Saturday, December 31, 2011

Ex-Panther's wife dies of breast cancer | CharlotteObserver.com ...

One month after getting married, ex-Panther linebacker Chris Draft lost his wife Friday after a long fight with breast cancer, Yahoo Sports is reporting.

Draft, who played for several NFL teams including the Carolina Panthers in 2005 and 2006, released a statement on his wife on their family foundation website:

"Not just an inspiration, but a light, and a force that led the way with a beautiful, sweet smile and bright shining eyes that both belied the pure steel of her strength and determination.

"Strong is too pale, too shallow and too small of a word to describe Keasha's vibrancy? Quite simply, she was ferocious. She fiercely held onto life, and love with a forcefulness that was absolutely awe-inspiring and completely breathtaking. Rest in peace, Mrs. Draft."

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/31/2887229/ex-panthers-wife-dies-of-breast.html

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WJBC: Norton: 2011 summed up by debt and foolish politicians http://t.co/BtdQHAJI

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Norton: 2011 summed up by debt and foolish politicians ow.ly/1grsEL WJBC

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Positively K Street (Balloon Juice)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/180687785?client_source=feed&format=rss

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ArkRazorbacks: The University of Arkansas men's basketball team is set to host Charlotte tonight at 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena. http://t.co/Y0uuSYDQ

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The University of Arkansas men's basketball team is set to host Charlotte tonight at 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena. bit.ly/svYLmX ArkRazorbacks

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Avastin disappoints against ovarian cancer (AP)

Avastin, the blockbuster drug that just lost approval for treating breast cancer, now looks disappointing against ovarian cancer, too. Two studies found it did not improve survival for most of these patients and kept their disease from worsening for only a few months, with more side effects.

The Genentech drug won approval in Europe last week for advanced ovarian cancer. But its maker has no immediate plans to seek the same approval in the United States. After talking with the Food and Drug Administration, "we do not believe the data will support approval" although no final decision has been made, said Charlotte Arnold, a spokeswoman for Genentech, part of the Swiss company Roche.

Results of the studies are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

In November, the FDA revoked Avastin's approval for breast cancer because it did not meaningfully extend life and can have serious side effects. Without approval, doctors can prescribe the drug but insurers may not pay. Treatment with it can cost $100,000 a year.

Avastin can still be sold for some colon, lung, kidney and brain cancers. The new research was aimed at adding ovarian cancer to the list.

One study, led by Dr. Robert Burger of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, involved nearly 1,900 women with advanced ovarian cancer given one of three treatment combinations. The time until the disease got worse was a median of 10 months in those given just chemotherapy; adding Avastin improved that by just one to four months for the other two groups.

Survival was similar among the groups, and side effects were higher among those on Avastin ? mostly high blood pressure but also some stomach and gut problems that needed treatment.

In the other study, led by researchers from England, more than 1,500 ovarian cancer patients were given chemo with or without Avastin. The drug kept cancer at bay just one to two months longer than chemo alone did, with more cases of high blood pressure. There was a trend toward improved survival for those on Avastin, but the difference was too small to say the drug was responsible.

Genentech helped pay for the studies and some of the researchers consult for the company.

Dr. Gary Lyman, a Duke University researcher who was on the FDA advisory panel that recommended revoking Avastin's approval for breast cancer, wrote in an email that he agreed with the company's decision not to seek approval for ovarian cancer.

"The situation is very similar" to the results in breast cancer, and approval is unlikely unless a biological marker or test can show which patients might benefit, he wrote.

About 220,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed each year around the world, and it causes 140,000 deaths. In the United States, the National Cancer Institute estimates 22,000 new cases and 15,000 deaths each year.

___

Online:

Studies: http://www.nejm.org

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_he_me/us_med_avastin_ovarian_cancer

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FIFA accepts decision to release kickbacks files

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:30 p.m. ET Dec. 27, 2011

ZURICH (AP) -FIFA officials have decided to accept a Swiss court decision clearing the way for the release of a document naming football officials who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals.

World football's ruling body said in a statement Tuesday it has "taken note" of the court decision and will not appeal "as it corresponds to the position" taken by the Zurich-based organization and its president, Sepp Blatter.

Officials added, however, that they would not have any comment on the document's contents until its release has been cleared by the court.

The decision by a canton (state) Zug court was reported Tuesday by Zurich business weekly Handelszeitung. It rejects multiple appeals blocking the publication of the documents. The latest decision is now open to further appeal for 30 days.

The document in question details a settlement announced in June 2010 whereby senior football officials admitted taking kickbacks and repaid $6.1 million. The officials repaid the money on condition that their identities remained anonymous.

The 10-year-old scandal stems from alleged payments made by the ISL marketing agency before its 2001 collapse with debts of $300 million. It reportedly implicates former FIFA President Joao Havelange and Ricardo Teixeira, the 2014 World Cup organizing committee president.

Blatter had promised in October to publish the document after his executive committee met Dec. 16-17 in Tokyo.

But FIFA postponed its publication, saying "legal measures" taken by a party involved in the ISL scandal prevented it from releasing the court papers on Dec. 17. FIFA did not identify which third party had stalled the process.

Dealing with the ISL case became a signature test of Blatter's promised willingness to reform FIFA and world football after a slew of scandals involving bribery, vote-rigging and ticket scams.

"It was my strong will to make the ISL file fully transparent at this meeting," Blatter said in a statement on Dec. 7. "I have now been advised that as a result of the objection of a third party to such transparency it will take more time to overcome the respective legal hurdles.

"This does not change my stance at all. I remain fully committed to publishing the files as soon as possible."

Blatter's promise of publication was initially met with skepticism by veteran FIFA watchers. However, Blatter and FIFA officials insisted in recent weeks that the 41-page German-language document from the Zug court would be translated into English, French and Spanish and then published.

Blatter has said he was cleared of any wrongdoing in all aspects of the ISL case. Still, the court document could give details of his awareness of kickbacks being paid at a time when commercial bribery was not a crime in Switzerland.

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


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Ajax-Alkmaar to be replayed

The cup match between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar that was halted after a fan ran on to the pitch and attacked AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado will be replayed in full next month.

Off-field woes

Football in 2011 was dominated by events off the field rather than on it.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44764367/ns/sports-soccer/

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Newt Gingrich: Nancy Pelosi Climate Change Ad Is 'Dumbest Thing I've Done In The Last Four Years'

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was pressed again Tuesday on one of the ghosts of his political past, when a notorious advertisement on climate change featuring him alongside then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was brought up on the campaign trail.

"The dumbest thing I've done in the last four years was sit on a couch with Nancy Pelosi," Gingrich said, according to The Hill's Mike O'Brien. "I can't defend it."

In the ad, Gingrich and Pelosi share a seat on a sofa in front of the Capitol and declare that "the country must take action to address climate change."

Gingrich has made similar comments about the spot before, though he has, in the past, been quick to temper his admissions of fault with clarifications about his position on climate change.

In November, Gingrich also claimed the commercial was the "dumbest single thing" he'd done in the past years, but quickly explained that he was against cap-and-trade. He later went on to urge conservatives "to be in the middle of the debate over the environment."

Gingrich also made another concession over the summer, admitting that he regretted making the ad. He followed up, saying that his participation in the ad had been "misconstrued," and that he "was trying to make a point that [Republicans] shouldn't be afraid to debate the left, even on the environment."

Gingrich's primary rivals continue to batter him over the decision, despite his repeated attempts to brush away the imagery of appearing in an ad campaign spearheaded by Al Gore and co-starring a vocal Democrat who was, at the time, preparing to push a cap-and-trade agenda.

On Tuesday, Mitt Romney's press secretary, Andrea Saul, appeared on MSNBC and referred to the ad while slamming Gingrich as a "desperate candidate trying to revive his failing campaign."

Earlier this month, Romney also used the commercial as evidence that Gingrich was an "extraordinarily unreliable leader in the conservative world."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/27/newt-gingrich-nancy-pelosi_n_1171530.html

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

[share_ebook] The Study of Religion and the Training of Muslim Clergy in Europe: Academic and Religious Freedom in the 21st Century (Amsterdam University Press - Leiden University Press Academic) - Willem B. Drees, Pieter Sjoerd Koningsveld


Author: Willem B. Drees, Pieter Sjoerd Koningsveld

Date: June, 2008

Pages: 503

Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

Category: Cultures


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The Study of Religion and the Training of Muslim Clergy in Europe: Academic and Religious Freedom in the 21st Century (Amsterdam University Press - Leiden University Press Academic)


The Study of Religion and the Training of Muslim Clergy in Europe: Academic and Religious Freedom in the 21st Century (Amsterdam University Press - Leiden University Press Academic)
Willem B. Drees, Pieter Sjoerd Koningsveld | Amsterdam University Press | June, 2008 | 503 pages | English | pdf

Religious scholarship can be offensive to believers, as conflicts from the time of Galileo and Spinoza to the recent critique of Danish religious scholars in the wake of the infamous Muhammad cartoons have shown. Studies of this type of scholarship have been appropriated by believers as a means of reinventing their own identitiesas the training of twentieth-century Muslim clergy demonstrates. This volume offers a unique collection of training materials from European Muslim clergy since the 1940sincluding Third Reich debriefing reports on their imam training program, surveillance files on Muslim activists, and information on Bosnian clergy and their training centersas well as an exploration of religion and academic freedom in general, accompanied by appendices in both Arabic and English. ?


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    Saturday, December 24, 2011

    Santarus' CEO Hosts Business Update Conference Call (Transcript ...

    Executives

    Martha Hough - VP, Finance and IR

    Gerry Proehl - Director, President & CEO

    Mike Step - SVP, Corporate Development

    Bill Denby - SVP, Commercial Operations

    Debbie Crawford - SVP, CFO, Treasurer and Secretary

    Analysts

    Frank Pinkerton - SunTrust

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    Traver Davis - Piper Jaffray

    Seth Hamot - RRH Capital Management Inc.

    Santarus, Inc. (SNTS) Business Update Conference Call December 22, 2011 10:00 AM ET

    Operator

    Welcome to the Santarus business update conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following management?s prepared remarks, we will hold a Q&A session. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded December 22, 2011. I would now like to turn the conference over to Martha Hough, please go ahead.

    Martha Hough

    Thank you, Christie. This is Martha Hough, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Thank you for participating in today?s call. Joining me on the call today are Gerry Proehl, President and Chief Executive Officer and Mike Step, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development; Bill Denby, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations; and Debbie Crawford, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will join us for today?s question-and-answer.

    Yesterday after the close of the market, Santarus issued a press release announcing an exclusive licenses agreement for FENOGLIDE and introducing our 2012 financial outlook.

    The press release is available on our website at www.santarus.com. A replay of this call also will be available on our website and can be found in the Investor Relations section for the next two weeks.

    Please keep in mind that risks and uncertainties involved in the company?s business may affect the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements made by management during today?s call. As a result, the company?s performance may differ from those expressed in or indicated by such forward-looking statements which are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in the press release and the company?s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

    The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the day of this live broadcast, December 22, 2011. Santarus undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this conference call.

    I?ll now turn the call over to Gerry Proehl.

    Gerry Proehl

    Thank you, Martha, and my thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. I am pleased to announce our exclusive licensing of FENOGLIDE tablets for the US market. This agreement adds a fourth commercial product to grow our revenues and support our objective of using our cash to diversify our product offering. FENOGLIDE fits well with our type II diabetes franchise, is an FDA approved fenofibrate drug used as an adjunct to diet to treat high cholesterol which is a frequent co-morbid conditions in patients with type II diabetes.

    Our analysis is in the case, there is a significant overlap between the physicians who are prescriptions with FENOGLIDE and the physicians we call on for GLUMETZA and CYCLOSET which will allow us to further leverage our sales force. Additionally an assessment of the past sales of FENOGLIDE indicate that it?s a promotionally sensitive product. We've already assumed distribution for FENOGLIDE. We are currently in the process of implementing our previously announced sales force expansion and our full deal sales force of about 150 reps will begin promoting FENOGLIDE in the first quarter of 2012. I will now ask Mike Step to provide some background on FENOGLIDE and our licensing agreement. Mike?

    Mike Step

    Thanks Gerry. I am happy to be speaking to you this morning about what we expect to be an attractive commercial asset for Santarus. FENOGLIDE as indicated has an adjunct to diet to reduce elevated LDLC, total cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein. It?s also FDA approved to increase HDLC in adult patients with primary hyperlipidemia or mixed dyslipidemia. By way of background FENOGLIDE was developed by LifeCycle Pharma of Denmark which is now known as Veloxis Pharmaceuticals and was approved by the FDA in August of 2007.

    In 2007 LifeCycle licensed the North American rights to FENOGLIDE to Sciele Pharma and in February of 2008 Sciele launched the product in the United States. In August of 2008 LifeCycle sold the North American royalty interest for FENOGLIDE to Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners. After Shionogi Pharma acquired Sciele they continued to promote FENOGLIDE until August of 2010 at which time their license agreement was terminated and North American rights to FENOGLIDE were returned to Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners. According to IMS Health peak sales of FENOGLIDE were approximately $23 million for the 12 months ended August 31, 2010 when Shionogi ended its promotion of the product.

    Cowen Healthcare Royalty partners subsequently formed Shore Therapeutics as an operating company to commercialize FENOGLIDE through a small part-time contract sales force while seeking a new partner. For the 12 months ended October 31st, 2011 IMF Health reported total FENOGLIDE sales of $8.7 million. With regards to our transaction we have entered into an exclusive license agreement with Shore Therapeutics to commercialize FENOGLIDE tablets in the United States in two dosage strengths, a 40mg and a 120 mg.

    Under the terms of the agreement Santarus is responsible for all commercial manufacturing and regulatory activities for FENOGLIDE. We will pay Shore an $11 million upfront fee and we will also pay Shore tiered royalties on net sales of FENOGLIDE as follows, a 5% royalty on net sales up to $10 million beginning in 2013, a 20% on net sales between $10 million and $20 million and 25% on net sales above $20 million. We are obligated to pay Shore a one-time success-based milestones of $2 million if a calendar year net sales exceed, or equal to or exceed $20 million and $3 million if calendar year net sales equal or exceed $30 million. The license agreement will remain in effect until Santarus ceases to commercialize FENOGLIDE in United States subject to the termination provisions that are outlined in the 8-K that Santarus filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I will now turn it back to Gerry.

    Gerry Proehl

    Thanks Mike. We believe that the sales detail for FENOGLIDE will be relatively straight forward and this product will be a good dip with our two commercial products for Type II diabetes. We?ve started a number of activities to support the commercialization of FENOGLIDE when our sales organization begins promotion in the first quarter of 2012.

    As a brief update on our currently promoted commercial products, we are very pleased with recent prescription trends for GLUMETZA following the introduction of our eVoucher program which is an Electronic Voucher Program that automatically reduces the patients? pharmacy co-pay to $10.

    The current four-week average for GLUMETZA total prescriptions are up approximately 12% and new prescriptions are up about 14% compared with the four-week average just prior to initiation of the eVoucher Program in mid-September. Based on our early success with GLUMETZA, we plan to evaluate an eVoucher program for FENOGLIDE.

    CYCLOSET prescriptions continued on an upward trend as well and the number of physician prescribers is growing, which we attribute to increase sales call frequency in our physician education program.

    Now turning to our financial outlook, we are affirming our 2011 financial guidance as discussed in our November 7, 2011 third quarter financial results conference call. For 2011, we expect to report total revenues of at least $115 million. License fees and royalties of approximately $18 million, which include royalties payable to Depomed, on net sales of GLUMETZA.

    R&D expenses of approximately $19 million to $21 million, which includes our ongoing clinical development cost and approximate $2 million filing fee in December 2011 for the UCERIS NDA and the fourth quarter startup costs associated with the UCERIS Phase IIIb clinical study.

    SG&A expenses of up to approximately $68 million and net income of approximately $3 million.

    Today, we are also introducing our 2012 full year financial outlook as follows. Total revenues of approximately $200 million, an increase of approximately 74% over expected 2011 total revenues.

    Our 2012, financial outlook assumes two success-based milestones for pipeline products. Upon the FDA acceptance for review of the NDA for UCERIS tablets $4 million is payable to Cosmo Technologies. This milestone is payable in cash or Santarus common stock, at Cosmo?s option. And upon successful completion of the ongoing Phase III clinical study for RHUCIN in hereditary angioedema, $10 million is payable to Pharming Group.

    R&D expenses of approximately $30 million to $32 million, of which approximately half will be for expenses associated with the UCERIS Phase IIIb clinical study. We expect to complete enrollment in the UCERIS Phase IIIb clinical study in the first half of 2013.

    For the full 2012 year, we expect to report net income of approximately $8 million to $11 million including financial impact of the above mentioned success-based milestones.

    Commencing with 2012, we also are providing additional non-GAAP financial guidance or adjusted EBITDA of approximately $20 million to $25 million. We are also pleased to report that the NDA for UCERIS has been submitted to the FDA. I would like to express my appreciation to many colleagues at Santarus who worked so hard to achieve this significant milestone.

    Next year, we will be taking multiple actions to prepare for the commercial launch of UCERIS in early 2013, assuming FDA approval on the predicted date. Finally, we will continue to explore opportunities to add marketed products to our commercial portfolio to increase revenue and profit.

    Operator, we would now like to open up to questions.

    Question-and-Answer Session

    Operator

    (Operator Instructions) And your first question comes from the line of Frank Pinkerton of SunTrust.

    Frank Pinkerton - SunTrust

    And the first one, can you give us any details with the magnitude or effort that Sciele had put on FENOGLIDE when it had sales you know up in that $23 million range? And then secondarily, can you speak to, is 150 sales reps the right number; I know there is doctor overlap, but even with that do you need a certain number of P1 calls versus lower position ranked calls in order to move the needle for both GLUMETZA and the new product at the same time? Thank you.

    Bill Denby

    Hi, this is Bill Denby. I think Sciele had about 400 sales reps promoting FENOGLIDE at the time in 2008. However, they were promoting multiple products, so we?re not sure exactly how much effort ended up being put on FENOGLIDE.

    With us, we think 150 reps is appropriate and we have a very good overlap with the doctors that write this drug and when appropriate, we will initiate P1 details for the doctors that write FENOGLIDE. So, we think that we?ve got the right plan for the product; we?re looking at the eVoucher in order to bring cost down at the co-pay level for patients to give them better access to this drug. We expect to stabilize the brand and return back to growth.

    Gerry Proehl

    Yeah Frank, this is Gerry, also one of the things we looked at when we were evaluating FENOGLIDE was the amount of detailed effort in both amount of time with the doctor in order to drive prescriptions. We actually think FENOGLIDE in many ways is similar to GLUMETZA. It?s a fairly simple story, most doctors understand what Fenofibrate actually do for patients and really what you are trying to do is just differentiate the products from the other set of Fibrates. We don?t think that?s going to take a significant amount of time and that?s why we believe having a third product detail like FENOGLIDE will be something that?s reps should be able to do along with GLUMETZA and CYCLOSET.

    Frank Pinkerton - SunTrust

    If I can just then ask a follow-up on the 2012 guidance in kind of two areas there; the R&D was a little higher than the one I had in my model. So can you please, outside of the UCERIS study that you mentioned, can you talk about some of the other major drivers of that R&D expense next year? And then you, Bill there you made a brief comment about if UCERIS is approved, starting some expenses there. Can you just -- maybe just give us a little more detail on what is included in your current 2012 guidance if UCERIS does get approval towards the launch? Thank you.

    Debbie Crawford

    Hi Frank its Debbie Crawford here. In terms of the R&D expense guidance, I think it is important focus on UCERIS, because we?ve estimated about half of that $30 million to $30 million is related to the Phase IIIb study that we will be initiating early next year. And so I think it?s important to appreciate that we haven?t had significant expenses in the R&D line with regards to the Phase III studies because those have been substantially completed. So, when we look at the 2011 runrate, you know, you don?t have the same level of effort going towards the program. So, in addition to the UCERIS IIIb study, we have our ongoing efforts associated with rifamyacin SV MMX which we are in a Phase III study for travelers? diarrhea, anticipate completing that in the second half of next year, and then general ongoing activities which are not hugely significant but SAN-300 has some expenditures. And then you just have the general staffing resources, overhead associated with R&D.

    So, really the incremental expense is associated with the IIIb study and I think the way we thought about our R&D spend, we really are thinking about it in terms of percentage of our revenue. So, if you look at it on that basis, it?s really fairly consistent with where we are, where we expect to be in 2011.

    So, I hope that provides some help. In terms of the efforts associated with pre-launch activities, that?s something that will manage as we move through the year, to the extent that we?re able to obtain approval on the [produfadate], then we would likely incur more expenses, but inherent in our guidance right now is really the typical types of pre-launch activities and wouldn?t call that out separately in terms of a significant number in our SG&A.

    Operator

    Your next question comes from the line of Scott Henry of ROTH Capital.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    I guess just, before moving on, with regards to UCERIS in 2012, does your $200 million revenue number include any sales for that product?

    Debbie Crawford

    No, it does not Scott.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    So shifting gears to FENOGLIDE, I guess I don?t know, it maybe a question for Gerry, you know when you look at the product and you look at some of you know the specific leverage that you can pull to you know get it back moving towards the $20 million revenue run rate. You know what kind of leverage are out there, has this product ever been couponed before, using perhaps to, how is it priced relative to the comps and specifically what is kind of the AWP on this product? How do you think about what levers you can do to get this or can pull to get this product moving?

    Gerry Proehl

    Scott I?ll just, the first part of that and then I think Bill and Mike can probably jump in to it. I would say that the number one lever that we can pull with this product is going to be sales force detailing. We really believe that this is an extremely detail-sensitive product. In many respects, you know when we looked at what happened with GLUMETZA when the details were pulled on that product. We saw a pretty significant decline and then maybe a slight (inaudible) with that product once Depomed put a little bit of effort behind it. In the case with this particular market, it?s obviously also a very large market. These products are I would say slightly differentiated, they are clearly not highly differentiated product. And in the slightly differentiated product market place, it really comes down to the sales rep selling the doctor and why they?ve reduced FENOGLIDE versus one of the other fenofibrate products.

    We think we are very good at that. You know we?ve had products like ZEGERID and like GLUMETZA that aren't highly differentiated products and our reps are very good at detailing the doctor and getting the doctor to understand the differentiation in why they should use our products. So with that I am going to turn it over Mike and Bill. They can talk about the pricing relative to the other fenofibrates and maybe Bill can make a comment about eVoucher that we are evaluating.

    Bill Denby

    Thanks Gerry, this is Bill. First of all FENOGLIDE, you can use less of this to get the same result from an efficacy standpoint, that's number one. Number two, if we go forward with eVoucher, none of the large brands can market the product because they don't use the eVoucher on those large brands for a $10 or $20 co-pay whatever we decide to go forward with, with the eVoucher. So we think those are the key levers. We will be able to make this product affordable to the commercial patients and frankly they can use less of this product to get the same result from an efficacy standpoint. Those are pretty simple messages to get across. We think it won't take a lot of time to get those across and we expect to with some promotion and some of them P1 details to leverage this product to get back to growth. In terms of the VAT pricing, the VAT pricing on FENOGLIDE is competitive at $6 per tablet at 120 and $2.02 for the 40 milligram.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    And should we assume that the gross margin on products like this would be kind of 90%, 90% plus.

    Debbie Crawford

    I think generally Scott it?s a small product and so you have to consider there are some fixed costs associated with it. So you know that's probably a little high, but certainly an attractive gross margin.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    While still on FENOGLIDE, when we think about the IP and the generic pathway I know you?ve settled with lot of company and I believe October 2015, are there any other challengers out there, how should we think about in the duration of this asset?

    Gerry Proehl

    I think the way to think about it is that right now, Impax is the first filer, that?s what the settlement is, they will basically be the company at this time I think that would be the, highly likely they would be the first to launch and so I think they really set the day for us of October 2015.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    Okay so they are the first filer on both dose strength?

    Gerry Proehl

    Yes.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    Okay right that was helpful. Finally just on the guidance really I guess for 2012, can you comment at all on SG&A I mean I guess we could probably just back it out, but I don?t know if there is any kind of broad statements you would make on that line and particularly what is the incremental spend for FENOGLIDE, I mean the samples I guess there are no new reps out there.

    Gerry Proehl

    Yeah so in terms of SG&A Scott, I think probably the most significant change year-over-year is our expansion of the sales force and I think we have talked before that it is kind of a fully burdened cost to rep, that is in the neighborhood of $10 million for that expansion effort, certainly there will be some incremental costs associated with FENOGLIDE, but I think as we?ve discussed, that?s what makes it so attractive as we don?t see that being a huge incremental expense and given the investment we are making in the expansion, we certainly expect to see some nice results.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    And then tax rates for 2012 issue, did you start paying modest taxes and I guess, even if you could just make a longer statement, when should we see kind of a more traditional tax rate, a lot of tax loss carry forwards on that.

    Debbie Crawford

    Yeah we have substantial tax cash carry forwards, you are right Scott. And we?ve not provided guidance as to when we might fully utilize those, but we have about $170 million of NOLs outstanding at the end of 2010. In terms of a tax rate for 2012, we really anticipate being able to utilize those NOLs, so the rate itself, I don?t think it?s terribly meaningful, it?s really reflective of minimum taxes and some state situation. So we did in our adjusted EBITDA reconciliations provide an estimate of about $1 million for that.

    Scott Henry - ROTH Capital

    Okay, and a final question for Gerry. Now that you?ve bought FENOGLIDE, kind of what is your appetite for other assets sir, are you full or are you still continuing to look aggressively?

    Gerry Proehl

    Yes, Scott. This is Gerry. I think, you know, we?re continuing to aggressively look at opportunities to grow the business. We certainly, what we?ve seen each time we?ve added products, it helps us drive not only topline revenue, but drives bottomlime also and so we really believe in the specialty pharmaceutical market place that further consolidation is likely to take place.

    We think we are in very good position with the products we have, both on the markets and in development. So I would say, Mike Step and his group are continuing to look for acquisitions that would make good sense for the company.

    Operator

    Your next question comes from the line of David Amsellem of Piper Jaffray.

    Traver Davis - Piper Jaffray

    Hi, this is Traver Davis on for David Amsellem, thanks for taking the question. So just turning to UCERIS and I guess expected to 2013 launch. So how should we be thinking about the launch in terms of ramp and timing and other launch related metrics and also what are your ideas for early strategies for marketing department? Thanks.

    Gerry Proehl

    Hey, this is Gerry, Traver. What I would say is you know we?re beginning to do the work right now in 2011 and 2012 to prepare the marketplace for UCERIS. We were just at Crohn's & Colitis Foundation meeting where most of the ulcerative that are there are enteritis of inflammatory bowel disease including UC and Crohn?s. We had symposia there. We had very good attendance at the symposia and the speakers really talked about the need for a product like UCERIS.

    Clearly, many patients are being treated with 5-ASAs, but they are continuing to frail and they might frail two or three minutes during the year. Their only options right now are to go to a systematic steroid or immune suppressor product like Azothiopurine or 6-Murcaptopurine. Those products have some pretty nasty side effects, both physical side effects for patients, but also physiological side effects. When they looked at the profile of UCERIS both the efficacy and also the side effects profile, I think they really see a neat profile like this and where they would set it.

    And so it?s pretty clear that most of the gastroenterology trials is kind where this product would fit in their armamentarium. We believe that there is a real need for the product. We?ll continue to do the education throughout 2012 in order to make sure that all the clinical data is out there. And then as we talked about the Phase IIIb study will give more gastroenterologists an opportunity to actually use the product in some of their UC patients to see how it actually works when you use it on top of a 5-ASA. So that as we?re launching the products, we will continue to be able to provide additional clinical data at the GI Medical Meetings in order to keep UCERIS top of mind for most physicians.

    Traver Davis - Piper Jaffray

    And also any early ideas for marketing efforts for the product or you know are you kind of still evaluating what may work; would it be similar to how you promote your current products portfolio with eVoucher program and things like that or how should we be thinking about that?

    Gerry Proehl

    You know I think that we?re still doing some work on exactly how to go forward with launching the products and I think a lot of that will depend on what's happening in the marketplace. I do think the ulcerative colitis marketplace is quite different than some of the marketplaces like diabetes or even cholesterol or an agent. It?s a much more serious disease. These patients have in the hospital; they end up with colon resected. I think price is less of an issue; it?s a less price sensitive marketplace than it is in some of the diabetes and cholesterol areas. So we will evaluate whether that would make sense to do any type of eVoucher program.

    We are excited about the product opportunity, obviously the target audience is slightly different from who we?re calling on. So we would be calling on gastroenterologists. It requires about 80 rep equivalents. Now as we move throughout 2012 for making evaluations of how well we?re doing with GLUMETZA, CYCLOSET and now FENOGLIDE and at the end of 2012 obviously with approval of UCERIS we?ll make a decision whether or not we?ll add a full 80 reps to gastroenterologists or something slightly less and that?s an evaluation that we seem to be doing throughout 2012.

    Traver Davis - Piper Jaffray

    And just one follow-up because you mentioned pricing; so any early ideas and how we should be thinking about pricing and do you think it?s going to be inline with pricing for [Adancor] or kind of go in a different way with that? Thanks.

    Gerry Proehl

    I would say at this point we?ll go out and do pricing research to make sure that we?re pricing appropriately, but for modeling purposes and using an Adancor type of price now, so you?re aware, we?ll have one tablet that would be a 9 milligram tablet and Adancor has 3 milligram so use three 3 milligram tablets. So if you use Adancor daily price that probably pretty good for your modeling.

    Operator

    Your next question comes from the line of [Yelena Alfengen of Stifel Nicolaus].

    Unidentified Analyst

    My first question is regarding FENOGLIDE; how soon do you think you could get to that previous $23 million peak and may be could you talk about what were some of the reasons responsible for the decline from that peak; was it primarily reduced promotion or were there any additional competitors entering and how does the competitive landscape look like for that product?

    Gerry Proehl

    Yeah this is Gerry; just to address your question and then I?ll turn it over to Bill. I think when we looked at this product it was pretty clear that throughout the transition of Sciele actually starting to be acquired by Shionogi and then Shionogi certainly reducing their promotion and ultimately not stopping promoting the product. This product hasn?t seen significant promotion for quite some time.

    And I think that?s the main reason for the reduction in the overall sales for product is that there is nobody out there promoting the product. And in the marketplace where there is not a lot of differentiation as you might expect, doctors are going to move to other products.

    So I think we certainly expect to start to see this coming back. It?s going to take a little bit of time to stop to decline. But we think we will be able to do that and then into 2012, begin to start to drive the prescriptions of the product. I can?t give you specific guidance on when we think we can get back to the course of the $20 million that will really depend on how well we do throughout 2012 and ?13.

    Now Bill, any other comments?

    Bill Denby

    Just on the competition, the major players in this market are TriCor and Trilipix marketed by Abbott and then there are cluster of smaller brands, Triglide and [Teralifothine] and FIBRICOR. Overtime, promotion likely has gone down since this category has matured. So we think we have a good chance to return this product to growth and get back to that $23 million and perhaps even beyond. But that remains to be seen. So, just a little bit of extra color there.

    Unidentified Analyst

    And are you potentially considering any price increases similar to the GLUMETZA strategy maybe to offset some of the eVoucher impact?

    Bill Denby

    Well, as we go forward, we would be considering price increases given the market dynamics at the time.

    Unidentified Analyst

    And then GLUMETZA, you have mentioned that you are happy with the progress there from the volume growth perspective. I am wondering, could you maybe provide some color on how the price increases were perceived by the payers and physicians and should we expect significant pull-through over the price increases in 2012 despite some offset from the eVoucher?

    Bill Denby

    We haven?t seen any negative effect relative to price increases that we?ve taken and eVoucher provided tremendous lift. I think most notably NRx are growing faster than TRx which is a key indicator for enduring growth. And I think those are the key points to takeaway on.

    Unidentified Analyst

    Would you then expect GLUMETZA to be the main growth driver for that strong guidance for 2012?

    Bill Denby

    It?s definitely significant.

    Unidentified Analyst

    And then the last one is on ZEGERID; just maybe a little bit of details there on how does ZEGERID look and any impact, potential impact from the lawsuit against Zydus Pharma?

    Gerry Proehl

    Yeah, so this is Jerry. You know obviously we?re waiting for the Appellate Court decision. And at this point in time, we have filed [patent suit] against Zydus and we don?t think that there will be any impact at all until we hear certainly from the Appellate Court. If the Appellate Court upholds the lower court decision that means that our patents are invalid. We would be required to take those patents out of the orange book and then Zydus would be approved in their normal cycle. I think the average for our second or third and the final is about 30-months right now. Certainly, if the Appellate Court either reverses and remands the decision back to a lower court or outright reverses the decision that means our patents are valid until 2016, July of 2016 which means that we would either enter into some of type of a settlement agreement with Zydus or we would go through litigation with them.

    Operator

    (Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Seth Hamot of RRH.

    Seth Hamot - RRH Capital Management Inc.

    With the $200 million revenue forecast for 2012 can you break that up into any specific drugs; you know what are you thinking about for CYCLOSET and GLUMETZA on that?

    Debbie Crawford

    Hi there Seth, it?s Debbie. At this time, we?re not providing specific product guidance, but I think as the discussion it was mentioned earlier we do see GLUMETZA being our most significant product and driving most of that growth in 2012. I think with respect to CYCLOSET we are pleased to be seeing some growth in the product, but that will continue we think to be on an incremental basis. So hopefully that's helpful for you.

    Operator

    There are no further questions at this time. Please proceed with your presentation or any closing remarks.

    Gerry Proehl

    Great. Well, I would like to thank you for taking interest in Santarus and for joining us on today?s call. If you do have any further questions, please feel free to contact Debbie Crawford, Martha Hough or myself. Take care. Have a nice Holiday.

    Bill Denby

    Happy Holidays everybody.

    Operator

    Ladies and gentlemen that concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

    Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/315578-santarus-ceo-hosts-business-update-conference-call-transcript

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    Journal retracts paper on chronic fatigue syndrome

    Reporting from Chicago?

    A scientific paper embraced by many chronic fatigue syndrome patients as a ray of hope is being retracted by the journal that published it after a tumultuous year that included allegations of data manipulation and the arrest of the study's lead researcher on a felony charge of possessing stolen property.

    In the paper, published in 2009 by the journal Science, researchers reported they had found evidence of a retrovirus called XMRV in the blood of patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome much more frequently than in the blood of healthy peers. The paper caused a stir and led other scientists to try to confirm the findings.

    Patients rejoiced at the possibility of an explanation for their illness, which has long confounded researchers. Some patients even began taking antiretroviral drugs designed to treat a different retrovirus, HIV.

    At the same time, the paper's lead researcher, Judy Mikovits, then employed at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, began linking XMRV to other frustrating disorders, including autism and Gulf War syndrome, without publishing data to support her statements.

    Soon, independent teams of scientists began reporting they could not find evidence of the retrovirus in the blood of chronic fatigue patients or anyone else. Researchers hypothesized that lab contamination could have caused the original findings. Mikovits denied it.

    Then, several authors on the original paper reported their data were flawed, resulting in a partial retraction. Science's staff attempted to get the paper's authors ? including Mikovits ? to agree to a full retraction, but the group could not agree on the wording, Science executive editor Monica Bradford said in an interview.

    In particular, Mikovits and others wanted to include a statement that they had confidence in their larger conclusions about the presence of the virus, Bradford said. But some of the authors were uncomfortable with that, as was Science, she said.

    On Thursday, Science's editor in chief, Bruce Alberts, said the journal would take the unusual step of retracting the paper itself.

    Alberts listed several reasons: the partial retraction of data earlier in the year, the failure of multiple labs to reliably find evidence of XMRV in chronic fatigue patients' blood, poor quality control in some of the experiments and the acknowledgment by the paper's authors that they had left out some important information.

    "Science has lost confidence in the report and the validity of its conclusions," Alberts wrote. "We regret the time and resources that the scientific community has devoted to unsuccessful attempts to replicate these results."

    In an interview, Alberts said the episode was an unfortunate waste of time and resources for scientists and for patients. "I think this whole thing has been a tragedy for science," he said. "It is very sad that the patients got tied up and confused by it."

    Attempts to contact Mikovits were unsuccessful.

    Annette Whittemore, president of the Whittemore Peterson Institute, said in a statement that the institute would carry on with research on the illness. "It is not the end of the story," she wrote. "Rather it is the beginning of our renewed efforts."

    At the center of the controversy is Mikovits, the scientist hired to be director of research by the institute, which was founded by the parents of a woman with chronic fatigue syndrome.

    After the Science paper was published, some patients showered adulation on Mikovits. They wrote to her, crowded her at conferences and set up a defense fund when she ran into legal trouble. One patient signed message board postings: "In Judy We Trust."

    Mikovits was controversial. Shortly after the paper came out, she spoke at the Autism One conference in Chicago, joining a lineup of speakers that included disgraced autism researcher Andrew Wakefield, who had lost the right to practice medicine in Britain for professional misconduct. There she linked XMRV to autism, a baseless assertion that has since been picked up by some in the autism community.

    Earlier this year, the Chicago Tribune reported that Science was investigating whether data in the original paper had been manipulated after an Oklahoma graduate student, Abbie Smith, pointed out that Mikovits had presented the same figure twice ? once in the Science paper and once at a conference ? but with different labeling.

    Science's executive editor, Bradford, said Mikovits explained the problem as an "honest error."

    In September, the Whittemore Peterson Institute fired Mikovits and later filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she possessed key lab notebooks and other property belonging to the institute. An employee filed affidavits alleging Mikovits had instructed him to take the notebooks from the institute and hand them over to her.

    Just before Thanksgiving, Mikovits was arrested in California and spent five days in jail. An arrest warrant issued by University of Nevada at Reno police listed two felony charges: possession of stolen property and unlawful taking of computer data, equipment, supplies or other computer-related property.

    A spokeswoman for the institute said that Mikovits returned some but not all of the lab notebooks and that when she returned one computer, its hard drive had been wiped clean. Another computer is in police custody, the spokeswoman said.

    On Monday, a Nevada judge granted a default judgment in the civil lawsuit in favor of the institute, and ordered Mikovits to pay attorney's fees.

    ttsouderos@tribune.com

    Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/Hi3ObOrwWh0/la-na-chronic-fatigue-20111223,0,3458539.story

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    Friday, December 23, 2011

    Astronomers discover planets that survived their star's expansion

    ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2011) ? Astronomers have discovered two Earth-sized planets that survived getting caught in the red-giant expansion of their host star.

    Steve Kawaler, an Iowa State University professor of physics and astronomy and a leader of the Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation, helped the research team study data from the Kepler space telescope to confirm that tiny variations of light from a star were actually caused by two planets of that star.

    The findings are published in the Letters section of the Dec. 22 edition of the journal Nature. St?phane Charpinet of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Plan?tologie in Toulouse, France, is the lead author and leader of the research team.

    "This is a snapshot of what our solar system might look like after several billion more years of evolution," Kawaler said. "This can help us learn about the future of planetary systems and of our own sun."

    Kawaler said the researchers have studied pulsations of the planets' host star (KIC 05807616, an old star just past its red-giant state and with an exposed core) for about two years. While analyzing the data, Charpinet noticed two tiny variations repeated in 5.76 and 8.23 hour intervals.

    He asked other astronomers -- including Kawaler -- to analyze the original Kepler data and a subsequent set of data to see if they could also see the variations.

    "We saw them in the same place and the same periodicity," Kawaler said. "So we knew they were real."

    That led to the next question: "So what are they?"

    Kawaler, working 26 years ago with the late Carl Hansen of the University of Colorado, had studied the fastest, and slowest, rates that stars could pulsate. Using that result, the team could conclude the variations seen by Kepler were too slow to be caused by the star itself. And so the astronomers started testing the idea that the variations were from two planets orbiting the star.

    Astronomers believe the variations from the two planets -- KOI 55.01 and KOI 55.02 -- are caused by reflection of the star's light on the planets and by differences in thermal emissions from the hot day-sides and cooler night-sides of the planets.

    The astronomers also report the two planets are 76 percent and 87 percent the size of Earth. That makes them among the smallest planets detected around a star other than our sun.

    They further report the planets are very close to their host star, only .6 percent and .76 percent the distance between the sun and Earth. That means conditions on the planets are very harsh with temperatures up to 16,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

    That's so close the host star's expansion as a red giant would have engulfed the planets, possibly stripping gaseous giants similar to Jupiter down to their dense cores. The planets also could have contributed to the host star's unusual loss of mass.

    The research team said the discovery of the two planets raises many questions about their ability to survive such harsh conditions. It also raises questions about how planets can affect the evolution of their host stars.

    Kawaler said NASA's Kepler Mission, launched in March 2009, is a tremendous tool for studying stars and planets. So much so, astronomers are working to extend the Kepler Mission another four years, from 2012 into 2016.

    Kepler's primary job is to detect tiny variations in the brightness of the stars within its view to find Earth-like planets that might be able to support life.

    The Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation is also using Kepler data to study different kinds of stars. The investigation is led by a four-member steering committee: Kawaler, Chair Ron Gilliland of the Space Telescope Science Institute based in Baltimore, Jorgen Christensen-Dalsgaard and Hans Kjeldsen, both of Aarhus University in Denmark.

    Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
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    Story Source:

    The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Iowa State University.

    Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


    Journal Reference:

    1. S. Charpinet, G. Fontaine, P. Brassard, E. M. Green, V. Van Grootel, S. K. Randall, R. Silvotti, A. S. Baran, R. H. ?stensen, S. D. Kawaler, J. H. Telting. A compact system of small planets around a former red-giant star. Nature, 2011; 480 (7378): 496 DOI: 10.1038/nature10631

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

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

    Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Hf8yst4zqXI/111221140631.htm

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    NFL playoffs, Super Bowl to be streamed online

    [unable to retrieve full-text content]

    Source: networks.org --- Wednesday, December 21, 2011
    (21:46 UTC) CNN : NFL playoffs, Super Bowl to be streamed online ...

    Source: http://networks.org/?src=cnn:2011:12:20:tech:web:super-bowl-online

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    Sunday, December 18, 2011

    'The Onion' Of Medical Journals Pokes Fun At Studies

    For the past 13 years, North America's medical community has had its own version of The Onion. The Canadian Medical Association Journal's "Holiday Reading" segment in its December issue brings satire and spoofing to its medical studies, with some unintended consequences. Host Audie Cornish talks with Barbara Sibbald, editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

    Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/18/143916143/the-onion-of-medical-journals-pokes-fun-at-studies?ft=1&f=1007

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    Green Monday And Free Shipping Day Help Boost Online Holiday Sales By 15 Percent To $31B

    com-1As we get closer to the Christmas holidays, online retail spending continues to soar, says data and web analytics company comScore. A total of $6.3 billion was spent online in the past week, bringing the total spending for the holiday season to $30.9 billion. That's a 15 percent increase versus the same period last year. In the past week, four individual days surpassed $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday (Monday, Dec. 12) with $1.13 billion and Free Shipping Day (Friday, Dec. 16) with $1.07 billion.

    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/3vJZYxvkSGE/

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    Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person of 2011 is ...


    Even Bill O'Reilly will have a hard time arguing this one.

    On Wednesday, Barbara Walters announced her annual 10 Most Fascinating People list, and overtaking big names like Simon Cowell, Pippa Middleton, Katy Perry and the Kardashians was one person whose impact and legacy transcend all of them combined:

    The late Steve Jobs.

    The co-founder of Apple and the man responsible for numerous technology innovations that shape our lives on a daily basis, Jobs passed away this fall at age 56.

    First diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, Jobs recovered, but it returned, and in 2009, he underwent a liver transplant. He resigned this summer as CEO.

    At that point he became Walters' choice immediately, even though she never got to interview the man. Jobs is the first deceased Most Fascinating Person.

    Truly a once-in-a-generation mind, Jobs was taken from us far too soon, but not before transforming technology - and modern life - in profound ways.

    His fingerprints are on everything from the iTunes store to the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Pixar films and even the mouse. Yes, the mouse. In a word, he was awesome.

    Steve Jobs: Good choice for Most Fascinating Person?

    Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/barbara-walters-most-fascinating-person-of-2011-is/

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    Saturday, December 17, 2011

    Japan Prepares to Declare the Fukushima Reactor "Shutdown" [Fukushima]

    Japanese officials are preparing to finally declare the Fukushima power plant in a state of cold shutdown as early as 9am tomorrow (GMT). Now they can begin the estimated 40-year process of dismantling the site and repopulating the area. More »


    Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KBNNUo7S_Hg/japan-prepares-to-declare-the-fukushima-crisis-over

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    Report slams Dutch Catholic Church over sex abuse

    Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk, center, answers questions during a press conference in Zeist, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. A Dutch archbishop has apologized to victims after an independent inquiry reported that thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, and church officials knew about it but failed to adequately address it. Wim Eijk says the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

    Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk, center, answers questions during a press conference in Zeist, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. A Dutch archbishop has apologized to victims after an independent inquiry reported that thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, and church officials knew about it but failed to adequately address it. Wim Eijk says the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

    Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk gestures during a press conference in Zeist, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. A Dutch archbishop has apologized to victims after an independent inquiry reported that thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, and church officials knew about it but failed to adequately address it. Wim Eijk says the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

    Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk, center, and chairman of the Conference of Dutch Religious Orders, Cees van Dam, right, during a press conference in Zeist, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. A Dutch archbishop has apologized to victims after an independent inquiry reported that thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, and church officials knew about it but failed to adequately address it. Wim Eijk says the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

    Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk, left, and chairman of the Conference of Dutch Religious Orders, Cees van Dam, right, are seen during a press conference in Zeist, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. A Dutch archbishop has apologized to victims after an independent inquiry reported that thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, and church officials knew about it but failed to adequately address it. Wim Eijk says the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

    Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk during a press conference in Zeist, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. A Dutch archbishop has apologized to victims after an independent inquiry reported that thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, and church officials knew about it but failed to adequately address it. Wim Eijk says the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? As many as 20,000 children endured sexual abuse at Dutch Catholic institutions over the past 65 years, and church officials failed to adequately address it or help the victims, according to a long-awaited investigative report released Friday.

    The findings detailed some of the most widespread abuse yet linked to the Roman Catholic Church, which has been under fire for years over abuse allegations in Europe, the United States and elsewhere.

    Based on a survey of 34,000 people, the report estimated that 1 in 10 Dutch children suffered some form of sexual abuse ? a figure that rose to 1 in 5 among children who spent part of their youth in an institution such as a boarding school or children's home, whether Catholic or not.

    "Sexual abuse of minors," it said bluntly, "occurs widely in Dutch society."

    The findings prompted the archbishop of Utrecht, Wim Eijk, to apologize to victims on behalf of the Dutch church, saying the report "fills us with shame and sorrow."

    The abuse ranged from "unwanted sexual advances" to rape, and abusers numbered in the hundreds and included priests, brothers and lay people who worked in religious orders and congregations. The number of victims who suffered abuse in church institutions likely lies somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000, according to the probe, which went back as far as 1945.

    The commission behind the investigation was set up last year by the Catholic Church under the leadership of a former government minister, Wim Deetman, a Protestant, who said there could be no doubt church leaders knew of the problem. "The idea that people did not know there was a risk ... is untenable," he told a news conference.

    Deetman said abuse continued in part because bishops and religious orders sometimes worked autonomously to deal with the abuse and "did not hang out their dirty laundry." However, he said the commission concluded that "it is wrong to talk of a culture of silence" by the church as a whole.

    Colm O'Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International in Ireland and a victim of clergy abuse, criticized the Dutch inquiry because it was established by the church itself.

    "It is the Dutch government that should be putting in place a meaningful investigation," O'Gorman said.

    Even so, he said the report "highlights widespread abuse on a scale I think would be shocking to most Dutch people."

    But O'Gorman added that "the scale of the abuse is in and of itself not the significant issue. It is whether it was covered up and, significantly, this report suggests it was."

    Nearly a third of the Netherlands' 16 million people identify themselves as Catholic, making it the largest religion in the country, according to the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics for 2008.

    The Dutch probe followed allegations of repeated incidents of abuse at one cloister that spread to claims from Catholic institutions across the country.

    The investigating commission received some 1,800 complaints of abuse at Catholic schools, seminaries and orphanages. It then conducted the broader survey of 34,000 people for a more comprehensive analysis of the scale and nature of sexual abuse of minors in the church and elsewhere.

    In one order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, the commission found evidence that "sexually inappropriate behavior" among members "may perhaps have been part of the internal monastic culture."

    Bert Smeets, an abuse victim, said the report did not go far enough in investigating and outlining in precise detail exactly what happened.

    "What was happening was sexual abuse, violence, spiritual terror, and that should have been investigated," Smeets told The Associated Press. "It remains vague. All sorts of things happened, but nobody knows exactly what or by whom. This way they avoid responsibility."

    The commission said about 800 priests, brothers, pastors or lay people working for the church were identified in the complaints. About 105 of them are still alive, although it is not known if they remain in church positions. Their names were not released.

    Prosecutors said in a statement that Deetman's inquiry had referred 11 cases to them ? without naming the alleged perpetrators. Prosecutors opened only one investigation, saying the other 10 did not have sufficient details and happened too long ago to prosecute.

    The latest findings add to the growing evidence of widespread clergy abuse of children documented in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Belgium and other countries, forcing Pope Benedict XVI to apologize to victims whose trauma was often hidden by church cover-ups.

    In September, abuse victims and human rights lawyers, upset that no high-ranking church officials have yet to be prosecuted, filed a complaint in the United States urging the International Criminal Court to investigate the pope and top Vatican officials for possible crimes against humanity. The Vatican called the move a "ludicrous publicity stunt."

    An American advocacy group involved in that case, the Center for Constitutional Rights, called the Dutch findings "yet another example of the widespread and systematic nature of the problem of child sex crimes in the Catholic Church."

    "If similar commissions were held in every country, we would undoubtedly be equally appalled by the rates of abuse," it said.

    Archbishop Eijk said the victims in the Netherlands would be compensated by a commission the Dutch church set up last month and which has a scale starting at $6,500 (euro5,000), rising to a maximum of $130,000 (euro100,000) depending on the nature of the abuse.

    O'Gorman criticized the church-established compensation scheme.

    "It is simply not appropriate for the church to be the decider" of compensation, he said. "It is important the Dutch government recognizes its responsibility to ensure access to justice ... to all victims."

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-16-EU-Netherlands-Church-Abuse/id-1f0c0ddbbacc4b1a834cddbf66767601

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