VIENNA (AP) ? Austrian painter Otto Muehl, whose radical notions of art were only exceeded by the excesses in his lifestyle, has died. He was 87.
Muehl died Sunday in Portugal, according to Daniele Roussel, the head of his archived works. In his statement Monday, Roussel did not provide the cause of death.
Muehl was a co-founder of the Vienna Actionism, a controversial art movement in the 1960s, and his works shocked audiences with their use of blood, excrement and the human body as materials.
He was convicted in 1991 of crimes including illicit drug use and sex with minors while heading a commune. He was imprisoned for nearly seven years.
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.?s sale of Allstream not only eliminates legacy exposure and reduces pension risk, but it relieves concerns about the stability of the company?s dividend and opens the door for an acquisition of its incumbent division.
Investors seemed pleased with the announcement that MTS is selling Allstream to private equity group Accelero Capital Holdings for $405-million in cash, sending the stock up more than 5% on Friday.
Much of the cash is earmarked to reduce pension solvency deficits, leaving $165-million currently unallocated, according to Dvai Ghose, analyst at Canaccord Genuity. He expects most of that will be used to finance spectrum purchases, leaving little for share buybacks or debt repayments.
?Allstream seems to face many of the legacy challenges of an incumbent, including revenue pressure, a highly unionized workforce and pension solvency deficits, without any of the obvious positives such as economies of scale, pricing power, high margins and strong cash flow,? Mr. Ghose told clients,? raising his rating on MTS to hold from sell. ?Consequently, we can understand why MTS investors would celebrate the sale of Allstream.?
With $240 million of the expected sale proceeds earmarked for pension solvency payments, MTS? pension solvency deficit will decline to around $400 million from approximately $630 million at the end of 2012.
The analyst also noted that MTS gets to keep Allstream?s tax losses, which carry an estimated net present value of $290-million, likely extending the company?s cash tax holiday beyond a previous assumption of 2019.
?The deal looks very free cash flow accretive and we are no longer concerned about dividend sustainability over the medium term,? Mr. Ghose said, raising his free cash flow forecast for 2014, primarily due to the elimination of pension solvency funding requirements.
The analyst believes both BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. could generate significant synergies by acquiring MTS, but noted there are a limited number of buyers if the asset is put up for sale.
Mr. Ghose noted that unlike at Allstream, any potential buyers of the incumbent division must be Canadian controlled due to the MTS? broadcast distribution licence and IPTV business, which he considers an integral part of the company.
Second, the analyst pointed out that Rogers Communications Inc. would unlikely be given regulatory approval to buy MTS as together, they would account for 85% of wireless market share in Manitoba as of the end of 2011.
As for Shaw Communications Inc., he doesn?t think it would be allowed to buy the business either since Shaw is the primary cable company in Manitoba and MTS is the incumbent telecom company.
Mr. Ghose doesn?t see Telus wanting to see its growth and wireless exposure diluted by MTS? incumbent operations. However, he thinks the reasons for BCE to acquire MTS are more obvious.
?BCE has shown that it can drive strong cash flows from legacy assets through cost-cutting and synergies,? the analyst said. ?Consequently, while Telus could bid against BCE for MTS? incumbent operations if they were for sale, we assume that Telus would only bid to keep BCE honest and so would bid to lose.?
Desjardins Securities analyst Maher Yaghi thinks the deal increases the odds of an eventual sale to another telco incumbent. However, he sees the most investment rationale for Telus to acquire MTS given its lower debt versus both BCE or Bell Aliant Inc.
Mr. Yaghi told clients Telus could therefore get more accretion from the use of higher debt. He also noted that the company has more intimate knowledge of competing with Shaw in western Canada.
Telus also has a lower level of wireline assets in its consolidated results versus BCE and Bell Aliant, so it may be more willing to acquire wireline assets, even though they generally exhibit lower growth trends than wireless assets.
?In addition, BCE is currently in the midst of increasing its wireless competitiveness in the Manitoba market, with improved network and handset offers,? Mr. Yaghi said. ?Hence, we believe MTS?s wireless business could be the focus of increased competitive offers if BCE and Telus were looking to acquire the company in order to take market share away from MTS before a bid is made.?
Andrew Calder, a credit analyst at RBC Capital Markets, also believes the odds of a takeout are higher now that MTS is set to be a pure telecom play.
However, he finds it difficult to see which of Bell or Telus would see greater value in MTS.
?On one hand, Telus has the most balance sheet capacity, but buying MTS would allow BCE to accelerate its Western wireless growth strategy,? Mr. Calder said in a research note.
(Reuters) - For Major League Soccer's Robbie Rogers, breaking another barrier for gay athletes by becoming the first openly gay male to compete in a major U.S. professional team sport marked the latest step in his long journey.
The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was greeted by cheers from a crowd of nearly 25,000 in Carson, California, when he entered Sunday's game as a substitute in the 77th minute with his team leading the visiting Seattle Sounders 4-0.
"Earlier today I was really nervous," Rogers said after the hallmark moment, which came a day after he was introduced as the Galaxy's newest member. "OK, this is a soccer game. I've done this a million times. But then obviously I know, I'm not naive, I know people are watching.
"It was really perfect," added Rogers. "We won, which is most important. My family was here, my friends. My grandparents.
"I've kind of been on this huge journey trying to figure out my life. And now I'm back here. I think I'm kind of where I'm supposed to be."
The 26-year-old Rogers, who was on the U.S. team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, joined the Galaxy less than a month after National Basketball Association veteran Jason Collins became the first active athlete from the major U.S. men's pro sports leagues to come out publicly as gay.
Collins, however, is a free agent and has not played since his announcement after the 2012-13 NBA regular season, leaving it up Rogers to make the on-field breakthrough.
"I won't ever forget tonight! I love my new home," Californian Rogers said on Twitter after Sunday's game.
In February, after parting with second-tier English team Leeds, Rogers posted an emotional letter on his blog page in which he revealed he was gay. He wrote about the emotional toll of keeping his sexual orientation secret and said he would "step away" from soccer.
But Rogers, who had only five touches after being sent in to play, felt no pressure competing professionally for the first time since December, when he played for Stevenage of England's third-tier league while on loan from Leeds.
"No pressure at all," he said, "I got to totally enjoy myself and take it all in."
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said coming back after five months away would test Rogers' commitment to return to his top form.
"In a lot of ways the easy part is over," Arena told reporters. "Now the difficult part remains, which is getting him positioned to play.
"Hopefully, he'll get back to the way we think he can be."
Galaxy team mate Landon Donovan said getting back to the business of soccer was what mattered to Rogers.
"Now, hopefully, the hype about it is over and he can get back to being a soccer player, which is what he wants to do," said Donovan.
The indelible moment of taking his position and breaking another barrier for the gay athlete brought a big smile from Rogers and held special meaning for many.
"Many years from now most people won't remember the score of this game. But they'll remember when he stepped on the field," former Galaxy executive Alexi Lalas, now an ESPN soccer analyst, told the Los Angeles Times.
"That's cool. That's important."
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)
Increase in unintentional marijuana ingestion among children following new drug laws in ColoradoPublic release date: 27-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Elizabeth Whitehead Elizabeth.Whitehead@childrenscolorado.org 720-777-6388 The JAMA Network Journals
Following modification of drug enforcement laws for possession of marijuana in Colorado, there was an apparent increase in unintentional marijuana ingestions by young children, according to a report and accompanying editorials published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.
Several states and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws to decriminalize medical marijuana and two states, Colorado and Washington, have passed amendments to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. In late 2009, the Justice Department issued a policy instructing federal prosecutors not to seek arrest of medical marijuana users and suppliers, if they were complying by state laws. According to background information in the study, tetrahydrocannabinol, the active chemical in marijuana, is incorporated into medical marijuana products in higher concentrations. "In addition, medical marijuana is sold in baked goods, soft drinks, and candies," the authors note.
George Sam Wang, M.D, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, Denver, and colleagues compared the proportion of marijuana ingestions by young children who sought care in a children's hospital emergency department before and after the modification of drug enforcement laws in October 2009 regarding medical marijuana possession. A total of 1,378 patients younger than 12 years of age were evaluated for unintentional ingestions: 790 patients before September 30, 2009 and 588 patients after October 1, 2009.
"The proportion of ingestion visits in patients younger than 12 years (age range 8 months to 12 years) that were related to marijuana exposure increased after September 30, 2009, from 0 of 790 to 14 of 588," the authors report. "Eight of the 14 cases involved medical marijuana, and 7 of these exposures came from food products." The authors note most of the children were male and were admitted to or observed in the emergency department. "Because of a perceived stigma associated with medical marijuana, families may be reluctant to report its use to health care providers. Similar to many accidental medicinal pediatric exposures, the source of the marijuana in most cases was the grandparents who may not have been available during data collection."
"Physicians, especially in states that have decriminalized medical marijuana, need to be cognizant of the potential for marijuana exposures and be familiar with the symptoms of marijuana ingestion. This unintended outcome may suggest a role for public health interventions in this emerging industry, such as child-resistant containers and warning labels for medical marijuana," the authors conclude.
###
(JAMA Pediatr. Published online May 27, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.140. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editorial: Effects of Marijuana Policy on Children and Adolescents
In an accompanying editorial, Sharon Levy, M.D., M.P.H., from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, writes that "the finding reignites the debate over whether and how legalized marijuana impacts children and adolescents."
Dr. Levy reports that nationwide rates of adolescent marijuana use are climbing rapidly. "The skyrocketing rates of adolescent marijuana use indicate that we are losing an important public health battle and we have a lot of work to do if we want to reverse these trends. Physicians have a key role to play in educating our young patients and their families about the health consequences of marijuana use regardless of its legal status."
(JAMA Pediatr. Published online May 27, 2013. doi:10.100/jamapediatrics.2013.2270. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com).
Editorial: Anticipated Medical Effects on Children: A Poison Center Perspective
"The legalization of recreational marijuana, especially the solid and liquid-infused forms permitted in Washington, will provide children greater access to cookies, candies, brownies, and beverages that contain marijuana," write William Hurley, M.D., from the University of Washington and Washington Poison Center and Suzan Mazor, M.D., from Seattle Children's Hospital.
"Ingestion of marijuana results in the absorption of delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) and stimulation of cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system. This produces stimulation with hallucinations and illusions followed by sedation," the authors state. The authors recommend additional training for emergency medicine, pediatric emergency medicine and primary care pediatric physicians to recognize and manage these toxic reactions.
"Methods to prevent accidental exposures to marijuana need to be studied for efficacy and progressively developed. Parents and providers should be encouraged to call the Poison Center for data collection, information, education, and management advice," the authors conclude.
(JAMA Pediatr. Published online May 27, 2013. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.2273. Available to the media pre-embargo at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: Please see articles for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Increase in unintentional marijuana ingestion among children following new drug laws in ColoradoPublic release date: 27-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Elizabeth Whitehead Elizabeth.Whitehead@childrenscolorado.org 720-777-6388 The JAMA Network Journals
Following modification of drug enforcement laws for possession of marijuana in Colorado, there was an apparent increase in unintentional marijuana ingestions by young children, according to a report and accompanying editorials published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.
Several states and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws to decriminalize medical marijuana and two states, Colorado and Washington, have passed amendments to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. In late 2009, the Justice Department issued a policy instructing federal prosecutors not to seek arrest of medical marijuana users and suppliers, if they were complying by state laws. According to background information in the study, tetrahydrocannabinol, the active chemical in marijuana, is incorporated into medical marijuana products in higher concentrations. "In addition, medical marijuana is sold in baked goods, soft drinks, and candies," the authors note.
George Sam Wang, M.D, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, Denver, and colleagues compared the proportion of marijuana ingestions by young children who sought care in a children's hospital emergency department before and after the modification of drug enforcement laws in October 2009 regarding medical marijuana possession. A total of 1,378 patients younger than 12 years of age were evaluated for unintentional ingestions: 790 patients before September 30, 2009 and 588 patients after October 1, 2009.
"The proportion of ingestion visits in patients younger than 12 years (age range 8 months to 12 years) that were related to marijuana exposure increased after September 30, 2009, from 0 of 790 to 14 of 588," the authors report. "Eight of the 14 cases involved medical marijuana, and 7 of these exposures came from food products." The authors note most of the children were male and were admitted to or observed in the emergency department. "Because of a perceived stigma associated with medical marijuana, families may be reluctant to report its use to health care providers. Similar to many accidental medicinal pediatric exposures, the source of the marijuana in most cases was the grandparents who may not have been available during data collection."
"Physicians, especially in states that have decriminalized medical marijuana, need to be cognizant of the potential for marijuana exposures and be familiar with the symptoms of marijuana ingestion. This unintended outcome may suggest a role for public health interventions in this emerging industry, such as child-resistant containers and warning labels for medical marijuana," the authors conclude.
###
(JAMA Pediatr. Published online May 27, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.140. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editorial: Effects of Marijuana Policy on Children and Adolescents
In an accompanying editorial, Sharon Levy, M.D., M.P.H., from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, writes that "the finding reignites the debate over whether and how legalized marijuana impacts children and adolescents."
Dr. Levy reports that nationwide rates of adolescent marijuana use are climbing rapidly. "The skyrocketing rates of adolescent marijuana use indicate that we are losing an important public health battle and we have a lot of work to do if we want to reverse these trends. Physicians have a key role to play in educating our young patients and their families about the health consequences of marijuana use regardless of its legal status."
(JAMA Pediatr. Published online May 27, 2013. doi:10.100/jamapediatrics.2013.2270. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com).
Editorial: Anticipated Medical Effects on Children: A Poison Center Perspective
"The legalization of recreational marijuana, especially the solid and liquid-infused forms permitted in Washington, will provide children greater access to cookies, candies, brownies, and beverages that contain marijuana," write William Hurley, M.D., from the University of Washington and Washington Poison Center and Suzan Mazor, M.D., from Seattle Children's Hospital.
"Ingestion of marijuana results in the absorption of delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) and stimulation of cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system. This produces stimulation with hallucinations and illusions followed by sedation," the authors state. The authors recommend additional training for emergency medicine, pediatric emergency medicine and primary care pediatric physicians to recognize and manage these toxic reactions.
"Methods to prevent accidental exposures to marijuana need to be studied for efficacy and progressively developed. Parents and providers should be encouraged to call the Poison Center for data collection, information, education, and management advice," the authors conclude.
(JAMA Pediatr. Published online May 27, 2013. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.2273. Available to the media pre-embargo at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: Please see articles for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, singer Elton John and actor Hilary Swank joined thousands of costumed revelers on Saturday at Europe's biggest AIDS charity event, Vienna's Life Ball.
Dressed in skimpy costumes for the ball's 1,001 Nights theme, or simply in extravagant drag, party-goers braved unseasonally chilly temperatures of 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit) for the outdoor party.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, addressing the gathering in a video message, urged the world not to let up in the fight against AIDS, which has killed 30 million people since the auto-immune disease was first recognized at the start of the 1980s.
"A generation free of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is now in sight," he told the crowd in the gardens of Vienna's City Hall. "But unless we intensify our response, a million children could get HIV by 2015."
The annual ball, now in its 21st year, has grown from a small gay-community event to a society fixture, attracting celebrity guests from around the world.
Highlights included a Scheherazade-themed ballet, a fashion show by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli and a performance by singer Adam Lambert.
Those guests wearing costumes judged by the organizers' "style police" to be exceptional could win half-price admission to the Vienna ball, for which tickets cost up to 3,000 euros.
The event raised over 2 million euros ($2.6 million) last year, much of it donated to the Clinton Health Access Initiative to reduce HIV infection among babies in Africa.
Africa accounts for more than two-thirds of the world's cases of HIV, with 1.8 million new HIV infections and 1.2 million people dying of AIDS-related illnesses in 2011, according to the United Nations.
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Andrew Roche)
Jerry Andrew Active attempts to shield his face during his arraignment on charges of murder and sexual assault of a minor in the Anchorage jail court on Sunday, May 26, 2013. Active was arrested about a block from an apartment where the bodies of 71-year-old Sorn Sreap and 73-year-old Touch Chea were found Saturday night by their granddaughter, who had returned from a trip to a movie with her husband and 4-year-old son. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth)
Jerry Andrew Active attempts to shield his face during his arraignment on charges of murder and sexual assault of a minor in the Anchorage jail court on Sunday, May 26, 2013. Active was arrested about a block from an apartment where the bodies of 71-year-old Sorn Sreap and 73-year-old Touch Chea were found Saturday night by their granddaughter, who had returned from a trip to a movie with her husband and 4-year-old son. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth)
An officer in the Anchorage jail court removes the paperwork that Jerry Andrew Active was using to shield his face during his arraigned on charges of murder and sexual assault of a minor on Sunday, May 26, 2013 in Anchorage, Alaska. Active was arrested about a block from an apartment where the bodies of 71-year-old Sorn Sreap and 73-year-old Touch Chea were found Saturday night by their granddaughter, who had returned from a trip to a movie with her husband and 4-year-old son. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? A 24-year-old man has been charged with beating an Alaska man and his wife to death and sexually assaulting their 2-year-old great-granddaughter.
Jerry Andrew Active was arrested Saturday night as he fled the east Anchorage homicide scene dressed only in boxer shorts and socks. He is charged with first and second-degree murder, sexual assault and burglary in the deaths of Touch Chea, 71, and his wife, Sorn Sreap, 73. Police said Sreap and the toddler were raped.
Police Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz said Sunday that nothing has indicated the victims were connected to the suspect before they died.
"It doesn't appear that he knew them," he said. "It looks like a totally random act."
Both Chea and Sreap suffered significant blunt force object injuries. Department spokeswoman Anita Shell said on-scene investigators were affected by the brutality and the ages of the victims.
"They said this was the worst thing they had ever seen in their lives, and these are seasoned detectives," Shell said.
The victims were part of an extended family that lived in a ground-floor, east Anchorage apartment with their granddaughter and her husband, who are the parents of the toddler and her 4-year-old brother. The younger couple's 90-year-old great-grandmother also lives in the apartment and was at home during the incident.
Police said the younger couple, who are in their 20s, went to a movie Saturday night with their son and left the 2-year-old in the care of Chea and Sreap.
The parents of the child and their son returned shortly before 8 p.m. and found the door locked from the inside.
They told police they forced their way in through a window and discovered the bodies of Chea and Sreap.
A man in his 20s, they said, was naked in a bedroom with their daughter.
The woman called 911and police dispatchers heard screaming over the phone. The woman reported a man had broken into her home and killed her grandmother, Sreap. The woman described the man as naked with several tattoos.
The woman, who is pregnant, and her husband tried to keep the suspect from leaving and a struggle began, Markiewicz said. The suspect, by then wearing boxer shorts, was able to get away after a few minutes of fighting, Markiewicz said.
Officers found Active about a block away.
"He did offer some resistance but he was arrested," Markiewicz said.
The suspect apparently entered the apartment through a window, Markiewicz said.
Active refused to give his name and he was not identified until Sunday. He was arraigned at the Anchorage Jail.
Markiewicz said the case is unusual.
"It's certainly very rare to see this kind of violence ? a complete stranger, sexually assaulting and murdering someone," he said.
The bodies of Sreap and Chea were taken to the state medical examiner's office for autopsies.
Names of the toddler and her parents were withheld.
I never saw my father in uniform. For me, growing up in the suburbs outside Washington, D.C., Dad was a civilian, a government employee who worked for NASA. Each morning he would put on a suit and tie, have some breakfast, and leave for the office. Each night he would come through the door, take off his jacket, loosen his tie, and join us for dinner. He did this for 20 years.
And yet for more than two decades before I was born, Dad put on a uniform and left the house, not for a few hours, but sometimes for a few years. During the Great Depression, he and his brothers helped his father earn a living by building stone walls throughout the city. On the side, he played shortstop for a local, semi-pro baseball team. But then Uncle Sam came calling and, like so many others across the country, Dad responded to the call and served his country, first in World War II, later in Korea and in the Cold War.
My brothers and sisters all knew him as a United States Army officer, but by the time I came along, the uniform had been put away for good. All I had were old photos and the stories that came with them. Some tales he was delighted to relate, and did so on more than one occasion. I heard about that great day when he and the other liberators marched into Paris. And that even greater day in Paris some time later, when he was enjoying some long-awaited R&R with two buddies at a caf? in front of the Grand Hotel, only to hear an announcement come over the loud speakers that Hitler's forces had surrendered and the European part of the war was over. Within minutes of the broadcast, he said, you could walk across the Champs Elysees on heads and shoulders, so great was the number of revelers on the street.
There were other stories he was less inclined to share, as when he saw his good friend, his best man, shot before his eyes. Or when he entered a concentration camp at the end of the war and saw firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust. Looking into the eyes of those emaciated persons before him, he saw no hope, nothing. They were, he said, the walking dead. And then there were the stories he never shared, not with anyone. But my mother saw the results, as she would awake again and again to him screaming in his sleep, reliving nightmarish memories.
Yet through it all, my father never lost his bright smile or good humor, his faith in God or his love for his family. Like so many others who put on the uniform, he was just an ordinary person who had to face extraordinary challenges -- and rose to the occasion. Dad died three years ago at the age of 95, one more member of that "greatest generation" no longer with us. Shortly before he left, I presented him with a photograph of a brick with his name and rank on it, a brick laid down at the entrance of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. In light of all he had done, mine was a paltry gift, but it still felt good to do it.
Now, as I approach another Memorial Day, I cannot help but think of that soldier I never saw in uniform. The closest I came was on Saturday mornings when we would venture into the city, to the commissary at Fort McNair, for our weekly grocery run. Each time, the guard at the front gate of the base would take note of the colonel's decal on our car, and suddenly stand at attention and salute my father. And I would see my father's shoulders straighten, and his arm stiffen, as he returned the salute. And if I looked carefully enough, I could see the uniform that he never truly took off.
This Memorial Day, I give thanks to God for my father, and all those in this country who have worn a uniform and worn it well. "O God, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Amen."
The Rev. Dr. C. K. Robertson is Canon to Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.