Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/jenelle-evans-sonogram-photo-posted-on-twitter/
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Sunday, January 20, 2013
5-year-old girl suspended for bubble gun remark
MOUNT CARMEL, Pa. (AP) ? A 5-year-old Pennsylvania girl who told another girl she was going to shoot her with a pink toy gun that blows soapy bubbles has been suspended from kindergarten.
Her family has hired an attorney to fight the punishment, which initially was 10 days but was reduced to two.
Attorney Robin Ficker says Mount Carmel Area School District officials labeled the girl a "terrorist threat" for the bubble gun remark, made Jan. 10 as both girls waited for a school bus.
Ficker says the girl didn't even have the bubble gun with her and has never fired a real gun. He says she's "the least terroristic person in Pennsylvania."
School district solicitor Edward Greco tells pennlive.com (http://bit.ly/13Nu0QF ) officials are looking into the case. He said Friday school officials aren't at liberty to discuss disciplinary actions.
___
Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pa-kindergartner-suspended-bubble-gun-remark-035057936.html
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Saturday, January 19, 2013
more family love :: winter home moments. - life in motherhood ...
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Anna Nicole Smith?s Calif. home sells
17 hrs.
This week in celebrity real estate, Anna Nicole Smith?s home has sold, six years after her death, and actor Jeremy Renner listed a mammoth mansion for sale.
Anna Nicole Smith?s home sells; proceeds go to daughter
Six years after the death of Playboy Playmate and reality-TV star Anna Nicole Smith, her Studio City, Calif., home has sold.
Smith purchased the home under her given name, Vickie Lynn Marshall, in April 2005 for $1.335 million. Upon her death in 2007, Smith?s daughter, Dannielynn, and the child?s father, Larry Birkhead, moved into the home. Birkhead successfully won a paternity suit and gained custody of Dannielynn in April 2007. Smith?s daughter, although a minor, is a beneficiary of her mother?s estate.
However in April 2011, Howard K. Stern, Smith?s one-time lover and the executor of her will, gained the court?s permission to transfer the home under his name. He immediately placed the home on the market with an asking price of $1.75 million. Stern was cleared of charges in Smith?s accidental death this past November.
A nod to Smith remains in the home: A giant painting of the late model hangs in the entryway. One of the rooms is still decorated for a girl, presumably Dannielynn.
The proceeds of the sale, after taxes and real estate commissions, will go to Dannielynn.
Smith?s former home, located at 3646 Avenida Del Sol, Studio City, CA 91604, measures 4,700 square feet and has 5 bedrooms and 5.5 baths. The Mediterranean-style home is perched above the city with dominant views from its balcony and pool area.
Jeremy Renner lists art deco mansion for $24.95 million
Actor Jeremy Renner is best-known for his action-packed roles in blockbusters such as ?The Bourne Legacy? and ?The Avengers,? but the two-time Oscar nominee also has a knack for real estate, having flipped several Los Angeles-area homes with his business partner over the years.
His latest project, a 10,000-square-foot Beverly Glen estate, is now on the market for $24.95 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The listing describes the home at 107 Delfern Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90077 as a ?roaring ?20s art deco home fit for a 21st-century Howard Hughes.? Designed by Kristoffer Winters, the six-bedroom, 11-bath, single-story mansion sits on two extensively landscaped acres and includes 14-foot ceilings, five fireplaces, a theater, cobblestone drive, pool and spa.
The property was last purchased for $7 million in 2010 and is listed by Branden Williams and Rayni Romito of Hilton & Hyland.
As for Renner, he?s keeping quite busy on the professional and personal fronts. His latest film ?Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,? hits theaters Jan. 25, and he?s expecting his first child later this year.
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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/anna-nicole-smiths-calif-home-sells-1B8039394
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How Would Stockton Bankruptcy Cut Pensions? - California Political ...
Photo courtesy Dougtone, flickr
Bond insurers who want CalPERS to share the financial pain of the Stockton bankruptcy do not answer a key question in lengthy court filings: How would ?bloated? and ?overly rich? pensions be cut?
The insurers backing $250 million worth of Stockton general fund bonds argue that the city?s bankruptcy plan gives them major cuts but spares the largest creditor, CalPERS, whose annual bill to the city is expected to nearly double in the next 10 years.
During a 90-day mediation with creditors required under a new state law before filing for bankruptcy, Stockton did not negotiate with CalPERS, say Assured Guaranty and National Public Finance Guarantee.
Instead, National?said in a filing?last month, Stockton chose ?to protect the unsustainable CalPERS pensions that it awarded, but that the city itself cannot now afford, while forcing its other creditors (including National) to foot the bill.?
How negotiating with the California Public Employees Retirement System before filing for bankruptcy would be expected to significantly cut Stockton?s soaring pension costs is not clear.
CalPERS has served notice, notably in Vallejo and San Bernardino, that it will dip into its deep pocket for an all-out legal battle to prevent bankruptcy from being used to cut pensions.
Stockton does not want to cut pensions, arguing that its proposal to eliminate retiree health care is how debt reduction in bankruptcy is shared by employees, who are the actual creditors while CalPERS is just the middleman.
The federal bankruptcy judge handling the case, Christopher?Klein, told?a UC Berkeley conference the court cannot impose a plan to adjust debt, but does rule on eligibility for bankruptcy and whether the plan to adjust debt is fair to creditors.
The judge appointed a mediator in August, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris, to meet with creditors in an attempt to reach a ?consensual plan of adjustment.? An eligibility hearing, originally scheduled Jan. 8, was pushed back to Feb. 26.
Filing for bankruptcy in June gave Stockton an automatic stay on debt collection. Now in the view of some, the creditors will lose much of their leverage if Stockton is found to have met the eligibility standards required for bankruptcy.
The carefully structured Stockton bankruptcy plan appeared to be following the Vallejo model, where the main cuts in bankruptcy were to retiree health care and bond debt.
In addition to facing heavy losses if they have to pay bondholders, the insurers may fear a trend that could affect their industry and the bond market. Stockton has responded to the bond insurer decision to contest the city?s eligibility for bankruptcy.
The insurers say it was not until they contested eligibility that the city met with a consultant to develop a ?business case? for not impairing CalPERS and inquired about cutting an unusually generous 5 percent cost-of-living adjustment for pensions.
And it was not until Dec. 4, say the insurers, that Stockton asked CalPERS for a ?hardship? rate reduction, which could save the city $1.25 million this fiscal year and a total of $4.5 million over three years.
The hardship rate would give Stockton some short-term relief, but presumably increase the long-term debt. The annual city CalPERS payment, $16.8 million this fiscal year, is expected to be $30.2 million in fiscal 2020.
Movement by CalPERS seems unlikely. The state constitution (amended by labor-backed Proposition 162 in 1992) makes the CalPERS top priority protecting pensions. Minimizing taxpayer costs, which had equal standing, became a secondary priority.
A 17-page statement issued by CalPERS last July spelled out the widely held legal view that a series of court decisions mean pensions promised on the date of hire are ?vested? rights, protected by contract law, that can be cut only if offset by a new benefit.
Beyond the legal obstacle, CalPERS only administers pensions: collecting, investing and paying out the money. Pension amounts are set through legislation or, before reform legislation for new hires last year, bargaining with public employee unions.
If CalPERS were given a fair share of Stockton debt reduction, a financial ?haircut? along with other creditors, how would CalPERS pass that along to the Stockton employees and retirees?
Some guidance might come from procedures used when private-sector pensions fail and the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. takes over pension payments. But it?s not mentioned in the bond insurer court filings last month.
The Assured Guaranty?filing last month?cited testimony from a city official who said she was unaware of any attempt ?to study alternative benefit structures with other pension administrators or agencies? to replace CalPERS.
?Nor did the city ever consider withdrawing from CalPERS and placing its existing pension funds on deposit with another pension administrator, such as what was done in San Francisco,? said the Assured filing.
The brief mention of a switch to another retirement system (San Joaquin is one of the 20 counties with an independent retirement system operating under a 1937 act) did not explain how the change would reduce pension costs.
Stockton has a ?monumental? unfunded liability, said the Assured filing. estimated by CalPERS on a market value basis to total $322.5 million for both plans, safety and miscellaneous.
If in the future Stockton is not in bankruptcy and unable to ?satisfy? its unfunded liability and needs to withdraw from CalPERS, said Assured, the city ?could face a draconian termination liability? ballooning to $946 million and a lien on its property.
?Unless the city is willing to tackle its pension liabilities and obligations to CalPERS, there is no legitimate purpose served by permitting it to remain in Chaper 9 (bankruptcy),? Assured argued.
The National filing said Stockton is ineligible for bankruptcy for three reasons: a failure to seek concessions from CalPERS, a ?self-interested? decision by staff and council members who are CalPERS members, and a lack of ?good faith? negotiations.
A broader Assured filing goes beyond the CalPERS issue and argues that the city budgeted itself into insolvency, continues to overspend, has not tried to maximize revenue, has no grasp of its finances and cannot produce accurate and timely reports.
Assured supports its argument with four reports from experts. City officials are said to have acknowledged that city wages and benefits have been excessive, inflated in some cases by an estimated 25 percent.
The Assured filing rebuts a city contention that lower pensions would result in a ?mass exodus? of police officers, noting among other things that 1,300 persons took a police agility test last month.
A statewide pension reform signed by Gov. Brown in September gives all new hires the same low pension, Assured said, further weakening the city contention that high pensions must be maintained to remain competitive in the marketplace.
(Reporter Ed Mendel covered the Capitol in Sacramento for nearly three decades, most recently for the San Diego Union-Tribune. More stories are at?http://calpensions.com/)
Source: http://www.capoliticalreview.com/top-stories/how-would-stockton-bankruptcy-cut-pensions/
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Friday, January 18, 2013
Pitt study warns of skin cancer apps
Diagnosing skin cancer via smartphone?
Perhaps there should not be an app for that.
A study by the University of Pittsburgh evaluated four smartphone apps that evaluate melanoma by analyzing images submitted by the users.
One app works by having a board-certified dermatologist look at the photos, while the other three apps analyze the images by computer algorithm.
The best-performing of the computer-driven apps missed 30 percent of the melanoma cases, while the worst-performing missed 93 percent. The app that used actual physicians to diagnose the melanomas worked well, correctly identifying more than 98 percent of the submitted images.
The study's lead researcher, Laura Ferris, worries that misdiagnosis by smartphone could harm patients in the long run.
"If they see a concerning lesion but the smartphone app incorrectly judges it to be benign, they might not follow up with a physician," she said. "A three-month delay could be the difference between high survival and low survival."
The study did not identify the apps by name.
"There are more apps out there and more coming out all the time," said Dr. Ferris, assistant professor of dermatology at Pitt's School of Medicine. "It's better to make a statement on the fact that they're out there than to say, 'This one is good and this one is bad.' "
The findings were published online Wednesday in JAMA Dermatology.
The idea for the study came about when a patient asked Dr. Ferris what she thought about these types of smartphone apps. She and other dermatologists started playing around with the apps by submitting test images and eventually decided to conduct a formal study.
They used actual images of both melanomas and benign skin lesions taken from patients being treated at UPMC, and evaluated only the apps that would allow submission of previously existing photographs.
Some of the apps were free, while others charged a small amount, such as $4.99 for unlimited images. The app that uses physicians to evaluate the images charged $5 per image, she said.
Dr. Ferris said that she understands the temptation to find a low-cost, quick way to see a dermatologist. "I know I have patients who are pretty sensitive to cost, and it's very appealing to get this official-looking answer back without worrying about having to pay a co-pay," she said.
Dermatologists have some of the longest wait times of any medical specialists -- one study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology reported an average wait time of 38 days -- while the three computer-based apps returned their answers in minutes. The app that used board-certified dermatologists returned answers in about 24 hours.
But time and cost aren't worth the possibility of postponing diagnosis on a fast-moving disease, she said. "With melanoma, it's such a time-sensitive thing," she said. "It grows and gets deeper, but it's curable if you can get it earlier."
On the flip side, researchers were heartened by the high level of accuracy displayed by the app that used board-certified physicians to evaluate the images. Because of long wait times for dermatologists, it's useful to have technology that can serve patients without immediate access.
UPMC has a small-scale tele-dermatology program of its own, she said, in which hospitals without dermatologists send pictures to dermatologists in Pittsburgh. The program is only for patients already in hospitals, and not for patients at home.
"Nothing replaces being in the room with a patient," she said, "but if we can't put dermatologists all over where the patients are, we're lucky in our field that we can use pictures and images."
Apps for health care of all varieties are big business, from checking heart rate to counting calories. Even just for dermatology, there are many different online services, including those provided by Iagnosis, a Washington County company founded last year that also uses doctors to help patients diagnose 250 different skin problems.
Medical apps are largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Ferris said, with the exception of apps that interact directly with devices that are already regulated. The FDA is currently discussing plans to regulate other devices, a change that Dr. Ferris would support.
"The people who made these apps weren't conscientious or thoughtful, with no validation," she said.
Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/health/pitt-study-warns-of-skin-cancer-apps-670673
FBI complies with FOIA request; releases blacked-out pages
The FBI and the American Civil Liberties Union seem to have very different interpretations of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
As surfaced by the website Arstechnica, the FBI recently complied with a request from the civil rights organization?sort of.
The ACLU had filed the FOIA request back in July. The request asks for two memos that outline how the FBI interprets the Supreme Court decision blocking law enforcement from using GPS to track a suspect?s car without a warrant.
As the ACLU reported, the organization has just received a response?almost all of it blacked out. The darkened memos had been mentioned publicly by an FBI official during a panel discussion at the University of San Francisco.
One memo apparently outlines GPS tracking on things other than cars, and the other how the FBI interprets the Supreme Court case on other forms of tech besides GPS. The documents can be seen here and here in PDF format, along with the ACLU's original FOIA request.
Writing on the ACLU website, staff attorney Catherine Crump noted, "The Justice Department?s unfortunate decision leaves Americans with no clear understanding of when we will be subjected to tracking?possibly for months at a time?or whether the government will first get a warrant."
Crump added that "this is yet another example of secret surveillance policies?like the Justice Department?s secret opinions about the Patriot Act?s Section 215?that simply should not exist in a democratic society. Privacy law needs to keep up with technology, but how can that happen if the government won?t even tell us what its policies are?
The ACLU says that it will next ask the courts to force the Department of Justice to release the memos without all the redactions.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/fbi-complies-foia-request-blacked-pages-214357663.html
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