Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the skyrocketing rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and may make it harder for many to get health, educational and social services, a new analysis suggests.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46046189#46046189
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Refugio Ocampo, 49, father of Itzcoatl Ocampo, the man suspected of killing homeless men in Southern California, talks about his son in Fullerton, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Refugio is himself homeless and said that his son came back a changed man after serving with the Marines in Iraq, expressing disillusionment and becoming ever darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Refugio Ocampo, 49, father of Itzcoatl Ocampo, the man suspected of killing homeless men in Southern California, talks about his son in Fullerton, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Refugio is himself homeless and said that his son came back a changed man after serving with the Marines in Iraq, expressing disillusionment and becoming ever darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
A relative holds a government military photo of Itzcoatl Ocampo, a former Marine who saw combat in Iraq, in Yorba Linda, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Ocampo has been named as a suspect in a series of killings of homeless men in Orange County, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
This Dec. 2011 photo provided by the family shows Itzcoatl Ocampo, a former Marine who saw combat in Iraq, in Yorba Linda, Calif. Ocampo has been named, Jan. 15, 2012, as a suspect in a series of killings of homeless men in Orange County, Calif. (AP Photo/Ocampo Family)
This photo provided by the Anaheim Police Dept. shows Itzcoatl Ocampo. Investigators are "extremely confident" that Ocampo a man in their custody is responsible for all four recent killings of homeless men in Orange County, Anaheim Police Chief John Welter said Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Anaheim Police Dept.)
Itzcoatl Ocampo's dress uniform, government military photo, dog tags and a religious medallion that went to war with him lie on display at Ocampo's home in Yorba Linda, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Ocampo, 23, who saw combat duty in Iraq, has been named as a suspect in a series of killings of homeless men in Orange County, Calif. Family members declined to be photographed. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) ? The father of the man suspected of killing homeless men in Southern California is himself homeless and says his son last week showed him a picture of one victim as a warning of the danger of being on the streets.
Refugio Ocampo, 49, also told The Associated Press on Sunday that his son came back a changed man after serving with the Marines in Iraq, expressing disillusionment and becoming ever darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian.
The father said he lost his job and home, and ended up living under a bridge before finding shelter in the cab of a broken-down big-rig he is helping repair.
His 23-year-old son, Itzcoatl Ocampo, was arrested Friday in connection with the serial killings of four homeless men since late December.
Refugio Ocampo said that on Jan. 11 his son came to him with a picture of the first victim, who was killed on Dec. 20.
"This is what's happening," the father quoted his son as saying.
"He was very worried about me. I told him, 'Don't worry. I'm a survivor. Nothing will happen to me. I will find something. Count on it,'" the father said.
While Refugio Ocampo lives away from his family, they remain close. He saw his children every day, and his wife brings food to the parking lot where the truck is located in the city of Fullerton.
Itzcoatl Ocampo has been living with his mother, uncle, and little brother and sister in a humble rented house on a horse ranch surrounded by the sprawling suburbs of Yorba Linda.
Refugio Ocampo, who said he was educated as a lawyer in Mexico, immigrated with his wife and Itzcoatl in 1988 and became a U.S. citizen. He described building a successful life in which he became a warehouse manager and bought a home in Yorba Linda. In the past few years he lost his job, ran out of savings and lost his house.
His son entered the Marine Corps right out of high school in 2006 instead of going to college as his father had hoped. Itzcoatl Ocampo was discharged in 2010 and returned home to find his family in disarray, the father said.
Refugio Ocampo and his youngest son, Mixcoatl, 17, both described a physical condition Itzcoatl suffered in which his hands shook and he suffered headaches. Medical treatments helped until he started drinking heavily, both said.
"He started drinking like crazy, too much, way too much," the father said.
A neighbor who is a Vietnam veteran and the father both tried to push Itzcoatl to get treatment at a Veterans hospital, but he refused. Refugio Ocampo said he wanted his son to get psychological treatment as well.
"He started talking about stuff that didn't make any sense, that the end of the world was going to happen," he said.
"Before, he had the initiative to do things, the desire. But after the military, he didn't have any of that," he said.
That was far from the son who in high school was a polite and motivated student, he said.
Refugio Ocampo said investigators came to him on Friday night and showed him surveillance photos from a crime scene, but he did not recognize his son as the person in the images.
"If he did it, it wasn't right, obviously. But there's something wrong with him," he said.
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LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? The European Commission launched a review of its policy on bank structure on Monday, a move that follows hard on the heels of Britain's radical plan to ring-fence the assets of savers against losses from risky investment banking.
The review will be headed by Erkki Liikanen, the governor of the Bank of Finland, the commission said, kicking off a process that could herald more intrusive regulation and upset governments that want to maintain responsibility for their own banks.
So far, new European Union rules for banks have been limited to setting the amount of capital they should keep to cover losses or to regulating how they trade.
But Michel Barnier, the French commissioner in charge of financial reform for the EU, is pushing for ever deeper reforms.
He outlined plans last year for the committee to look at, among other things, Britain's plans to ring fence the deposit-taking arms of its domestic banks with extra capital.
"I expect this group to make all the recommendations as regards the structure of EU banks it deems necessary to strengthen financial stability and enable banks to fully play their role in favor of the Single Market and European growth," Barnier said in a statement.
TENSIONS
Few expect the new group, which is due to report back by the middle of the year, to recommend splitting lenders into separate retail and investment banking arms.
Germany and France, for example, are keen defenders of the universal banking model where retail and investment banking operations are under one roof.
The EU has also rejected calls from the United States to copy its Volcker Rule, a U.S. reform which curbs proprietary trading at banks.
The launch of the group comes at a time of heightened tension between Brussels and many European capitals.
"This is a welcome step but while the European Commission does have the power to impose structural changes on EU banks, the proposals will have to overcome strong opposition from the banks and some member states," said Sony Kapoor, a financial expert with think tank Re-Define.
The introduction of a new EU authority to supervise banks across the bloc has already angered the British government, which fears it will gradually gather powers strong enough to sideline UK supervisors such as the Bank of England.
Last December, Britain approved wide-ranging proposals to shake up the country's banks, forcing lenders to form barriers between their retail operations and investment arms to protect savers.
Liikanen is seen as a potential candidate for the European Central Bank's executive board and has served as Finland's finance minister.
His two stints as a European commissioner will serve him well in navigating potential reforms of EU financial regulation. The Finnish government did not have to rescue any of its banks during the financial crisis.
(Reporting by Huw Jones and John O'Donnell; additional reporting by Sakari Suoninen; Editing by Dan Lalor, and Andrew Callus)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/bs_nm/us_eu_banks
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COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Under pressure from some in his own party, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Thursday tempered his public attacks on front-runner Mitt Romney while defending his right to question the former Massachusetts governor's business record.
"If you ask about his career, it's because he's running for president," Gingrich said of the questions he and his allies have raised about Romney's tenure as head of a private equity fund.
"I think he owes the country a much more detailed answer about what his career was like, what decisions they made, because we're looking at the judgment, the values of a particular person," he said during a Fox News interview Thursday night.
Gingrich and other GOP presidential hopefuls have drawn the ire of an array of Republicans who believe the attacks on Romney's record at Bain Capital could hurt the party in the general election against President Barack Obama.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce entered the debate Thursday, saying it was "foolish" for Republicans to bash Romney for his work as a venture capitalist. A top South Carolina supporter of GOP contender Rick Perry, who had taken to calling Romney a "vulture capitalist," said he was joining Romney's camp out of irritation over Perry's attacks.
Gingrich called the criticism "absurd" and said his questions had been misconstrued as an attack on capitalism.
A pro-Gingrich political action committee also has railed against Romney's tenure at the helm of Bain Capital with the release this week of a 28-minute film assailing Romney for "reaping massive rewards" as head of the firm.
Gingrich is grasping for a campaign lifeline in South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21, after a pair of disappointing fourth-place finishes in the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
During two campaign appearances in South Carolina's capital earlier Thursday, Gingrich stuck to a largely subdued campaign, focusing on his plans for saving Social Security, creating jobs and boosting domestic energy production.
He made no references to Romney, nor did he repeat his criticism of Romney's record as a venture capitalist. Instead, he tried to broaden his message with a call for auditing the federal bailout of the financial industry to see who got the money and why.
"When you have crony-capitalism and politicians taking care of their friends that's not free-enterprise. That's back-door socialism," Gingrich said during remarks to older voters at a senior citizen's expo.
The former House speaker predicted that a win in the first-in-the-South primary would pave a path to the presidency.
"If I win South Carolina, I think I will become the Republican nominee," he said.
Last month, Gingrich made a similarly bold declaration about winning the nomination. At the time he was ahead in the polls and Romney's allies had not yet blooded Gingrich with a barrage of negative attack ads in Iowa.
South Carolina has a decades-long streak of voting for the eventual GOP nominee.
From South Carolina, Gingrich was headed to Florida to raise money and open a campaign headquarters.
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Rdio is inching its way up to join the digital music mammoths that dominate the Sony's Music Service -- not only in the U.S., but internationally. Rdio.
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Rdio has had its sight on Germany and Australia for expansion since last year. The company also has roots in Brazil and Canada. Skype founders Niklas Zennstr?m and Janus Friis launched Rdio in August 2010.
One of Rdio's top competitors, Spotify, which has been available in the U.S. for six months now, also has international ranks in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Grooveshark -- with service available in 30 languages -- has a huge global audience including Russia, Japan, India, Turkey, Italy, Brazil and Germany. Sony's Music Unlimited also has a big international with availability in 13 countries, including New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and the U.S. Pandora, however, is only available in the U.S.
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Rdio offers a substantial catalog, with more than 12 million songs, and gives U.S. listeners access to free, ad-free music streams. However, there is an undisclosed cap on free listening with this deal. The company chooses not to disclose the number of songs or amount of free music users have each month, but a bar on the home screen dwindles down that users can track.
New listeners in Germany will get a seven-day free trial of Rdio Unlimited with an email address or Facebook account. Pricing and plans available include Rdio Web 4.99 EUR (web only), Rdio Unlimited 9.99 EUR (web and mobile).
Rdio's expansion into German markets is just another step toward further growth. "Rdio???s international expansion is an important milestone in the digital music service???s plans to continue its international expansion across the globe," the company said in a statement.
Spotify is often compared to Rdio as a competitor in the U.S. One project conducted by Wired lists the top 20 artists that are exclusive to each. On Rdio, exclusive artists leading the list include Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen. Other artists that are exclusive to Rdio include The White Stripes, Queen and Charles Mingus.
Artists leading the list of artists exclusive to Spotify include My Dying Bride, Miles Davis, Candlemass, Funkadelic, The Pretty Things, and maudlin of the Well with two exclusive albums closing out the list.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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AUSTIN, Texas -- Imagine that you couldn't see more than a few stars in your sky. Or never knew what the Milky Way looked like. Would you know what you're missing? And would you even care?
You might think that astronomers are the only ones who care about seeing the stars. Or that only people who are blind or have limited vision don't know what a dark starry night looks like. But, it's a problem we all face.
"The vanishing night skies don't just affect astronomers who study the planets, stars, and galaxies," said Dr. Connie Walker of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and an advocate of dark skies. "We're all losing our skies to light pollution. In many places, we are raising a generation of people who don't know what the Milky Way looks like. And, light pollution affects the health of many forms of life on Earth -- including humans."
Dr. Walker's remarks opened a session on light pollution at this week's American Astronomical Society conference held in Austin. More than 2,500 astronomers from around the world are here, ranging from undergraduate students to Nobel Laureates. The topics they're discussing range from studies of the sun, moon and planets to explorations of the most distant objects in the universe.
And, they're talking about threats to their work from light pollution.
For many at this meeting -- especially astronomers who observe the universe in what's called "visible" (or "optical") and near-infrared wavelengths of light -- the glare from nearby lights is drowning out the view of objects they want to study. Researchers who use Kitt Peak National Observatory, part of NOAO, deal with the lights of Tucson, Ariz., (60 miles away) and Phoenix (about 200 miles away). Even for some of the newest and most remote observatories in Chile and Hawaii, light glare is a growing issue.
However, the battle for dark skies isn't just astronomy's problem. It's yours, too. Have you ever been blinded by bright lights when driving at night? Or stared at your TV or computer monitor late into the evening? Do you live in a light-bright city where it never gets completely dark at night? If so, then your health can be affected by too much light.
Why is this? Take the TV and computer monitor issue. They emit light that is rich in blue wavelengths. As attendees at the dark skies symposium found out, very recent health studies show that excessive exposure these blue-rich light sources at night hampers or even shuts down your body's production of melatonin -- a substance that helps you sleep and also plays a role in fighting off diseases such as cancer. Researchers are now looking at the links between people who work at night (presumably under bright lights) and higher rates of breast and prostate cancer.
In nature, light glare cuts across the landscape, banishing the darkness. It has devastating effects on wildlife and plants. Recently in Utah, thousands of birds apparently mistook a brightly lit football field for a lake, and came crashing down to their deaths. Newly hatched turtles get confused by lights on their way to the sea in Florida, and they die beneath the wheels of cars, or stranded in yards and parking lots.
Participants in the dark skies workshop discussed three major weapons in the battle against light pollution:
1) proper use of outdoor lighting
2) energy-efficient lighting and
3) limiting your exposure to light at night.
With these, people around the world are figuring out ways to use lights more efficiently to maintain safety, security, and dark skies. The effort is led in large part by the International Dark-Sky Association, a group dedicated to eradicating light pollution and advocating for wiser use of lights.
Other efforts pull together community leaders, families, and students to figure out how much light pollution affects their communities. Beginning on Jan. 14, and extending through April, people are banding together in an event called Globe At Night, to measure the brightness of their local skies and share that information. They recognize that dark skies and dark nights are part of the common heritage of all life on Earth and that the battle to save the night is an important one.
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