Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/301601199?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Pot smokers aren't totally off the hook in Colorado
DENVER (AP) ? Medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but employers in the state can lawfully fire workers who test positive for the drug, even if it was used off duty, according to a court ruling Thursday.
The Colorado Court of Appeals found there is no employment protection for medical marijuana users in the state since the drug remains barred by the federal government.
"For an activity to be lawful in Colorado, it must be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law," the appeals court stated in its 2-1 conclusion.
The ruling concurs with court decisions in similar cases elsewhere and comes as businesses attempt to regulate pot use among employees in states where the drug is legal. Colorado and Washington state law both provide for recreational marijuana use. Several other states have legalized medical use. Police departments have been especially concerned since officers are sworn to uphold both state and federal laws.
The Colorado case involves Brandon Coats, 33, a telephone operator for Englewood, Colo.-based Dish Network LLC. Coats was paralyzed in a car crash as a teenager and has been a medical marijuana patient in the state since 2009.
He was fired in 2010 for failing a company drug test, though his employer didn't claim he was ever impaired on the job.
Coats sued to get his job back, but a trial court dismissed his claim in 2011. The judge agreed with Dish Network that medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by a state law intended to protect cigarette smokers from being fired for legal behavior off the clock. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than half of all states have such laws.
Dish Network did not return a call seeking comment.
Coats' attorney, Michael Evans, issued a statement saying the ruling has wide implications for Colorado marijuana laws.
"This case not only impacts Mr. Coats, but also some 127,816 medical marijuana patient-employees in Colorado who could be summarily terminated even if they are in legal compliance with Colorado state law," Evans noted.
Evans plans to ask the state Supreme Court to review the case.
Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, called it a setback.
"It's unfortunate, considering how much support there is for medical marijuana, that employers don't see this like any other medication," Fox said.
The Marijuana Policy Project said the ruling appears to be limited to state law because it does not fall under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Judge John Webb dissented in the split decision, saying he couldn't find a case addressing whether Colorado judges should consider federal law in determining the meaning of a Colorado statute.
Marijuana supporters say the courts are discriminating against them because Colorado's Lawful Off-Duty Activities law protects workers being fired for legal behavior off the clock, citing cigarette smoking as a protected activity.
The court said lawmakers could act to change the law to protect people who use marijuana, but there have been no plans to do that at the state Capitol.
Colorado's amendment legalizing recreational marijuana doesn't give people a constitutional right to smoke pot and doesn't protect users from criminal prosecution, from being fired or from other negative consequences. Backers said smoking off the job was a gray area and warned people to be familiar with their employers' drug policies.
Coats told reporters Thursday afternoon that he obtained a prescription for medical marijuana to deal with debilitating muscle spasms that would otherwise prevent him from working. He has been looking for a job ever since being dismissed by Dish.
"I'm not going to get better anytime soon," said Coats. "I need the marijuana, and I don't want to go the rest of my life without holding a job."
The Washington state Supreme Court also has found that workers can be fired for using marijuana, even if authorized by the state's medical marijuana law.
Last year, a federal appeals court ruled against a cancer survivor in Battle Creek, Mich., who was fired from his job with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. after failing a drug test for marijuana. Joseph Casias had a medical marijuana card and said he used pot to alleviate symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor.
According to the Marijuana Policy Project, the California Supreme Court also has ruled that people could be fired for testing positive for marijuana. The Legislature passed a bill to change that in 2008, but it was vetoed.
In Arizona, however, a law approved by voters in 2010 forbids employers from terminating someone who possesses a state-issued card allowing them to use marijuana medically.
___
Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin, Peter Banda, Nicholas Riccardi and Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-says-pot-smokers-fired-even-colo-200634860.html
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Stocks stall on tepid US economic growth
In this Tuesday, April 16, 2013, photo, Specialist Michael O'Mara, left, and trader Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets fell Friday April 26, 2013 after Japan faced an unwelcome drop in consumer prices. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
In this Tuesday, April 16, 2013, photo, Specialist Michael O'Mara, left, and trader Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets fell Friday April 26, 2013 after Japan faced an unwelcome drop in consumer prices. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market stalled Friday after the U.S. economy didn't grow as much as hoped and earnings from a handful of big companies failed to rev up investors.
The economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, the government said. That was below the 3.1 percent forecast by economists.
The shortfall reinforced the perception that the economy is grinding, rather than charging, ahead. Investors have also been troubled by reports in the last month of weaker hiring, slower manufacturing and a drop in factory orders. Many economists see growth slowing to an annual rate of around 2 percent a year for the rest of the year.
U.S. government bonds, where investors seek safety, rose after the report.
"There are some concerns as we head into the summer," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade. "In the last three weeks, we've seen numbers that weren't exactly what you'd love to see."
Corporate earnings this week have also contained worrisome signs. Many companies missed revenue forecasts from financial analysts, even as they reported higher quarterly profits. For example, Goodyear Tire slipped 3.3 percent to $12.51 Friday after revenue fell short of analysts' estimates, hurt by lower global tire sales.
Of the companies that have reported earnings so far, 70 percent have exceeded Wall Street's expectations, compared with a 10-year average of 62 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ. But 43 percent have missed revenue estimates. Just over half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported quarterly results.
The S&P 500 index dropped 2.92 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 1,582.24.
The Dow rose 11.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,712.55. The index got a big lift from Chevron. Profit for the U.S. oil company beat expectations of financial analysts in the first quarter, pushing shares up 1.3 percent to $120.04.
Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.
Both indexes were up for the week and remain slightly below their all-time highs reached April 11. The Dow index rose 1.1 percent this week while the S&P gained 1.7 percent.
The market has been bolstered by the Federal Reserve's easy money policy. The disappointing growth figure for the economy will ensure that the Fed sticks with its stimulus policy, providing support for stocks, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
"The economic data that we've been getting points to no early exit for the Fed's stimulus," Cardillo said.
The Nasdaq composite fell 10.72 points to 3,279.26, a decline of 0.3 percent. The index is 2.3 percent higher this week.
The tech-heavy index has lagged the Dow and the S&P 500 this year, but it led the way higher this week, boosted by Microsoft. The software giant, which makes up 5.3 percent of the Nasdaq, recorded its biggest weekly gain since January of last year ? up 6.8 percent. It reported earnings April 19 that beat Wall Street expectations. The company also began an aggressive push into the computer tablet market.
Apple, the largest stock in the Nasdaq, also had a good week. The stock rose 6.8 percent to $417.20, its best weekly gain since November, despite posting a decline in quarterly profit Tuesday. Apple accounts for 7.6 percent of the Nasdaq composite.
Among other big names investors focused on:
Amazon.com fell 7 percent to $254.81 after the company warned of a possible loss in the current quarter. The online retailer also reported lower income for the first quarter as it continued to spend heavily on rights to digital content.
Expedia fell 10 percent to $58.56 after the online travel company reported a quarterly loss.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton surged 8.7 percent to $26.66 after its income nearly tripled thanks to a continuing recovery the housing market. The results handily beat the forecasts of financial analysts who follow the company.
J.C. Penney jumped 12 percent to $17 after the billionaire financier George Soros disclosed that he had taken a 7.9 percent stake in the struggling company.
In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to its lowest rate of the year, 1.67 percent, from 1.71 percent the day before. The yield has fallen from 2.06 percent six weeks ago as traders move money into lower-risk investments.
The dollar weakened against the euro.
The European currency bought $1.3029 at the end of day, compared with $1.3002 the day before. The ISE dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a group of other world currencies including the Japanese yen and the euro, dropped 0.3 percent, to 82.48.
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Understanding 'EVE Online's' Fanfest: A celebration of the most ...
This week I?ll be in Iceland, compliments of CCP Games, to immerse myself in the culture that has sprung up around the developer?s massively multiplayer online RPG,?EVE Online. The yearly EVE Fanfest gathering is more than just a celebration of the game?s dedicated fanbase; it?s also a fictional sort of UN Summit in which the state of the union is laid out for one and all, with panel discussions and keynotes offering a sense of what?s next for the ever-evolving game.
Still,?EVE Online is something of an enigma within the gaming space. A number of related factors help to set it apart from other MMOs. Most serious gamers are tuned into the fact that something unique is happening is CCP?s 500,000-strong userbase, but complex gameplay and a somewhat unapproachable user interface often sees the sci-fi future-set MMO?summed up simply as ?spreadsheets in space.? It?s a reductive assessment that completely overlooks the intensely social play that makes?EVE?so popular among its fans.
With the festivities set to commence in Iceland in a matter of hours, we thought it would be a good idea to spend some time today laying out what?EVE Online is and why it amounts to one of the most fascinating games that most of you have never played.
Understanding the?EVE-verse
EVE Online?is set in the distant future, right around the year 23,000. Sometime in Earth?s future, humanity began to spread out and colonize star systems across the entire Milky Way. The expansion continued until, inevitably, humanity began to fight over a limited supply of resources. The chance discovery of an apparently stable natural wormhole led our people to the galaxy of New Eden, an untouched domain where the onward march of manifest destiny could continue.
This worked well for a time until the wormhole collapsed and the gateway was sealed. Cut off from a steady supply of resources and technology, civilization started to crumble. Humanity persevered despite heavy losses, and five separate factions emerged over time.?Four of these five factions are the playable races that you choose from when creating a new character in EVE Online.
The four playable factions all feature their own histories that define their personalities, and the story continues to evolve even now. The Amarr Republic was the first to recover after the wormhole collapse, and its discovery of a faster-than-light drive led to a bloody phase of conquest and slavery. One of those slave races revolted and formed the Minmatar Republic, which remains strongly anti-slavery and survives through a strong economy backed by an equally strong military.
Meanwhile, the mega-corporation-controlled Caldari State began as part of the democratic Gallente Federation, but seceded, sparking a 93 year war that left many grievances unresolved. The terraformed Caldari homeworld remained in the hands of the Federation until just recently, when a major engagement spanning across the two games,?EVE Online and Dust 514, led to the planet changing hands. The fifth and unplayable faction, the Jove Directorate, suffered the effects of self-imposed genetic manipulation and lives on the outskirts of known space, suffering from a psychological disorder.
The differences born of their mutual history define the Factions. For example while the Gallente and the Caldari are both trade oriented, the Gallente believe in small business practices and progressive attitudes, while the Caldari are focused on the major corporations and create their own lab bred labor. These differences color the way you play and influence the continuing story.
Life in New Eden
EVE Online?s galaxy of New Eden is a dangerous place to build a life for oneself, but great rewards also await those who take the biggest risks. The game is built to support any number of player approaches. You can focus entirely on mining or trading or manufacture. You can tailor your ship for combat and link up with a band of mercenaries or pirates. You can even take on administrative roles at any number of corporations ? or one that you found yourself ? as anything from CEO to accountant. The game is built to encourage social play and much of the fun is derived from the dynamics that spring from CCP?s hands-off approach to the economy.
The New Eden economy is driven by Interstellar Kredits (ISK), the in-game currency that is used by all factions. Various resources can be found and gathered across the galaxy, and they are regularly replenished by an automated process that sees them spread to less populated regions. Every one of the game?s 7,500+ star systems is assigned a Security Status rating that offers an idea of how ?safe? the region is.
High-security (or ?high-sec?) systems are overseen by New Eden?s NPC law enforcement body, CONCORD; ?illegal? in-game actions such as piracy ? illegal according to the in-game laws rather than the rules that CCP has laid out ? are responded to quickly and severely. Low-security (?low-sec?) systems are policed as well, but less intensively.??Null sec? or ?zero space? systems are completely lawless, but they are often where great resource rewards await. More importantly, individual ?null sec? systems and even entire clusters can be wholly controlled and policed by player-run corporations and alliances.?
This brings us to one of the most unique facets of?EVE Online?s universe: it operates on what CCP refers to as a ?single shard.??
Most MMOs use multiple servers, where the world is identical on each server, but the people there are limited to interacting with those on that same server.? EVE Online?s subscribers are all on one main server, or shard, known as ?Tranquility.? There are a handful of servers for other purposes as well, such as one dedicated to Chinese gamers and others for testing purposes, including one to test cross play between Eve and Dust 514.?
PlayStation 3 owners will have a unique connection to?EVE Online that will likely be discussed in some detail over the next week at Fanfest.?Dust 514 is a free-to-play first-person shooter available to PS3 fans that is currently still in beta, with the full release planned for later this year.?
All of the planetary engagements in the PS3 shooter are ostensibly unfolding on the surface of one of the thousands of worlds scattered across New Eden. Many of the details are still being hammered out as?Dust 514?s open beta proceeds, but the fundamental aim is pretty straightforward: corporation vs. corporation play, with players on the?EVE?side putting out contracts that?Dust?mercs can accept. This creates a tangible tie between the multiplayer action and the eye-in-the-sky MMO play. Both sides enjoy benefits:?EVE?players can offer aid to?Dust?match-ups in the form of?orbital bombardment, while successfully completed contracts bring all manner of rewards to corps on the?EVE?side.
Social dynamics and paying for play with play
With nearly every one of?EVE Online?s players concentrated on a single server, it?s probably no surprise to learn that social play is at the heart of the game. Player-run corporations and alliances span huge chunks of New Eden, and CCP?s hands-off approach allows for what amounts to real world intrigue. There are stories of real-life players infiltrating corporations over significant periods of time and working up to a powerful enough position to make off with key resources and even bring down leadership. It is all about relationships, and that is part of what Fanfest represents. ?
During the Icelandic event, fans and developer openly discuss what can make the game better, what works and what doesn?t. When Dust 514 was still in the development phase, CCP went to the fans and asked them for more?than?just general questions about what fans wanted, they asked for actual input on things like features. CCP?listened?too. In an MMO where social interaction is so highly praised, this level of communication between gamers and developers is incredible.?
The economy in?EVE Online?also operates on a real world model, with player behaviors actively influencing how it fluctuates over time. The market operates on supply and demand, based entirely on what players are buying and selling. This open-ended structure creates even more opportunities for mischief. Those with enough resources at their disposal can actively manipulate the market. For example, a corporation with a controlling share of one type of resource could effectively drive the price of said resource higher by restricting its availability, creating higher demand in the process. Fanfest presents some of the most dedicated gamers with a chance to meet in person and discuss the future of the economy. Back room deals will be made, and conversations over beers will shape the digital landscape for years to come.
Bringing everything together at EVE Fanfest
All of these various aspects of game and community come together at CCP?s yearly EVE Fanfest celebration in Iceland, where the studio is based. Players meet with devs in an informal, party setting. Serious business is discussed, but the gathering is as much about fostering the?EVE?community as it is about accepting feedback in a one-on-one setting. The talks and panels and keynotes all exist to communicate the current state of the?EVE universe and the direction it is headed in.
If you?d like to learn more about?EVE Online, there are plenty of resources available, from the?EVElopedia?to the streaming podcasts of?EVE Radio.?EVE Online?is unlike any other game out there right now because of the commitment of the community and the receptiveness of the developers. For 10 years that digital cabal has continued to expand and evolve in ways that no one, not even the people that made the game, could have predicted. So now it is a time to recount and recap, to plan and prepare, and discuss what the next decade of?EVE Online?will look like.?
Check back with us all week for updates live from Iceland.?
?
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Suggestions That Put Your Social Media Marketing To Get Results ...
Social networking features a good reputation for as an really complicated marketing program, but this is incorrect. It is actually one of many easiest choices on the market and needs no economic investment. Using social media allows the business manager to have interaction with an a lot more personal stage with his or her audience and create a ripple through the internet. One easy video turns into an array of visitors if the listed below advice is considered.
Build top quality content targeted for social websites. Should you be just haphazardly flinging phrases, promoting or any number of mundane snippets on your customers, you then are squandering your some time and losing their business. Be as concerned about your interpersonal content material solutions as you are for that information on the organization internet site.
One great way to have men and women to be involved in your social media web sites is always to supply freebies, freebies, and competitions. Make engagement in a few type or any other around the entrance develop. You can use this to get people to comply with you, like your page, or compose some thing inside a remark line.
To successfully advertise your enterprise on social networking, opening up a tweets accounts will help bring in customers. Word on tweets trips speedy, and lots of profitable enterprises have tried twitter to distribute the word on discount rates or special attractions happening at their companies. You are able to obtain supporters by doing this, and reports relating to your organization is likewise distributed by word of mouth marketing.
Your head line is crucial into a very good article. Most social networks inspire you and also hardwearing . content simple, and if you were to post an extensive write-up, odds are no-one would spend some time to go through it. Try out publishing a hyperlink to your post with a great heading that equally grabs your readers? consideration and clarify what the post is all about.
To acquire men and women to complete your content close to, create databases! A listing file format might appear a little uncomfortable and absurd, but people are more likely to reveal this type of information than just about anything more. Whether it?s a top-notch 10 selection of goods or a list of techniques a product works extremely well, lists will get people involved.
Just before making a specific social media marketing technique, work out which social network site you want to use. Every single social network sites website functions in a different way, so it is vital that your method work together with the internet site you select. As an example, on Facebook or myspace you can create a survey, as opposed to most web sites.
Increase your information due to background photos or Facebook or twitter photostrips. You need to build a design and style that reflects the actual time of year, or simply use colors linked to your manufacturer. Transform the style of your profile frequently, or use diverse designs on special occasions only, before transitioning straight back to your usual layout.
Achieving targeted traffic is important, but it is more essential that they consider the stage from visitors to client. This will basically be completed in the event you generate quality press and target the appropriate audience. Usually do not spend your time or dollars seeking to market to the entire online world when straightforward preparation along with the over tips will save you both.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
New push against polio and new vaccines in Somalia
Somali mothers wait in line to have their babies examined before receiving a five-in-one vaccine against several potentially fatal childhood diseases, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, April 24, 2013. On the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi and coinciding with World Immunization Week, the authorities in Somalia, which has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world, launched the new deployment of a pentavalent vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B the bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Somali mothers wait in line to have their babies examined before receiving a five-in-one vaccine against several potentially fatal childhood diseases, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, April 24, 2013. On the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi and coinciding with World Immunization Week, the authorities in Somalia, which has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world, launched the new deployment of a pentavalent vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B the bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A Somali mother and her baby wait in line to receive a five-in-one vaccine against several potentially fatal childhood diseases, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, April 24, 2013. On the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi and coinciding with World Immunization Week, the authorities in Somalia, which has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world, launched the new deployment of a pentavalent vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B the bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A Somali mother and her baby wait in partial shade in a courtyard after her baby received a five-in-one vaccine against several potentially fatal childhood diseases, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, April 24, 2013. On the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi and coinciding with World Immunization Week, the authorities in Somalia, which has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world, launched the new deployment of a pentavalent vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B the bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Somali mothers and their babies wait in line for the babies to receive a five-in-one vaccine against several potentially fatal childhood diseases, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, April 24, 2013. On the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi and coinciding with World Immunization Week, the authorities in Somalia, which has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world, launched the new deployment of a pentavalent vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B the bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A Somali baby receives a polio vaccine, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, April 24, 2013. On the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi and coinciding with World Immunization Week, the authorities in Somalia, which has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world, have launched a new push to vaccinate against several potentially fatal childhood diseases. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) ? Two dozen babies sat on the laps of their mothers, who dressed in a rainbow of headscarves at the Medina Maternal Child Health Center. They are among Somalia's luckiest ? the first to receive a new vaccine that protects against five dangerous diseases.
With more regions of Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, at peace for the first time in 20 years, health care workers are expanding vaccination programs and can now access 40 percent of south-central Somalia, where the influence of hardline Islamic insurgents is highest. Three years ago, health workers could access only 15 to 20 percent of that territory.
With one in five Somali children dying before his or her fifth birthday, the international community is rolling out the new five-in-one child vaccine they say will save thousands of lives.
The roll-out of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and an influenza known as Hib comes as health leaders on Thursday held the Global Vaccine Summit in the United Arab Emirates, where a six-year plan to eradicate polio was unveiled.
Violence and insecurity cost children dearly when it comes to preventable diseases. Polio remains endemic in only three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. All three experience heavy violence. In February, gunmen believed to belong to a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram shot and killed at least nine women taking part in a polio vaccination drive in northern Nigeria.
In Somalia, efforts by African Union forces ? from Kenya, Uganda and Burundi primarily ? have beaten al-Shabab back from areas it once controlled. As evidence of the improved security, Britain's foreign secretary traveled to Mogadishu on Thursday to open the British Embassy, the first time Britain has had an embassy in Somalia since 1991, when violence forced an embassy evacuation.
When al-Shabab is forced out, health officials rush in and vaccinate children, said Marthe Everard, the World Health Organization country director for Somalia. After Kenyan forces took the coastal city of Kisumu last year from al-Shabab, health officials immediately vaccinated nearly 13,000 children, but districts around the city remain off-limits, she said.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, speaking at the new vaccine's launch in Mogadishu on Wednesday, said all Somali children deserve the good health that children from rich countries enjoy. He blamed much of the country's vaccination problem on al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant group that controls much of south-central Somalia and up until August 2011 controlled Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab, the president said, is killing people with attacks and explosions, but also by forbidding children access to vaccines. Maryan Qasim Ahmed, the country's health minister, said al-Shabab kills aid workers who try to better health in south-central Somalia, "so they are contributing to child and infant mortality."
"The state of child health in Somalia is one of the worst in the whole world," said Ahmed. "The children of Somalia are dying from diseases that don't exist in the rest of the world."
Al-Shabab distributes false propaganda against vaccines, Everard said, such as claims the vaccines will make girls infertile, or that the vaccines are made by Christian countries. The vaccines are actually made in Indonesia and Pakistan, Muslim countries.
Sikander Khan, the head of UNICEF in Somalia, said the health sector must take advantage of Somalia's improved security: "There's more confidence and there's more hope. I don't think we can afford to let go of this opportunity."
But the remote stretches of the arid Horn of Africa nation also hamper aid workers.
Saqa Farah is the mother of 12 children from a nomadic goat-herding family in Somalia's north, where al-Shabab is not prominent. Only her youngest child, Abdi, was vaccinated. But even Abdi didn't get a full cycle and he's now in a Mogadishu hospital with measles.
"There is no medicine," Farah said. "I'm a nomad. When one of us gets sick we either get medicine or we die."
Omar Mayuw Mahdi, the nurse in charge of the Medina Maternal Child Health Center, where the two dozen mothers waited on Wednesday, said Somali mothers know that prevention is better than cure, but in the country's Bay and Bakool regions, where al-Shabab still reigns, there are no vaccines. "The situation does not allow it."
Global health leaders face similar security problems in trying to stamp out the last few remaining patches of polio around the world. The crippling disease is at its lowest level ever. Nineteen children have been paralyzed by polio so far this year; 223 were paralyzed last year.
The new anti-polio push will cost $5.5 billion, three-quarters of which has already been pledged, including $1.8 billion from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"After millennia battling polio, this plan puts us within sight of the endgame," said World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan.
The six-year plan to end polio addresses such challenges as insecurity and hard-to-reach populations.
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Ricin letter suspect released; FBI searching second Mississippi man's home
AP
By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News
Charges were dropped Tuesday against the Mississippi man suspected of mailing?ricin-laced letters to President Obama and other public officials ? as authorities searched the home of another man hoping to find clues in the expanding investigation.
Hours after Paul Kevin Curtis' release, authorities searched the home of another Mississippi man, J. Everett Dutschke, as part of the investigation, reported WTVA. ?Dutschke's name had come up earlier this week when Curtis' defense attorney suggested prosecutors look into him, WTVA reported.
Curtis was arrested last Wednesday at his home in Corinth, Miss. Two letters that initially tested positive for ricin, a poison, had been found earlier in the week -- one addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and one to President Barack Obama.?
According to an FBI bulletin, both letters were postmarked April 8, 2013, out of Memphis, Tenn., and included an identical phrase:?"to see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance."
Both were signed?"I am KC and I approve this message."
Another suspicious letter was sent to a Lee County, Miss., judge.?
Curtis, 45, was released on bond from Mississippi's Lafayette County Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Christi McCoy confirmed to WTVA.
It was not immediately clear if there were conditions for his release.
On Monday, an FBI agent testified that a search of Curtis' vehicle and home did not yield any ricin or castor beans, the ingredients needed to make the poison.?
"There was no apparent ricin, castor beans or any material there that could be used for the manufacturing, like a blender or something,"?Agent Brandon Grant said in an Oxford, Miss., courtroom, reported The Associated Press. ?He said there was a possibility Curtis could have thrown away the processor, and that computer technicians were taking a deeper look at Curtis' computer after an initial search didn't find documents or searches connected to ricin.
McCoy argued on Monday that the government does not have probably cause to hold Curtis, an Elvis impersonator who relatives say has bipolar disorder.
"The searches are concluded, not one single shred of evidence was found to indicate Kevin could have done this," McCoy told reporters after the hearing Monday.?
A news conference was scheduled for 5 p.m. CT Tuesday, according to The AP.
Also on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set off a new round of concerns after telling reporters ricin had been found?at?a mail facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. However, the?Defense Intelligence Agency later clarified in a statement that screening equipment alerted authorities to potential hazardous substance, but an investigation found no suspicious packages or letters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published on Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:04 PM EDT
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