Fear becoming a 'bag lady' someday? Many others do, too

By Amy Langfield, TODAY contributor

If you spend time worrying that you'll end up on the street in your old age with your belongings stuffed into plastic bags in a shopping cart, you have good company.

A new survey shows that almost half of American women fear they will become "bag ladies" some day, and the anxiety ripples across all income groups.

Even among women with household earnings above $200,000, 27 percent harbor the bag-lady fear, according to a new online survey?issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

While Allianz is promoting the survey to encourage women to seek more financial-planning advice, the underlying concern is valid, according to a labor economist who studies aging and income issues.

Because women typically earn less and have more sporadic work histories, their pensions and benefits are less sturdy, said Barbara Butrica, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute?s Income and Benefits Policy Center. ?They are starting retirement at a disadvantage,? she said.

Women also tend to live longer than men.??So she?ll have to make that income last a lot longer time,? Butrica said.

Among the over-65 set, non-married women have the highest poverty rates. While only 4 percent of married women over 65 fell below the poverty line in 2010, that number rose to?14 percent for widows over 65 and 18 percent for divorced women over 65, Butrica said.

For men over 65 living in poverty, 4 percent were married; 11 percent were widowers and 12 percent were divorced. The gender differences are even more striking, Butrica said, when you consider that in 2010, only 29.5 percent of men age 65 or older were not married, compared with 56.3 percent of women. Those numbers come from the Social Security Administration's 2012 report on ?Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2010.?

But should?even women with very good jobs?fret about being homeless one day?

?It?s highly unlikely. But it could happen,? Butrica said, citing the likelihood that a catastrophic illness is more likely to strike as you get older. ?The fact that these women are thinking about it is a good thing.?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a23671b/l/0Llifeinc0Btoday0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C290C17517960A0Efear0Ebecoming0Ea0Ebag0Elady0Esomeday0Emany0Eothers0Edo0Etoo0Dlite/story01.htm

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Pre-caffeine tech: Internet apocalypse, Easter cute!

Helen A.S. Popkin ? ? ? 3 hrs.

Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning.

Surprise! Facebook sent out an invitation to the media late Thursday afternoon for an April 4 where the company would show off their "new home on Android."

A San Francisco photographer, who discovered his stolen camera on Craigslist, turned Web sleuth, getting back his camera and assisting in the thief's arrest.

Finally! Riders of public transportation in New York and Salt Lake City are the first to get real-time departure info in Google Maps. Washington, D.C. residents will also get a bit of new live transit info.

Take a look at what may be the new face of the next generation of video games -- the face is fake, but the tech is real!

Meanwhile, New York University is aiming to cement its position as a leader in the young field of video game studies by opening a 40,000-square-foot institute called the Media and Games Network in downtown Brooklyn next fall.

Here's what you need to know about the government's fight to unlock your cellphone.

And here's how Spamhaus DDoS attack could have been prevented.

Salon says "Google lost its cool" ... and here's how that happened.

And the Atlantic explains how to freak out, appropriately, about the Internet War Apocalypse

In closing: The cutest Easter photos that every happened! EVER!

Compiled by Helen A.S. Popkin, who invites you to join her on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a2242d8/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cpre0Ecaffeine0Etech0Einternet0Eapocalypse0Eeaster0Ecute0E1C9139938/story01.htm

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2013 Kia Optima SX - A Mom's Review

The post is sponsored by Kia who provided a car for my family to drive for a week?. unfortunately I had to return the car.

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed the sporty, awesome car I was driving a few weeks ago. ?My family had the opportunity to test drive the 2013 Kia Optima SX for a week and we absolutely loved it. ?My son, Jonah, wanted to ride in the ?race car? every time we went somewhere. ?He was probably the saddest one in the family when we had to return it. ?He is still asking when we can go and get the ?race car? again and keep it.

I have never claimed to know a lot about cars. ?My review here is strictly from the point of view of a working mom and the things that are important in a vehicle for my family.

So onto the most important part of a vehicle (in my opinion) the features.

Safety Features	Active Head Restraints Brake Assist Child Seat Anchors (LATCH) Driver and Passenger Seat Airbags Front Fog Lights Hill-start Assistance Rear Center 3-point Belt Rear Door Child Safety Locks Side/Curtain Airbags Stability Control Tire Pressure Monitoring Traction Control?
Interior Features	A/C with Climate Control Auto-dimming Rearview Mirror Auxiliary Audio Input Jack Bluetooth Hands-free Calling Keyless Ignition Leather Upholstery Power Exterior Mirror Control Power Seat(s) Satellite Radio USB / iPod Connection ?
Exterior Features	All-season Tires Alloy Wheels

I absolutely fell in love with the interior of the Optima. ?The front seats were extremely comfortable and the console was positioned to where I could get to everything I needed with ease. The Optima also synced with my iPhone so I could have my own music as well as hands free calling. ?There was a few new features in the Optima that I have never seen before like the heating and cooling seats. ?We have heated seats in one of our vehicles now, but the cooling feature would be great in the summertime (if summer ever comes to Indiana) especially with the dark interior. ?The back seat also has heated seats!

The Optima also has a push button parking break. ?I love this feature. ?In most cars you have to push down a pedal or pull a leaver to put on the parking break. ?Having a push button is so convenient.

My favorite feature was the panoramic sunroof. ?I am used to driving a small SUV and I was a little worried about how closed in I would feel in a sudan. ?To be honest, it felt a little snug until I hit the button to open the sunroof. ?Within seconds the extra large sunroof let in a lot of light and my claustrophobia disappeared in an instant.

Some other features I love:

• Navigation System? I would have gotten lost when I went to IKEA without it!
• The rear view camera.
• Sound System was fantastic and had a great sound.
• All of the ports in the car for our USB devices.
• The steering wheel? I loved how the polished wood felt and the easy access to volume control, cruise control and the Bluetooth system.

I decided to take the Optima on a trip to Cincinnati to visit the closest IKEA. ?My two little ones came with me. ?Installing their car seats in the backseat was a breeze (I had my husband do it). ?With the LATCH system it took a matter of moments. ?They fit without any problems. ?The only thing that I didn?t like was that my infant seat couldn?t click down and latch until after I started the car and the front seat moved up. ?If you have an infant seat that is large like mine I suggest moving it to the passenger side of the car for this reason. ?There was plenty of room for both carseats and a person in-between if they didn?t mind it being tight. ?My mother in law actually had to get back there to feed Caroline on our trip. ?I like that the two kids weren?t right on top of each other.

The trunk space was amazing for a sedan. ?I could fit a stroller and all of my purchases in the back end without any problems. ?I got a rug and several other items at IKEA and had extra space after loading them into the trunk.

Look at all this trunk space. I didn?t have any problem loading in all of my shopping stuff!

Overall? the 2013 Kia Optima SX is a very sleek, sporty mommy vehicle that is perfect for a small family. ?The features are amazing and plentiful and make this mommy feel extremely spoiled. ?I felt that the ride was smooth and it had a lot of power. ?At times I needed to use the cruise control because I didn?t realize how fast I was actually going. ?I love that it tells you how many miles you have left before you need to fill up, and the gas mileage is great (about 25 in city and 30 highway).

This 2013 Kia Optima SX has a MSRP of $35,275 will all of these options.

Visit ?Kia to learn more about the?Optima?and all it has to offer. ?You can also find them on?Facebook?and?twitter!

A huge thank you to Kia who provided our family with this amazing car to drive for a week. ?All opinions are 100% mine!

Source: http://amomsimpression.com/2013/03/29/2013-kia-optima-sx/

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Buster Posey gets $167M, 9-year deal from Giants

San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey removes his cap during batting practice before an exhibition spring training baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey removes his cap during batting practice before an exhibition spring training baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey (28) swings for an RBI single off Oakland Athletics' Tommy Milone in the third inning of an exhibition spring training baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Buster Posey is the San Francisco Giants' new franchise man.

The Giants rewarded the NL MVP and batting champion catcher with a $167 million, nine-year contract Friday, a deal that includes a club option for 2022 that could raise the value to $186 million over a decade.

Posey had been due to make $8 million this year. He instead gets a $7 million signing bonus, with $5 million payable Oct. 15 and the remainder Jan. 15, and his 2013 salary is reduced to $3 million.

He will make $10.5 million in 2014, $16.5 million in 2015, $20 million in 2016 and $21.4 million in each of the following five seasons. The Giants' option is for $22 million with a $3 million buyout.

Posey's agreement includes a full no-trade clause. Is the longest for a catcher and the largest in Giants history, surpassing Matt Cain's $127.5 million, six-year contract signed before the start of last season.

In addition, the deal is a record guarantee for a player with fewer than three years of major league service time ? more than doubling the $80 million, seven-year contract Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez received before the 2011 season. It also is a record guarantee for a player with fewer than four years of service time, topping the $151.45 million over 11 years Colorado's Todd Helton was assured in March 2001.

The Giants captured their second championship in three years behind the play of the All-Star, who won the NL batting title and MVP award after missing most of 2011 following season-ending left leg and ankle injury.

Posey batted .336 with 24 homers and 103 RBIs while playing 148 games for the NL West champions, including 111 starts at catcher and 29 at first base. During the Giants' 2010 and '12 championship runs, Posey has hit a combined .244 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Two of those homers and five RBIs came in last year's NL division series against the Reds, when San Francisco became the first team in big league history to rally from a 2-0 deficit to win a five-game series with three straight road victories.

On May 25, 2011, Posey tore three ligaments in his left ankle and broke a bone in his lower leg in a devastating collision at the plate with Scott Cousins, then with the Marlins.

Posey received his nice payday two days after turning 26. He will donate $50,000 per year to Giants charities.

Posey could wind up playing his entire career in the Bay Area ? and the Giants certainly hope that will be the case. The club posted a photo on its Twitter account Friday of Posey, CEO Larry Baer, general manager Brian Sabean, vice president and assistant general manager Bobby Evans and manager Bruce Bochy ? with the hashtag "SFG4Life."

The 2010 NL Rookie of the Year is represented by the same agency that negotiated Cain's deal last year, and both sides were eager to do something again this year to lock Posey up for the long-term.

"We're extremely pleased to reach an agreement that keeps Buster in a Giants uniform for a long time," agent Jeff Berry of CAA Baseball said. "Buster and the Giants have brought each other mutual success, and this contract reflects Buster's extraordinary accomplishments in just three years in the Major Leagues."

The contract includes the following bonuses: $100,000 for NL MVP, $100,000 for World Series MVP, $75,000 for NL championship series MVP, $50,000 for a Gold Glove, $50,000 for All-Star Game election, $25,000 for All-Star selection and $50,000 for a Silver Slugger.

In 2010, Posey wasn't even called up from Triple-A Fresno until late May but still batted .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 108 games to help the Giants capture their first NL West crown since 2003.

San Francisco gave him $6.2 million when he signed in August 2008 as the fifth overall pick out of Florida State, the richest deal for an amateur joining the Giants.

___

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-29-BBN-Giants-Posey/id-db531ea22dc643a788c5c304300adab8

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Rice's Laura Segatori wins NSF CAREER Award

Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jade Boyd
jadeboyd@rice.edu
713-348-6778
Rice University

Engineering researcher creating new tools to study Parkinson's disease

HOUSTON -- (March 28, 2013) -- Some human cells forget to empty their trash bins, and when the garbage piles up, it can lead to Parkinson's disease and other genetic and age-related disorders. Scientists don't yet understand why this happens, and Rice University engineering researcher Laura Segatori is hoping to change that, thanks to a prestigious five-year CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

CAREER Awards support the research and educational development of young scholars that the NSF expects to become leaders in their field. The grants are usually worth about $400,000 and are among the most competitive awards from NSF, which awards only about 400 each year across all disciplines.

Segatori, Rice's T.N. Law Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and assistant professor of bioengineering and of biochemistry and cell biology, will use her CAREER grant to create a toolkit for probing the workings of the cellular processes that lead to accumulation of waste material and development of diseases, such as Parkinson's and lysosomal storage disorders. Each tool in the kit will be a nanoparticle -- a speck of matter about the size of a virus -- with a specific shape, size and charge. By tailoring each of these properties, Segatori's team will create a series of specialized probes that can undercover the workings of a cellular process called autophagy.

"We've done a lot of studies on the biology of this process, and we work with some people at Baylor College of Medicine who are experts in this area and who have animal models of these diseases," Segatori said. "What we are asking now is, What are the design rules to make nanoparticles that will activate this pathway?"

Autophagy is the main process by which damaged or toxic materials are broken down within cells. First, the cell recognizes that something is trash and earmarks it for disposal by bagging it in a thin sac, or membrane. These bags of trash are called "autophagosomes," and in the second step of the process, an organelle called the "lysosome" collects the bags and empties their contents into a chamber, where they are broken down and recycled.

"In some diseases, autophagosomes form to compartmentalize the material, but they are never cleared by the lysosomes, so the autophagosomes accumulate," Segatori said. "In Parkinson's, for instance, neuronal cells simply cannot keep up with the amount of autophagosomes that contain the misfolded amyloid proteins associated with the disease.

"But we also know that some nanoparticles can inactivate the lysosome function because of the charge on their surface," she said. "For instance, studies have shown that autophagosomes form to compartmentalize gold nanoparticles. At first glance, it might appear that autophagy is taking place because one can observe many autophagosomes in the cell. But in reality, the autophagosomes containing the nanoparticles are never cleared out by the lysosome. So they accumulate in much the same way that the amyloids accumulate in Parkinson's."

In previous research, Segatori studied a protein that acts as a trigger for both halves of the autophagic process. The protein -- transcription factor EB (TFEB) -- must be present for trash to be both collected and degraded via autophagy. Segatori and her team also found that TFEB plays an important role in rescuing misfolding and aggregation proteins. In the CAREER research program, Segatori will examine how cells respond to more than a dozen nanoparticles. By gauging the cell's autophagic reaction to particles of specific size and charge, she hopes to identify other key proteins like TFEB and also learn how to regulate them.

"The idea, essentially, is to figure out the design 'rules' that we must follow to make nanoparticles that enhance this clearance machinery," she said. "We want to understand the characteristics of a nanoparticle that might activate part of the process but then impair it somewhere along the line, such as gold nanoparticles do.

"Eventually, once we understand how to design a nanoparticle to activate autophagy, we will use it as a tool to learn more about the autophagic process itself because there are still many question marks in biology regarding how this pathway works," Segatori said. "It's not completely clear how it is regulated. It seems that excessive autophagy may activate cell death, but it's not yet clear. In short, we are looking for more than therapeutic applications. We are also hoping to use these nanoparticles as tools to study the basic science of autophagy."

###

High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at: http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/0328-CAREER-Segatori-lg.jpg.

CAPTION: Laura Segatori

CREDIT: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

A copy of the NSF grant abstract is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1254318.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jade Boyd
jadeboyd@rice.edu
713-348-6778
Rice University

Engineering researcher creating new tools to study Parkinson's disease

HOUSTON -- (March 28, 2013) -- Some human cells forget to empty their trash bins, and when the garbage piles up, it can lead to Parkinson's disease and other genetic and age-related disorders. Scientists don't yet understand why this happens, and Rice University engineering researcher Laura Segatori is hoping to change that, thanks to a prestigious five-year CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

CAREER Awards support the research and educational development of young scholars that the NSF expects to become leaders in their field. The grants are usually worth about $400,000 and are among the most competitive awards from NSF, which awards only about 400 each year across all disciplines.

Segatori, Rice's T.N. Law Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and assistant professor of bioengineering and of biochemistry and cell biology, will use her CAREER grant to create a toolkit for probing the workings of the cellular processes that lead to accumulation of waste material and development of diseases, such as Parkinson's and lysosomal storage disorders. Each tool in the kit will be a nanoparticle -- a speck of matter about the size of a virus -- with a specific shape, size and charge. By tailoring each of these properties, Segatori's team will create a series of specialized probes that can undercover the workings of a cellular process called autophagy.

"We've done a lot of studies on the biology of this process, and we work with some people at Baylor College of Medicine who are experts in this area and who have animal models of these diseases," Segatori said. "What we are asking now is, What are the design rules to make nanoparticles that will activate this pathway?"

Autophagy is the main process by which damaged or toxic materials are broken down within cells. First, the cell recognizes that something is trash and earmarks it for disposal by bagging it in a thin sac, or membrane. These bags of trash are called "autophagosomes," and in the second step of the process, an organelle called the "lysosome" collects the bags and empties their contents into a chamber, where they are broken down and recycled.

"In some diseases, autophagosomes form to compartmentalize the material, but they are never cleared by the lysosomes, so the autophagosomes accumulate," Segatori said. "In Parkinson's, for instance, neuronal cells simply cannot keep up with the amount of autophagosomes that contain the misfolded amyloid proteins associated with the disease.

"But we also know that some nanoparticles can inactivate the lysosome function because of the charge on their surface," she said. "For instance, studies have shown that autophagosomes form to compartmentalize gold nanoparticles. At first glance, it might appear that autophagy is taking place because one can observe many autophagosomes in the cell. But in reality, the autophagosomes containing the nanoparticles are never cleared out by the lysosome. So they accumulate in much the same way that the amyloids accumulate in Parkinson's."

In previous research, Segatori studied a protein that acts as a trigger for both halves of the autophagic process. The protein -- transcription factor EB (TFEB) -- must be present for trash to be both collected and degraded via autophagy. Segatori and her team also found that TFEB plays an important role in rescuing misfolding and aggregation proteins. In the CAREER research program, Segatori will examine how cells respond to more than a dozen nanoparticles. By gauging the cell's autophagic reaction to particles of specific size and charge, she hopes to identify other key proteins like TFEB and also learn how to regulate them.

"The idea, essentially, is to figure out the design 'rules' that we must follow to make nanoparticles that enhance this clearance machinery," she said. "We want to understand the characteristics of a nanoparticle that might activate part of the process but then impair it somewhere along the line, such as gold nanoparticles do.

"Eventually, once we understand how to design a nanoparticle to activate autophagy, we will use it as a tool to learn more about the autophagic process itself because there are still many question marks in biology regarding how this pathway works," Segatori said. "It's not completely clear how it is regulated. It seems that excessive autophagy may activate cell death, but it's not yet clear. In short, we are looking for more than therapeutic applications. We are also hoping to use these nanoparticles as tools to study the basic science of autophagy."

###

High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at: http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/0328-CAREER-Segatori-lg.jpg.

CAPTION: Laura Segatori

CREDIT: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

A copy of the NSF grant abstract is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1254318.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/ru-rls032813.php

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Assange legal shakeup: Prosecutor walks, Supreme Court judge to ...

The lead Swedish prosecutor pursuing sexual assault charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer handling the case, media reports revealed. Her departure comes as a top Swedish judge is set to speak publicly on the ?Assange affair.?

Recent court documents have revealed that starting Wednesday, high-profile Swedish prosecutor Marianne Nye will no longer be at the helm of the case against Assange, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Nye will be replaced by her far less experienced colleague Ingrid Isgren; the reasons for her departure have not been disclosed.

However, according to a Swedish newspaper report, Nye "has not quit the Assange case formally rather that there is a new 'investigator,'" WikiLeaks tweeted on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Anna Ardin, one of two women who accused Julian Assange of sex crimes, also moved to fire her controversial lawyer Claes Borgstrom late last month after she lost faith in his ability to represent her. ?

Ardin charged that Borgstrom was more interested in being in the media spotlight than providing her legal counsel, and has often referred her inquiries to his secretary or assistant. The court has approved Ardin?s new lawyer, Elisabeth Massi Fritz, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Borgstrom reportedly supported his former client?s decision, saying that "in cases concerning sexual offenses, it is particularly important that the plaintiff has confidence in the lawyer representing her," Swedish tabloid Expressen quoted him as saying.

News of the legal shakeup in the Assange case comes less than a week before Swedish Supreme Court judge Stefan Lindskog?s lecture at the University of Adelaide on the ?Assange affair, and freedom of speech, from the Swedish perspective."

Assange blasted Justice Lindskog ? who is chair of the Supreme Court of Sweden, the country's highest court of appeal ? for his decision to publicly discuss the case.

"If an Australian High Court judge came out and spoke on a case the court expected or was likely to judge, it would be regarded as absolutely outrageous," he told Fairfax media.

"This development is part of a pattern in which senior Swedish figures including the Swedish Foreign Minister, the Prime Minister and Minister for Justice have all publicly attacked me or WikiLeaks," Assange added.

Upon announcing Lindskog?s upcoming lecture, Adelaide University said that "as one of Sweden's most eminent jurists he is uniquely able to provide an authoritative view of the Assange affair.?

WikiLeaks characterized the judge?s lecture as part of the Swedish government campaign against Assange, following Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt?s recent visit to Australia.

"The head of Swedish Supreme Court campaigning on a case they expect to judge with $ from the embassy in the run up to an election," the group wrote on Twitter.

Assange, who is running in for the Australian Senate in the September 14 federal elections, has previously said that securing a seat in the senate could potentially secure him safe passage out of the UK.

He has been holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since June, after claiming asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault allegations. British authorities have vowed to detain him if he sets foot outside of the embassy, in light of the European Arrest Warrant issued against him.

If handed over to Swedish authorities, Assange fears he will be re-extradited to the United States to be questioned over the WikiLeaks release of thousands of US diplomatic cables. Assange believes that a conviction in a US court could result in the death penalty.

Ecuador has offered to allow the Swedish government to conduct an interview on the embassy?s premises, but the Swedish government has so far refused the offer.

Source: http://rt.com/news/assange-prosecutor-judge-speech-992/

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Investing 101: Anatomy of a Bull Market | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance

This weekend marked the four year anniversary of the 2009 market lows, and it comes just days after the Dow Jones Industrials hit new all-time highs. So it seems fitting to assess this historic move and put it into context.

For this edition of Investing 101, we will grab the bull by the horns, and analyze these most lucrative periods of rising stocks that are typically referred to as bull markets.

What exactly is a bull market?

According to Investopedia, "Bull markets are characterized by optimism, investor confidence and expectations that strong results will continue." It's a term that can be applied to any type of securities trading but, the site says, it is most often used to describe the stock market, and is the metaphoric antonym to the term bear market.

How long do bull markets last?

That depends. According to the Stock Traders Almanac the longest bull market we've had since 1900 lasted 2,836 days and ran from October 1990 to July 1998, wracking up a whopping 295% gain for the Dow Jones Industrials along the way. The Almanac says that the shortest bull market in the past 100 years lasted just 61 days during the summer of 1932 yet still saw the Dow bounce 94%! Those are of course the extremes, but the average bull market of the past century has lasted 755 days and delivered an 85% gain. The current bull run is now four years old and up about 120%, making it significantly above average by both measures.

How do bull markets start and end?

"Bear markets begin at the end of one bull market and end at the start of the next bull market," the Stock Trader Almanac states, implying that a cycle change occurs any time the market retreats 20% or more. While bear markets must eclipse this 20% threshold to exist, bull markets have no such requirement, besides the fact that they reside in between these periods of sharp retreat.

Can there ever be a 'bull within a bear' or vice versa?

In short, yes. These shorter term, more customary bull and bear cyclical moves often happen within a much larger and longer secular trend. In fact, there is a debate amongst professionals right now over whether the four-year rally we are presently in is the start of a new mega-uptrend or just a really nice bounce within a much longer slump that began with the bursting of the dot-com bubble 13 years ago. Josh Brown of the Reformed Broker blog recently pointed that "the last secular bear market, from 1966 to 1982" saw investors reap virtually no gains for 16 years. Of course that preceded an enormous 18 year run-up that saw the S&P 500 topping in March of 2000 at levels it still hasn't meaningfully eclipsed today. Should the S&P 500 breakout to new highs then investors will likely acknowledge that a new secular bull market began in March of 2009. Should it falter from it, then the secular bear crowd will need further proof that our downtrend doesn't have further to go.

How did bull and bear markets get their names?

Investopedia says it "comes from the way the animals attack their opponents. A bull thrusts its horns up into the air while a bear swipes its paws down."

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/investing-101-anatomy-bull-market-121138887.html

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2 years after tsunami, slow progress on cleanup

TOKYO (AP) ? Monday's two-year anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe is highlighting the country's continuing struggle to clean up radiation, rebuild lost communities and determine new energy and economic strategies.

More than 300,000 people remain displaced and virtually no rebuilding has begun along the battered northeastern coast, where the tsunami swept away entire communities.

Memorial services were to be held Monday in Tokyo and in barren towns along the northeastern coast to mark the moment, at 2:46 p.m., when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake ? the strongest recorded in Japan's history ? struck off the coast, unleashing a massive tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people.

In the ravaged small fishing town of Miyako, sirens wailed as residents trundled to higher ground in a disaster drill. In some areas, searches for the 2,676 people still missing in the disaster continued, as workers poked through sand and debris along the coastline.

A thin blanket of snow covered the ground in Kesennuma, where houses and fisheries once stood. Survivors live in temporary housing farther inland on higher ground, while others have decided to move away altogether. On Monday morning, fishermen, who are trying to get the vital industry back on its feet, lined up rows of tuna and other fish for auction.

"It's scary (living here) when there is an earthquake. It's scary, but I don't plan to go anywhere else. I want to give my own very best, somehow, toward reconstruction of the city," said 75-year-old Kenichi Oi, who had to refurbish his home, just a few hundred meters (yards) from the sea, but on higher ground, after the tsunami flooded its first floor.

Throughout the disaster zone, the tens of thousands of survivors living in temporary housing are impatient to get resettled, a process that could take up to a decade, officials say.

"What I really want is to once again have a 'my home,'" said Migaku Suzuki, a 69-year-old farm worker in Rikuzentakata, who lost the house he had just finished building in the disaster. Suzuki also lost a son in the tsunami, which obliterated much of the city.

Farther south, in Fukushima prefecture, some 160,000 evacuees are uncertain if they will ever be able to return to abandoned homes around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where three reactors melted down and spewed radiation into the surrounding soil and water after the tsunami knocked out the plant's vital cooling system.

"I don't trust the government on anything related to health anymore," said Masaaki Watanabe, 42, who fled the nearby town of Minami Soma and doesn't plan to return because the radiation in the ground is too high.

In Kawauchi, one of many towns with varying degrees of access restrictions due to radiation, village chief Yuko Endo is pinning his hopes on the success of a long decontamination process that may or may not enable hundreds of residents to return home.

Much of the area is off-limits, though some restrictions gradually are being lifted as workers remove debris and wipe down roofs by hand.

Many residents might give up on returning if they are kept waiting too long, he said.

"If I were told to wait for two more years, I might explode," said Endo, who is determined to revive his town of mostly empty houses and overgrown fields. "After spending a huge amount of money, with the vegetable patches all cleaned up and ready for farming, we may end up with nobody willing to return."

Evacuees are torn. They are anxious to return home but worried about the potential, still uncertain risks from exposure to the radiation from the disaster, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.

While there have been no clear cases of cancer linked to radiation from the plant, the upheaval in people's lives, uncertainty about the future and long-term health concerns, especially for children, have taken an immense psychological toll on thousands of residents.

A group of 800 people filed a lawsuit Monday in Fukushima against the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates the Fukushima plant. It demands an apology payment of 50,000 yen ($625) a month for each victim until all radiation from the accident is wiped out, a process that could take decades.

A change of government late last year has raised hopes that authorities might move quicker with the cleanup and reconstruction.

Since taking office in late December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a point of frequently visiting the disaster zone, promising faster action, and plans to raise the long-term reconstruction budget to 25 trillion yen ($262 billion) from 19 trillion yen (about $200 billion).

Hopes for a significant improvement may be misplaced, said Hiroshi Suzuki, chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Reconstruction Committee.

"There have been no major changes by the new government in response to the nuclear accident, though the budget has been increased," he said. "If the reconstruction budget continues to serve as a tool for expanding public works spending, then I believe local societies and economist will be undermined."

Another lingering problem is that of discrimination against evacuees from Fukushima, Suzuki said: Many fear their children will find it hard to find spouses due to worries over potential long-term harm from radiation.

Watanabe, who used to work for a company maintaining the nuclear plant's lighting systems, said his sons are sometimes shunned or taunted by classmates who say things like, "Don't come near me. You're radioactive."

___

Associated Press writers Malcolm Foster in Tokyo and Emily Wang in Kesennuma, Japan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-years-tsunami-slow-progress-cleanup-040127601.html

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VIDEO: Toyota i-ROAD shows off its swaying moves around town

Happiest car in the world? You?ll very probably think so after watching this video of four Toyota i-ROADs gaily flouncing around a seaside town, bobbing from side to side like penguins on wheels. Just you try?not to smile.

Unveiled at the ongoing Geneva show, the Toyota i-ROAD?concept is an all-electric two-seat, three-wheeled personal mobility vehicle that?s only 850 mm wide. Its Active Lean technology analyses speed and gyro information, and?automatically balances the vehicle when cornering or travelling over stepped surfaces.

They almost look alive, don?t they? Read more about the?Toyota i-ROAD concept in an earlier post.

?

Source: http://paultan.org/2013/03/11/toyota-i-road-video/

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Fans rampage in Cairo after soccer riot verdict

An injured security official is carried from a police officers club in the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek, after protesters set fires following a court verdict in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Fans of Cairo?s Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt?s soccer federation headquarters and a nearby police club, and set them ablaze after a court acquitted seven of nine police official on trial for their alleged part in deadly stadium melee. (AP Photo/Mohammed Asad )

An injured security official is carried from a police officers club in the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek, after protesters set fires following a court verdict in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Fans of Cairo?s Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt?s soccer federation headquarters and a nearby police club, and set them ablaze after a court acquitted seven of nine police official on trial for their alleged part in deadly stadium melee. (AP Photo/Mohammed Asad )

Egyptian soccer fans of the Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, after an Egyptian court confirmed death sentences against 21 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Smoke rises from the Police Officers Club, left, and the Egyptian Soccer Federation, right, as a police helicopter surveys the scene after protesters set fire following a court verdict in Saturday, March 9, 2013. Fans of Cairo?s Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt?s soccer federation headquarters, set it ablaze after a court acquitted seven of nine police official on trial for their alleged part in deadly stadium melee. A fire also broke out Saturday in a nearby police club, but it was not immediately known whether Al-Ahly fans started the blaze there too. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Policemen try to extinguish fire at a police club set by protesters following a court verdict in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt's soccer federation headquarters, set it ablaze after a court acquitted seven of nine police officials on trial for their alleged part in deadly stadium melee. A fire also broke out Saturday in a nearby police club, but it was not immediately known whether Al-Ahly fans started the blaze there too. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013 after an Egyptian court confirmed death sentences against 21 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said. Banner at background shows pictures of the victims with Arabic reading, "we will never forget you." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

CAIRO (AP) ? An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences against 21 people for taking part in a deadly soccer riot but acquitted seven police officials for their alleged role in the violence. Suspected fans enraged by the verdict torched the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo in protest.

The trial over the melee that killed 74 people after a soccer game in the city of Port Said in early 2012 has been the source of some of the worst unrest to hit Egypt in recent weeks. After the court sentenced the 21 people ? most of them Port Said fans ? to death in late January, violent riots erupted in the city that left some 40 people dead, most of them shot by police.

On Saturday, the court announced its verdict for the other 52 defendants in the case, sentencing 45 of them to prison, including two senior police officers who got 15 years terms each. Twenty-eight people were acquitted, including seven police officials.

As expected, the court's decision failed to defuse tensions over the case, which has taken on political undercurrents at a time when the entire nation is mired in political turmoil, a worsening economy and growing opposition to the rule of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Shortly after the verdict was announced Saturday, suspected fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club who had gathered in the thousands outside the team's headquarters in central Cairo went on a rampage, torching a police club nearby and storming Egypt's soccer federation headquarters before setting it ablaze. The twin fires sent plumes of thick black smoke billowing out over the Cairo skyline. Two army helicopters were being used to put out the fires.

At least five people were injured in the protests, a Health Ministry official told the MENA state news agency.

In anticipation of more violence, authorities beefed up security near the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police force, with riot police deploying in the streets around the complex in central Cairo.

Earlier at the courthouse across town, Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid read out the verdict live on TV, sentencing five defendants to life in prison and nine others to 15 years in jail. Six defendants received 10-year jail terms, two more got five years and a single defendant received a 12-month sentence.

The court's decision on the nine Port Said security officers on trial was among the most highly anticipated ? and potentially explosive ? verdicts. In the end, the judges sentenced the city's former security chief, Maj. Gen. Essam Samak, and a colonel both to 15 years in prison, while the others were acquitted.

Al-Ahly's fans accuse the police of collusion in the killing of their fellow supporters, arguing that they had advance knowledge of plans by supporters of Port Said's Al-Masry to attack them. They also accuse them of standing by as the Al-Masry fans set upon the visiting Al-Ahly supporters.

The court rulings can be appealed.

Many residents of Port Said, which is located on the Mediterranean at the northern tip of the vital Suez Canal, say the trial is unjust and politicized, and soccer fans in the city have felt that authorities have been biased in favor of Al-Ahly, Egypt's most powerful club.

The Feb. 2012 riot followed a league match between Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahly club, with Port Said supporters setting upon the visiting fans after the final whistle. The deadly melee is Egypt's worst soccer disaster.

Before the fires broke out, thousands of Al-Ahly fans had gathered outside the club's headquarters in Cairo. They appeared divided on whether to welcome the verdicts or consider them flawed.

"We came for the rulings on the defendants from the police," said one fan who refused to give his name. "Why should I be happy when most of them were acquitted?"

In Port Said, a city that for weeks has been in open rebellion against the Islamist president, several hundred people, many of them relatives of the defendants, gathered outside the local government offices to vent their anger. They chanted slogans against Morsi's government and the verdicts.

Some people in a cafe watching the verdict live on TV hit their heads in frustration, while others broke down and wept. Some said they can live with the verdict because an appeal leaves room for hope.

"There's still an appeal process. God willing, our rights will be restored," said Islam Ezzeddin, a local soccer fan. "We are not thugs. I hope to God when there's an appeal, that we feel we live in a country of law and justice."

Several protesters in Port Said, a strategic city at the Mediterranean end of the Suez Canal, sought to disrupt shipping in the vital waterway by releasing small speedboats into the traffic lanes, although the effort failed to disrupt shipping. Others set fire to tires on the city's dock to prevent ships from coming in, but that again was quickly abandoned.

A spokesman for the Suez Canal Authority, Tareq Hasanein, told Egypt's official MENA news agency that shipping in the international waterway was proceeding normally, with 41 vessels transiting the canal on Saturday.

However, the national railways chief, Hussein Zakaria, ordered trains headed to Port Said to terminate their services at Ismailiya, another Suez Canal city south of Port Said. He said the measure was taken out of fear for the safety of passengers.

Port Said has been the center of the heaviest violence in Egypt's latest wave of unrest. The ongoing turmoil began on Jan. 25, when hundreds of thousands across the country marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Cairo, the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, and several cities in the Nile Delta north of the capital have all been swept up in the unrest as well.

During clashes between police and protesters the past week that killed eight people, Port Said also saw dangerous frictions between police and the military. Army troops trying to break up the clashes at one point fired over the heads of police forces, which had been shooting tear gas in their direction.

At least some of the anger city residents feel for the police was defused on Friday, when police handed over security control in the city to the military.

No police could be seen anywhere in Port Said on Saturday. A military helicopter hovered overhead and army checkpoints were set up on main streets.

___

Batrawy reported from Port Said. Associated Press writer Mariam Rizk contributed to this report from Cairo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-09-Egypt/id-ec07b7e5cf2641a3a1474bb5cc7f78ca

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Obama pokes fun at self, reporters at D.C. dinner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama poked fun at himself, Bob Woodward and Washington reporters on Saturday at a dinner that brought together the country's press and political elites.

Attending the Gridiron Club dinner, Obama made light of a recent back and forth between his administration and Woodward, the veteran Washington Post journalist whose reporting on the Watergate scandal helped bring down Richard Nixon's presidency.

"Can anybody tell me when an administration has ever regretted picking a fight with Bob Woodward?" Obama joked. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Woodward and White House economic adviser Gene Sperling had a public tussle that played itself out in a leaked email, in which Sperling told the veteran journalist he would regret taking a position on one of Obama's policies. Woodward suggested the move was an example of White House intimidation.

"Who knew Gene could be so intimidating," Obama joked about Sperling. "Or let me phrase it differently: who knew anybody named Gene could be so intimidating?"

The Gridiron Club and Foundation, founded in 1885, is the oldest and one of the most elite organizations of journalists in Washington. Membership is by invitation only.

Obama also ribbed Florida Senator Marco Rubio for lunging for a water bottle during his televised Republican rebuttal to Obama's State of the Union Address earlier this year.

Obama stopped his remarks briefly, deliberately picked up a water glass, sipped, then put it back down. "That, Marco Rubio, is how you take a sip of water," he said to laughter.

Rubio is a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016.

A potential rival of Rubio's, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, gave the Republican speech at the dinner, dishing out barbs about himself and other presidential hopefuls.

"I am too skinny to run," he said, referring to his chances of seeking the Republican nomination in a few years. "At least that's what my friend Chris Christie keeps telling me."

Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, has had admitted struggling with his weight.

Jindal said he had no plans to run for president.

"I've made that clear over and over again in Iowa, in New Hampshire and South Carolina," he said, listing states with early nominating contests that presidential contenders woo with frequent visits.

Obama, who is pressing lawmakers to end the "sequester" budget cuts that recently went into effect, joked that the often lengthy Gridiron event had not suffered from Washington's axe.

"There is one thing in Washington that didn't get cut: the length of this dinner," he said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Todd Eastham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-pokes-fun-self-reporters-d-c-dinner-052050763.html

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Wire to the Ear's Oliver Chesler visits the Engadget Questionnaire

Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire.

In this week's edition of our nerdy 21 questions, Wire to the Ear blogger and musician Oliver Chesler drops by to discuss planet communicators and Lego-colored Skylabs. The full bank of responses awaits just past the break.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/H4EHYkIB8g8/

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PFT: Redskins reach three-year deal with Paulsen

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Last month, Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin told Pro Football Talk that, if he?s cut by the Ravens, he?ll retire.

?Once a Raven, always a Raven,? he added.

He may no longer be a Raven.

According to Jarrett Bell of USA Today, Boldin has rejected the team?s proposal to reduce his $6 million base salary.? The veteran is prepared to become an unrestricted free agent, if/when he is cut.

In hindsight, Boldin perhaps shouldn?t have said he?ll retire if he?s cut.? That comment surely emboldened the Ravens to take a run at creating some cap space by backing him into a corner.

At the Scouting Combine, Ravens assistant G.M. Eric DeCosta told Pro Football Talk, ?Anquan?s a Raven.?? Asked whether he?ll be a Raven at a base salary of $6 million, DeCosta said, ?We?ll see.?

The answer is, for now, no.? Once the Ravens realize that Boldin is serious about playing elsewhere, the answer could change to yes.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/09/logan-paulsen-strikes-three-year-deal-with-redskins/related/

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Rand Paul's drone filibuster shakes up Republicans

Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster got results: the White House acknowledged that killing US citizens suspecting of being terrorists must follow the rule of law. But it also shook up the Republican caucus.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / March 7, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky leaves the floor of the Senate after his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director on Capitol Hill early Thursday. Later in the day, the full Senate voted, 63 to 34, to confirm Brennan.

Charles Dharapak/AP

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Sen. Rand Paul?s 12-plus hour filibuster was never going to block Senate confirmation of John Brennan to be CIA director, and indeed the full Senate voted, 63 to 34, Thursday afternoon to approve Mr. Brennan as the nation?s next spymaster.

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But Senator Paul?s unusual maneuver ? actually talking for hours on end, and not just threatening to filibuster ? has had an immediate effect on a key issue that many lawmakers (and many voters) find troubling: the use of unmanned drone aircraft to kill suspected terrorists, including, potentially, US citizens on US soil.

Forced to respond, Attorney General Eric Holder in a three-line letter to Paul Thursday addressed what had been posed by Senate Republicans as a constitutional question: "Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?"

?The answer to that question is no,? Mr. Holder, wrote ? at long last, in the view of his critics. In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Holder would only say that killing a hypothetical suspected American terrorist on US soil who poses no immediate threat would be ?inappropriate.?

Holder?s letter satisfied Paul.

?I?m quite happy with the answer, and I?m disappointed it took a month and a half and a root canal to get it,? Paul?told CNN. ?But we did get the answer. And that?s what I?ve been asking all along.?

Like his father, former presidential candidate and US Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the junior senator from Kentucky is as much libertarian as he is Republican. Where most GOP lawmakers position themselves as foreign policy and military hawks, Rand Paul strongly questions some aspects of US policy here ? particularly as in this case where constitutional issues regarding judicial due process are involved.

This rankles some senior Republicans. On Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona described some of what Paul had said during his filibuster as ?simply false.?

Quoting from a Wall Street Journal editorial, Mr. McCain said, ?If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in college dorms.?

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina, McCain?s chief ally on such matters, called Paul?s unusual effort ?ill-informed.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6-A9QG2wg7A/Rand-Paul-s-drone-filibuster-shakes-up-Republicans

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Sniff, sniff: New form of animal communication discovered

Mar. 7, 2013 ? Sniffing, a common behavior in dogs, cats and other animals, has been observed to also serve as a method for rats to communicate -- a fundamental discovery that may help scientists identify brain regions critical for interpreting communications cues and what brain malfunctions may cause some complex social disorders.

Researchers have long observed how animals vigorously sniff when they interact, a habit usually passed off as simply smelling each other. But Daniel W. Wesson, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, whose research is published today in Current Biology, found that rats sniff each other to signal a social hierarchy and prevent aggressive behavior.

Wesson, who drew upon previous work showing that, similar to humans, rodents naturally form complex social hierarchies, used wireless methods to record and observe rats as they interacted. He found that, when two rats approach each other, one communicates dominance by sniffing more frequently, while the subordinate signals its role by sniffing less. Wesson found that if the subordinate didn't do so, the dominant rat was more likely to become aggressive to the other.

Wesson theorized the dominant rat was displaying a "conflict avoidance signal," similar to a large monkey walking into a room and banging its chest. In response, the subordinate animal might cower and look away, or in the case of the rats, decrease its sniffing.

"These novel and exciting findings show that how one animal sniffs another greatly matters within their social network," said Wesson, an associate professor of neurosciences. "This sniffing behavior might reflect a common mechanism of communication behavior across many types of animals and in a variety of social contexts. It is highly likely that our pets use similar communication strategies in front of our eyes each day, but because we do not use this ourselves, it isn't recognizable as 'communication'."

Wesson's findings represent the first new form of communication behavior in rats since it was discovered in the 1970s that they communicate through vocal ultrasonic frequencies. The research provides a basis for understanding how neurological disorders might impact the brain's ability to conduct normal, appropriate social behaviors.

Wesson's laboratory will use these findings to better understand how certain behaviors go awry. Ultimately, the hope is to learn whether this new form of communication can help explain how the brain controls complex social behaviors and how these neural centers might inappropriately deal with social cues.

Wesson's research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, #IOS-1121471, the Mount Sinai Health Care Foundation and the University Hospitals Case Medical Center Spitz Brain Health Fund.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Case Western Reserve University, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

1. Daniel W. Wesson. Sniffing Behavior Communicates Social Hierarchy. Current Biology, 07 March 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.012

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/IV9DSD0Czqk/130307145105.htm

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Prosecutors in Colorado theater-shooting case say insanity defense law constitutional

DENVER (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the case against accused Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes urged a judge to reject a defense motion to declare the state's insanity defense law unconstitutional, court filings released on Wednesday show.

Last week, attorneys for Holmes asked Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester to declare Colorado's insanity defense law unconstitutional because it compels defendants who enter insanity pleas to cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists.

That scenario could force Holmes to provide potentially incriminating statements that could be used against him not only at trial but in sentencing should he be convicted, defense lawyers argued.

Prosecutors countered, in their response made public on Wednesday, that federal and state courts had both upheld the legality of laws that require those who raise an insanity defense to submit to mental-health examinations, because there are other remedies available to preserve a defendant's rights.

"It is well established law in Colorado that submitting to court ordered evaluation does not violate a defendant's Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination," the prosecution motion said.

Holmes, 25, is scheduled to enter a plea next week, but the flurry of pleadings in the case puts that date in doubt.

He is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder for a shooting spree last July in which 12 moviegoers were killed and 58 others wounded during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado.

Holmes, a former University of Colorado neuroscience graduate student, was bound over for trial in January after a three-day preliminary hearing in which prosecutors presented evidence that the California native spent months plotting the mass killing.

Prosecutors have 60 days after a plea is entered to announce whether they will seek the death penalty.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said last month that he had added a death penalty lawyer to the prosecution team, indicating he was considering going after capital punishment in the case.

Legal analyst Craig Silverman, who has followed the case closely, said defense lawyers would put out scores of motions hoping that an appellate issue would surface that could keep their client off death row.

"These motions are all mini-insurance policies in case there is a death penalty verdict," said Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor. "But there's no guarantee that any of them will work."

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/prosecutors-colorado-theater-shooting-case-insanity-defense-law-034857620.html

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