Pakistan's Election Historic And Unpredictable

ISLAMABAD -- Despite a bloody campaign marred by Taliban attacks, Pakistan holds historic elections Saturday pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister once exiled by the army and an incumbent blamed for power blackouts and inflation.

The vote marks the first time in Pakistan's 65-year history that a civilian government has completed its full term and handed over power in democratic elections. Previous governments have been toppled by military coups or sacked by presidents allied with the powerful army.

Deadly violence struck again Friday, with a pair of bombings against election offices in northwest Pakistan that killed three people and a shooting that killed a candidate in the southern city of Karachi. More than 130 people have been killed in the run-up to the vote, mostly secular party candidates and workers. Most attacks have been traced to Taliban militants, who have vowed to disrupt a democratic process they say runs counter to Islam.

The vote is being watched closely by Washington since the U.S. relies on the nuclear-armed country of 180 million people for help in fighting Islamic militants and negotiating an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

The rise of former cricket star Imran Khan, who has almost mythical status in Pakistan, has challenged the dominance of the country's two main political parties, making the outcome of the election very hard to call.

"I think it is the most unpredictable election Pakistan has ever had," said Moeed Yusuf, South Asia adviser at the United States Institute of Peace. "The two-party dominance has broken down, and now you have a real third force challenging these parties."

The election of both the national and provincial assemblies comes at a time of widespread despair in Pakistan, as the country suffers from weak economic growth, rampant electricity and gas shortages, and a deadly Taliban insurgency.

The bombings that killed three people Friday occurred in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, a major sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban. The blasts also wounded 15 people, said intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The candidate who was gunned down in Karachi, Shakil Ahmed, was running as an independent for the provincial assembly, said police officer Mirza Ahmed Baig.

There is concern that the violence could benefit Islamist parties and those who take a softer line toward the militants, including Khan and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, because they were able to campaign more freely. The government plans to deploy 600,000 security personnel on election day.

After more than a decade in the political wilderness, the Oxford-educated Khan has emerged as a force in the last two years with the simple message of "change." He has tapped into the frustrations of millions of Pakistanis ? especially urban middle class youth ? who believe the traditional politicians have been more interested in enriching themselves through corruption than governing.

The two main parties that have dominated politics ? the Pakistan People's Party, which led the most recent government, and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N ? have ruled the country a total of five times in the past 25 years.

Khan has also struck a chord by criticizing Pakistan's unpopular alliance with the U.S. and controversial American drone attacks against Islamic militants in the country's northwest tribal region.

"Voting for Imran is saving Pakistan, and voting for others means destroying Pakistan," declared Khalid Azeem, a student attending the last big rally by Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, before the election.

Support for the 60-year-old Khan may have increased out of sympathy following a freak accident this week at a political rally in which he fell 15 feet (4.5 meters) off a forklift, fracturing three vertebrae and a rib. He is expected to make a full recovery and seems to be making the most of the accident. The party has repeatedly aired an interview he did from his hospital bed hours after the fall as a paid advertisement on TV.

Nobody is sure how effective he will be in translating his widespread popularity into votes, especially considering he boycotted the 2008 election and only got one seat in 2002. Turnout will be critical, especially among the youth. Almost half of Pakistan's more than 80 million registered voters are under the age of 35, but young people have often stayed away from the polls in the past.

Khan faces a stiff challenge from the two main parties, which have spent decades honing vote-getting systems based on feudal ties and political patronage, such as granting supporters government jobs.

Because of the strength of this old-style politics and unhappiness with the outgoing government, many analysts see the Pakistan Muslim League-N as the front-runner in the election. Sharif has twice served as prime minister and is best known for testing Pakistan's first nuclear weapon in 1998.

Sharif was toppled in a military coup by then-army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 1999 and spent years in exile in Saudi Arabia before returning to the country in 2007. His party, known for its pro-business policies, came in second in the 2008 elections and is seen as more religiously conservative than the Pakistan People's Party.

On the campaign trail, Sharif pointed out how much more experience he has than Khan and touted key projects he completed while in office, including a highway between the capital Islamabad and his hometown of Lahore. He's also credited with refraining from attacking the outgoing government and allowing it to finish its full term as a way of strengthening civilian government control.

A poll released this week by a Pakistani political magazine, Herald, showed the two parties led by Sharif and Khan as basically tied, with about 25 percent support each. The Pakistan People's Party was third with about 18 percent. The margin of error was less than three percentage points. But national polls like this do not necessarily reflect election results because seats are granted to whoever gets the most votes per constituency, rather than proportionally across the parties.

Even if the Pakistan Muslim League-N wins the most national assembly seats, many analysts doubt it will have a majority, meaning it would have to cobble together a ruling coalition that could be quite weak.

The performance of the Pakistan Muslim League-N could be heavily influenced by how well Khan's party does.

Both parties appeal to conservative middle class voters in cities in Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, which will be the main battleground of the election. The province contains over half of the 272 directly-elected seats in the national assembly. The Herald poll showed about 39 percent support for Sharif's party in Punjab and close to 31 percent for Khan.

If Khan's party can steal enough votes away from Sharif, it might open the way for the Pakistan People's Party to once again form the government. Despite widespread unhappiness with the party's performance over the past five years, it does have a loyal following in rural areas of southern Sindh province and southern Punjab.

A less likely scenario is that the "political tsunami" Khan has promised does really sweep the country, leaving his party to form the next government.

Given the likelihood of a weak coalition no matter who emerges on top, the new government could have trouble tackling the country' major problems. Two of the most immediate are the electricity crisis, with some parts of the country experiencing blackouts for up to 18 hours a day, and the government's shaky financial situation. The caretaker government is already in discussions with the International Monetary Fund about another unpopular bailout to shore up the country's finances.

The next government will also face the tricky task of managing the relationship with the country's army, which is still considered the strongest institution in Pakistan.

The previous government was able to complete its term largely because the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, held off from directly intervening in politics. However, he is believed to play a dominant role in the background, especially when it comes to foreign policy issues such as the relationship with the U.S. and the country's stance toward the Afghan war. Sharif has a particularly complicated history with the army since he was toppled in a coup.

Given the views of Sharif and Khan, the next government is expected to be more nationalistic and protective of the country's sovereignty when it comes to ties with the U.S. than its predecessor. Sharif likes to recount how he tested Pakistan's first nuclear weapon despite intense U.S. pressure. Khan has been even more critical of Pakistan's alliance with the U.S. and has even threatened to shoot down American drones if he came to power.

But the impact of their views will likely be tempered by the role of the Pakistani army, which values its relationship with the U.S. because of the billions of dollars it has received in military aid.

The army is expected to play a similarly predominant role when it comes to Pakistan's stance toward domestic Taliban militants at war with the state. Both Sharif and Khan have backed negotiations with the Taliban, and Khan has even said he would pull troops out from the tribal region who are battling the militants.

His nickname "Taliban Khan" reflects sentiments among some Pakistanis that he's too soft on the Taliban. Kayani, the army chief, has said the Taliban must accept the country's constitution if it wants peace ? something the militants have rejected.

____

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Atif Raza in Karachi and Rasool Dawar in Miran Shah, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

____

Sebastian Abbot can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sebabbot

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/pakistan-election_n_3255618.html

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State Dep't sought to change Libya talking points

FILE - This June 7, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice listening during a news conference at the UN. Senior State Department officials pressed for changes in the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used after the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya last September, expressing concerns that Congress might criticize the Obama administration for ignoring warnings of a growing threat in Benghazi. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

FILE - This June 7, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice listening during a news conference at the UN. Senior State Department officials pressed for changes in the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used after the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya last September, expressing concerns that Congress might criticize the Obama administration for ignoring warnings of a growing threat in Benghazi. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senior State Department officials pressed for changes in the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used after the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya last September, expressing concerns that Congress might criticize the Obama administration for ignoring warnings of a growing threat in Benghazi.

An interim report by Republicans on five House committees last month had detailed how the talking points were changed, days after the Sept. 11 attack and in the heat of the 2012 presidential campaign. New details about the political concerns and the names of the administration officials who wrote emails concerning the talking points emerged on Friday.

The White House has insisted that it made only stylistic changes to the intelligence agency talking points in which Rice suggested that protests over an anti-Islamic video set off the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Before the presidential election, the administration said Rice's talking points were based on the best intelligence assessments available in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

But the report and the new details Friday suggest a greater degree of White House and State Department involvement.

The latest developments are certain to add fuel to the politically charged debate over Benghazi. Republicans have suggested that the Obama administration sought to play down the possibility of terrorism during the campaign and has misled the country. A senior administration official reiterated Friday that the talking points were based on intelligence assessments and developed during an interagency process, which included the CIA, officials from the Director of National Intelligence, State Department, FBI and the Justice Department.

The official commented only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation

Last Sept. 14, two days before Rice's appearance, the CIA's initial draft of the talking points referred to Islamic extremists taking part in the attack in Benghazi, possible links to Islamic extremist group Ansar al-Sharia, a CIA assessment of threats from extremists linked to al-Qaida and a mention of five previous attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi.

A congressional official who reviewed 100 pages of emails and the 12 pages of talking points said former State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland expressed concerns about the talking points, writing that they "could be abused by members of Congress to beat the State Department for not paying attention to agency warnings so why would we want to seed the Hill."

The reference to al-Sharia was deleted, but Nuland wrote later that night, "these don't resolve all my issues and those of my building leadership, they are consulting with NSS," a reference to the National Security staff within the White House.

A meeting of senior officials was convened on Saturday morning after the attack to work on the talking points and they included officials from the White House, State Department and CIA.

Deleted from the final talking points were mention of al-Qaida, the experience of fighters in Libya and Islamic extremists, according to the congressional official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the emails that have not been released.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-10-Benghazi%20Investigation/id-f09d00fe430d40cb9d9a981d6ade988e

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MiiPC offers backers double the memory for $15, throws in a free mic

With a week left in an already successful Kickstarter campaign (approaching three times its initial $50,000 goal), the makers of the MiiPC are giving backers the chance to increase their system's memory. Add $15 before the close of the project and you'll be able to double things up, from 1GB to 2GB of RAM and 4GB to 8GB of storage -- the move comes in response to pledger feedback, according to the company. And speaking of listening, the makers of the parental-friendly Android PC are also tossing in a free built-in mic for those who pre-ordered, just for good measure.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/01/miipc-memory/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Analysis: TPG-Axon won't find quick fixes for SandRidge

By Anna Driver and Michael Erman

(Reuters) - Hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital has won nearly half the seats on SandRidge Energy Corp's board but faces an uphill battle to reverse the oil and gas company's slumping stock price.

SandRidge shares have tumbled 20 percent this year to around $5 on disappointing forecasts for its wells in Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as investor uncertainty over its strategic direction.

While natural gas prices have risen from last year's 10-year lows, they remain depressed, adding pressure to SandRidge and peers like Chesapeake Energy Corp and Hess Corp to cut costs and improve well efficiency.

SandRidge faces additional uncertainties over the future of Chief Executive Officer Tom Ward, who TPG-Axon has accused of making strategic mistakes and self-dealing at the expense of shareholders. Under a deal reached in March, the board has to let go of Ward by June 30 or give TPG-Axon a controlling number of seats.

Some shareholders fear Ward's departure will lead to an exodus of other managers who have the expertise SandRidge needs to improve.

"We are concerned that the reconstituted board may be drawn to focus on short-term change to the detriment of long-term shareholder gain," said Paul Rivett, vice president of operations at Canada's Fairfax Financial, SandRidge's largest shareholder.

Fairfax, which is run by investment guru Prem Watsa and owns 12.7 percent stake in SandRidge, had supported Ward in his battle against TPG-Axon, which has a 7.3 percent stake.

TPG-Axon and Mount Kellett Capital Management, which owns 5 percent of the company, originally called for SandRidge to consider selling itself, but that is now seen unlikely in the near term because of the falling share price.

SandRidge's 10-member board, which now includes four TPG-Axon-backed directors, is in the process of reviewing strategy, but no major decisions have been announced. The company is due to report earnings on May 7, when more details may emerge.

Ward has not responded to repeated requests for comment about his or his family's land deals. SandRidge declined to comment and has previously said that its board found no wrongdoing by Ward in the land deals.

Analysts said that with a sale off the table, SandRidge's future rests on its 2 million acres in the Mississippian, an oil and gas formation in Oklahoma and Kansas. SandRidge is the largest operator there and plans to spend most of its $1.5 billion drilling budget in the area this year.

The value of SandRidge's acreage suffered a blow in February when Chesapeake sold some of its stake in the Mississippian to China's Sinopec Group for roughly $2,400 an acre, significantly below what many analysts had projected for the region.

SandRidge itself has twice cut its forecast for the amount of oil it expects to recover from its Mississippian wells, causing a sell-off in the company's shares and sparking debate about its valuation.

"The downward revision of the Mississippian type curve at the end of February was a pretty big deal," said Mark Hanson, oil and gas analyst for Morningstar in Chicago.

SLIDING VALUE

Still, Dinakar Singh, the former Goldman Sachs trader who runs TPG-Axon, said SandRidge should streamline by focusing drilling on only its best assets in the Mississippian.

"Not every one of those acres is good," Singh said, noting that he believes there are at least 700,000 acres that look very good. "One has to make sure that you're being very efficient in spending CapEx only in areas where the data is good."

Since TPG-Axon won its board seats in March, SandRidge has seen the departure of several key employees. Chief Operating Officer Matthew Grubb left that month. Last week, two high-profile exploration and production executives announced their exits.

"The one thing that I fear the most is that some of the second-tier people, the engineers, might leave," said Mike Breard, analyst at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas. "I'm sure they've got their resumes out there."

Halting SandRidge's stock slide will be crucial if TPG-Axon wants to make any return on its investment. The hedge fund has not disclosed how much money it has lost in total, but it has said that one third of its 36.2 million shares have lost around a quarter of their value.

TPG has said SandRidge is worth as much as $14 a share, while Mount Kellett has suggested $20 a share.

Others take a more pessimistic view. Morningstar's Hanson believes SandRidge's stock is fully valued at $8 per share, citing underperformance by the company's wells. The stock had traded above $60 in June 2008.

Although some investors are disappointed by the results so far, the company can change the way it drills and operates wells in a bid to improve productivity. Every shale formation is different, so it often takes time for a company to "crack the code" and perfect its drilling, Breard said.

"The upside potential is a lot greater than the downside risk. It's worth something no matter who is running it," he said.

(Reporting By Anna Driver in Houston and Mike Erman in New York; Editing by Patricia Kranz, Tiffany Wu and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-tpg-axon-wont-quick-fixes-sandridge-050951360.html

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Video Marketing Can Be Easy With This Guide | Content for Reprint

Author: Mishel Roserberg | Total views: 88 Comments: 0
Word Count: 787 Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 1:21 PM

Are you the owner of an online business enterprise? Are you one of the millions of people who have yet to find the perfect marketing strategy? If you answered yes, then video marketing might be what you're looking for. Posting online videos can help you attract a whole new generation of customers, which can lead to more sales. Keep reading to find out how.

The best content will go viral. The quality of your camera is not the deciding factor. In most cases, the only thing needed to entice an online user to watch your video is an indication that it can offer valuable insight or solutions. You should buy a good video camera, but one that fits into your budget.

Do not fret about your video production value. There is more to a video than production value. Industry leaders have actually done quite well by using basic how-to content made by in-house employees.

You have to grab people's attention right away if you want them to view your entire video. You need to get their attention in the first few seconds. During this time, try to grab and hold their attention with a tantalizing teaser or an unexpected perspective. You want them to watch until the very end.

Tell viewers to perform a certain action in your videos. Having a "call to action" is important. Giving a call to action quite literally tells your viewers what to do next. For this to work, you must make it easy for your viewers.

People like honesty! Create a video on a topic that you are passionate about. Being natural or authentic can help viewers enjoy the videos and keep coming back for more from you.

Analyze your video's statistics. These allow you to identify how many people watched your video and at what time of the day it was watched. This is all a great deal of information to use in your marketing campaigns.

A video isn't going to go all viral on YouTube by itself. Email your family and friends, post a note on your Twitter and Facebook pages and put a notice up on your website. People cannot view it if they do not know it exists.

Your tone should be consistent from one video to another. Humor can be used in silly spoofs or educational videos, alike. Think about your product and the demographic you are striving for. These qualities, as well as your image, are the most important factors for your tone.

Try to let your unique personality come through in your videos. People want you to be personable and real. When they get a glimpse of your personality, they will begin to feel like they know you and will want to buy from you. They want to see what you look like to relate you to what you sell.

If you get asked a question quite a few times, creating a video to answer it is a good idea. While a lot of people have frequently asked question sections on their sites, most people don't want to read through all of that text. This allows them to choose how they receive the information and know exactly what they may be hunting for.

Your videos can also promote the rest of your marketing mix. Not everyone uses Facebook. They will begin to create a feedback loop of self-promotion. Make sure that your videos contain clear links to your social media pages, thus ensuring that more business comes your way.

Once you've collected data from statistics and comments on your videos, make another video! Put into practice what you've learned to improve the content and quality of your videos.

Think about holding a video contest to get more videos for your website. They can tell a joke, do something funny or create a how-to. User submitted videos are perfect opportunities for the viewers to take the stand and introduce themselves to their fellow peers online.

Put music in your videos. As you may have noticed, adding music to a video is a great way to make it more interesting. Conjure a suitable style of music and use it in the video. You will get more results from your video this way. Music is especially helpful to video makers who don't want to be seen on camera.

The more you know about video marketing, the more possibilities you will discover. Using video marketing is a great way to expand your pool of customers. You can certainly reach a broader audience and boost profits.

Find out how you can get your own followers on youtube and just make a living out of youtube simply by reading tube traffic secrets review , and also tube traffic secrets review

Related to: affilate marketing - online marketing - article marketing - video marketing - marketing - SEO - social marketing - yotube - Twitter

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1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

by: Steve Shaw on: Sat, 23 Apr 2011

2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

by: Michel Maling on: Sat, 29 Sep 2012

3: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

by: Mike Christie on: Sat, 29 Sep 2012

4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website

Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.

by: WJaegel on: Tue, 18 Dec 2007

5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda

If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.

by: K Damian Qualter on: Mon, 26 Mar 2012

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/video-marketing-can-be-easy-with-this-guide.htm

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FDA lowers age for buyers of Plan B pill to 15

This undated image made available by Teva Women's Health shows the packaging for their Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill." The Plan B morning-after pill is moving over-the-counter, a decision announced by the Food and Drug Administration just days before a court-imposed deadline. On April 30, 2013, the FDA lowered to 15 the age at which girls and women can buy the emergency contraceptive without a prescription ? and said it no longer has to be kept behind pharmacy counters. Instead, the pill can sit on drugstore shelves just like condoms, but that buyers would have to prove their age at the cash register. (AP Photo/Teva Women's Health)

This undated image made available by Teva Women's Health shows the packaging for their Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill." The Plan B morning-after pill is moving over-the-counter, a decision announced by the Food and Drug Administration just days before a court-imposed deadline. On April 30, 2013, the FDA lowered to 15 the age at which girls and women can buy the emergency contraceptive without a prescription ? and said it no longer has to be kept behind pharmacy counters. Instead, the pill can sit on drugstore shelves just like condoms, but that buyers would have to prove their age at the cash register. (AP Photo/Teva Women's Health)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In a surprise twist to the decade-plus effort to ease access to morning-after pills, the government is lowering the age limit to 15 for one brand ? Plan B One-Step ? and will let it be sold over the counter.

Today, Plan B and its generic competition are sold behind pharmacy counters, and people must prove they're 17 or older to buy the emergency contraception without a prescription. A federal judge had ordered an end to those sales restrictions by next Monday.

But Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a different approach: Plan B could sit on drugstore shelves next to condoms, spermicides or other women's health products ? but to make the purchase, buyers must prove they're 15 or older at the cash register.

Manufacturer Teva Women's Health, which had applied for the compromise path, said it planned to make the switch in a few months.

The question is whether Tuesday's action settles the larger court fight. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of New York blasted the Obama administration for imposing the age-17 limit, saying it had let election-year politics trump science and were making it hard for women of any age to obtain emergency contraception in time for it to work.

The FDA said Tuesday's decision was independent of the court case and wasn't intended to address it. The Justice Department remained mum on whether it planned to appeal Korman's ruling by Monday's deadline, and the White House had no immediate comment.

The women's group that sued over the age limits said Tuesday's action is not enough, and it will continue the court fight if necessary.

Lowering the age limit "may reduce delays for some young women but it does nothing to address the significant barriers that far too many women of all ages will still find if they arrive at the drugstore without identification," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The FDA said the Plan B One-Step will be packaged with a product code that prompts the cashier to verify a customer's age. Anyone who can't provide such proof as a driver's license, birth certificate or passport wouldn't be allowed to complete the purchase. In most states, driver's licenses, the most common form of identification, are issued at age 16.

"While an improvement over current policy, today's announcement is still disappointing," said Marcia D. Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center. "Because all women will be required to show an ID to establish their age, those without IDs could be denied access."

Other advocates called the move promising. "This decision is a step in the right direction for increased access to a product that is a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancies," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "It's also a decision that moves us closer to these critical availability decisions being based on science, not politics."

Social conservatives had opposed any efforts to loosen restrictions on sale of the morning-after pill, arguing that it was important for parents and medical professionals to be involved in such decisions involving young girls.

The group Concerned Women for America charged that health officials were putting politics and so-called progress ahead of the health of children as well as women.

"It makes no sense that kids need parental permission to take aspirin at school, but they're free to buy and administer Plan B," Penny Nance, CEO and president of CWA, said in a statement.

Half the nation's pregnancies every year are unintended, and doctors groups say more access to morning-after pills could cut those numbers. The pills contain higher doses of regular contraceptives and, if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. But they work best if taken in the first 24 hours.

The FDA had been poised to lift all age limits and let Plan B be sold over the counter in late 2011, but Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in an unprecedented move, overruled her own scientists. Sebelius said some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children but shouldn't be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

President Barack Obama supported Sebelius' move and a spokesman said the president's position hadn't changed.

The Justice Department could appeal Korman's ruling and seek a stay. If granted, the appeals process would move through the courts, while Plan B is sold over the counter whenever Teva has the product repackaged to meet the FDA's requirements.

Absent a stay, "we will want to go back to court as quickly as possible and ask the judge to hold them in contempt," said Janet Crepps, a senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The FDA said Tuesday that Teva had provided data proving that girls as young as 15 could understand how Plan B works and use it properly, without the involvement of a health care provider. Teva plans to conduct a consumer-education program and indicated it is willing to audit whether stores are following the age requirement, the agency said.

The FDA said its ruling applies only to Plan B One-Step, and not to generic versions of the pill, which would remain behind pharmacy counters with the age-17 restriction.

If a woman already is pregnant, the morning-after pill has no effect. It prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg. According to the medical definition, pregnancy doesn't begin until a fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. Still, some critics say Plan B is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it may also be able to prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, a contention that many scientists ? and Korman, in his ruling ? said has been discredited.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-01-Morning-After%20Pill/id-67a559647e1a4ac2b7c0d308e22e6f23

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One step closer to a blood test for Alzheimer's

Apr. 30, 2013 ? Australian scientists are much closer to developing a screening test for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of dementia.

A quarter of a million Australians currently suffer from dementia and given our aging population, this is predicted to increase to one million by 2050.

Researchers identified blood-based biological markers that are associated with the build up of amyloid beta, a toxic protein in the brain, which occurs years before symptoms appear and irreversible brain damage has occurred.

"Early detection is critical, giving those at risk a much better chance of receiving treatment earlier, before it's too late to do much about it," said Dr Samantha Burnham from CSIRO's Preventative Health Flagship.

Early detection is critical to give those at risk of Alzheimer's disease a much better chance of receiving treatment.

This research is just one part of the Australian Imaging and Biomarkers Lifestyle Study of Aging (AIBL), a longitudinal study in conjunction with research partners from Austin Health, Edith Cowan University, the Florey Institute of Neurosciences and Mental Health and the National Aging Research Institute. The AIBL study aims to discover which biomarkers, cognitive characteristics and health and lifestyle factors are linked with the development of Alzheimer's disease.

"Another recent study from the AIBL team showed that amyloid beta levels become abnormal about 17 years before dementia symptoms appear," said Dr Burnham. "This gives us a much longer time to intervene to try to slow disease progression if we are able to detect cases early.

"We hope our continued research will lead to the development of a low cost, minimally invasive population based screening test for Alzheimer's in the next five to ten years. A blood test would be the ideal first stage to help identify many more people at risk before a diagnosis is confirmed more specialised testing."

The results have been published today in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by CSIRO Australia. The original article was written by Vanessa Hill.

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. S C Burnham, N G Faux, W Wilson, S M Laws, D Ames, J Bedo, A I Bush, J D Doecke, K A Ellis, R Head, G Jones, H Kiiveri, R N Martins, A Rembach, C C Rowe, O Salvado, S L Macaulay, C L Masters, V L Villemagne. A blood-based predictor for neocortical A? burden in Alzheimer?s disease: results from the AIBL study. Molecular Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/mp.2013.40

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/l5oeh9DA568/130501101309.htm

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Steen's OT gives Blues 2-1 win over Kings

St. Louis Blues' Alexander Steen (20) celebrates his winning goal in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in St. Louis. The Blues won 2-1. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

St. Louis Blues' Alexander Steen (20) celebrates his winning goal in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in St. Louis. The Blues won 2-1. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

St. Louis Blues' Jordan Leopold (33) and Los Angeles Kings' Kyle Clifford (13) reach for the puck during the second period of Game 1 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

St. Louis Blues' Adam Cracknell (79) and Los Angeles Kings' Jake Muzzin, right, compete for the puck during the second period of Game 1 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

St. Louis Blues' Alex Pietrangelo (27) and Los Angeles Kings' Jordan Nolan (71) reach for a loose puck during the first period of Game 1 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

St. Louis Blues fans cheer prior to Game 1 of the Blues' first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Oh, too casually, Jonathan Quick fiddled with the puck behind the net. Switching from backhand to forehand, last year's Stanley Cup playoffs MVP was set to re-load a Los Angeles Kings' power play that had more than three minutes left to decide overtime.

Those extra seconds of stick-handling ended up giving Quick a jolt of humility.

Alexander Steen swooped in and stole the puck and then quickly tucked in a back-hander for a short-handed goal that gave the St. Louis Blues, seemingly on the ropes, a 2-1 victory in a first-round playoff opener Tuesday night.

"I think I just got fortunate," said Steen, who also scored on a power play in the first period. "It hit my stick."

The Kings, who swept the Blues in the second round last spring on the way to the franchise's first Cup, took a punch to the gut after Justin Williams scored in the final minute of regulation. They'll try to rebound and even the series Thursday night.

"We have a chance to win the game, everybody was focused on doing that," center Anze Kopitar said. "Unfortunately, we gave up what obviously shouldn't happen, can't happen."

Quick made a season-high 40 saves, all but five of them in regulation, to keep the Kings in it. Last spring's Conn Smythe award winner was looking the part.

Then he handed the Blues the series lead.

"You try to force it and I tried to give my D-men a little more time with the puck," Quick said. "I tried to make a good decision and he got a stick on it."

Steen's third career playoff game was unassisted at 13:26 of overtime and came less than a minute after Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was whistled for a double-minor high sticking when he cut Dustin Penner.

"It's just such an emotional swing," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "You're down, figuring out who's going to kill a four-minute power play, and then the game's over."

Then, the Kings' dominant run over the Blues was over, too. They ended an eight-game losing streak against Los Angeles, which added to its playoff sweep by whipping them 14-7 in taking three regular-season games.

"From our standpoint, we needed to talk about something other than coming close," Hitchcock said. "You can only go to that well so many times and players stop believing.

"We've got experience now to draw on."

Steen also scored on a power play in the first period for the Blues, who ended an eight-game losing streak against the team that swept them in the second round last spring.

The Kings were 4-0 in overtime during last season's Cup run. They had been on a roll, outshooting the Blues 7-0 after coach Darryl Sutter called timeout.

"I thought we were starting to come around," defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "But overall, you've got to push it under the rug, as hard as it is sometimes, and try and come back fresh."

Notes: Kings D Robyn Regehr went straight to the dressing room after getting his face bloodied by a skate in the opening minute of the third but only missed a few shifts. The game was delayed for a few minutes while workers dealt with a pool of blood behind the Kings' net. ... Blues F T.J. Oshie returned from a 15-game absence following ankle surgery and bumped slumping rookie Vladimir Tarasenko, who had three assists in the last 15 games, from the lineup. ... Blues D Jay Bouwmeester was the second-most experienced player in NHL history to make his playoff debut according to STATS, getting to the postseason after 764 regular-season games. Only Olli Jokinen (799) waited longer.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-01-HKN-Kings-Blues-Folo/id-5b7e90e2f7624adea5ab9e72ea9ff38d

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The biology behind binge eating

Public release date: 1-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Andy Henion
henion@msu.edu
517-355-3294
Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. Female rats are much more likely to binge eat than male rats, according to new research that provides some of the strongest evidence yet that biology plays a role in eating disorders.

The study, by Michigan State University scientists, is the first to establish sex differences in rates of binge eating in animals and has implications for humans. Binge eating is one of the core symptoms of most eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa and the binge/purge subtype of anorexia nervosa, and females are four to 10 times more likely than males to have an eating disorder.

"Most theories of why eating disorders are so much more prevalent in females than males focus on the increased cultural and psychological pressure that girls and women face," said Kelly Klump, lead author and professor of psychology. "But this study suggests that biological factors likely contribute as well, since female rats do not experience the psychosocial pressures that humans do, such as pressures to be thin."

Klump and colleagues ran a feeding experiment with 30 female and 30 male rats over a two-week period, replacing the rodents' food pellets periodically with vanilla frosting. They found that the rate of binge eating "proneness" (i.e., the tendency to consume the highest amount of frosting across all feeding tests) was up to six times higher in female as compared to male rats.

The tendency to binge eat may be related to the brain's natural reward system, or the extent to which someone likes and seeks reward, Klump said. The MSU researchers currently are testing the rats to see if female brains are more sensitive and/or responsive to rewarding stimuli (e.g., high-fat, high-sugar food) and the chemicals that trigger reward behavior.

The answers could ultimately help improve therapy both counseling and medications for those with eating disorders.

"This research suggests there is probably a biological difference between males and females that we need to explore to understand risk factors and mechanisms," Klump said.

###

The study is published online in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Klump's co-authors are Cheryl Sisk, psychology professor, and graduate students Sarah Racine and Britny Hildebrandt.

---

[ | 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: 1-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Andy Henion
henion@msu.edu
517-355-3294
Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. Female rats are much more likely to binge eat than male rats, according to new research that provides some of the strongest evidence yet that biology plays a role in eating disorders.

The study, by Michigan State University scientists, is the first to establish sex differences in rates of binge eating in animals and has implications for humans. Binge eating is one of the core symptoms of most eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa and the binge/purge subtype of anorexia nervosa, and females are four to 10 times more likely than males to have an eating disorder.

"Most theories of why eating disorders are so much more prevalent in females than males focus on the increased cultural and psychological pressure that girls and women face," said Kelly Klump, lead author and professor of psychology. "But this study suggests that biological factors likely contribute as well, since female rats do not experience the psychosocial pressures that humans do, such as pressures to be thin."

Klump and colleagues ran a feeding experiment with 30 female and 30 male rats over a two-week period, replacing the rodents' food pellets periodically with vanilla frosting. They found that the rate of binge eating "proneness" (i.e., the tendency to consume the highest amount of frosting across all feeding tests) was up to six times higher in female as compared to male rats.

The tendency to binge eat may be related to the brain's natural reward system, or the extent to which someone likes and seeks reward, Klump said. The MSU researchers currently are testing the rats to see if female brains are more sensitive and/or responsive to rewarding stimuli (e.g., high-fat, high-sugar food) and the chemicals that trigger reward behavior.

The answers could ultimately help improve therapy both counseling and medications for those with eating disorders.

"This research suggests there is probably a biological difference between males and females that we need to explore to understand risk factors and mechanisms," Klump said.

###

The study is published online in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Klump's co-authors are Cheryl Sisk, psychology professor, and graduate students Sarah Racine and Britny Hildebrandt.

---

[ | 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/2013-05/msu-tbb050113.php

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Cameroon's ruling party wins Senate election

DOUALA, Cameroon (AP) ? The party of Cameroon's entrenched ruler Paul Biya won 56 of the 70 contested seats in the nation's first-ever senatorial election, the Supreme Court announced.

Supreme Court President Alexis Dipanda Mouelle said Monday that Biya's Cameroon Peoples' Democratic Party scored 73 percent of the vote, winning seats in eight of the country's 10 administrative regions. The opposition Social Democratic Front received 17 percent, with 14 seats in just two regions. The opposition claimed vote-rigging but international observers said instances of vote-buying and intimidation were too few to change the overall outcome of the ballot.

According to the constitution, the 80-year-old Biya, in power since 1982, gets to appoint the remaining 30 members of the legislative body, ensuring total control of the newly-created 100-seat Senate.

Its creation was mandated by the 1996 constitution but was put off for 17 years, with the ruling party citing lack of funding and other reasons. The constitution stipulates that in the event of a vacancy at the helm of the state, the leader of the Senate will run the nation for a period of 40 days before new elections. The head of the Senate will be elected by majority vote during their first plenary session next month.

In recent years, Biya changed the constitution to allow himself to run for life. He most recently won re-election in a poll that was widely criticized in 2011, and has indicated that he plans to run again in 2018, when he'll be 86. It's raised fears of instability among the international investors who have flocked to Cameroon to get a piece of the country's petroleum riches. Neighboring nations where longtime rulers died in office have spiraled into violence, including in Guinea where the death of dictator Lansana Conte in 2008 was immediately followed by a military coup.

Critics say the new Senate simply perpetuates Biya's grip on power: His party already accounts for 153 of the 180 members in the National Assembly.

Observers from the African Union acknowledged that vote-buying had occurred, though they said that the instances did not impact the outcome of the April 14 poll.

"We think that on the whole, the elections unfolded hitch-free. Of course there were cases of vote-buying and intimidation, but these were too isolated to have an impact on the overall results," Edem Kodjo, head of an African Union observation mission, said soon after the poll.

Despite the limited representation by the opposition, the creation of the Senate was applauded as a step forward.

"We should be happy after 17 years of grumbling by the opposition, that the Senate is finally in place. It may be good or bad, but it is there and it is now left for us to work towards changing its make-up," said Jean De Dieu Momo, leader of the opposition Party for Democracy and Development of Cameroon.

Ni John Fru Ndi, leader of the Social Democratic Front and Biya's most significant rival, issued a statement saying: "Though the elections were choked with fraud ... setting up the Senate is a sign of progress for Cameroon's democracy."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cameroons-ruling-party-wins-senate-election-115150015.html

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Berkshire buys rest of Israel's Iscar for $2.05 billion

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Wednesday said it paid $2.05 billion cash to buy the 20 percent it did not already own of toolmaker Iscar from the Israeli company's founding Wertheimer family.

Berkshire in 2006 bought an 80 percent stake in Iscar, a maker of metal cutting tools whose formal name is IMC International Metalworking Cos, for $4 billion.

At the time, that purchase was one of the largest acquisitions involving an Israeli company, and Buffett's biggest bet outside the United States. Wednesday's purchase suggests that Iscar's value has since more than doubled.

"As you can surmise from the price we're paying for the remaining interest, IMC has enjoyed very significant growth over the last seven years," Buffett said in a statement.

The acquisition was announced three days before Buffett will welcome more than 35,000 people to Berkshire's annual meeting in its hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

In his annual letter to shareholders on March 1, Buffett described Iscar as one of Berkshire's five most profitable companies outside its insurance businesses.

While Berkshire does not break out Iscar results separately, it said the Tefen, Israel-based unit's profit fell in 2012 because of slowing economic conditions in some non-U.S. markets.

A year ago, Buffett in his shareholder letter described Iscar's management as "brilliant strategists and operators."

Iscar ended 2012 with more than 11,900 employees.

The Wertheimers' sale of an 80 percent Iscar stake in 2006, announced one day before Berkshire's annual meeting that year, made the family among the richest in Israel.

Stef Wertheimer, who is German-born and founded Iscar in 1952, has established a number of industrial parks in Israel aimed at promoting peace by having Jews and Arabs work together.

The law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised the Wertheimer family on the Iscar transaction. The law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson advised Berkshire.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz in Boston, Jonathan Stempel in New York, and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Grant McCool and John Wallace)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berkshire-hathaway-buying-rest-israels-imc-2-05-132417478.html

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Obama Praises Jason Collins, Who Can Say 'I'm Still 7 Foot Tall And Can Bang With Shaq' (ABC News)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302627348?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Engadget HD Podcast 347 - 04.30.13

This week we have a review of the ASUS Cube Google TV, rumors of an Amazon set-top box and Microsoft announcing when it will announce the next Xbox. LG has put its 55-inch curved OLED HDTV up for pre-orders in Korea with a price of about $13K, we'll take a look at the tech before diving into Netflix's "long term view" of the future. Finally, in a blend of traditional TV and modern second screen integration, NBC has announced a new game show with "unprecedented" viewer interaction -- consider us intrigued.

Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: James Trew (@itstrew)

Hear the podcast

Filed under: Podcasts, HD

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/N_Fp3dzCvL0/

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'I'm gay': NBA player Jason Collins breaks barrier

In this photo provided by ABC, NBA basketball veteran Jason Collins, left, poses for a photo with television journalist George Stephanopoulos, Monday, April 29, 2013, in Los Angeles. In a first-person article posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website, Collins became the first active player in one of four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay. He participated in an exclusive interview with Stephanopoulos, which is scheduled to air on Good Morning America on Tuesday. (AP Photo/ABC, Eric McCandless)

In this photo provided by ABC, NBA basketball veteran Jason Collins, left, poses for a photo with television journalist George Stephanopoulos, Monday, April 29, 2013, in Los Angeles. In a first-person article posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website, Collins became the first active player in one of four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay. He participated in an exclusive interview with Stephanopoulos, which is scheduled to air on Good Morning America on Tuesday. (AP Photo/ABC, Eric McCandless)

FILE - In a Friday, Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, Boston Celtics' Jason Collins poses during Celtics NBA basketball media day at the team's training facility in Waltham, Mass. NBA veteran center Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday, April 29, 2013 on Sports Illustrated's website. He finished this past season with the Washington Wizards and is now a free agent. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2013 file photo, then-Boston Celtics center Jason Collins (98) guards Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe, right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Auburn Hills, Mich. Jason Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website. The 34-year-old Collins has played for six NBA teams in 12 seasons. He finished this past season with the Washington Wizards and is now a free agent. He says he wants to continue playing. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson, File)

FILE - Boston Celtics center Jason Collins battles Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) for a rebound during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Los Angeles. NBA veteran center Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday, April 29, 2013 on Sports Illustrated's website.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

FILE - In a Wednesday, April 17, 2013 file photo, Washington Wizards center Jason Collins, right, battles for a rebound against Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago. NBA veteran center Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday, April 29, 2013 on Sports Illustrated's website. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Last summer, NBA veteran Jason Collins considered joining an old Stanford college roommate, U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, at Boston's gay pride parade.

Collins eventually decided he shouldn't, because he wanted to keep his secret safe: For more than a decade as a professional athlete, he had remained silent about his sexuality, worried about what teammates, opponents, fans ? the world, really ? might think.

Then came the Boston Marathon bombings two weeks ago, which Collins says "reinforced the notion that I shouldn't wait for the circumstances of my coming out to be perfect. Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?"

So after having, he explains, "endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie," Collins became the first active player in one of the four major U.S. pro sports leagues to come out as gay. He wrote a first-person article posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website that begins: "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."

Most recently a little-used reserve center for the Washington Wizards after a midseason trade from the Boston Celtics, the 7-foot Collins is a free agent who can sign with any team. He wants to keep playing in the NBA.

And he plans to be in Boston on June 8, marching alongside Kennedy at the city's 2013 gay pride parade.

"I didn't doubt for a second, knowing he was gay, that he would be the one to do it," Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, told The Associated Press. "I've never known him to look for publicity, or to look for the spotlight, but given that no one else would raise their hand, I knew he would do it."

Added Kennedy: "I'm so proud of him. And I'm so proud to call him a friend."

Collins' announcement, nearly two weeks after the Wizards' season ended, immediately drew praise and backing not only from pals, current and former teammates and coaches, the NBA itself, and a sponsor, but also from the White House ? President Barack Obama called him ? along with former President Bill Clinton, and athletes in various other sports.

"I certainly appreciate it, as a gay person. Any time you can have someone this high-profile come out, it's just so helpful, particularly to young people. We've reached a tipping point," said Billie Jean King, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

"We've got to get rid of the shame. That's the main thing," King said in a telephone interview. "And Jason's going to help that. He's going to help give people courage to come out."

In texts to the AP, Wizards guard Garrett Temple wrote, "I was surprised. I didn't know and I was right next to him in the locker room. It definitely took a lot of courage for him to come out. He was a great teammate," and rookie Bradley Beal wrote: "I didn't know about it! I don't think anyone did! I am proud of his decision to come out and express the way he feels and I'm supportive of that!!"

Collins' coach with the Celtics, Doc Rivers, drew a comparison between Monday's announcement and Jackie Robinson's role when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

"I am extremely happy and proud of Jason Collins. He's a pro's pro. He is the consummate professional and he is one of my favorite 'team' players I have ever coached," Rivers said. "If you have learned anything from Jackie Robinson, it is that teammates are always the first to accept. It will be society who has to learn tolerance."

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant tweeted that he was proud of Collins, writing: "Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others," followed by the words "courage" and "support."

Even while hiding his sexual orientation, Collins says, he quietly made a statement for gay rights by wearing No. 98 with the Celtics and Wizards: 1998 was the year Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Wyoming, was killed, and the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization, was founded.

According to the General Social Survey, the public has grown increasingly accepting of gay relationships since the late 1980s. That survey found in 1987 that 76 percent of Americans thought sexual relations between adults of the same sex was morally wrong. That fell to 43 percent by 2012.

"I'm glad I'm coming out in 2013 rather than 2003. The climate has shifted; public opinion has shifted," Collins writes in SI. "And yet we still have so much farther to go. Everyone is terrified of the unknown, but most of us don't want to return to a time when minorities were openly discriminated against."

While some gay athletes have expressed concerns about how earning potentials could be hurt by coming out, King said she thinks Collins' openness could have the opposite effect.

"I have a feeling he's got a whole new career," King said. "I have a feeling he's going to make more in endorsements than he's ever made in his life."

On Monday evening, hours after his story appeared on the web, Collins wrote on Twitter: "All the support I have received today is truly inspirational. I knew that I was choosing the road less traveled but I'm not walking it alone."

Momentum has been building toward this sort of announcement from a pro athlete in a top league in the United States. NFL players Brendan Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe were outspoken in support of state gay-marriage amendments during last year's elections. Obama spoke about his support for gay marriage during his campaign.

The topic made waves during Super Bowl week when one player, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, said he wouldn't welcome a gay member of his team. At the time, Ayanbadejo estimated that at least half of the NFL's players would agree with what Culliver said, at least privately.

On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to teams reiterating the league's anti-discrimination policy about sexuality. It includes a section on questions teams cannot ask prospective draft picks and free agents. After the NFL combine in February, three players said officials posed questions about sexual orientation.

Earlier this month, the NHL and its players' union partnered with an advocacy organization fighting homophobia in sports, and Commissioner Gary Bettman said the You Can Play Project underlines that "the official policy of the NHL is one of inclusion on the ice, in our locker rooms and in the stands."

"I would say the NHL has been a force to kind of obviously embrace and encourage. ... What (Collins) did, I think it's definitely (good) for basketball, and the same for hockey, too. It's going to be encouraging for more guys to step up and just be open about themselves," Washington Capitals forward Joel Ward said.

Living in the nation's capital last month while the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about same-sex marriage had an effect on Collins, who says "the strain of hiding my sexuality became almost unbearable" at that time.

"Less than three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future. Here was my chance to be heard, and I couldn't say a thing," he writes.

After being a first-round draft pick in 2001, Collins has averaged 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Celtics and Wizards. He's come to be known more for personal fouls ? he led the league in that category one season ? than flourish.

"I go against the gay stereotype, which is why I think a lot of players will be shocked: That guy is gay? But I've always been an aggressive player, even in high school. Am I so physical to prove that being gay doesn't make you soft? Who knows? That's something for a psychologist to unravel," he says.

As for what response other NBA players will have to his revelation, Collins writes: "The simple answer is, I have no idea."

"Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start. It all comes down to education. I'll sit down with any player who's uneasy about my coming out," he says in his account, adding: "Still, if I'm up against an intolerant player, I'll set a pretty hard pick on him. And then move on."

Former teammate Jerry Stackhouse, now with the Brooklyn Nets, wrote in a text to the AP: "I hope Jason is received well by our NBA family. ... I've already reached out to him personally to show support and will encourage more guys to do the same."

NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement: "Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue."

While Collins is the first male athlete in a major North American professional league to come out while intending to keep playing, several have previously spoken after they retired about being gay, including the NBA's John Amaechi, the NFL's Esera Tuaolo and Major League Baseball's Billy Bean.

"I think he is immensely brave. I think it's a shame in this day and age he has to be immensely brave, but he is," Amaechi told the AP. "He's going to be a remarkable and eloquent spokesperson for what it is to be a decent, authentic human being ? never mind just for gay people."

Rick Welts, president and chief operating officer of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, is openly gay.

"He probably knows what he signed up for. There'll be a whole bunch more television reporters and cameras than he's probably had in the past. ... There had been a long bit of speculation about when, who, how. I think that speculation has been put to rest now," Welts said, "and we'll always remember that Jason Collins was the first man to do this."

Collins says that if he remains in the NBA, he could face uncomfortable reactions from spectators.

"I don't mind if they heckle me. I've been booed before. There have been times when I've wanted to boo myself. But a lot of ill feelings can be cured by winning," he writes.

In February, former U.S. soccer national team player Robbie Rogers said he was gay ? and retired at the same time. Rogers is just 25, and others have urged him to resume his career.

"I feel a movement coming," he tweeted after word of Collins' news broke.

Female athletes have found more acceptance in coming out; Brittney Griner, a two-time AP women's college basketball player of the year now headed to the WNBA, caused few ripples when she said this month she is a lesbian. Tennis great Martina Navratilova, who came out decades ago, tweeted Monday that Collins is "a brave man."

"1981 was the year for me ? 2013 is the year for you," her post said.

Sports leagues in Britain and elsewhere in Europe have been trying to combat anti-gay bias. But the taboo remains particularly strong in soccer, where there are no openly gay players in Europe's top leagues and homophobic chants are still heard at some games.

Soccer "is not going to change," said Amaechi, who is English and now lives in Manchester. "If it wanted to change, it would change. It has the resources to do so. It doesn't want to change."

Justin Fashanu is the only significant British soccer player to have come out publicly, doing so in 1990. The former Nottingham Forest and Norwich City striker was found hanged in a London garage in 1998 at age 37. According to an inquest, Fashanu left a note saying that, because he was gay, he feared he wouldn't get a fair trial in the United States on sexual assault charges. Maryland police were seeking him on charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy.

Among other athletes outside the U.S. to come out was Gareth Thomas, a Welsh rugby star who attracted widespread media attention in 2009 when he announced he was gay. He continued playing until retirement in 2011.

Orlando Cruz of Puerto Rico came out in October as the first openly gay professional male boxer. Canadian swimmer Mark Tewksbury came out six years after winning a gold medal in the backstroke at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Four-time Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis of the U.S. revealed he was gay in 1994, a year before announcing he was also HIV-positive. Former Olympic skiing gold medalist Anja Paerson of Sweden announced last year, after retiring, that she was in a long-term relationship with a woman.

In SI, Collins recounts that the first relative he came out to was his aunt, Teri Jackson, a San Francisco Superior Court Judge.

"I don't think Jason looked at his life as being a trailblazer," Jackson said Monday. "He has no regrets coming out. And he wants to play. And we'll see what happens next."

Collins says he told his twin brother, Jarron, last summer. Jarron was also a longtime NBA center who last played in the league in the 2010-11 season.

"He was downright astounded," Collins says.

Collins writes self-effacingly about his journeyman NBA career and a parlor game he calls "Three Degrees of Jason Collins," explaining: "If you're in the league, and I haven't been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates' teammates. Or one of your teammates' teammates' teammates."

That joking, though, leads to a larger point.

"Some people insist they've never met a gay person. But Three Degrees of Jason Collins dictates that no NBA player can claim that anymore. Pro basketball is a family. And pretty much every family I know has a brother, sister or cousin who's gay," Collins concludes. "In the brotherhood of the NBA, I just happen to be the one who's out."

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AP Sports Writers Joseph White, Nancy Armour, Larry Lage, Brian Mahoney, Antonio Gonzalez, Rachel Cohen, Paul Newberry, Jimmy Golen, Howard Ulman, Rob Harris, Steve Wilson, Richard Rosenblatt and Tom Withers, and Associated Press Writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Cara Rubinsky, Jennifer Agiesta, Steve Peoples, Josh Lederman and Terry Chea contributed to this report.

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Howard Fendrich is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-30-Jason%20Collins%20Comes%20Out/id-3eceb784b9bf494f9928a61db56b737c

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