The most-viewed business stories of 2011

Jeff Chiu / AP

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs inspired strong reactions in life, and this year, in death.

By Rob Neill

The year in business, 2011, was filled with big stories and storylines. The wafer-thin U.S. economic recovery. A public debate on economic inequality that manifested itself as the Occupy movement. And a debt crisis in Europe that, despite numerous ?fixes? applied by Eurozone leaders, still threatens the global economy.

But in the eyes of msnbc.com readers, all that may pale compared to an ATM receipt, and grocers getting rid of self-checkout.

Ok, that may be putting too fine a point on it, but the top 10 viewed business stories of the year generally avoided the more high falutin subjects. Here they are:

10. ?Little Darth Vader? reveals the face behind The Force. Volkswagen?s ad featuring a kid in a Sith costume trying ? mostly in vain ? to use the dark side on among other things, the washing machine and ?the family dog, was the smash hit of Super Bowl Sunday. You can check out all its competition here.? But readers were particularly interested when child actor Max Page visited TODAY to disclose, among other things, he?s never actually seen ?Star Wars.? He thinks it might be too scary for him.

9. Apple cofounder Steve Jobs dies. ?The news was unsurprising, since the CEO had longstanding health issues and stepped down from the job in August. He was immediately praised around the world by Apple Store shoppers and world leaders. President Barack Obama said he ?exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity." Jobs had his detractors, but it?s inarguable that he changed how the world felt about, and approached, tech products ? altering them from digital devices to highly anticipated fashion accessories.

8. Warren Buffett says tax the super-rich more. "My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice," the 80-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" wrote in an opinion article in The New York Times. Although the sentiment wasn?t particularly out of character for the world?s third-richest man, it sparked a debate that seemed to resonate with many. And it may have helped begin the Occupy movement. That debate at times got pretty heated, and dumb. Just check the 691,000 links Google returns for ?Warren Buffett socialist.?

7. Supreme Court sides with Wal-Mart in sex bias case. The court didn?t rule on the validity of up to 1.6 million women?s claims they were denied promotions and suffered through different working conditions than men. It did say the group was too large and diverse to wrap into one class action. Legal observers say it may make it difficult to mount large-scale claims against the biggest companies.

6. Whistle-blowing witch grounded by TSA.? Step onto the mat. Make sure you have no liquids on your person. Take off those shoes. And for heaven?s sake, DO NOT cast spells. As if the Transportation Security Administration didn?t seem to already have a list of misplaced priorities, it canned Carole A. Smith, an agent at New York?s Albany International Airport, despite generally good job performance. Smith practices Wicca. And she has a broom. But she denied putting a hex on a coworker?s car, telling msnbc.com ?If I had that kind of power, I wouldn't be working for TSA. I would go buy lottery tickets and put a spell on the balls.?

5. Co-founder of social network Diaspora dies. Ilya Zhitomirskiy was 22. CNN reported it was a suicide. The social networking site was started by four students in a New York University computer lab. This story seemed unusually popular, given that the service, which emphasizes privacy and user control, has only more than 200,000 users, is non-profit and, according to Wikipedia, makes its money off donations and T-shirt sales. Maybe people read the headline too quickly and thought about that other guy who founded another social networking site.

4. Major grocer getting rid of self-checkout lanes. The pageviews were considerable, but the 170,000-plus votes and 21 pages of comments from readers was notable for a story that was just 12 paragraphs long. Of course, the debate wasn?t about Albertsons LLC?s decision, it was a referendum on whether self-checkout was boon or a sign of the Apocalypse. Our personal preference is to have both options ? and a special cage for people who write checks.

3. U.S. falls to 5th in global competitiveness. Another short story, this one seemed to be a touchstone for a ?What?s wrong with America?? debate ? in this case all 2,492 comments. Backers of President Obama generally said the blame should not go to President Obama. Opponents of the president generally said the president should be blamed.

2. Huguette Clark, reclusive copper heiress, dies at 104. This story was the biggest showing on the subject, though other pieces on the ongoing legal travails of sorting out who is due what from her estate continue to do well. The combination of her long, full life, massive wealth, and the intrigue about dividing it seemed the stuff of Hollywood drama.

1. $100 million savings receipt left in ATM. Sometimes, it seems despite world events, there is no substitute for a man-bites-dog story.??

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9773359-what-downturn-the-most-viewed-business-stories-of-2011

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Great apes make sophisticated decisions

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos make more sophisticated decisions than was previously thought. Great apes weigh their chances of success, based on what they know and the likelihood to succeed when guessing, according to a study of MPI researcher Daniel Haun, published on December 21 in the online journal PLoS ONE. The findings may provide insight into human decision-making as well.

The authors of the study, led by Daniel Haun of the Max Planck Institutes for Psycholinguistics (Nijmegen) and Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig), investigated the behaviour of all four non-human great ape species. The apes were presented with two banana pieces: a smaller one, which was always reliably in the same place, and a larger one, which was hidden under one of multiple cups, and therefore the riskier choice.

The researchers found that the apes' choices were regulated by their uncertainty and the probability of success for the risky choice, suggesting sophisticated decision-making. Apes chose the small piece more often when they where uncertain where the large piece was hidden. The lower their chances to guess correctly, the more often they chose the small piece.

Risky choices

The researchers also found that the apes went for the larger piece ? and risked getting nothing at all ? no less than 50% of the time. This risky decision-making increased to nearly 100% when the size difference between the two banana pieces was largest. While all four species demonstrated sophisticated decision making strategies, chimpanzees and orangutans were overall more likely to make risky choices relative to gorillas and bonobos. The precise reason for this discrepancy remains unknown.

Haun concludes: "Our study adds to the growing evidence that the mental life of the other great apes is much more sophisticated than is often assumed."

###

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116343/Great_apes_make_sophisticated_decisions

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Giuliana Rancic on Cancer Treatment: It Was Hell ...

Just weeks after undergoing a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, E! News host Giuliana Rancic visited the Today show Friday with husband Bill.

So how is the cancer survivor feeling now?

"I feel great," Giuliana told Matt Lauer. "I feel great considering it's been only two and a half weeks, but I still have a ways to go as far as recovery."

The Giuliana & Bill star, who returned to work this week, has maintained a positive, but candid attitude about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Make no mistake, this was no easy decision - or ordeal.

"It was definitely hard," she said regarding how she felt immediately after her invasive surgery. "Up until about a week and a half ago it was hell."

Giuliana was on morphine, in extreme pain and sick to her stomach, but with Bill's help, she managed to get out of bed - and set a hospital record!

Giuliana's doctor gave Bill strict orders to help her walk around the bed and the hospital to aid in her recovery, which provided her motivation.

"I asked a nurse what the record was for walking laps around the hospital," recalled said. "It was two," Bill went on. "G did two and a half."  

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/giuliana-rancic-on-cancer-recovery-it-was-hell/

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Wendy Hammers: Salad Bars With No Vegetables

I was twenty-four when I met him and twenty-seven when we married, and well, that's just crazy shit right there. Someone should have bitch slapped me to snap out of it -- like Cher did to Nick Cage in Moonstruck or some other more current film reference. Marrying before the age of 30, should probably have been illegal, especially for a budding bad girl like myself.

I chose my husband because he seemed, at the time, like a good place to land. He felt like home. The relationship was grounding. Funny word -- grounding. People always use it as a good thing -- as in centered, stabilized. Course, the flip side is when you are grounded, you can't get off the mother fucking ground. You can't soar. You're just down there, unable to take off. And I wanted so much to fly.

What can I say about my first marriage? We used to joke that we were together for two reasons:

1) I liked the white meat and he liked the dark.
2) He was good at getting us to places and I was good at getting us home. FYI -- when it comes to directions, I don't do North, South, East, West, but rather, a right at Bloomies and a left at McDonalds.

So poultry and directions. No basis for spending eternity with a person.

Cuz even with all that Koo Koo Roo, I was starving. Starving in my marriage. Starving in every sense of the word. Starving for aliveness.

Aliveness -- there was it. That's what I was hungry for. Which brings me to Judy Toll. My spectacularly funny and vibrant friend of 15 years. She was the funniest girl I ever met... Her resume was impressive enough -- original member of the Groundlings, screenwriter of a movie called Casual Sex, writer on Sex and the City.

But more than any of that, she was the kind of person that took her deepest darkest secrets, her neurosis and fears and put them right into her act: she made you feel like she was nutty, but so were you, and if we were all a little nuts together, we were actually doing just fine. Judy and I were like high school girls together, giggling on the phone, lying on the floors of our respective apartments, with our feet in the air, twirling phone cords -- remember phone cords? We would giggle until we peed our pants. We looked like we were doing a cheap production of "Bye Bye Birdie," only to have Judy sign off with her signature, "Gotta run, doll. Call me every five minutes".

As stand-up comics, we toured together. At one point, during Madonna's "Blond Ambition" tour, we did what we referred to as our "No Ambition" tour -- 11 hell gigs in 14 nights Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. Hell gigs. Lots of salad bars with no vegetables. Just fruit cocktail with marshmallows, jello with stuff. Like I said - hell gigs, but heaven with Judy. She was, quite simply, very alive. More than most. Until she died of melanoma, skin cancer, in May of '02. She was 45 and a newlywed. Had been married for 10 months to an incredible man that she had met online on J Date, a man who had stayed in an unhappy marriage for 20 years for the kids, and finally, when he left, he met Judy, and they fell deeply, deeply in love.

They had 3 years together, 3 amazing ones, which, for my money, are a helluva better than 30 not so hot ones.

But the defining moment, the "a ha", the turning point -- call it what you like -- came, when sitting shiva in honor of Judy, her husband Rick said the reason she had waited so long to marry because was she didn't want to settle. Settle. The word floated out of his mouth and lodged itself in my brain. That's what I had done. I had settled. What was I doing here, in my dead marriage? Who was I being here? And how was I to get out of here? There I was, sitting on a couch in the valley, there in honor of my friend and to support her newlywed and newly widowed husband, and all I could think was that I had settled in my marriage. I felt like a jerk, self centered and inappropriate. But I knew I had to get out or I would die. Not like my precious friend, in the hospital with tubes and oxygen and in a coma, but rather, a different kind of dead. The walking dead. And like my friend, I couldn't breathe. I was suffocating and I was goin' down. I see now that Judy was sending me a message. I know I sound like a Californian saying that, but I learned so much from her when she was alive, and now, in her passing, she was continuing to teach me. Life is a brief snap. Part of myself went to sleep for 17 years. Then my friend died and woke me up.

In that defining moment, I looked across the couch. I really looked. I did not let myself turn away, which would have been easy to do. I saw a man I'd known, in every sense of the word, for seventeen years, and he was a stranger. I knew and saw all of that. I had loved him. But I knew I was done. That we were done. I just knew. Sometimes you know, but you don't want to know what you know. Sometimes you look away. This time, finally, I didn't.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendy-hammers/salad-bars-with-no-vegeta_b_1177140.html

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In-Game - Chastened gaming rep responds to Internet infamy

Paul Christoforo

By Kyle Orland

"I want to clear my name. I want to get these people to stop bothering me."

That was the main message from Ocean Marketing's Paul Christoforo, a former representative for?N-Control's Avenger controller attachment.?He gained immediate infamy among the Internet gaming community after a hostile customer service email exchange?went viral?after landing on popular gaming webcomic Penny Arcade.

In a matter of hours, Christoforo went from being just another customer service agent to a focus of ire for thousands of gamers. Christoforo was featured in mocking images and videos, and the Avenger product he was representing was hit with widespread derision and negative Amazon reviews, forcing the company to publicly drop Christoforo as its marketing representative.

A chastened Christoforo is now looking for forgiveness from the Internet community he unwittingly antagonized, saying in an interview with msnbc.com's In-Game he was "caught on a bad day" and that he hopes they will "let sleeping dogs lie."

What he did
Christoforo's downfall came because he broke the biggest rule in sales: He went after the customer. Even if the customer isn't always right, the customer deserves to be treated with respect. Christoforo's exchanges with a gamer ??who expressed concern for a suspiciously delayed accessory shipment?? were far from respectful. He called the customer a "moron" and a "complete child" and?much worse. He even got the guy's name wrong.

Things escalated when the customer CC'd one of the Penny Arcade editors, and when the emails were published by Penny Arcade, the tale of Christoforo's poor behavior went nuclear.

Read our full story:?Jilted gamer teaches vendor price of rudeness

"They've pretty much ruined me in the past 24 hours," Christoforo said. "It was humbling a little bit, but life goes on. I'm not going to die."

That doesn't mean Christoforo isn't still feeling the effects from becoming a household name in certain corners of the Internet ? effects he says he was actively dealing with for?17 hours straight yesterday. While Christoforo said blocking his Google Voice number stopped an early flood of harassing phone calls, he's received over 7,000 e-mails in the past 24 hours, some containing threats against him and his wife and two-month-old son.

"It's caused me more annoyance than anything else, but there are some threats and a lot of disrespect," he said. "My son's two months old ... that's uncalled for, you don't bring him into this situation."

Christoforo said his wife's Facebook page has been hammered by friend requests from people trying to get at him, and the shared stress of the entire ordeal has led to at least one major argument between the couple.

Yet despite all the drama, Christoforo said he hasn't lost any of his other accounts, aside from Avenger. "It hasn't affected my business yet," he said. "Clients have brought it up, but they've mainly laughed about it. I haven't lost any clients."

"If I had known, I would?have treated the situation a little better."
Referring to the email thread that started the whole mess, Christoforo said that he didn't know who he was talking to in his initial, flippant response to Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik.

"I didn't know who that guy at Penny Arcade was," he admitted. "If I had known, I would?have treated the situation a little better. PAX is a great show. What he does is what I've been idolizing since I was a kid. It's admirable he's put that together. He has a lot of connections, ones I want too."

Yet while admitting he handled things badly, Christoforo said he also felt the situation could have been different if Krahulik approached the situation differently.

"He called me a bully, but he was being a bully ...?especially when he emailed me out of the blue, saying 'That's f***ing s***ty, you're banned from PAX,' I was like 'Who the f*** are you? That's how you introduce yourself? ... I dont want to call him out, but he could have gone about that a totally different way, he could have said, 'Hey, I run the show, that email was a little unprofessional, if you don't do something to apologize I don't want you at my show.' But he just came at me and said, indirectly, 'Hey, f*** you, you're banned from PAX.' Is that what you'd call professional? I wouldn't."

Christoforo also said his response was driven in part by what he saw as the disrespectful tone of the messages that came before it. "Not that I don't have respect for anybody, but if someone's badmouthing me or being a little punk or being a jerk, they don't deserve respect," he said. "You can't expect to go up and say 'Hey you piece of s***,' and expect respect. Send an email, introduce yourself. ... I trust everybody until they give me a reason not to respect them.?I'm not a tough guy, not a bully, but at same time not going to take s*** if it's uncalled for.

Regarding the litany of names Christoforo's e-mail called up as potential supporters ? a list that included everyone from Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski to the mayor of Boston ? he said the tactic was meant to "impress, not to threaten" and didn't come through correctly because "you can't see tone of voice in email."

"I don't know the mayor of Boston," he admitted. "That was taken totally out of context, I was just joking around. I am from Boston, though, and I know a lot of people who own clubs. I know some influential people, like the guy who runs the door at the convention center.

"Maybe it was because it was email, maybe on the phone it would have been different story ... it would have nipped everything in the bud."

Looking back, Christoforo is still a little shocked that what he thought would remain a private email conversation got blown into an Internet event the way it did.

"If this didn't get escalated to Penny Arcade, it would have never gone viral like it did," he said. "Ultimately, if I was able to control the customer, it never would have happened. I've dealt with thousands and thousands of customers with similar complaints, they were all asking the same question. When is it big enough that it hits the news? When it hits Penny Arcade, when it hits a guy who has the biggest affiliations in the industry."

Moving on
Despite the harassment, Christoforo says he still respects the gaming community he says he's been a part of for decades.

"I still love the gaming community, and this is not going to change my mind," he said. "I do think these people were a little bit excessive with the spam, digging up personal information, calling me. Not to put anyone down, but I don't know what kind of lives these people have. ...?Ultimately it doesn't affect the way I think about anybody. I don't have any hate or bad will for them, but it's a little bit sad that they didn't have anything better to do than attack me."

Christoforo said he's also been able to laugh at some of the funnier parodies and jokes at his expense out there, particularly a well-made video?featuring an over-the-top actor playing an exaggerated version of him.

"I'm not depressed at people making fun of me," he said. "It's like a parody of Barack Obama. It's making me more popular. I'm not doing anything to stop it, and it is kind of funny. ... It's not the end of the world, and it'll be old news soon, but it's hot news now, and I do see the lighter side of it."

While Christoforo didn't completely rule out legal action against Penny Arcade and the sources of some of the more vicious Internet slander and threats, he said he probably will not actually call an attorney. That's partly because he's not sure there's a legal case to be made, but also because he doesn't want his name dragged down any further, he said.?

"[Legal action] is something I'm not interested in doing because the community would be more pissed at me," he said. "Regardless of money [possibly won in a settlement], it would really ruin my name. Am I saying I care more about my reputation than money? Yes."

But Christoforo also sees some potential positives in all the negative attention he's been getting. His Twitter account, which has now changed names twice because he was "sick of the tweets and stuff coming in," has been getting a lot of new followers from the controversy, he noted, a situation that may be beneficial down the line.

"If these people stick with me and follow me, a couple months down the road anything I say is news," he said. "If it gets me somewhere else that I wouldn't have been where this happened ... it's negative now, but controversy and bad news is news and that's just the way it is. Look at all the bad press from people in entertainment industry that turned into something good. Whether I do charity work or something good, I don't know."

In the nearer term, Christoforo has entertained the idea of doing some Internet videos himself, and even considered going to PAX East, held in Boston this April, with a shirt tauntingly saying 'I'm Paul Christoforo' on it. "I'm not sure I'd actually do that, since I don't want to get in any fights," he clarified.

So what lessons has Christoforo taken from his brush with Internet infamy??"I'll definitely stay away from customer service emails," he said. "I could have nipped this all in the bud by being a little nicer. You never know who knows who, and lesson learned. We all have bad days and they caught me on one."

"At the end of the day, I'm a human being, and it feels like the entire world was bullying me," he said. "I?want people to like me, I don't want people to think I'm a bad person. ... I made a mistake.?... I hope I can make something positive out of it."

Related stories:

Kyle Orland has written hundreds of thousands of words about gaming since he got his start with a Mario fan site at the age of 14. You can follow him on?Twitter?or at his personal web site,?KyleOrland.com.

Source: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9770514-chastened-gaming-rep-responds-to-internet-infamy

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Library Of Congress Film Registry: 'Forrest Gump,' 'Silence Of The Lambs,' And Bambi To Be Added

WASHINGTON ? Forrest Gump's oft-imitated line, "My momma always said, `Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get' " will be immortalized among the nation's treasures in the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.

The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994's smash hit "Forrest Gump" starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.

The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. "The Cry of the Children" is about the pre-World War I child labor reform movement and "A Cure for Pokeritis" features the industry's earliest comic superstar John Bunny.

Also from that silent era is Charlie Chaplin's first full-length feature, "The Kid," from 1921.

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. This year, 2,228 films were nominated.

"These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said in a statement. "Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams."

For each title, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations. That comes either by the Library's massive motion-picture preservation program or through collaborating with other archives, motion-picture studios and independent filmmakers.

The most recent film chosen is "Forrest Gump," which won six Academy Awards including for Best Picture.

Also starring in that movie about an everyman who ended up being part of the most iconic events of the 1960s and 1970s was Sally Field. Her perhaps most famous role playing "Norma Rae" in the movie of the same name from 1979 also made the list. She won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a poorly educated single mother who fought successfully to make her Southern textile mill a union shop.

Making the list is the animated Disney classic, "Bambi," made in 1942 about a deer's life in the forest, "The Big Heat" from 1953, a post-war noir film, and 1991's disturbing, "The Silence of the Lambs," which won Oscars for stars Jody Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the psychological and violent thriller.

The original "War of the Worlds" from 1953 also will be preserved along with "Porgy and Bess," "Stand and Deliver" and John Ford's epic Western, "The Iron Horse," from 1924.

Lesser known films were chosen for their significance to the art.

"A Computer Animated Hand" from 1972 is by Pixar Animation Studios co-founder Ed Catmull. The one-minute film that is one of the earliest examples of 3D computer animation displays the hand turning, opening and closing, pointing at the viewer and flexing its fingers.

Making the list were notable documentaries as well.

"Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment," focuses on Gov. George Wallace's attempt to prevent two African-American students from enrolling in the University of Alabama and the response of President John F. Kennedy. "Growing Up Female" from 1971 was one of the first films to come from the women's liberation movement.

Also included was "The Negro Soldier," produced by Frank Capra. It showed the heroism of blacks in the nation's wars and became mandatory viewing for all soldiers from spring 1944 until World War II's end.

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/loc-film-registry-forrest-gump-bambi_n_1172118.html

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Badwater Basin: Death Valley microbe may spark novel biotech and nanotech uses

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2011) ? Nevada, the "Silver State," is well-known for mining precious metals. But scientists Dennis Bazylinski and colleagues at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) do a different type of mining.

They sluice through every water body they can find, looking for new forms of microbial magnetism.

In a basin named Badwater on the edge of Death Valley National Park, Bazylinski and researcher Christopher Lef?vre hit pay dirt.

Lef?vre is with the French National Center of Scientific Research and University of Aix-Marseille II.

In a recent issue of the journal Science, Bazylinski, Lef?vre and others report that they identified, isolated and grew a new type of magnetic bacteria that could lead to novel biotech and nanotech uses.

Magnetotactic bacteria are simple, single-celled organisms that are found in almost all bodies of water.

As their name suggests, they orient and navigate along magnetic fields like miniature swimming compass needles.

This is due to the nano-sized crystals of the minerals magnetite or greigite they produce.

The presence of these magnetic crystals makes the bacteria and their internal crystals--called magnetosomes--useful in drug delivery and medical imaging.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy and the French Foundation for Medical Research.

"The finding is significant in showing that this bacterium has specific genes to synthesize magnetite and greigite, and that the proportion of these magnetosomes varies with the chemistry of the environment," said Enriqueta Barrera, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.

While many magnetite-producing bacteria can be grown and easily studied, Bazylinski and his team were the first to cultivate a greigite-producing species. Greigite is an iron sulfide mineral, the equivalent of the iron oxide magnetite.

"Because greigite-producing bacteria have never been isolated, the crystals haven't been tested for the types of biomedical and other applications that currently use magnetite," said Bazylinski.

"Greigite is an iron sulfide that may be superior to magnetite in some applications due to its slightly different physical and magnetic properties. Now we have the opportunity to find out."

Researchers found the greigite-producing bacterium, called BW-1, in water samples collected more than 280 feet below sea level in Badwater Basin. Lef?vre and Bazylinski later isolated and grew it leading to the discovery that BW-1 produces both greigite and magnetite.

A detailed look at its DNA revealed that BW-1 has two sets of magnetosome genes, unlike other such bacteria, which produce only one mineral and have only one set of magnetosome genes.

This suggests that the production of magnetite and greigite in BW-1 is likely controlled by separate sets of genes. That could be important in the mass production of either mineral for specific applications.

According to Bazylinski, the greigite-producing bacteria represent a new, previously unrecognized group of sulfate-reducing bacteria that "breathe" the compound sulfate rather than oxygen as most living organisms do.

"With how much is known about sulfate-reducing bacteria, it's surprising that no one has described this group," he said.

Working with Bazylinski and Lef?vre on the project are David Pignol of the French National Center of Scientific Research and University of Aix-Marseille II; Nicolas Menguy of Pierre and Marie Curie University, France; Fernanda Abreu and Ulysses Lins of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Mihaly P?sfai of the University of Pannonia, Hungary; Tanya Prozorov of Ames Laboratory, Iowa; and Richard Frankel of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Science Foundation.

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. C. T. Lefevre, N. Menguy, F. Abreu, U. Lins, M. Posfai, T. Prozorov, D. Pignol, R. B. Frankel, D. A. Bazylinski. A Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium in a Novel Group of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria. Science, 2011; 334 (6063): 1720 DOI: 10.1126/science.1212596

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/thy1q2IrLho/111227142623.htm

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An all Apple family celebrates second anniversary of living completely Microsoft-free

Dec 27, 2011 - 05:30 PM EST ? AAPL: 406.53 (+3.20, +0.79%) | NASDAQ: 2625.20 (+6.56, +0.25%)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 ? 12:31 pm ? 26 Comments

?Back in April, I proudly declared my second anniversary of living completely Microsoft-free,? Ed Brill blogs for his eponymous site. ?Beyond Microsoft-free, though, the point of that blog entry was how much Apple technology had entered my life in the last few years.?

[Ed Brill is Director, Messaging and Collaboration, IBM Lotus software. - MacDailyNews Ed.]

?Earlier this month, IBM started a conversion of our corporate mobile device program, in line with what had been disclosed externally a few months ago,? Brill writes. ?For the first time, I had the opportunity to have an iPhone and have IBM manage the billing. It meant buying my own phone, but the opportunity to move not just in a Microsoft-free direction, but an all-Apple direction, was too good to pass up.?

?The switch was so simple, I almost didn?t realize it had happened,? Brill explains. ?When I first powered up the iPhone on Friday afternoon, and clicked through the setup options, an error suddenly popped up on my old [BlackBerry] phone, that the SIM was no longer provisioned. A few minutes later, I logged onto a Lotus Mobile Connect gateway on ibm.com, and Notes Traveler and LMC were being provisioned on the device. The app store app already knew what apps I had on my iPad, so installing IBM Sametime and IBM Connections were both single-tap actions. My contacts synced from Notes through Traveler. In short, save some recent images shot with the camera on my old phone, I didn?t have to do anything to transition from one device to another, and I?m up and running on the 8th piece of Apple gear in production use in my household. It.Just.Works.?

Read more in the full article here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wordpress/xhfA/~3/bsoHa9lagQs/

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Immunomedics, UCB tweak pact on cancer, lupus drug

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Immunomedics Inc., /quotes/zigman/73672/quotes/nls/immu IMMU -0.59% the Morris Plains, N.J., biopharma firm, and UCB SA, /quotes/zigman/246476 UCBJF +1.06% /quotes/zigman/246465 BE:UCB +0.98% the Brussels biopharma firm, adjusted their accord under which they will develop and market epratuzumab for lupus, cancer and other diseases. Under the new terms, Immunomedics gets the rights to market the drug against cancer; previously, UCB had had the right to buy into the marketing of the drug against cancer. In addition, UCB gets the right to sublicense the drug for marketing against lupus and other diseases in certain territories and to select its partners in that effort. The financials: Immunomedics gets $30 million up front; another $30 million if UCB exercises the sublicensing option; and additional payments if the drug reaches certain regulatory and sales goals; and UCB gets a five-year warrant to buy one million Immunomedics shares at $8 each. The drug is currently undergoing testing in two Phase III studies in patients with moderate to severe lupus.

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Analysts Revved Up for Automotive Industry in 2012 (NYSE:WFC ...

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Eleven independent analysts forecast an average sales figure of 13.6 million light vehicles in 2012. The prediction would be an increase of 6-7% over this year depending on how 2011 wraps up. The spike in auto sales is attributed to rising employment, increasing credit availability, new products and aging vehicles currently driven by Americans. If, and that?s a big IF, consumers meet these expectations, that will be great news for shareholders of General Motors (NYSE:GM), Ford (NYSE:F), Toyota Motors (NYSE:TM), and Honda Motor Company (NYSE:HMC).

Don?t Miss: Iran Threatens to Block Oil Flow Through Vital Strait of Hormuz in Response to U.S. Sanctions.

Though the most conservative estimate of 13 million by Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) is a full million less than the loftiest of 14 million by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the spread is still narrower than the 1.5 million difference in 2011 predictions. Analysts predict just as much economic bad news in 2012, but believe consumers are less skittish than they were three years ago when the recession began.

Automotive News quoted Alec Gutierrez, Senior Market Analyst for Kelley Blue Book, who said, ?The Dow fell 1,500 points ? and car sales stayed smooth and consistent. The American consumer has seen so much gone wrong. If they have to buy a car, they will.?

While a European recession is possible in 2012, it could possibly be outweighed by an American economic surge. Jeff Schuster, a forecaster for the Americas for LMC Automotive, says that the more telling factors will be pent-up demand, a growing inventory, and credit availability.? The average age of vehicles on the road is currently 10.7 years, up from 8 or 9 over the past decade according to Tom Kontos, Executive Vice President of Customer Strategies and Analytics for auction house ADESA. ?Americans have gone without for a very long time.? ?I need a car? is the biggest reason for optimism,? Kontos said per Automotive News.

Investing Insights: Oil ETFs: The Top 10 Exchange Traded Funds for Your Oil Investing List.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ashley Cloninger at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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Source: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/trading/analysts-revved-up-for-automotive-industry-in-2012.html/

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Elephants race, play soccer in Nepal festival

Mahouts control elephants during an exhibition soccer match at the elephant festival in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The three day elephant festival mainly held for tourism began here Monday. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Mahouts control elephants during an exhibition soccer match at the elephant festival in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The three day elephant festival mainly held for tourism began here Monday. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

An elephant puts a garland on one of the judges during an elephant beauty contest in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The three day elephant festival mainly held for tourism began here Monday. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A mahout decorates his elephant before participating in an elephant competition in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. An elephant festival mainly held for tourism began here Monday. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Elephants play an exhibition soccer match at the elephant festival in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The three day elephant festival mainly held for tourism began here Monday. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

An elephant plays an exhibition soccer match at the elephant festival in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The three day elephant festival mainly held for tourism began here Monday. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

CHITWAN, Nepal (AP) ? Soccer-playing elephants used all four feet and even their trunks trying to score goals. Racing pachyderm thundered to the finish line to the cheers of the crowds. And in the elephant beauty pageant, contestants sported nail polish on their not-so-dainty toes.

It was all part of an elephant-themed festival in Nepal that wrapped up Wednesday. The three-day event was held to promote conservation awareness and lure foreign visitors to Nepal.

The elephants were trained for weeks for the games, taking time off their normal jobs carrying tourists through protected jungles near Chitwan. The conservation forest has rhinos, several species of deer and crocodiles and is a popular tourist spot some 106 miles (170 kilometers) south of the capital, Katmandu.

"We hope that the elephant festival will help bring more tourists to Chitwan. We need both foreign and domestic visitors," said Ghanashyam Shrestha, one of the organizers.

Tourism is picking up in Nepal as it slowly recovers from a 10-year Maoist insurgency that killed more than 13,000 people. The conflict ended after the rebels gave up their armed revolt and joined a peace process in 2006.

But the tourists who mainly come to hike the Himalayan country's many mountains aren't returning fast enough for some. Nepal received some 600,000 visitors in 2010, short of the goal of 1 million set by the government declaring the Nepal Tourism Year.

Organizers of events like the elephant festival ? which draws on a popular elephant polo event held elsewhere in Nepal ? hope more colorful events will increase interest in tourism.

The final event, a 300-meter race, was won by an elephant named Bajadur Gaj, who pounded his way to the finish line in 69 seconds as thousands of locals and foreign tourists cheered.

Teams of four elephants also played soccer matches using a standard-size ball. The elephants blocked passes, kicked the ball and batted it with their trunks, pushing each other for control of the play.

"Training the elephants to play soccer was not easy but they learned the basic command. They understood they need to hit the ball when I yell 'kick' at them," said Basudev Mahato, 37, an elephant mahout who has been training and riding elephants for 15 years.

The elephants are between 4 and 5 years old. Young ones are easier to train and run faster, Mahato said.

At the Hattishar elephant camp, trainers and workers cleaned up the elephants, fed them a special meal of rice and sugar wrapped in grass and painted them to prepare them for the event.

Over at the beauty pageant, a trainer painted white patterns on an elephant named Loktantrakali, then varnished her toenails bright red.

Judges ? who checked contestants bodies' for scars and overall beauty and also watched them perform tricks ? picked Loktantrakali as the second-prize winner.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2011-12-28-AS-Nepal-Elephant-Racers/id-470ab4916366401eb57162fa5a50f460

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Japan:UNIQLO introduces recruitment policy for 2013

On December 1st this year UNIQLO began to adopt a new method of recruiting people in Japan that replaces its previous, more conventional style of recruitment of university graduates.

The change comes just as UNIQLO prepares to recruit from both current university students and recent university graduates for positions starting from 2013. The company also welcomes applications from people of all nationalities, whether they are recent graduates or mid-career professionals.

The new UNIQLO hiring initiative is an important departure from the conventional Japanese recruitment process; it gives individual job-seekers more time to seriously think about their career paths, ensuring a more open application process that will be driven more by the needs of the individuals, rather than solely serving the aims of the company.

UNIQLO seeks people who will help it 'change clothes, change conventional wisdom and change the world'
UNIQLO is committed to break free from the conventional approach to clothing in order to truly benefit people throughout the world. This is an extremely ambitious goal, but UNIQLO is seeking new recruits who are willing to take on the challenge of changing the world for the better.

More specifically, the company plans to hire 500 people in Japan, including university graduates, mid-career professionals, and even dainishinsotsu, the Japanese term used to describe 'second-generation graduates' who have been out of school for up to three years and already have some work experience.

Job opportunities for university students, recent graduates and mid-career professionals of any nationality
UNIQLO believes that the job-hunting process should be enjoyable, so individuals can lay the foundation for their future career development with a sense of hopeful optimism. In addition, the process should be one that focuses on the needs of individuals, rather than those of companies. Based on this thinking, UNIQLO has adopted a new approach that gives applicants more time and freedom in choosing their future career paths.

UNIQLO will make its recruiting process more accessible to all by eliminating time constraints, to ensure maximum freedom for job seekers as they look for the best match. Now, students at any point in their university studies may apply, as well as fresh graduates and mid-career professionals--regardless of their country of origin.

The company hopes this approach will help to provide a wider range of opportunities for students and professionals alike to think about the work they are most suited for, while promoting a more active and flexible approach to the job-hunting process. UNIQLO is determined to promote individual growth as part of its aim to become a company in which all employees have the opportunity to succeed on a global level.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/daily-textile-industries-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=106614

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Tab Launcher Adds a Tabbed Dock to Your OS X Desktop [Mac Downloads]

Mac OS X: The dock is a handy tool for quickly accessing apps, folders, and files, but it isn't terribly organized. Tab Launcher offers a dock replacement that gives you multiple docks, categorized with labeled tabs.

Organizing your apps into various tabs is Tab Launcher's primary function, but it's also highly customizable. You can change an app's icon in just the tab, change the angle and intensity of its drop shadow, the label that shows when you hoever over it, the spacing of all the icons in any given tab, and a ton more. You can also add as many tabs as you want, and those tabs can consist of anything you choose or draw from dynamic information like running applications, recently modified files, or a real folder. If you want to get started with your current dock, Tab Launcher can import its contents to save you some time.

Overall, if the OS X dock is lacking a bit for you and you'd like a little more organization and functionality, Tab Launcher is worth a look.

Tab Launcher ($1) | Mac App Store

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/PSKb9cRyAho/tab-launcher-adds-a-tabbed-dock-to-your-os-x-desktop

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bheater: @CRAPitWORKED Honestly? I think the Razr is great, but I'd buy Galaxy Nexus, if I were in the market for an Android handset right now.

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@CRAPitWORKED Honestly? I think the Razr is great, but I'd buy Galaxy Nexus, if I were in the market for an Android handset right now. Il y a environ 6 heures via web en r?ponse ? CRAPitWORKED

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U.S. Criticizes Japan, China on Currencies

BY TOM BARKLEY AND SUDEEP REDDY

The Obama administration again declined to label China a currency manipulator, while it criticized Japan's efforts to limit the yen's appreciation.

The Treasury Department, in its overdue semiannual currency report, offered its most direct criticism to date of Japan's two latest currency interventions, which the U.S. didn't support. The move could complicate any further attempts by Tokyo to intervene in currency markets.

Treasury also said in the report, released Tuesday, that it would continue to press Beijing for greater exchange-rate flexibility, as well as to level the playing field for foreign companies and to shift China's economy away from export-led ...

BY TOM BARKLEY AND SUDEEP REDDY

The Obama administration again declined to label China a currency manipulator, while it criticized Japan's efforts to limit the yen's appreciation.

The Treasury Department, in its overdue semiannual currency report, offered its most direct criticism to date of Japan's two latest currency interventions, which the U.S. didn't support. The move could complicate any further attempts by Tokyo to intervene in currency markets.

Treasury also said in the report, released Tuesday, that it would continue to press Beijing for greater exchange-rate flexibility, as well as to level the playing field for foreign companies and to shift China's economy away from export-led ...

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203479104577124962748590078.html?mod=rss_US_News

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At 5-7, Colonial's Diante Harrison stands out in football, basketball

At 5 feet 7, Diante Harrison looks up to almost everybody when he is on a football field or basketball court.

But that's only if you look at it from the tape measure's point of view.

Colonial High coaches say Harrison is a guy classmates have been looking up to for a long time. He is a rarity in an age of sports specialization, becoming arguably the top athlete in two sports at a Class 8A school, all while earning acclaim as an honor-roll student and high-character leader.

"He's a tremendous athlete for our school, and he's a quality guy for our campus," Grenadiers basketball coach Eddie Johnson said.

Colonial football coach Steve Breitbeil echoes those sentiments and said Harrison is the best all-around player he has coached.

Now if they could get college coaches to see what they see.

Harrison has impressive numbers in all facets (except that tape measure), including a 3.3 grade-point average, but he has zero scholarship offers.

"I know the college guys are looking for bigger kids," Breitbeil said. "But he has the complete package of speed, quickness, vision, toughness and knowledge of the game. We're sending film out all over the place. There's a place for Diante out there somewhere."

Harrison, who bounced around the country at a young age as the son of two Army veterans, said his favorite sport is football, where he was a first-team All-Central Florida player. But he would consider college basketball as a Plan B.

"I just want a team that will accept me and let me play," Harrison said. "I just need the chance to show that I can play football."

He figures there is no better way for the door to open than to keep knocking with effort.

"I'm still confident,'' Harrison said. "My main focus is to keep working hard."

The 165-pound senior was Colonial's leading receiver, scorer and tackler in football, and he had four interceptions and four blocked kicks.

He came out late for basketball and missed two preseason games, but is averaging 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. The Grenadiers are 8-2, with eight consecutive wins, going into Tuesday's opening round of the Father Lopez Holiday Tournament in Daytona Beach.

"I've never seen a guy work harder to get better at two sports," Johnson said.

Harrison averaged 19 points as the Grenadiers won Glynn Academy's holiday tournament in Brunswick, Ga., last week. He poured in 34 in a double-overtime win over previously unbeaten Brunswick in the opening round.

"He just would not let us lose," Johnson said. "He's a great ballhandler, and if I need one score, we know we're looking for Diante."

In an age where top athletes tend to transfer to top programs, Harrison never looked to leave his neighborhood school. His family moved to Sanford when he was 7, then settled in Azalea Park several years later.

"Even during football games, I had guys telling me I should have transferred after my sophomore year," Harrison said. "I just tell them I'm fine where I'm at. If you're good, it shouldn't matter what school you play for, what record you have, height, weight, anything."

bcollings@tribune.com

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/os-hs-colonial-diante-harrison-20111226,0,3547047.story?track=rss

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Monday's Carolina Football news (Last post on 12/26/2011 at 02:30 AM PST)

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UK's Prince Philip remains in hospital (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's Prince Philip spent a third night in the hospital as he recovers after treatment for a blocked coronary artery.

The 90-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II is in good spirits and will remain under observation for "a short period," Buckingham Palace officials said Monday. There are no details of when he may be released.

The prince underwent a successful coronary stent procedure at Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridgeshire, where he was taken on Friday after complaining of chest pains.

It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known to be active and robust. He has continued to appear at many engagements, most recently taking a 10-day tour of Australia with the queen.

He is likely to miss the Royal Family's traditional Boxing Day shooting party on Monday at the queen's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, an event he usually leads.

Six of Philip's grandchildren, including Princes William and Harry, visited him Sunday in the hospital.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_prince_philip

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Donald Trump Leaves GOP, Registers as Independent

Donald Trump continues to dabble with the idea of running for President, switching his voter registration from Republican to unaffiliated so he can run as an independent should he choose to enter the 2012 race.

Registered in New York, Trump filed the paperwork on Thursday and his spokesman Michael Cohen told NBC News of Trump?s decision on Friday.

He reiterated Trump?s oft-stated position on running ? he will run if the Republicans fail to nominate a candidate he believes can unseat Barack Obama.

Trump?s candidacy would not get under way for several months as he will wait until his reality show, ?The Apprentice,? concludes in May of 2012.

Also Read:?Donald Trump Says He Will Run for President ?- After 'Apprentice' Wraps

Trump had been planning on moderating with a Republican debate, but most of the candidates declined to participate because of Trump?s potential interest in running. Trump then pulled out.

Related Wrap Stories

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/donald-trump-leaves-gop-registers-independent-33919

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More bodies found far away from Philippine floods

MANILA, Philippines?? Fishermen joined Philippine navy sailors, police and firefighters in an ever wider search for bodies from entire villages swept away in one of the country's worst flash floods. More bodies have washed ashore, pushing the death toll to more than 1,200, an official said Monday.

While more than 60,000 homeless from hundreds of flood-ravaged villages spent a miserable Christmas in jam-packed schools and gymnasiums, search teams retrieved an additional 150 bodies from the sea as far as 60 miles (100 kilometers) from worst-hit Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, said Benito Ramos, head of the Office of Civil Defense.

He said it would take three to six months to restore some normalcy and construct temporary housing to free up schools that are now serving as refugee camps.

The death toll as of Monday stood at 1,236, with about two-thirds of the bodies unidentified. With more bodies found floating farther away, Ramos said authorities sought the help of fishermen to scour the sea.

"We've stopped counting the missing. There are no accurate figures," Ramos said. "Those recovered, we don't know who they are. We have a system in place so that families can claim them later, based on fingerprints and dental records."

The United Nations last week launched an urgent appeal for $28 million to help an estimated 600,000 affected people, more than half the population of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the southern Mindanao region.

Despite warnings from forecasters, most were asleep Dec. 16 when a tropical storm made a landfall in a region rarely visited by typhoons. It unleashed more than a month's worth of rainfall in 12 hours, sending walls of water gushing into homes.

Many of the dead were women and children who drowned in their beds. Others scrambled to climb roofs to escape the overflowing rivers and muddy waters that carried dangerous debris and logs from nearby mountains. The logs were still floating off the coast.

President Benigno Aquino III, who banned logging in February following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused partly by deforestation and soil erosion, has ordered an investigation.

Communist guerrillas in the south canceled Monday's celebration of their movement's 43rd founding anniversary and instead promised to donate money to flood victims and punish multinational companies they accuse of environmental destruction.

Rebel spokesman Jorge Madlos told The Associated Press by telephone that they sought funds for victims from huge pineapple and banana plantations and other companies.

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"Some were lukewarm to our call," Madlos said. "That'll be a factor when we decide which ones to punish first for this destruction."

Another factor in the staggering death toll was illegal settlements along Cagayan rivers. Thousands of people lived in shanties on the banks and islands directly along the water's path.

In the evacuation centers, where about a third of the displaced are children, aid workers were providing food, clothes, blankets, bottled water and hygiene kits.

A lack of running water was still a major concern. Many shelters had poor sanitation with open drainage and defecation sites, said Ariel Balofinos, Mindanao manager for Save the Children aid agency.

"Children in particular are susceptible to health threats because immune systems are weak," he said, adding that many youngsters were also traumatized.

"Many children have witnessed friends and family dying. We've come across children who have been orphaned, but the good thing is they have relatives, which is part of the Filipino coping mechanism," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45788662/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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