Bernard Madoff's brother gets 10-year sentence

NEW YORK (AP) ? Peter Madoff was "frankly, not believable" when he claimed he was as surprised as anyone to learn his brother had blown $20 billion of investor money in a massive Ponzi scheme that lasted for decades, a judge said as she sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

The disbelief was a recurring theme at the sentencing proceeding Thursday for the 67-year-old former chief compliance officer before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan. Two investors among 40 who wrote victim impact statements for the court expressed the same disbelief and a prosecutor was skeptical as well.

Investor Michael T. De Vita, 62, said he believed "it to be physically impossible for a single person to carry out such a gargantuan task all by himself."

"Four years later, Peter still has chosen to take no action and turn a blind eye, leaving us the true victims," said Amy Luria Nissenbaum, 49, whose home is in foreclosure as wave after wave of crippling financial news continues to hit her family. She choked back tears as she described her struggle to "clothe and feed my children" since Bernard Madoff four years ago revealed the Ponzi scheme that wiped out her family's life savings.

When Swain announced that Peter Madoff will not have to report to prison until Feb. 6, Nissenbaum laughed out loud bitterly. The delay will let Peter Madoff attend his granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah on Jan. 19.

The judge noted that 10 years was the maximum sentence allowed by the charges to which Madoff had pled and repeatedly urged Madoff to relieve the pain of investors by revealing more about the Madoff business.

"I challenge you to be honest about all that you have done and all that you have seen. In other words, all that you know," she said to Madoff, who wore a well-tailored charcoal suit. The judge said Peter Madoff was "frankly not believable" when he claimed he only learned of the fraud when his brother revealed it just before his arrest.

Peter Madoff had agreed when he pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and falsifying the books and records of an investment adviser that he would not challenge a 10-year sentence. He follows to prison his 74-year-old brother, who is serving a 150-year sentence.

Peter Madoff spoke only briefly, saying: "I am deeply ashamed of my conduct and have tried to atone by pleading guilty and have agreed to forfeit all of my present and future assets."

He added: "I am profoundly sorry that my failures let many people down, including my loved ones."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Baroni said it would have been easy for Peter Madoff to blow the whistle on the fraud. Instead, she said, he even conspired with his brother to distribute the remaining $300 million in the company's accounts to family, friends and favored clients before the FBI put an end to the plan by arresting his brother.

The sentencing comes four years and a week after Bernard Madoff first revealed the fraud, which occurred as the former NASDAQ chairman built a reputation for delivering unparalleled investment results, even in bad times. The revelation came only days after the business sent out statements that made investors think their investments had grown to a total of more than $65 billion.

Peter Madoff said at his plea that he had no idea his brother was running a massive Ponzi scheme, paying off longtime investors at times with money from newer investors.

"My family was torn apart as a result of my brother's atrocious conduct," he said. "I was reviled by strangers as well as friends who assumed that I knew about the Ponzi scheme."

Peter Madoff, who joined his brother's firm after graduating from Fordham Law School in 1970, has been free on $5 million bail after agreeing to surrender all of his assets.

Prior to sentencing, his lawyer, John Wing, said in a memorandum that Peter Madoff will "almost certainly live out his remaining days as a jobless pariah, in or out of prison." He called him a victim of his loyalty to his brother, saying he had been mistreated by the sibling who was eight years older and was viewed as "the prince" by his mother.

As part of a forfeiture agreement, Madoff's wife, Marion, and daughter Shana must forfeit nearly all of their assets. The government said those assets and assets that will be forfeited by other family members include several homes, a Ferrari and more than $10 million in cash and securities. It said his wife will be left with $771,733. Besides the Madoff brothers, no other family members have been arrested.

Though Peter Madoff had been the firm's chief compliance officer for nearly four decades, the government marked his start in the conspiracy as 1996, when he created false and misleading compliance documents and false reports for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Since the fraud was revealed, a court-appointed trustee has reached agreements to recover approximately $9.3 billion and is hoping to recover another $3 billion over the next 18 months. About $3 billion has been approved for redistribution to victims through an ongoing claims process.

Besides his brother, Peter Madoff is among six who have pleaded guilty, including the former finance chief, a payroll manager, an accountant, a comptroller and a securities trader.

Five others face trial next year, including Bernard Madoff's longtime secretary. All have pleaded not guilty.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bernard-madoffs-brother-gets-10-sentence-224213417--finance.html

unemployment rate unemployment rate keri russell drew barrymore jesse ventura bill o brien portland trailblazers

Lizard tails detach at a biological 'dotted line'

Dec. 19, 2012 ? Like sheets of paper marked with perforated lines, gecko tails have unique structural marks that help them sever their tails to make a quick getaway. Though voluntarily shedding a body part in this manner is a well-known phenomenon, research published December 19 in the open access journal PLOS ONE reveals aspects of the process that may have applications for structural engineers making similar, quickly detachable structures.

Jan Enghild and colleagues from Aarhus University, Denmark, used advanced bio-imaging techniques to discover that a Tokay gecko sheds its tail along pre-formed "score lines" in specific regions of the tail, which is held together by adhesive forces at these lines.

The process of separation is independent of protein-cleaving enzymes, and microstructures at the ends of muscle fibers are most likely involved in the release of the tail. Enghild adds, "Our work has been driven by a curiosity to understand how tail autotomy is facilitated among lizards. In the present work we use a combination of advanced protein- and high-resolution imaging- techniques to address the mechanism involved in the process."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Kristian W. Sanggaard, Carl Chr. Danielsen, Lise Wogensen, Mads S. Vinding, Louise M. Rydtoft, Martin B. Mortensen, Henrik Karring, Niels Chr. Nielsen, Tobias Wang, Ida B. Th?gersen, Jan J. Enghild. Unique Structural Features Facilitate Lizard Tail Autotomy. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (12): e51803 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051803

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/top_news/~3/B-EIS9KNT-4/121219173910.htm

bulls california earthquake california earthquake tyson chandler tyson chandler stephen hill draft tracker

University of Hawaii ready to introduce Athletics Director Ben Jay

Ben Jay, the University of Hawaii's new athletics director, will be introduced to local media at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Jay, who has served as senior associate athletics director at Ohio State University for the past six years, was named to the top post within UH's athletics department earlier this month.

He will be paid $293,000 annually during the initial three years of his contract, with opportunities for bonuses if certain goals are met, according to KITV. The local ABC affiliate said Jay will get an extra month's salary if the Warriors win the Mountain West Conference championship, and $7,500 if the football team makes it to a bowl game or the basketball team makes it to the NCAA tournament.

Jay is replacing Jim Donovan, who was reassigned to another post on the Manoa campus in the wake of the botched Stevie Wonder concert earlier this year. Donovan was recently named athletics director at Cal State Fullerton.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_pacific/~3/55GMsBwIAOw/university-of-hawaii-ready-to.html

Montenegro Olympic Games Dana Vollmer phillies phillies Ryan Dempster Phelps

Cancer cells co-opt immune response to escape destruction

Dec. 18, 2012 ? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that tumor cells use stress signals to subvert responding immune cells, exploiting them to actually boost conditions beneficial to cancer growth.

The findings are published in the December 18 online issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

Lead author Navin R. Mahadevan, a graduate student in the Laboratory of Immunology at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, and colleagues found that tumor cells manipulate a fundamental cellular mechanism called unfolded protein response (UPR). In all cells, UPR is used to maintain homeostasis, or equilibrium, in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) - the cell's protein-making factory. When, for a variety of reasons, a cell is subjected to overwork, ER stress occurs and a compensatory UPR is triggered.

"The goal is to understand how ER stress is transmitted and how this is amplified by receiver cells to attack vulnerable aspects of the immune system," said principal investigator Maurizio Zanetti, MD, who heads the Laboratory of Immunology and is director of Tumor Immunology at the Center for Immunity, Infection and Inflammation at UC San Diego.

"These findings suggest that the tumor UPR should be a target of therapy, not only for its intrinsic function in promoting tumor adaption and survival, but now for its external role in subverting the anti-tumor immune response."

When a UPR response is triggered, one of two things can happen. Either UPR restores homeostasis by slowing cellular processes and synthesizing chaperone molecules to ease the burden on the endoplasmic reticulum or it decides homeostasis can't be restored and the cell is better off dying. The latter is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

In research published last year, Zanetti and colleagues found that the UPR is transmissible: It can travel from one cell to another. In normal cells, ER stress is transient with the UPR usually restoring normal function. But cancer cells thrive in an environment in which low oxygen and scarce nutrients, such as glucose, induce continuous ER stress. For them, a sustained ER stress response "offers a survival advantage by promoting cancer cell adaptation, continued growth, and inflammation that is more damaging than healing," Zanetti said.

In the latest study, the scientists found that the transmissible ER stress response (TERS), which emanates from tumor cells experiencing ER stress, alters immune cells in such a way that they no longer function to help fight off cancer. Normally dendritic cells - the sentinels and information couriers of the immune system - train T cells (the immune system's enforcers) to specifically kill foreign entities. In the case of cancer, however, T cells are unable to properly eliminate tumor cells - confounding efforts to develop more effective cancer treatments. The new findings implicate TERS as cancer's siren call. It brainwashes dendritic cells so that they ineffectively communicate with T cells, reducing anti-tumor immunity while increasing tumor growth.

"This is one of the hot topics of contemporary immunology," said Mahadevan. "Our paper shows that TERS - and by inference ER stress in tumor cells - has the ability to negatively affect the sanctuary of the immune response."

Zanetti said the research further elucidates the fundamental processes that tumor cells use - or abuse - to manipulate their local microenvironment to promote their survival and growth. And it points to an area of drug development the pharmaceutical industry will likely focus on over the next decade.

Targeting the UPR, he said, may also help improve efficacy of long-sought cancer vaccines which have thus far been hampered by the ability of cancer cells to subvert the immune response, perhaps through mechanisms like TERS.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Diego Health Sciences, via Newswise.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Navin R. Mahadevan, Veronika Anufreichik, Jeffrey J. Rodvold, Kevin T. Chiu, Homero Sepulveda, Maurizio Zanetti. Cell-Extrinsic Effects of Tumor ER Stress Imprint Myeloid Dendritic Cells and Impair CD8 T Cell Priming. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (12): e51845 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051845

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/SBKA17-MO3E/121218203319.htm

gavin degraw alec time 100 bob beckel anna paquin warren buffett 2012 nfl schedule

Senate Republicans aim to cut Sandy aid bill down to $24 billion

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans sought to slash a $60.4 billion aid bill to cover reconstruction after Superstorm Sandy, proposing on Wednesday to fund only $23.8 billion in immediate disaster relief while assessing longer-term needs.

The far smaller initial amount is one of a number of Republican amendments aimed at cutting projects from a bill that they see as a "slush fund" loaded with questionable requests for spending on unrelated programs and big infrastructure.

Senator Daniel Coats of Indiana said his plan for $23.8 billion in initial funding would provide sufficient money for immediate needs through March 27, for work such as debris cleanup, repairing damaged equipment, rebuilding destroyed homes and businesses.

"It seems to me the most logical, responsible way to move forward is to identify the immediate needs and provide the immediate funding to meet those needs," said Coats, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He said longer-term needs could be considered next year, as Congress works on approving new money to keep government agencies and programs funded after a stopgap measure runs out on March 27.

Senate Democrats are trying to push through President Barack Obama's full $60.4 billion Sandy disaster aid request before the end of the year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund had about $4.3 billion as of Tuesday, but the request for new funding has become tangled up with Congress' tense talks over the year-end "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.

"We don't have time right now to get all the way through and analyze the actual losses that were attributable to Sandy," said Republican senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, adding that the full $60.4 billion looked like a "slush fund."

KATRINA FUNDS FLOWED SWIFTLY

Democrats argue that the full funding amount is needed to ensure that local businesses, municipalities and transit agencies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut can launch full-fledged reconstruction projects immediately with the confidence that they will be fully reimbursed. Without the money approved, there will be delays, they say.

The move would mark a significant shift from Congress' actions following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the last storm to wreak destruction on a similar scale as Sandy. Within two weeks after Katrina's storm surge flooded New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities, Congress had appropriated $62.3 billion, and storm costs eventually topped $100 billion.

"When we had the devastation in New Orleans, we got the aid to those states very quickly," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor, noting that far more people were affected by Sandy's path of destruction in a heavily populated area.

"We have to make a decision on this very, very important legislation before we leave here this week," Reid said. "I would hope that everyone would cooperate, but we have to do this."

The $23.8 billion offered in the Republican plan would be less than 30 percent of the initial $82 billion aid request made by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut earlier this month, based on early damage estimates from the October 29 storm.

The Republican plan would eliminate some $13 billion in infrastructure improvements aimed at helping to prevent damage from future storms. Among these are projects to keep New York City subway tunnels from flooding and to build sand barriers to protect some shorelines from storm surges.

It labels $5.4 billion to make transportation systems more resilient as "non-Sandy related." The Amtrak passenger rail agency, a frequent target of Republican budget-cutting efforts would get only $32 million under the bill, instead of $336 million.

Coats said such mitigation efforts were "long-term projects" that should not be immediately funded without further study.

The Republicans also aim to cut out $150 million for rebuilding fisheries, including those damaged by disasters in Alaska and the Gulf Coast. It would exclude a $58.9 million Department of Agriculture request to replant trees on private property due to "unsubstantiated" estimates for damage from Sandy.

The plan and other amendments to the Sandy aid measure are expected to be considered on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which normally acts first on spending bills, is hanging back to see whether Senate Republicans are successful in cutting the request down to size.

Asked if he would also proceed with an amount below the $60.4 billion sought by Obama, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, said: "Let's see what the Senate does first."

(Reporting By David Lawder; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-republicans-aim-cut-sandy-aid-bill-down-021401916.html

censoring the internet blackout blackout congress censored jerry yang stop sopa

5 YouTube Videos to Help Winterize Your Home

(Reuters) - U.S. school districts have spent millions of dollars on metal detectors, security cameras and elaborate emergency-response plans since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, but almost nothing could have prevented Friday's massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, security experts say. A 20-year-old, heavily armed gunman opened fire Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults before taking his own life, police said. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/5-youtube-videos-help-winterize-home-165557666.html

preppers geraldo obama trayvon martin pietrus cheney tori spelling marion barber

Geaux Teacher ? Homeschooling Tips That You Can Start Doing ...

The most common reason people choose to homeschool their children is deficiencies in the local public schools. But do not expect homeschooling to be simple and fun. Read this article to learn the elementary information required to successfully homeschool your children.

Write down the pros and cons of home schooling. Putting your reasons in writing may help it click in your mind, as well as help your spouse understand. Make understanding what you want to accomplish a priority, and be able to verbalize it when people ask about your decision to homeschool. That will make things simpler.

In order to better educate your child, compare the benefits and detriments of homeschooling versus public schooling. Construct a lesson plan from this list so that your kids will learn everything that public school couldn?t teach them. It?s a checklist of what to do and what not to do. Make sure you know where it is for future reference.

One of the major worries parents have about homeschooling is how to ensure their children get enough socialization time with other children. It is important that you provide your children with opportunities to make friends, for instance by finding some clubs or sport teams they can join. They can build social skills while having fun.

When you homeschool you can take advantage of things that children going to public school do not have the chance to do. One way to see how your child stands in comparison to public school students is to engage in standardized testing. If you feel they are falling behind, consider hiring a tutor.

Repeat key points and concepts for your child to soak them in. That?s why homeschooling parents assign spelling words, writing out definitions and note-taking. Such methods, including the use of rhymes, flashcards and songs can all foster great success.

Incorporate nature into your child?s education. They are educational for many reasons. Little kids can try collecting pretty and interesting leaves. Another teaching opportunity would be identifying different tree species and listing them in a notebook. Assign research of the species to older children and allow them to share with younger family members. Taking pictures helps ensure that you do not disturb the natural habitat of the species you are studying.

Before you consider homeschooling, make sure that you are qualified to be a teacher and understand what areas you may need help with. Be sure to also take into account your relationship, and address any issues that may impact their education.

Make sure you do plenty of research before deciding to homeschool your kids. There are many resources online to help make the right final decision for you and your family. Homeschooling is very exciting but you should not consider this option if you already have a full-time job or cannot afford to give your child a good education.

Make sure each child has plenty to do, and this can be challenging if they are at different ages. Make sure they have plenty of activities to participate in, and try to coordinate some with the themes of the work your school-age kids are doing. If your younger children are old enough, let them listen to a few lessons and take part in some activities as long as it does not get in the way of your homeschooling.

Having this article under your belt, you should now understanding that homeschooling really is within reach. If you use the advice you have been given in this article, there should be no issues with you homeschooling your children. Homeschooling allows your children to get a good education and will also help you get closer to your children.

-->

Source: http://www.geauxteacher.com/homeschooling-tips-that-you-can-start-doing-today-2/

316 william daley truffles truffles alabama vs lsu alabama vs lsu bcs championship game

Jingle balls? Charity sells unusual ornaments

Courtesy Fallon

Scrotum-shaped Christmas baubles benefiting the London-based Orchid Cancer Society were created to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

Just in time for Christmas, a London-based charity that wants to?raise awareness of testicular cancer?is selling hand-crafted, shiny red ornaments ??in the shape of, well, balls.

The "Bauballs" were created by Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth of the London-based Fallon advertising agency, who?conceived of the idea while doing pro bono work for the U.K.-based?Orchid Cancer Charity, which is dedicated to fighting male cancers.?"Lots of men don't walk to talk about things like this unless you make it funny," Robinson today TODAY.com.

Similar products benefiting another?U.K. cancer charity,?Everyman, are for sale on Etsy?and have?names such as?"Santa's Sack" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside."?

The charity stunts bring to mind the annual "Movember" tradition, where men grow mustaches to also promote testicular cancer awareness.

Source: http://holidayblog.today.com/_news/2012/12/13/15885505-jingle-balls-cancer-charity-sells-unusual-christmas-ornaments?lite

george zimmerman website edmund fitzgerald uss enterprise white house easter egg roll 2012 andy cohen andy cohen mozambique

YotaPhone Android prototype with dual LCD and E Ink displays hands-on (video)

YotaPhone Android smartphone with dual LCD and E Ink displays  hands on video

Yesterday we brought you the announcement, and today we bring you the hands-on reality -- although bear in mind that this dual-screen YotaPhone is still very much a prototype. It certainly works -- pretty well, in fact -- but it's understandably rough around the edges and Yota Devices have plenty of work to do before the handset launches towards the end of next year. By way of a quick refresher: from the front this is a regular Android Jelly Bean phone with decent specs, including a 720 x 1,280 LCD display, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel main camera. Turn it around, however, and you reveal its double identity: a 200 dpi E Ink display which can hold a range of information -- calendar appointments, ebooks, tweets and whatever else you'd like -- without draining the battery. The good new is that the YotaPhone actually makes an even better first impression than we'd hoped, while the bad news is merely what's to be expected given the early stage of development. Click past the break for our hands-on video and impressions and all will become clear.

Continue reading YotaPhone Android prototype with dual LCD and E Ink displays hands-on (video)

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/13/yotaphone-dualscreen-android-hands-on/

Boy Meets World chicago bears elizabeth taylor casey anthony chris brown cam newton danielle fishel