRK2 mutations lead to the defining microscopic sign of Parkinson's: the formation of abnormal protein aggregates inside dopamine-producing nerve cells of the brain.

"Our study found that abnormal forms of LRRK2 protein disrupt an important garbage-disposal process in cells that normally digests and recycles unwanted proteins including one called alpha-synuclein the main component of those protein aggregates that gunk up nerve cells in Parkinson's patients," said study leader Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D., professor of developmental and molecular biology , of anatomy and structural biology , and of medicine and the Robert and Renee Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Einstein.

The name for the disrupted disposal process is chaperone-mediated autophagy (the word "autophagy" literally means "self-eating"). It involves specialized molecules that "guide" old and damaged proteins to enzyme-filled structures called lysosomes; there the proteins are digested into amino acids, which are then recycled within the cell.

"We showed that when LRRK2 inhibits chaperone-mediated autophagy, alpha-synuclein doesn't get broken down and instead accumulates to toxic levels in nerve cells," said Dr. Cuervo.

The study involved mouse neurons in tissue culture from four different animal models, neurons from the brains of patients with Parkinson's with LRRK2 mutations, and neurons derived from the skin cells of Parkinson's patients via induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. All the lines of research confirmed the researchers' discovery.

"We're now looking at ways to enhance the activity of this recycling system to see if we can prevent or delay neuronal death and disease," said Dr. Cuervo. "We've started to analyze some chemical compounds that look very promising."

Dr. Cuervo hopes that such treatments could help patients with familial as well as nonfamilial Parkinson's the predominant form of the disease that also involves the buildup of alpha-synuclein.

Dr. Cuervo is credited with discovering chaperone-mediated autophagy. She has published extensively on autophagy and its role in numerous diseases, such as cancer and Huntington's disease , and its role in age-related conditions, including organ decline and weakened immunity. Dr. Cuervo is co-director of Einstein's Institute of Aging Research.

###

The paper is titled "Interplay of LRRK2 with chaperone-mediated autophagy." In addition to Dr. Cuervo, other Einstein contributors include Samantha J. Orenstein, a graduate student who performed most of this study as part of her Ph.D. thesis; Inmaculada Tasset, Ph.D.; Esperanza Arias, Ph.D.; and Hiroshi Koga, Ph.D., all members of Dr. Cuervo's group. Additional co-authors are: Sheng-Hang Kuo Ph.D., David Sulzer Ph.D., Etty Cortes, M.D., and Lawrence S. Honig, M.D. (Columbia University, NY); William Dauer, M.D., (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI); Irene Fernandez-Carasa and Antonella Consiglio, Ph.D., (University of Barcelona, Barcelona Spain); and Angel Raya, M.D., Ph.D., (Institucio Catalana de Recerca I Estudies Avancas, Barcelona, Spain).

This work was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (AG031782 and AG08702), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Udall Center of Excellence both part of the National Institutes of Health; The Rainwaters Foundation, The Beatrice and Roy Backus Foundation, JPB Foundation; Parkinson's Disease Foundation; Fondazione Guido Berlucchi; Centers for Networked Biomedical Research; Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; a Hirschl/Weill-Caulier Career Scientist Award; and a gift from Robert and Renee Belfer.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. In 2012, Einstein received over $160 million in awards from the NIH for major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS, as well as other areas. Through its affiliation with Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein, and six other hospital systems, the College of Medicine runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu and follow us on Twitter @EinsteinMed.

---

[ | 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: 3-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kim Newman
sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu
718-430-3101
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

March 3, 2013 (Bronx, NY) Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells. The study, which published online today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, could also open up treatment possibilities for both familial Parkinson's and the more common form of Parkinson's that is not inherited.

Parkinson's disease is a gradually progressing disorder of the nervous system that causes stiffness or slowing of movement. According to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, as many as one million Americans are living with the disease.

The most common mutations responsible for the familial form of Parkinson's disease affect a gene called leucine-rich repeat kinase-2 (LRRK2). The mutations cause the LRRK2 gene to code for abnormal versions of the LRRK2 protein. But it hasn't been clear how LRRK2 mutations lead to the defining microscopic sign of Parkinson's: the formation of abnormal protein aggregates inside dopamine-producing nerve cells of the brain.

"Our study found that abnormal forms of LRRK2 protein disrupt an important garbage-disposal process in cells that normally digests and recycles unwanted proteins including one called alpha-synuclein the main component of those protein aggregates that gunk up nerve cells in Parkinson's patients," said study leader Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D., professor of developmental and molecular biology , of anatomy and structural biology , and of medicine and the Robert and Renee Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Einstein.

The name for the disrupted disposal process is chaperone-mediated autophagy (the word "autophagy" literally means "self-eating"). It involves specialized molecules that "guide" old and damaged proteins to enzyme-filled structures called lysosomes; there the proteins are digested into amino acids, which are then recycled within the cell.

"We showed that when LRRK2 inhibits chaperone-mediated autophagy, alpha-synuclein doesn't get broken down and instead accumulates to toxic levels in nerve cells," said Dr. Cuervo.

The study involved mouse neurons in tissue culture from four different animal models, neurons from the brains of patients with Parkinson's with LRRK2 mutations, and neurons derived from the skin cells of Parkinson's patients via induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. All the lines of research confirmed the researchers' discovery.

"We're now looking at ways to enhance the activity of this recycling system to see if we can prevent or delay neuronal death and disease," said Dr. Cuervo. "We've started to analyze some chemical compounds that look very promising."

Dr. Cuervo hopes that such treatments could help patients with familial as well as nonfamilial Parkinson's the predominant form of the disease that also involves the buildup of alpha-synuclein.

Dr. Cuervo is credited with discovering chaperone-mediated autophagy. She has published extensively on autophagy and its role in numerous diseases, such as cancer and Huntington's disease , and its role in age-related conditions, including organ decline and weakened immunity. Dr. Cuervo is co-director of Einstein's Institute of Aging Research.

###

The paper is titled "Interplay of LRRK2 with chaperone-mediated autophagy." In addition to Dr. Cuervo, other Einstein contributors include Samantha J. Orenstein, a graduate student who performed most of this study as part of her Ph.D. thesis; Inmaculada Tasset, Ph.D.; Esperanza Arias, Ph.D.; and Hiroshi Koga, Ph.D., all members of Dr. Cuervo's group. Additional co-authors are: Sheng-Hang Kuo Ph.D., David Sulzer Ph.D., Etty Cortes, M.D., and Lawrence S. Honig, M.D. (Columbia University, NY); William Dauer, M.D., (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI); Irene Fernandez-Carasa and Antonella Consiglio, Ph.D., (University of Barcelona, Barcelona Spain); and Angel Raya, M.D., Ph.D., (Institucio Catalana de Recerca I Estudies Avancas, Barcelona, Spain).

This work was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (AG031782 and AG08702), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Udall Center of Excellence both part of the National Institutes of Health; The Rainwaters Foundation, The Beatrice and Roy Backus Foundation, JPB Foundation; Parkinson's Disease Foundation; Fondazione Guido Berlucchi; Centers for Networked Biomedical Research; Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; a Hirschl/Weill-Caulier Career Scientist Award; and a gift from Robert and Renee Belfer.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. In 2012, Einstein received over $160 million in awards from the NIH for major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS, as well as other areas. Through its affiliation with Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein, and six other hospital systems, the College of Medicine runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu and follow us on Twitter @EinsteinMed.

---

[ | 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/2013-03/aeco-si022813.php

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In Manila, Catholics pray for smooth succession

Filipino Benita Canlas prays outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Filipino Benita Canlas prays outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Filipino Catholics pray during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A Filipino Catholic altar boy stands beside an empty priest' chair during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Filipino Catholic Priest Victorino Cueto, center, sprinkles holy water on devotees during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday Mar. 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A Filipino devotee prays at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years because of Benedict XVI's resignation. They prayed for the smooth rise of a successor who can lead the church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation attended Mass on Sunday with their church awkwardly having no pope due to Benedict XVI's resignation ? the first in 600 years ? and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to lead an embattled institution.

Benedict stunned the world when he announced Feb. 11 that he would resign, citing his age and frail health. His resignation, which took effect Thursday, ushered in a period known as "sede vacante," or "vacant see" ? the transition period between papacies when a few Vatican officials take charge of running the church.

All cardinals worldwide have been summoned to the Vatican for a conclave to elect Benedict's successor. The new pope will inherit a church facing a tide of secularism in Europe, as well as clergy sex abuse and corruption scandals that have underscored the need to pick a formidable successor to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Churchgoers and the clergy in the Philippines said they were not worried by the temporary absence of a pope, but nevertheless felt the vacuum.

"There is something missing more or less in spirit," said the Rev. Joel Sulse, who celebrated Mass at the Santuario de San Antonio parish in an upscale residential enclave in Manila's Makati business district. "It's also a challenge. It's like when there is no leader, you really have to stand for your convictions."

Many churchgoers said their faith would endure at all times, expressing confidence that the Catholic church would soon have a new pontiff after a transition with its key doctrines intact.

"We know they will elect a pope, so there will still be a pope," said Ely Santos, who went to Mass with her husband and daughter at Christ the King church in a middle-class community in Manila's suburban Quezon city.

Sulse's parish and other Catholic churches across the Southeast Asian nation offered prayers for a hassle-free Vatican conclave of cardinals to elect a new pope.

Although Sulse noted that a new pontiff from the developing world may have a better grasp of problems afflicting many Catholics, he said Filipinos should pray for any pope who "can be strong yet loving."

"How we wish that, you know, there will be a pope coming from the third or fourth world," he said. Such a pope, he said, would be familiar with the realities in impoverished Catholic nations.

Such yearning for a strong successor to St. Peter's throne echoed from people from all walks of life. At the chandelier-lit church where Sulse said Mass, many traveled in SUVs from nearby exclusive residential enclaves to the air-conditioned parish building with beautifully manicured lawns.

Churchgoer Miguel Ma. Guerrero said the next pontiff should be a dynamic leader who can lead the church in a modern era beset by long-pestering problems such as poverty. Technology could help the church accomplish its mission, he said.

"He must be able to use his efforts and achievements to bring the Christian world to a modern state of which we are now experiencing because of the advent of technology," Guerrero said.

In another Manila church, in the working-class district of Baclaran, Catholics said they yearned for a pope who would be able to lead the younger generation onto the right path. One churchgoer said she wanted somebody like the late Pope John Paul II, who was welcomed by millions when he visited the Philippines in 1995.

"I have been praying for a new pope to be just like Pope John Paul II, who was close to the people and was very humble," said Charlene Bautista, an insurance broker.

For the first time, a Filipino cardinal, Antonio Luis Tagle, has been regarded as among the group of cardinals who have a chance of succeeding Benedict. Although considered a long shot, Tagle's inclusion among the so-called papabile, or papal candidates, has electrified many in the country, where past pontiffs were welcomed by millions like rock stars.

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Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-03-Pope-Faithful/id-151cd6a8240544afa772e08935aa5855

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