Followers

Wednesday 30 November 2011

FBI agents upset over movie alleging J. Edgar Hoover was gay

By Carol Morello

Gregg Schwarz frowned as he positioned himself, just so, in front of the wrought iron fence surrounding John Edgar Hoover’s grave, a place he has visited countless times but never before in anger. A retired FBI agent who joined the agency in 1972, the year Hoover died, Schwarz had hired a videographer to film him for YouTube expressing his displeasure with a movie that depicted Hoover as a repressed homosexual. In a dig at Clint Eastwood, the director of “J. Edgar,” Schwarz titled his video response, “Dirty Harry to Filthy Harry.”

“Mr. Hoover was portrayed as an individual who had homosexual tendencies and was a tyrannical monster,” Schwarz said into the camera, as the sun glinted off his FBI cuff links and FBI lapel pin. “That is simply not true.” Many former FBI agents share Schwartz’s pique with the film’s dropped hints of an abiding love between Hoover and aide Clyde Tolson, who is buried a few grave sites away. Historians agree that there is no evidence that either man was gay, and a request for comment from either Eastwood or screenwriter Dustin Lance Black was declined.


Since “J. Edgar’s” release early this month, hundreds of agents have griped about the film on xgboys, a closed e-mail list for FBI retirees that takes its name from one of Hoover’s pet dogs, which in turn is a play on the old nickname for federal agents, “G-men.” “I don’t know anyone who’s not extremely upset,” said Bill Branon, a former agent who is chairman of the J. Edgar Hoover Foundation, which grants scholarships to college students studying law enforcement and forensics. “It’s not only because of our admiration for him. It’s the fact it’s just not true. If it were true, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. But don’t do that to the poor guy when he’s dead and gone.”

The widespread unhappiness over Hollywood’s imagined rendering of Hoover’s rumored-but-never-proven personal life largely comes from men who started their FBI careers when Hoover was still in charge. Their devotion is undimmed almost four decades after his death. Nowhere is that more evident than at Hoover’s grave at Congressional Cemetery. The headstone usually has several stones perched atop it, a sign of recent visitors. There are often fresh flowers inside the wrought iron fence that was forged by a former agent turned metalworker. Retired agents periodically tend to the grave site, removing weeds and overgrown grass. And some newly minted agents make post-graduation pilgrimages there, even though Hoover is not on the curriculum at the FBI Academy.

Agents younger than 70 or so don’t get it, said Brad Benson, president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI. “Devotion is probably a good word for my generation and up,” said Benson, 70. “The more recent people can’t understand why all the energy is being devoted to this when our [retirement] benefits are at stake.”

Older agents say their admiration for the late director is cemented in his role in building up the FBI and instituting several law enforcement innovations, such as crime labs and fingerprinting databases. Many cite his thoughtful gestures, the kind that engender loyalty, including the personal notes he sent to mark special occasions in an agent’s family — such as births, deaths and anniversaries.

Cool illusions at Miracoco Luminarium

The Miracoco Luminarium is an inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light on exhibit during the week-long Ziguzajq Children’s Festival in Valletta, Malta.


A man walks past the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 19, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


Visitors relax inside the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 19, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


Visitors relax inside the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 19, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


A young girl stands inside the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 19, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


Visitors walk inside the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 18, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


Visitors walk inside the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 18, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


A visitor walks inside the Miracoco Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alan Parkinson of Architects of Light during the one week-long Ziguzajq Children's Festival in Valletta November 18, 2011. The Luminarium is a sculpture where people enter to experience "a sense of wonder and the beauty of light and color", according to the organisers. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: SOCIETY) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA


A young girl walks the inside of Miracoco, an air-filled sculpture by British artist Alan Parkinson, on display Monday, Aug. 1 2011, in downtown Lisbon. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

New YouTube Record: 20+ Billion Video Views in October 2011

By Greg Jarboe

The latest comScore Video Metrix data has just been announced and Facebook has jumped from the No. 5 online video content property in September 2011 to the No. 2 property in October. And Schmooru, Warner Bros (The Ellen Show), and BigFrame have elbowed their way into the top 10 YouTube Partner Channels by unique viewers. Before looking at the “new news,” let’s review a couple long-term trends that haven’t changed.

First, comScore reports that 184 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in October for an average of 21.1 hours per viewer. This means 86.2 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video that month. The total U.S. Internet audience viewed 42.6 billion videos, representing an all-time high. And the duration of the average online content video was 5.5 minutes.

That’s up from 182 million U.S. Internet users who watched online video content in September for an average of 19.5 hours per viewer. That means 85.3 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video a month earlier. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in 39.8 billion video views in September. And the duration of the average online content video was 5.3 minutes.

So, month after month, more people are watching increasing numbers of videos for longer periods of time.

Second, Google sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in October with 161 million unique viewers who watch a record high of 20.9 billion videos viewed for 7.1 hours per viewer. In September, 161 million unique viewers watched 18.6 billion videos on Google Sites for 6.3 hours per viewer.

So, month after month, a large number of people are watching more videos on YouTube.com for longer periods of time.

This means it’s significant that Facebook.com ranked second in October with 59.8 million viewers, followed by VEVO with 57 million, Microsoft sites with 49.1 million and Viacom Digital with 48.2 million. Back in September, VEVO ranked second with 57.3 million. Microsoft sites climbed to the No. 3 position with 54 million viewers, followed by Viacom Digital with 53.4 million and Facebook.com with 49.9 million.


Meanwhile, the top 10 YouTube Partner Channels by unique viewers also saw some significant changes – lower in the rankings.

The October 2011 YouTube partner data revealed that video music channels VEVO (54.2 million viewers) and Warner Music (30.4 million viewers) maintained the top two positions. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 17.7 million viewers, followed by Schmooru with 9.9 million, Maker Studios with 9.4 million and Demand Media with 7.4 million.

In September, the comScore data revealed that video music channels VEVO (57.3 million viewers) and Warner Music (28.8 million viewers) held the top two positions. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 17 million viewers, followed by Maker Studios with 9 million, Demand Media with 6.8 million and Revision3 with 5.4 million.

So, who is Schmooru? It is a curated network of independent content creators. No, Madonna, Ashton Kutcher, and Shaquille O'Neal aren’t among the personalities and content producers behind Schmooru. So, the emergence of this new curated network illustrates that YouTube is doing more than rounding up the usual suspects.

Also breaking into top 10 YouTube Partner Channels by unique viewers were Warner Bros (The Ellen Show) at #8 with 7 million viewers in October and BigFrame at #10 with 5.8 million. You’ve probably heard of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, but who is BigFrame? It’s an influencer powered media company.

Yep, when you add in Maker Studios, a new media company with 9.4 million unique viewers in October, and FullScreen, another new media company with 7.2 million unique viewers that month, you can begin to see the “new new” trend.

These new media companies are creating the equivalent of United Artists film studio for the 21st century. And that’s a new trend worth watching.

Market For Mobile Health Apps Projected To Quadruple To $400 Million By 2016

The latest healthtech research shows that the forecast is looking good for mobile health solutions, especially for those companies buying into mobile apps. ABI Research recently released a report which predicts that the sports and health mobile app market is on pace to hit $400 million in revenues by 2016. That’s up from $120 million in 2010, meaning the market could quadruple over the next four years. ABI’s report projects that the majority of that $400 million will come from sports, fitness, and wellness apps, which have begun to see heavy adoption over the least year. The increase of available health data and the growing adoption of health-related apps is owed largely to the development of increasingly wearable, portable, and non-invasive devices and their sensors that can effectively measure and transmit biometric data.

As smartphones add new ways to access and support healthcare apps and connect with these complementary diagnostic and health-measure devices, the mobile health market — and its customers — only stand to benefit. There are many great examples of this new generation of smart health tracking devices, like Basis’ heart and health tracker that you can wear on your wrist, Lark’s sleep monitoring band — to name a few. These wearable devices are hooked into apps and web dashboards that let users track and improve their health. These bundled solutions are becoming increasingly user-friendly and intelligent, with many beginning to take advantage of gamification to keep users interested and coming back.

Naturally, everyone wants to build a graph, interest, social, etc., and the health graph seems to be poised to be next in line. RunKeeper, an app that helps users track their exercise, is just one among many going after the health graph — that is to say, they’re looking to aggregate all of your fitness and health data, culled from an ecosystem of apps and smart-sensored devices that collect and transmit this data (and speak to each other through APIs), then serving it to users across platforms and mobile devices, all through a simple dashboard. And RunKeeper isn’t alone. This is where the healthtech industry is going — well, there and of course digitizing health records as well as making everything about health insurance less of a pain in the ass.

In conjunction with ABI’s report on the mobile health market’s growth, Juniper Research today released its own study, forecasting that “mHealth” apps will reach 142 million downloads globally by 2016. Which is slightly puzzling, especially when contrasted with the projection made by Jonathan Collins, the principal analyst at ABI Research. Collins said that he expects downloads to grow at almost twice the rate of revenues, with more than a billion downloads occurring annually by 2016. Collins appears to be more optimistic than Juniper, which is likely using slightly different criteria to define mobile health apps.

But the point is clear, mobile health is on the rise.

Vancouver’s tied for fifth among world's top cities to live

BY SAM COOPER, THE PROVINCE


A new survey judges Vancouver to be one of the top five places to 
live in a world of rising social unrest and falling economic conditions.
Photograph by: Stuart Davis, PNG

A new survey judges Vancouver to be one of the top five places to live in a world of rising social unrest and falling economic conditions. Consulting group Mercer assesses a range of factors, including safety, infrastructure, environment, plus culture and social climate, said company principal Luc Lalonde. In a list dominated by European cities, Vancouver netted a fifth-place tie with Dusseldorf, Germany, among 200 cities worldwide. “We look at quite a few factors and Vancouver tends to do well across the board,” Lalonde said in an interview Tuesday.

Mercer compiles information to help multinational organizations judge where business and employees will best be placed, and whether “hardships” are a factor. Lalonde said Vancouver’s natural beauty, temperate climate, and relatively good schools, health care and low crime rates make the city an easy sell for expatriate workers. In the Americas, Vancouver was judged to be the best place to live, followed by Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Honolulu.

Worldwide, Vienna’s excellent infrastructure, affordable public transit, street safety and good public health service made it the best place to live, according to Mercer. The worst place was Baghdad. “Those cities and countries that have escaped the brunt of social unrest and economic downturn have been able to continue investing in urban infrastructure and other provisions for comfortable and enjoyable daily living to improve the quality of living for their residents,” the report said.

University of B.C. real estate and economics professor Tsur Somerville said he generally takes quality-of-life surveys — in which Vancouver typically places high — with a grain of salt. “I don’t think these things drive housing values, but they confirm what people already know,” he said. “Being a very attractive place to live means people will pay a premium to be here.”

On the oft-discussed topic of red-hot Vancouver real estate, Somerville said prices have actually been “pretty slack” since spring. But he doesn’t see a big drop, unless interest rates rise dramatically, or people suddenly lose confidence. “My sense is we’ll see a more subdued market,” he said, noting softness this year is “an expression of global uncertainty, and how fast the market rose (after the 2008 financial crisis subsided.”

The report notes: “If economic and political instability remain a global factor, cities in parts of Asia-Pacific and Western Europe, as well as in Canada, will continue to benefit from their relative stability and wealth of public services and recreational provisions.”

Top 10 in Mercer Quality of Living survey

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Auckland, New Zealand
4, Munich, Germany
5, Dusseldorf, Germany (tied for fifth)
5. Vancouver, Canada (tied for fifth)
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Bern, Switzerland (tied for ninth)
9. Copenhagen, Denmark (tied for ninth)

South Africa's HIV epidemic on the rise

The number of pregnant women carrying the HIV virus in South Africa, which has the world's biggest AIDS population, has inched up to 30.2 percent from 29.4 percent last year, health officials said on Nov. 29. (AFP)


A nurse takes a blood sample in March 2011 in a mobile clinic in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. The number of pregnant women carrying the HIV virus in South Africa, which has the world's biggest AIDS population, has inched up to 30.2 percent from 29.4 percent last year, health officials said Tuesday. (AFP Photo/Stephane de Sakutin)


FILE - In this Thursday, July 13, 2000 file picture, Sister Ellen Dube assists Obed Ndwandwe, who is living with AIDS at his home in Hlabisa 400 kilometers (249 miles) north of Durban, South Africa. Sunday, June 5, 2011 marks 30 years since the first AIDS cases were reported in the United States. Nearly 30 million people have died of AIDS since the first five cases were recognized in Los Angeles in 1981. About 34 million people have HIV now, including more than 1 million in the United States.


Pedestrians pass a wall mural, promoting safe sex in Soweto, South Africa, on the eve of World AIDS Day Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010. South Africa's health minister is increasingly concerned at the cost of coping with AIDS in the country with more HIV-positive citizens than any other.


A woman with children outside the Rahima Moosa hospital, which has a large paediatric HIV unit, in Johannesburg Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010. A U.N. report says the global AIDS epidemic has slowed and cited a drop in new HIV infections with South Africa infection rate, reduced by more than 25 percent in the past decade.


A poster that promotes the use of Condoms in South Africa, seen on a building as workers clean windows, in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 22, 2010. Vatican officials insist it's nothing "revolutionary," but to many other people Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments regarding condom use mark an important moment in the battle against AIDS and an effort by the pontiff to burnish his image and legacy.


In this photo taken on Oct. 21, 2010, an unidentified man smokes a concoction called "whoonga" in the Kwadebeka Township near Durban, South Africa. AIDS patients in South Africa are being robbed of their lifesaving drugs so that these can be mixed with marijuana and smoked, authorities and health experts say.


File-In this photo taken Friday Dec. 19, 2008, a patient lays in her bed in the hospice at the Tapalogo project in Phokeng, Rustenburg, South Africa. The bleak burden of AIDS in South Africa is extraordinary, but there is reason for hope, a researcher who has mapped the cost of controlling the epidemic said in an interview. A report Robert Hecht helped prepare, which was released Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, concludes reversing the country's deeply entrenched AIDS epidemic is "extremely difficult, if not impossible, in the coming years." The nation of almost 50 million has more people than any other country with the virus that causes AIDS, an estimated 5.7 million HIV-positive citizens. (AP photo/Denis Farrell-File)


This photo taken on Friday Sept. 17, 2010 shows an 18-year-old orphan, who's mother died of AIDS when he was 14, in Pretoria, South Africa. Experts say there is an emerging population of teenage orphans whose needs are not being met. The government's rollout of anti-retroviral drugs in 2004 has kept children infected with HIV alive for longer, whereas without access to medication one-third of children with HIV die before age one and half die before age two, according to AVERT, an AIDS charity.

‘I am not the same person,’ bus driver says after sucker-punch assault

BY IAN AUSTIN, THE PROVINCE

Bus driver Charles Dixon broke down repeatedly Tuesday as he told how his life was ruined by a sucker punch from 21-year-old Del Louie. Dixon, 55, sobbed as he told Vancouver Provincial Court of his fears for the future of his family as he deals with constant headaches, ongoing operations and the “extreme psychological damage” stemming from the unprovoked Feb. 15 assault. “I am frightened about the future – I have fears I never had before,” Dixon said, tears welling up as he spoke. “I am not the same person I was before this.” Court was told that Louie entered Dixon’s bus parked at the Edmonds Bus Loop in Burnaby by the back doors, and Dixon told him repeatedly to get in line with all the rest of the passengers and enter by the front door. Instead, Louie came up behind Dixon – sitting unaware in the driver’s seat — and sucker-punched him from behind, breaking an orbital bone in two places and effectively preventing Dixon from driving again.

Dixon will undergo a third operation after a difficult recovery from earlier surgery to insert a plate and screws and repair his damaged right eye. “I am afraid of becoming a burden to my family,” said a trembling Dixon, stopping yet again to compose himself. “I am insecure about my family’s financial future. “This is more than a brain injury – this is a permanent disability.” Dixon’s son Aaron — who used to love riding along when his dad was driving the bus — also addressed the court to tell how the assault had changed his life. Aaron was on board his father’s bus that fateful day, and chased after Louie after his father was struck. For his attempt to help his father, Aaron was clubbed by Louie with a four-foot piece of wood resembling a broom handle. “I often get flashbacks of the event when I’m riding the bus,” said Aaron, 24. “I used to greet the passengers. “If I ever get to ride the bus with my dad again, I will be forced to feel like his bodyguard.”

Louie pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon in the twin assaults on the Dixons, father and son. Crown prosecutor Louise Gauld, in asking for Louie to be jailed for 9 to 12 months followed by two years of probation, talked of the “extreme psychological impact” of the assault on Dixon and proceeded to lay out a number of other related incidents. “It should not involve conditional sentences,” Gauld said. “It should be a ‘real’ jail sentence. “He needs a deterrent that only a jail term can bring. “The public needs to be deterred from violent attacks on vulnerable people like a bus driver.”

In 2009 Louie spat in the face of a female bus driver and was convicted of assault. He has broken his bail conditions three times since the February assaults, court heard. In one, Louie spat in the face of a police officer and a paramedic. The court heard that Louie is Aboriginal and suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. Louie had a difficult childhood, the court heard, dropping out of school at 14, and has taken courses for anger management and substance abuse. Louie may learn his fate Dec. 16, when his sentencing hearing is set to resume.

Brad Pitt, 'The Artist' score with New York Film Critics.

By Tony Hicks
Contra Costa Times

Hopefully you weren't hoping to release an awesome indie film sometime the next 30 days. With more than a month to go, 2011 film award season started Tuesday, when the New York Film Critics Circle named the silent film ode "The Artist" the year's best film Tuesday, giving the nostalgic black-and-white movie an early boost to its already promising Academy Awards prospects.

Couldn't they afford color film? Or a microphone?

"The Artist," which is silent like the films to which it pays homage, also earned best director for the French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius. Oh, they were being artsy and stuff. The boldly old-fashioned "The Artist," which the Weinstein Company opened in limited release last week, has emerged as an unlikely front-runner in the early stages of the Oscar race. The Spirit Awards, which honor independent film, also bestowed five nominations on it Tuesday.

The critics otherwise spread the awards around. Brad Pitt won best actor for his performances in "Moneyball" and Terrence Malick's cosmic drama "Tree of Life." Both of those films also earned other awards: "Tree of Life" for best cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki and "Moneyball" for Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin's screenplay.

Meryl Streep was chosen as best actress for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming "The Iron Lady." Jessica Chastain won best supporting actress for a trio of performances in "Tree of Life," "The Help" and
Advertisement

"Take Shelter."

Albert Brooks earned best supporting actor for his against-type performance as a violent villain in the drama "Drive." The New York Film Critics moved up their annual vote this year, a shift that was widely seen as a bid for greater relevance in the fall award season Tuesday. The move also meant some finagling: The critics screened "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" on Monday, and were not able to see the eagerly anticipated 9/11 drama "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."

Werner Herzog's 3-D documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" was selected as best nonfiction film. The financial industry thriller "Margin Call" won best first feature. And the Iranian drama "A Separation" was picked for best foreign film. The year's special award was given posthumously to the prolific Chilean-born filmmaker Raoul Ruiz, who died in August, shortly after the U.S. release of his acclaimed "Mysteries of Lisbon."

The New York Film Critics Circle, a body of 33 New York-based critics founded in 1935, announced their annual vote on Twitter for the first time. The group describes its awards as "a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring aesthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures."
Oh shut up. The group last year chose the Facebook drama "The Social Network" as best picture.

Among the films snubbed by the critics were Alexander Payne's "The Descendants," Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" and Steven Spielberg's "War Horse." The awards will be handed out at a ceremony Jan. 9.

Breast Cancer : Study Supports Mammograms For Women in Their 40s

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay News

Women in their 40s with no family history of breast cancer are just as likely to develop invasive breast cancer as women whose mother or sister has had the disease, according to a new study. These preliminary findings support a recommendation for all women 40 to 49 to get annual mammograms, not just those with a family history of breast cancer, said Dr. Stamatia V. Destounis, a Rochester, N.Y., radiologist. Women with no family history are typically considered low-risk. Destounis evaluated cancer patients who were seen from 2000 to 2010 at the Elizabeth Wende Breast Care facility, where she is a managing partner. “Invasive cancer [cancer that spread to the lymph nodes] was diagnosed in 64 percent of patients without family history and 63 percent with,” she said.

She is scheduled to present her findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. During the decade studied, 373 women 40 to 49 years old were diagnosed with breast cancer after mammography screening at the center. Of the nearly 40 percent who had a family history (meaning a primary relative with the disease), 63.2 percent had invasive breast cancer, while in the no-family-history group, 64 percent of the patients had invasive disease. (Of those without a family history, 16 had a personal history of breast cancer.)

When the researchers looked at the cancers’ aggressiveness, they found 29 percent of cancers in women without a family history and 31 percent of those with a family history had spread to the lymph nodes. While some experts agree with Destounis that annual mammograms should begin at 40, others do not. The American Cancer Society recommends annual screening with mammograms for women starting at age 40. However, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends women 40 to 49 discuss screening with their doctor and then decide. The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care earlier this month recommended that women age 40 to 49 at average risk not get routine mammograms.

“I don’t see that this study helps inform a woman about whether she should start mammograms at age 40 or at age 50,” said Dr. Michael LeFevre, co-vice-chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. One limitation of the study is that it was conducted at a single facility, a limitation that Destounis acknowledges. However, she said the women are ethnically diverse and from all income levels. The study finding, LeFevre said, ”doesn’t say anything about the probability of a woman dying in her 40s.”

LeFevre also pointed out that “having an aunt die of breast cancer at age 85 is not the same as having a mother or sister with breast cancer at 42,” when it comes to family history. When a woman discusses with her doctor when she should begin mammograms, LeFevre said that discussion should definitely include details about family history. Destounis and some of her co-authors report being investigators for diagnostic imaging companies, including Siemens, Hologic and others. The study was not funded by outside sources, however, Destounis said. Research presented at a medical conference is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Tokyo's 2020 bid turns to "flower power"

By Alastair Himmer
Reuter

Tokyo's 2020 Olympic bid leaders claim there will be "no mistakes" this time after losing the race to host the 2016 Summer Games as they unveiled a dazzling cherry blossom logo on Wednesday. Once-bitten, Tokyo shyly tiptoed into the race for 2020 after the deadly earthquake and tsunami in March which triggered a nuclear meltdown at a power plant north of the capital. The colorful, wreath-shaped logo of Japan's most celebrated flower was created by a university art and design student to symbolize 'revitalization'.

Bid committee CEO Masato Mizuno told Reuters: "It is the idea of 'coming back again'... the Olympic Games coming back to Tokyo and Japan coming back (from the disaster). "Along with Mount Fuji, the cherry blossom is instantly recognizable as a symbol of Japan. We learned many lessons last time round and we must be ready this time." Tokyo, which hosted Asia's first Olympics in 1964, lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the race for 2016. Low public support was largely blamed and the cost of rebuilding after the devastating tsunami in northeast Japan had thrown preparations for a renewed tilt in a spin.

However, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) decided in June that sufficient funds existed to launch a new bid despite the nuclear crisis still raging at the time. "Japan is struggling (to rebuild) and I wanted to come up with something to give Japan energy and vitality," designer Ai Shimamine told reporters after unveiling her logo. "I hope it gives Japan a boost. The cherry blossom represents friendship and peace, has a softness and also holds a special place in the hearts of Japanese people." Tokyo's logo features the Olympic colors of red, blue, yellow and green dotted with the traditional purple prominent in cultural events in Japan's Edo period (1603-1867).

KEY ROLE

"It has a comfortable feel for Japan," JOC chief and bid committee president Tsunekazu Takeda said. "We hope it will play a key role in winning the battle for 2020." Mizuno insisted Tokyo's 2020 bid would benefit from the disappointment of its stinging defeat by Rio. "Public support was around 55 percent but my target this time is 65-75 percent," he said, adding that the global economic downturn had also hurt Tokyo's 2016 bid. "It's around 62 percent currently but we have much work to do. There can be no mistakes in our presentation this time. "(South Korea's) Pyeongchang made a wonderful presentation (for the 2018 Winter Games) and we will have a much better total plan too."

Madrid, which also lost out in the 2016 bidding war, and Rome are expected to give Tokyo a run for its money. The winner will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires in September 2013. "We also have to polish our lobbying skills. We Japanese don't speak English very well," added Mizuno... in perfect English.

(Editing by John O'Brien)

Connecticut Lottery Winners Deny Claiming Ticket for Client

By COLLEEN CURRY
ABC News


Three wealth managers who won a $254 million Powerball jackpot in Connecticut Monday deny reports that someone else hired them to claim the ticket. "To be clear, there are a total of three trustees, and there is no anonymous fourth participant," the men said in a statement released by a representative, Gary Lewi, today. Earlier, two sources told ABC News that Greg Skidmore, Brandon Lacoff and Tim Davidson were not the "real" winners of the lottery but rather a front for an anonymous winner. The three men appeared with their attorney, Jason Kurland, at the Connecticut Lottery offices Monday to accept their winnings. There, Kurland announced that the trio had formed a trust, called the Putnam Avenue Family Trust, to manage the money.

All three work for wealth management firm Belpoint Capital in Greenwich, which manages $82 million, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Skidmore is president and CEO of the company. Earlier today, Thomas Gladstone, a friend of one of the men and the landlord of their office space, told ABC News that a client had come to Belpoint Capital with the winning ticket and asked for their help. A relative of one of the men, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the story to ABC News. "These are smart guys. They want to turn the $100 million into ... $400 million. The plan was to keep all this private. You've seen people pry into other people's lives. They want to protect their client," Gladstone said.

But Lewi insisted that Skidmore, Lacoff and Davidson were the true -- and only -- winners. "While there has been much speculation and quite a bit of misinformation over the last 24 hours, this Trust, with its three trustees, has been established to manage the winnings in the most practical and expedient way possible so that we can achieve our strategic goal of helping those who can best benefit from these funds," the statement said. When asked if Tim Davidson bought the winning lottery ticket, as Kurland reported to the media Monday, Lewi responded that he did. The Connecticut Lottery Corp. did not return calls seeking comment on this story. Lacoff and Kurland referred calls to Lewi, while Skidmore and Davidson could not be reached.

Lewi also said that the trust planned to distribute $1 million to organizations that aid veterans, the first of the philanthropic efforts the trustees hope to support. "The three trustees consider this the first stop on what we see as a journey of philanthropy in the months and years to come," Lewi said.

Connecticut Lottery Winners Questioned

The winning ticket from the Nov. 2 drawing had gone unclaimed for so long that Connecticut lottery authorities had begun to advertise widely for people to double-check their tickets. But Skidmore, Lacoff and Davidson were just taking their time to set up the Putnam Avenue Family Trust, Kurland said. The attorney said that Davidson had bought a single Quick Pick ticket for $1 at the Shippan Point BP gas station in Stamford. A computer chose the random numbers of 12-14-34-39-46, Powerball 36. The jackpot was the largest ever won in Connecticut and the 12th biggest in Powerball history.

The three remained almost entirely silent at the press conference while Kurland answered questions, though he declined to describe the threes relationship to one another, how they came to purchase a $1 ticket together or what they would do with the money, except to say that Connecticut charities would benefit from the windfall. "From the first conversation I had with them, it was very philanthropic," he said. "Charities was definitely, probably No. 1 on their priority list." Kurland said the group called him the day after the drawing."They thought they were the winners, and then, that night, I think, one of the local TV stations had the numbers, and the Powerball number was wrong on the TV screen, so that put them into a little bit of a tizzy," he said. "But the news, to their credit, corrected it a few hours later, and they were confident they had it." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

In Memoriam : Comedian Patrice O'Neal, 41, dies

by Lanford Beard

EW has confirmed that comedian Patrice O’Neal has passed away after a long-term battle with diabetes. The news came today from the official Twitter stream of The Opie & Anthony Show, on which O’Neal was a regular guest. His booking agent Matt Frost released this statement: It is with terrible sadness we must report that Patrice O’Neal has passed away this morning at 7:00am due to the complications of the stroke he suffered on October 19. Many of us have lost a close and loved friend; all of us have lost a true comic genius. His mother, who was also his best friend, was at his side.  Patrice is survived by his wife, Vondecarlo; his step daughter Aymilyon, sister Zinder, and his mother Georgia. The family wishes to thank all of the fans and friends who have expressed an outpouring of love and support for Patrice these past weeks. We ask that you please respect the family’s request for privacy at this difficult time. Known for his dark, confrontational humor, he was featured on the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn, The Office, and Scary Movie 4. O’Neal was hospitalized earlier this year after suffering a stroke.

One Year Later, Path ‘Personal Network’ App Still Brings the Love

By Mike Isaac


As the world becomes ever-more-saturated in social media, the court of public opinion grows only more sensitive. Retweets can propel an errant thought to meme-like levels of notoriety, while a mismanaged Google+ post can set your circles aflutter. Yes, managing one’s online self-expression isn’t what it used to be. Path, the small, smartphone app-based social network created by former Facebook employee Dave Morin, wanted to turn that dynamic on its head. Instead of trying to “make the world a more open place” a la Zuckerberg, Path limits your connections to just 150 of your closest friends — people who wouldn’t make snap judgements about you. The result, says Morin, is a less edited version of your digital self, and a more authentic experience with your closest friends and family members. “Our goal is to create an experience that’s trustworthy, warm and loving,” Morin says. While that approach may be comforting, it doesn’t lend itself to viral levels of user adoption. The company reached the 1 million user mark earlier this year. It’s a significant number of adopters in some contexts, though still a drop in the bucket when compared to services like Facebook and Twitter.

But one year later, Path is beginning to come out of its shell. The company released Path 2 on Wednesday, a revamped version of the original application stuffed with more features, and a completely new user interface. While still focused on truly personal connections, the re-imagined app allows for more selective sharing than the previous version. In essence, Path 2 is what the company is calling a “smart journal,” all based on the premise of curating one’s collection of moments that make up a single day. And like any good journal, it’s yours to keep to yourself, or to share at will. It’s not entirely different from Facebook’s recent Timeline revamp — the giant social network’s approach to telling “your life story” via Facebook. But instead of chronicling days throughout a lifetime, Path focuses on “moments” throughout a day — those brief instances that may center on a location-based check-in, taking an Instagram-able snapshot, or writing a personal note to save for later. “We believe in the mobile phone as a very personal device,” Morin says. “There’s been an explosion of personal data — what you eat, where you go, who you’re with — that have come with these devices that are always with us, always in our pockets.”

The company’s initial app stumbled a bit — in part because coding for smartphones is a very different ballgame relative to creating web applications. Unlike in web programming, where a company can release in beta and tweak as it goes, apps submitted to Apple’s App Store require an approval process that can take anywhere from days to weeks. That’s frustrating for developers, who are forced to wait to upload any patches. More importantly, it’s frustrating for customers who aren’t happy with a buggy app release. “You just can’t iterate like you could on the web the same way for mobile,” Morin says. “We expect an app like we expect a package, completely wrapped up and polished upon delivery.” And this is in part explains why Path has been so quiet for much of 2011. Outside of small incremental updates, the app didn’t change drastically in its first year of release. The first version of Path, while still focused on the intensely personal, lacked a robust feature set. The company tried launching the aptly titled companion app, “With,” which broadcast personal updates to the people with whom Path users were interacting. But Twitter and web app integration essentially let everyone with a data connection know where you were, and who you were with, defeating the whole point of the “personal” network.

Path 2 integrates the idea of “With” into a broader feature set, though still keeps broadcasting optional. By fully integrating with Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter, you can let anyone — or no one — know who you’re with and where you’re at a given moment. And as other users in the network see your activities, they can both comment on them as well as emote a feeling. More than just “liking,” Path emotions include sadness, surprise, happiness and of course, love. You can also share what music you’re listening to, and, via iTunes integration, listen to samples of the tracks your friends are playing, all through the app itself. The new version is a great deal prettier than V1, as well. Morin and company seem to have taken another lead from Facebook’s Timeline, allowing users to set a “cover” photo, essentially anchoring the entire screen. Or to put it as Morin does, it’s like a wallpaper for your own Path.

Version 2 also includes a new feature, “Automatic,” which uses GPS and a combination of other technologies to immediately recognize moments of interest. So, say, you cross the bridge from Oakland to San Francisco. “Automatic” will update your Path with the news that you’ve moved from one area to another. Or if you leave San Francisco and end up in Manhattan six hours later, the app will recognize that you’ve most likely traveled by airplane, and will record as much on your Path. Of course, for the truly private, it’s a fully opt-out feature. But ideally, if you’re using Path like Morin envisions it, you wouldn’t want to opt out anyway. Path is about sharing our daily details with our closest friends, people we would want to know our whereabouts. And by extension of their knowing, we insert ourselves into their lives, however slightly. “It’s about staying in someone’s life every single day,” says Morin. “That’s love.”