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Chris Kluwe in 2010, as a Minnesota Viking
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Playing sports all my life has made me quite familiar with the multiple flavors of pain a body can experience. Some hurt worse than others! Here is a tasting guide to all the wonderful sensations I?ve been lucky enough to feel, most of which lasted an entire game or longer (some of them much, much longer).
Strained Groin has a spicy yet long-lasting bouquet filled with aromas of Grimacing and Wince. It starts out with a small gremlin perched right above the hip dancing around on needle-tip claws that gently sink into the tendon with every motion. When the muscles are engaged to punt a ball, the gremlin pulls out a white-hot sword and plunges it into the inner thigh, producing a sharp jolt of burning stabbityness. Thankfully, this lasts only for a brief second; unthankfully, it?s replaced by him spinning the sword around like a high-rpm drill bit when foot hits ball. Then he leaves the sword there, still whirling away. The next time punting is required, he grabs another sword (I have no idea where he keeps all of them) and repeats the process. I recommend Strained Groin for those wishing to experience the joys of castration without the permanency.
Exploded ACL (Nonkicking Leg)
This wonderful selection has a deep, harsher taste ?reminiscent of a piston hammering down on an exposed nerve?that ends with a grinding twist, similar to popping a chicken drumstick away from the thigh. Exploded ACL (Nonkicking Leg) is immediately recognizable to observers by its beautifully rich color of Writhing and Clutch, complemented by a brief flash of Scream. The subsequent six months (postsurgery) are a harmonious medley of dull lead-swollen aching, bright nails-on-chalkboard pain spikes, and absolute-zero icicles spearing under the kneecap when too much pressure is applied. I recommend this vintage for those not wanting to walk for an extended period of time.
Exploded ACL (Kicking Leg)
Similar to Exploded ACL (Nonkicking Leg), Exploded ACL (Kicking Leg) starts off with a buckling wrench, much like stepping down on a surface that is no longer there. Warm stiffness immediately envelops the senses; it?s initially misleading due to its remarkable similarity to Strain or Tweak but recognizable by a true connoisseur as the piquant bursts of weakness and instability creep through. Attempting to kick a football is much like swinging your leg through a cloud of marshmallow?much energy is expended, but the resulting punt is generally slow and less than ideal. Exploded ACL (Kicking Leg) is a longer-lasting vintage, potentially anywhere from three to six weeks, depending on willpower and pertinent information shared by doctors, but it eventually gives way to the familiar taste of Exploded ACL (Nonkicking Leg) (postsurgery). I recommend Exploded ACL (Kicking Leg) for the experienced professional only, as too much exposure can lead to deleterious side effects, including Permanent Dragfoot.
Sprained Ankle (Various Types)
Sprained Ankles come in multiple flavors, but they all share the common theme of sick nausea creeping up the leg intermingled with piercing lightning bolts whenever weight is borne on the affected area. This is a more subtle flavor than the previously mentioned injuries, and one that can sneak up on the palate most surprisingly, oftentimes catching the subject quite unaware and
leaving him breathless. Trying to punt with Sprained Ankle is particularly unique when the sprain is located on the kicking foot. The appendage in question tends to flop around like a gasping fish stranded on the deck of a boat, and the ball acts as a gaff hook that dashes its brains into oblivion, leaving it limp and lifeless. A delicate filigree of acid etches its way up the nervous system and slowly settles in, pulsing gently in time with the rhythm of one?s heartbeat. I recommend Sprained Ankle to novices and experts alike, as it never really loses its initial surge of vivacity, no matter how many times you experience it.
This is one of my personal favorites, as it provides the tight, winding constriction of a barbed-wire boa constrictor along with a passive helplessness infused into its entire core. Trying to accomplish even the simplest of tasks can lead to an overwhelming flurry of sensations coursing throughout the entire body?dominant strains of Gasp and Sob overriding the more earthy tones of Gritted Teeth and Indrawn Breath, with Withered Hunch underlying them all. Wrenched Back can be enhanced by the application of an epidural, which feels like a drainpipe being shoved into your spinal cord. This will quickly drown out and numb the other flavors, though, so beware of using it before you?ve experienced the full suite of Wrenched Back. I recommend this one to anyone wondering what utter frailty feels like.
I?ve had the joy of encountering this delightful m?lange of sensations multiple times, and it always delivers a zesty punch. The first taste concentrates all the senses into a tightly packed knot of jagged steel edges trapped halfway along the back of the leg, like a small caltrop buried tightly within the flesh. Any sort of strenuous motion sets the barbs in deeper and deeper, radiating concentric tremors of spastic fire into the surrounding muscle fibers until a dull flame has engulfed the entire backside. Kicking with Pulled Hamstring is breathtakingly invigorating, and I cannot stress the breathtakingly part enough. I urge anyone who wants to feel the physical snapping of a rubber band within his body to try Pulled Hamstring, but set aside several weeks of quality time to recover from the riotous sense explosion.
Trick Knee is perhaps the most intense of the flavors, not due to its initial impact, but because of its sustained presence. It starts out fairly strong?the kneecap slides over to the side while the meniscus folds itself underneath, producing a sudden contraction of the entire body due to the feeling of dislocation welling up. A surge of tight restriction emanates from the locale as tense muscles quiver like overtuned violin strings, and the feeling of shifting the kneecap back in place is very similar to cracking a knuckle (and in fact can produce an audible pop, adding a delightful aural component to the mix). The brief absence of pain gives a delicious juxtaposition to the grinding of bone on bone when the knee is bent and used once again, much like two pumice stones rubbing against each other. Short, shooting stars of stabbing light randomly flash through the joint for days thereafter, giving the overall sensation a long, dry finish. I recommend Trick Knee for anyone searching for ways to entertain children and horrify medical professionals when they test for ACL stability.
These are but a few of the countless items in my personal reserve. Some vintages are longer lasting than others, some are yet to be discovered, but all of them are unique in their devilish complexity. I recommend pairing any of them with large amounts of morphine.
Excerpted from the book Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies by Chris Kluwe. Copyright ? 2013 by Chris Kluwe. Reprinted with permission of Little, Brown and Company.
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FILE - In this Tuesday, March 5, 2013 file photo, citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian man sitting on a fallen statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. The Arabic words on the fallen statue read: "tomorrow will be better." A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, March 5, 2013 file photo, citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian man sitting on a fallen statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. The Arabic words on the fallen statue read: "tomorrow will be better." A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)
FILE - In this Monday, March 4, 2013 file image taken from video obtained from Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad is pulled down in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video, File)
FILE - In this Monday, March 4, 2013 file image taken from video obtained from Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad is pulled down in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video, File)
FILE - In this Monday, March 4, 2013 file photo citizen journalism image provided by Coordination Committee in Kafr Susa which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows people tearing down a huge poster of President Bashar Assad and hitting it with their shoes, in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Coordination Committee In Kafr Susa, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012 file image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army soldiers sit at a check point in Ain al-Arous town in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video, File)
BEIRUT (AP) ? A slogan painted in small letters on a school wall reads, "We the people want Syria to be a civil, democratic state." Scrawled next to it in bigger letters is the response from an unknown Islamic hard-liner: "The laws of the civil state contradict the Islamic caliphate."
A quiet power struggle is taking place in the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa ever since a Muslim extremist faction of the rebels swept in and wrested the town from the regime nearly four months ago.
Armed men wearing Afghan-style outfits patrol the streets, raising black Islamic banners at checkpoints instead of the rebellion's three-star flags. But moderates are trying to counter the extremists' tight grip, establishing dozens of newspapers, magazines and civil society forums in an effort to educate the roughly 500,000 residents about democracy and their right to vote.
Raqqa, the first and only provincial capital to fall into rebel hands, is now a test case for the opposition, which has wrestled with how to govern territories it has captured amid Western concerns that Islamic groups will hijack power if President Bashar Assad is ousted.
The tensions reflect a wider struggle going on in the rebel movement across Syria, where alliances of Islamic extremist brigades have filled the void left behind whenever Assad's forces retreat, while moderate and secular rebels have failed to coalesce into effective fighters and the opposition's political leadership has failed to unify its ranks.
The rebel capture of Raqqa on March 5 consolidated opposition gains in a string of towns along the Euphrates River, which runs across the desert from the Turkish border in the north to the Iraqi border in the southeast.
Even so, the momentum on the battlefield over the past few months has been with regime, aided by Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon. More than 93,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011, according to the U.N. ? though a count by activists puts the death toll at over 100,000.
Two extremist factions, Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, led the push into Raqqa, which fell relatively quickly after a campaign that lasted less than a month. Most of the Jabhat al-Nusra fighters in the city are foreign jihadis, while the Ahrar al-Sham fighters are Syrians with a jihadist ideology.
Other opponents of the Assad regime in the city have been put off by what they see as the extremists' unnecessary brutality. In the days after seizing the city, the Muslim brigades brought captured security forces into public squares, killed them and drove their bodies through the streets.
Then in May, fighters affiliated with al-Qaida killed three men described as Shiite Muslims in the city's main Clock Square, shooting them in the back of the head. In a speech to a crowd that had gathered, a fighter said the killing was in retaliation for the massacres of Sunni Muslims in the town of Banias and the city of Homs, both in western Syria, according to online video of the scene. The statement was made in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a merger of Jabhat al-Nusra and Iraq's al-Qaida arm announced in April.
Armed gunmen with their faces covered in masks shot pistols and rifles wildly in the air in celebration after the three men were killed. They wore clothing favored by Afghanistan's Taliban and Arab mujahedeen who fought in that country ? a sign that they belonged to Jabhat al-Nusra.
The Shiites "were executed in front of everyone, young and old," said Mohammad Shoeib, an activist, recalling how for several hours, nobody dared approach the bodies to take them for burial until a nurse did. The nurse, Mohammad Saado, was assassinated by unknown gunmen the next day, Shoeib said. Other activists corroborated his account.
"Executing people in this manner in a public square and killing Saado was unacceptable and turned many people against them," Shoeib said. "Our revolution was against oppression and we don't accept such actions under any circumstance."
Activists set up a mourning tent in the same spot where the three were executed, receiving mourners for three days in a sign of their anger. "They didn't like it," he said of Jabhat al-Nusra, "but people demonstrated their right to an opinion and they should respect that."
Shoeib, 28, is one of the directors of "Haqquna," Arabic for "It's Our Right," an organization founded about three weeks after Raqqa fell that aims to educate people about democracy. The group's logo is a victory sign with the index finger bearing an ink mark, signifying the right to vote. The logo can be seen on walls in the city and on leaflets distributed by the group.
More than 40 publications have popped up in Raqqa, including newspapers and magazines as well as online publications, many of them run by young activists.
Many recall with pride the day rebels overran their city, about 120 miles (195 kilometers) east of the commercial capital of Aleppo, after capturing the country's largest dam and storming its central prison.
On March 5, cheering rebels and Raqqa residents brought down the bronze statue of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad after tying a rope around its neck. Others tore down a huge portrait of his son, the current president.
It was a striking scene in a city once considered so loyal to the regime that in November 2011 ? early in the 2-year-old uprising ? Assad prayed at Raqqa's al-Nour mosque for the Muslim holiday of Eid in an apparent attempt to show that the regime was fully in control there.
Activists like to compare Raqqa with Benghazi, the first major city in Libya to revolt against Moammar Gadhafi and fall into rebel hands.
But unlike Benghazi, which then became the rebel capital and the heartland for the militias of the months-long civil war in Libya, Raqqa feels sequestered and insecure. Regime warplanes still swoop down at random, shattering the calm with punishing airstrikes on opposition-held buildings.
Schools have closed and government employees have not been paid their salaries in months as a form of punishment.
Residents complain that the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has paid no attention to the needs of Raqqa.
"The opposition groups are too busy fighting each other," said one owner of a sweets shop in the center of Raqqa. "They have not sent anyone to ask about our needs, nor is there any contact with any of them."
In March, the Coalition elected an interim prime minister, Ghassan Hitto, tasked with forming an interim government that would help administer rebel-held territories in northern and eastern Syria. But the opposition has been plagued with infighting, and Hitto has been effectively sidelined.
Khalid Salah, spokesman for the Coalition, insisted the opposition was trying to support Raqqa despite a lack of funds and other resources. He said the city was receiving aid from the Coalition but that it was unmarked so many people are unaware of its origin.
"We are trying to step up aid and make up for some shortcomings in the next weeks," he said, adding that regime airstrikes around the city made the work more difficult.
Rebel groups, particularly Ahrar al-Sham, administer daily life in Raqqa, setting up bakeries, keeping electricity and water going as much as possible and distributing aid they receive from international supporters. They have set up courts that impose Islamic law, mostly dealing with financial disputes and criminal cases such as kidnappings and theft.
Many residents are grateful, saying the Islamic brigades are simply making up for the shortcomings of the opposition in exile.
Mouaz al-Howeidi, a 40-year-old programmer and Web designer-turned activist, said it's promising that the power struggle has itself not turned violent.
But he said civil groups were at a disadvantage because the rebels have more means at their disposal to get their message across, through mosques and by controlling the city's resources.
"They control everything in Raqqa," he said. "And they have weapons and money ? this makes everything easier."
The owner of the sweets shop, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said Islamic groups were the flip side of the regime.
"Raqqa has not been liberated. It has been re-occupied by the Islamists."
___
A Syrian journalist contributed from Raqqa.
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BEIJING (AP) -- An American executive said he has been held hostage for four days at his medical supply plant in Beijing by scores of workers demanding severance packages like those given to 30 co-workers in a phased-out department.
Chip Starnes, 42, a co-owner of Coral Springs, Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, said local officials had visited the 10-year-old plant on the capital's outskirts and coerced him into signing agreements Saturday to meet the workers' demands even though he sought to make clear that the remaining 100 workers weren't being laid off.
The workers were expecting wire transfers by Tuesday, he said, adding that about 80 of them had been blocking every exit around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on windows of his office. He declined to clarify the amount, saying he wanted to keep it confidential.
"I feel like a trapped animal," Starnes told The Associated Press on Monday from his first-floor office window, while holding onto the window's bars. "I think it's inhumane what is going on right now. I have been in this area for 10 years and created a lot of jobs and I would never have thought in my wildest imagination something like this would happen."
Workers inside the compound, a pair of two-story buildings behind gates and hedges in the Huairou district of the northeastern Beijing suburbs, repeatedly declined requests for comment, saying they did not want to talk to foreign media.
It is not rare in China for managers to be held by workers demanding back pay or other benefits, often from their Chinese owners, though occasionally also involving foreign bosses.
The labor action reflects growing uneasiness among workers about their jobs amid China's slowing economic growth and the sense that growing labor costs make the country less attractive for some foreign-owned factories. The account about local officials coercing Starnes to meet workers' demands ? if true ? reflects how officials typically consider stifling unrest to be a priority.
Huairou district and Qiaozi township governments declined to comment.
A local police spokesman said police were at the scene to maintain order. Four uniformed police and about a dozen other men who declined to identify themselves were standing across the road from the plant.
"As far as I know, there was a labor dispute between the workers and the company management and the dispute is being solved," said spokesman Zhao Lu of the Huairou Public Security Bureau. " I am not sure about the details of the solution, but I can guarantee the personal safety of the manager."
Representatives from the U.S. Embassy stood outside the gate much of the day, and eventually were let in. U.S. Embassy spokesman Nolan Barkhouse said the two sides were on the verge of an agreement and that Starnes would have access to his attorneys. It was unclear what agreement might be reached, and subsequent attempts to contact Starnes were not immediately successful.
Starnes said the company had gradually been winding down its plastics division, planning to move it to Mumbai, India. He arrived in Beijing last Tuesday to lay off the last 30 people. Some had been working there for up to nine years, so their compensation packages were "pretty nice," he said.
Some of the workers in the other divisions got wind of this, and, coupled with rumors that the whole plant was moving to India, started demanding similar severance packages on Friday.
Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said he wasn't familiar with Starnes' case, but that such hostage-taking was "not a major problem" for the foreign business community.
"It happened more often say 15 years ago than today, but it still happens from time to time," he said. "It rarely leads to personal harm to the managers involved, but there are cases when it has in years past."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-factory-boss-held-hostage-073624139.html
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DALLAS (AP) ? Tenet Healthcare Corp. plans to buy fellow hospital operator Vanguard Health Systems Inc. for about $1.8 billion, in a deal that will expand its reach into new markets as millions of patients start to gain insurance coverage through the health care overhaul.
Tenet said Monday that it will pay $21 per share, a 70 percent premium to Vanguard Health's Friday closing price of $12.37. The companies said the transaction also includes $2.5 billion in debt, and they value the entire deal at $4.3 billion.
Shares of Vanguard Health soared 67 percent, or $8.33, to $20.70 Monday morning after the companies announced the deal. The company's stock price had advanced only about 1 percent as of last Friday since closing 2012 at $12.25.
Tenet investors also liked the deal, pushing the Dallas-based company's stock up 6.7 percent, or $2.82, to $44.67. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.5 percent.
The federal health care overhaul is expected to help hospitals by reducing the number of uninsured patients they treat. Starting next year, the overhaul will provide income-based tax credits to help people buy coverage, and the state-and-federally funded Medicaid program will expand its coverage in several states.
Tenet said Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard will help it expand into several new markets and increase the benefit it expects to realize from the overhaul. Vanguard runs 28 acute care and specialty hospitals in Texas, Massachusetts and major cities like Chicago, Phoenix and Detroit. Its specialty locations include heart, children's and rehabilitation hospitals.
The deal also will bring new business to Tenet's Conifer Health Solutions segment, which helps hospitals manage revenue and run their business operations.
The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year. After that, Tenet will own 79 hospitals and 157 outpatient facilities. It currently has 49 hospitals and 126 outpatient facilities.
Tenet expects annual savings and gains of $100 million to $200 million largely from operating more efficiently after the companies combine.
Vanguard Health said that its founder, Chairman and CEO Charlie Martin, will join Tenet's board. Vanguard's vice chairman, Keith Pitts, will continue in that position at Tenet.
Tenet has secured fully committed financing for the transaction from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
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A stunt plane loses control as a wing walker performs at the Vectren Air Show just before crashing, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and the stunt walker instantly, authorities said. (AP Photo/Thanh V Tran)
A stunt plane loses control as a wing walker performs at the Vectren Air Show just before crashing, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and the stunt walker instantly, authorities said. (AP Photo/Thanh V Tran)
Flames erupt from a plane after a stunt plane crashed while performing with a wing walker at the Vectren Air Show, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and the wing walker instantly, authorities said. (AP Photo/Thanh V Tran)
A wing walker performs at the Vectren Air Show just before crashing, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and the stunt walker instantly, authorities said. (AP Photo/Thanh V Tran)
Flames erupt from a plane after it crashed at the Vectren Air Show at the airport in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and stunt walker on the plane instantly, authorities said. (AP Photo/Dayton Daily News, Ty Greenlees)
This photo provided provided WHIO TV shows a plane after it crashed Saturday, June 22, 2013, at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton, Ohio. There was no immediate word on the fate of the pilot, wing walker or anyone else aboard the plane. No one on the ground was hurt. (AP Photo/WHIO-TV)
CINCINNATI (AP) ? An aerobatic pilot and a wing walker killed in a fiery crash at an Ohio air show over the weekend had clean safety records, according to Federal Aviation Administration records released Monday.
Neither wing walker Jane Wicker, who had a pilot's license, nor pilot Charlie Schwenker had accidents in the past or were disciplined for any reason, the FAA records showed, according to agency spokesman Roland Herwig. The information was released as the result of a public records request by The Associated Press.
Wicker and Schwenker, both of Virginia, were killed Saturday in a crash captured on video and witnessed by thousands of horrified spectators at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton. Wicker was on the wing of the plane when it suddenly went down after a stunt, exploding on impact.
Wicker, 44, was the mother of two teenage sons and was engaged to be married next year atop an airplane. Schwenker, 64, was about to celebrate his nine-year wedding anniversary, which is Tuesday.
Friends and family were working on planning funerals for both.
Wicker is the third wing walker to die in two years.
From 1975 to 2010, just two wing walkers were killed in the U.S., one in 1975 and another in 1993, said John Cudahy, president of the Leesburg, Va.-based International Council of Air Shows.
In 2011, Todd Green fell 200 feet to his death at an air show in Michigan while performing a stunt in which he grabbed the skid of a helicopter. That same year, Amanda Franklin died two months after being badly burned in a plane crash during a performance in South Texas when the engine lost power. The pilot, her husband, Kyle, survived.
"It's not entirely an anomaly but not quite as dangerous as it would appear to be," Cudahy said, adding that the recent spike appears to be a coincidence.
He said it was too early to say whether Saturday's crash would lead to any changes in safety standards among wing walkers and their pilots and that those standards already are high.
Jason Aguilera, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator leading the probe into the crash, said Sunday that it was too early to rule anything out and that the agency would issue its findings in six months to a year.
Wing walker Teresa Stokes of Houston and her pilot boyfriend, Gene Soucy, said their hearts were heavy after watching video footage of the crash, but it doesn't give them any second thoughts about what they do.
"It is the craziest fun ride you've ever been on," Stokes said. "You're like Superman flying around, going upside-down doing rolls and loops, and I'm just screaming and laughing."
Soucy said he never worries because he's "really good at flying upside-down and doing rolls."
"This is just what we do," he said. "Some people sit at a typewriter looking out a window all day. We're flying with the wind."
Wing walking began in the 1920s in the barnstorming era of air shows following World War I.
The practice fell off the middle of the 20th century but picked back up again in the 1970s. Still, there are only about a dozen wing walkers in the U.S., Cudahy said.
John King, pilot and president of the Flying Circus Airshow, where Wicker trained, described Wicker, of Bristow, Va., and Schwenker, of Oakton, Va., as "ultimate professionals."
"I don't know of anyone who could have done any better than what they were doing," he said.
On Saturday, Wicker sat helplessly on the plane's wing after she had just finished a stunt as the aircraft suddenly turned and slammed into the ground, exploding on impact and stunning the crowd.
In one post on her website, the stuntwoman explains what she loved most about her job.
"There is nothing that feels more exhilarating or freer to me than the wind and sky rushing by me as the earth rolls around my head," says the post. "I'm alive up there. To soar like a bird and touch the sky puts me in a place where I feel I totally belong."
She also answered a question she said she got frequently: What about the risk?
"I feel safer on the wing of my airplane than I do driving to the airport," she wrote. "Why? Because I'm in control of those risks and not at the mercy of those other drivers."
FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford said the agency is often asked why wing walking is allowed.
"The people who do these acts spend hours and hours and hours performing and practicing away from the crowd, and even though it may look inherently dangerous, they're practiced in such a way that they maintain as much safety as possible," he said. "The vast majority of these things occur without a hitch, so you know whenever one of them goes wrong and there's a crash, it's an unusual event."
___
Associated Press writer Verena Dobnik in New York contributed to this report.
___
Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP
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MADRID (AP) ? Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica says it has sold its Irish division, 02, to Hutchison Whampoa in a bid to reduce debt.
In a statement Monday, Telefonica SA says it sold the 100 percent stake to Hutchison Whampoa's Irish subsidiary, Three Ireland, for 850 million euros ($1.12 billion).
The price includes an initial 780 million euros and a deferred payment of 70 million euros dependent on agreed financial objectives being met.
Three said the acquisition of O2 will boost its market share to 37.5 percent, second to Vodafone, and bring subscriber numbers to 2 million.
Telefonica says the sale would bring it closer to its goal of reducing net debt to below 47 billion euros in 2013.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
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It seems Sony Mobile may about to reveal several high-profile devices at its press conference at Shanghai's Mobile Asia Expo tomorrow. We've already heard rumors about the "Togari" or Xperia ZU -- supposedly a Snapdragon 800-powered device with a 6.4-inch display -- and the latest round of leaks brings news of a possible smartwatch and mid-range handset to go with it.
The first report comes from CNET, which claims to have details of a new Android-powered smartwatch from the Japanese manufacturer. Supposedly a successor to the earlier NM2SW smartwatch, the new device will feature a larger display and feature a three-button layout similar to Xperia smartphones, according to the site's source. Like other Sony accessories, the watch is said to support pairing with smartphones via NFC, with further connectivity being handled over Bluetooth. For its part, Sony has been teasing a smartwatch-related announcement on its official Xperia Twitter account in recent days.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Inh8XefL-Tc/story01.htm
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PHILADELPHIA (June 24, 2013) The brain's pleasure response to tasting food can be measured through the eyes using a common, low-cost ophthalmological tool, according to a study just published in the journal Obesity. If validated, this method could be useful for research and clinical applications in food addiction and obesity prevention.
Dr. Jennifer Nasser, an associate professor in the department of Nutrition Sciences in Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, led the study testing the use of electroretinography (ERG) to indicate increases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in the retina.
Dopamine is associated with a variety of pleasure-related effects in the brain, including the expectation of reward. In the eye's retina, dopamine is released when the optical nerve activates in response to light exposure.
Nasser and her colleagues found that electrical signals in the retina spiked high in response to a flash of light when a food stimulus (a small piece of chocolate brownie) was placed in participants' mouths. The increase was as great as that seen when participants had received the stimulant drug methylphenidate to induce a strong dopamine response. These responses in the presence of food and drug stimuli were each significantly greater than the response to light when participants ingested a control substance, water.
"What makes this so exciting is that the eye's dopamine system was considered separate from the rest of the brain's dopamine system," Nasser said. "So most people and indeed many retinography experts told me this would say that tasting a food that stimulates the brain's dopamine system wouldn't have an effect on the eye's dopamine system."
This study was a small-scale demonstration of the concept, with only nine participants. Most participants were overweight but none had eating disorders. All fasted for four hours before testing with the food stimulus.
If this technique is validated through additional and larger studies, Nasser said she and other researchers can use ERG for studies of food addiction and food science.
"My research takes a pharmacology approach to the brain's response to food," Nasser said. "Food is both a nutrient delivery system and a pleasure delivery system, and a 'side effect' is excess calories. I want to maximize the pleasure and nutritional value of food but minimize the side effects. We need more user-friendly tools to do that."
The low cost and ease of performing electroretinography make it an appealing method, according to Nasser. The Medicare reimbursement cost for clinical use of ERG is about $150 per session, and each session generates 200 scans in just two minutes. Procedures to measure dopamine responses directly from the brain are more expensive and invasive. For example, PET scanning costs about $2,000 per session and takes more than an hour to generate a scan.
###
Nasser performed the study with colleagues at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center, in New York City.
Link to paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oby.20101
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Public release date: 24-Jun-2013 Share ] Contact: Rachel Ewing
raewing@drexel.edu
215-895-2614
Drexel University
PHILADELPHIA (June 24, 2013) The brain's pleasure response to tasting food can be measured through the eyes using a common, low-cost ophthalmological tool, according to a study just published in the journal Obesity. If validated, this method could be useful for research and clinical applications in food addiction and obesity prevention.
Dr. Jennifer Nasser, an associate professor in the department of Nutrition Sciences in Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, led the study testing the use of electroretinography (ERG) to indicate increases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in the retina.
Dopamine is associated with a variety of pleasure-related effects in the brain, including the expectation of reward. In the eye's retina, dopamine is released when the optical nerve activates in response to light exposure.
Nasser and her colleagues found that electrical signals in the retina spiked high in response to a flash of light when a food stimulus (a small piece of chocolate brownie) was placed in participants' mouths. The increase was as great as that seen when participants had received the stimulant drug methylphenidate to induce a strong dopamine response. These responses in the presence of food and drug stimuli were each significantly greater than the response to light when participants ingested a control substance, water.
"What makes this so exciting is that the eye's dopamine system was considered separate from the rest of the brain's dopamine system," Nasser said. "So most people and indeed many retinography experts told me this would say that tasting a food that stimulates the brain's dopamine system wouldn't have an effect on the eye's dopamine system."
This study was a small-scale demonstration of the concept, with only nine participants. Most participants were overweight but none had eating disorders. All fasted for four hours before testing with the food stimulus.
If this technique is validated through additional and larger studies, Nasser said she and other researchers can use ERG for studies of food addiction and food science.
"My research takes a pharmacology approach to the brain's response to food," Nasser said. "Food is both a nutrient delivery system and a pleasure delivery system, and a 'side effect' is excess calories. I want to maximize the pleasure and nutritional value of food but minimize the side effects. We need more user-friendly tools to do that."
The low cost and ease of performing electroretinography make it an appealing method, according to Nasser. The Medicare reimbursement cost for clinical use of ERG is about $150 per session, and each session generates 200 scans in just two minutes. Procedures to measure dopamine responses directly from the brain are more expensive and invasive. For example, PET scanning costs about $2,000 per session and takes more than an hour to generate a scan.
###
Nasser performed the study with colleagues at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center, in New York City.
Link to paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oby.20101
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/du-prf062413.php
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A Port St. Lucie soccer coach is accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy on his team.
Joseph Gianquitti, 44, was arrested Tuesday night on three counts of lewd or lascivious conduct on a minor.
IMAGES: Who Got Arrested In South Florida?
Police said Gianquitti, an assistant coach with the Port St. Lucie Soccer Club, is accused of molesting one of his players on more than one occasion. Police said the alleged acts occurred at Gianquitti's home and the soccer field's clubhouse.
Detectives said Gianquitti would buy shoes and other gifts for the boy and "would take him anywhere he wanted to go," according to the arrest report.
"During some parties that were being held at the suspect's house, he would serve alcohol and have a bunch of teenagers over," Sgt. Frank Sabol told WPBF 25 News.
The boy told Gianquitti on several occasions to stop touching him, but as Gianquitti's advances continued, the boy told his parents, who then notified police, the report stated.
Sabol said Gianquitti tried to hide from police in the clubhouse when they gathered enough evidence to make an arrest.
A statement from the president of the Port St. Lucie Soccer Club said he "takes these allegations extremely seriously" and will do what he can to assist in the investigation.
"The child's well-being is always paramount and we offer our support to the young man and his family at such a difficult time," the statement said.
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By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) - The British government warned on Wednesday that future combat operations could become more difficult after a court ruled that families of three soldiers killed in Iraq could sue the military for failing to protect troops on active duty.
Britain's Supreme Court upheld the claim of relatives that the Human Rights Act applied to troops serving in battle abroad, and rejected the Ministry of Defence's argument that it was protected by a doctrine of combat immunity.
Under the doctrine, the government cannot be held responsible for actions or omissions that cause death or injury during combat.
The ruling delighted and surprised the families involved, but Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said that worrying about soldiers' human rights could have a serious impact on future military missions.
"I am very concerned at the wider implications of this judgment, which could ultimately make it more difficult for our troops to carry out operations and potentially throws open a wide range of military decisions to the uncertainty of litigation," Hammond said in a statement.
"It can't be right that troops on operations have to put the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) ahead of what is operationally vital to protect our national security."
Britain's top court, which overturned a decision by the Court of Appeal last year, ruled troops did remain under British jurisdiction when deployed on active service abroad and so were covered by the Human Rights Act.
It means families of soldiers killed can now take their cases to trial to seek damages from the MoD for negligence.
The claims related to the deaths of two British soldiers killed by improvised explosive devices while travelling in the heavily criticized, lightly armored Snatch Land Rover vehicles, and another who died in a "friendly fire" incident.
"It has been a long hard battle to get to this decision today and we now finally have permission to proceed and prove the MoD were at fault," said Susan Smith, whose son Private Philip Hewett was killed when his Snatch Land Rover was struck by an explosion in July 2005.
"They can no longer treat soldiers as sub-human with no rights."
Relatives of some British soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan have blamed inadequate equipment for unnecessary deaths. Snatch Land Rovers have been particularly singled out, with critics arguing they gave too little or no protection from roadside bombs.
"Snatch Land Rovers were known to be inadequate for many years before the Iraq conflict. They were known to be unsafe and were becoming increasingly so as the insurgency grew and were nicknamed 'mobile coffins'," said the families' lawyer Jocelyn Cockburn.
"There seems to have been no intent to act upon the clear evidence regarding the safety of these vehicles."
(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-says-soldier-deaths-court-ruling-hit-combat-123741874.html
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June 18, 2013 ? NASA announced Tuesday a Grand Challenge focused on finding all asteroid threats to human populations and knowing what to do about them.
The challenge, which was announced at an asteroid initiative industry and partner day at NASA Headquarters in Washington, is a large-scale effort that will use multi-disciplinary collaborations and a variety of partnerships with other government agencies, international partners, industry, academia, and citizen scientists. It complements NASA's recently announced mission to redirect an asteroid and send humans to study it.
"NASA already is working to find asteroids that might be a threat to our planet, and while we have found 95 percent of the large asteroids near the Earth's orbit, we need to find all those that might be a threat to Earth," said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. "This Grand Challenge is focused on detecting and characterizing asteroids and learning how to deal with potential threats. We will also harness public engagement, open innovation and citizen science to help solve this global problem."
Grand Challenges are ambitious goals on a national or global scale that capture the imagination and demand advances in innovation and breakthroughs in science and technology. They are an important element of President Obama's Strategy for American Innovation.
"I applaud NASA for issuing this Grand Challenge because finding asteroid threats, and having a plan for dealing with them, needs to be an all-hands-on-deck effort," said Tom Kalil, deputy director for technology and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "The efforts of private-sector partners and our citizen scientists will augment the work NASA already is doing to improve near-Earth object detection capabilities."
NASA also released a request for information (RFI) that invites industry and potential partners to offer ideas on accomplishing NASA's goal to locate, redirect, and explore an asteroid, as well as find and plan for asteroid threats. The RFI is open for 30 days, and responses will be used to help develop public engagement opportunities and a September industry workshop.
To watch the archived video of Tuesday's asteroid initiative industry and partner day, visit: http://youtube.com/nasatelevision
For more information about NASA's asteroid initiative, including presentations from Tuesday's event and a link to the new RFI, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/asteroidinitiative
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130618172054.htm
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In this image provided by NBC Blake Shelton, Danielle Bradbery and Cher, right, pose after Bradbery won season-four of "The Voice" Tuesday June 18, 2013. Bradbery never had a big singing gig or a vocal lesson. It's also the third win for her coach Blake Shelton. (AP Photo/NBC, Trae Patton)
In this image provided by NBC Blake Shelton, Danielle Bradbery and Cher, right, pose after Bradbery won season-four of "The Voice" Tuesday June 18, 2013. Bradbery never had a big singing gig or a vocal lesson. It's also the third win for her coach Blake Shelton. (AP Photo/NBC, Trae Patton)
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) ? Cher is no stranger to tabloid fodder.
The 67-year-old singer who has spent most of her life in the spotlight offered this advice to young artists on navigating the world of paparazzi attention: "You're screwed. That's my advice."
"You don't deal with it. You just try to get a place where no one can find you and that's your little sanctuary," continued the "Believe" singer in an interview Tuesday. "I have a fabulous house that I love and it's my sanctuary."
Looking ever the rock star in leather and studs, Cher took the stage Tuesday for the season finale of NBC's "The Voice." She performed "Woman's World," the first single off her upcoming album of the same name ? her 26th album since she began recording in the 1960s.
Cher said reality singing competitions are simply a modern incarnation of classic star-makers like "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts."
"It's just another vehicle, you know what I mean? Talent is talent," she said on the red carpet following the finale which crowned 16-year-old country singer Danielle Bradbery the winner.
The young powerhouse from Blake Shelton's team beat out indie rocker Michelle Chamuel and country duo the Swon Brothers for the season four title.
Though Cher has topped the Billboard pop charts throughout the last six decades, she credits luck, not necessarily talent, for her incredible staying power.
"If you have an idea, you tell me because I haven't got a clue," she said of her secret to career longevity. "I believe that luck has a lot to do with it. There are lots of people who are more talented or whatever, but somehow this has been my path. So this is what I'm doing."
___
Follow Nicole Evatt at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt
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There seems to be a never-ending dialogue these days about the increasing digitization of business. Across all industries, more and more work is being conducted online, and for the most part the gradual transition is resulting in improving efficiency and convenience. The clearest example in the past year is probably the widespread implementation of smart phones in business, as people are now able to send and receive emails and check in to company websites from just about anywhere in the world!
If there is a drawback to this increased use of technology in business practices, it is probably that businesses are now vulnerable to completely unpredictable mishaps. If your hardware is damaged, or a file you send is intercepted or lost, etc., your business may suffer as a result. For this reason, the need for adequate backup of digital files has been well chronicled. But, continuing the non-stop implementation of newer technology in business practices, the last year has seen a particular form of digital backup taking centre stage: cloud storage from providers like Citrix ShareFile.
There are numerous forms of electronic backup for digital files, and each has clear benefits. The bottom line is, any form of backup is safer than no backup at all. But here are a few of the specific reasons that more people and businesses are opting for cloud storage backup.
Source: http://www.getmorepc.com/2013/06/17/people-choose-cloud-backup/
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Iranian newly elected President Hasan Rowhani, listens during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 17, 2013. Rowhani showcases his reformist image by promising a "path of moderation," the easing of nuclear tensions and steps to narrow the huge divide with the United States. He also make clear where he won?t go, saying he opposes any halt to uranium enrichment, at the heart of the nuclear standoff. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iranian newly elected President Hasan Rowhani, listens during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 17, 2013. Rowhani showcases his reformist image by promising a "path of moderation," the easing of nuclear tensions and steps to narrow the huge divide with the United States. He also make clear where he won?t go, saying he opposes any halt to uranium enrichment, at the heart of the nuclear standoff. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iranian newly elected President Hasan Rowhani, listens during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 17, 2013. Rowhani showcases his reformist image by promising a "path of moderation," the easing of nuclear tensions and steps to narrow the huge divide with the United States. He also made clear where he won?t go, saying he opposes any halt to uranium enrichment, at the heart of the nuclear standoff. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iranian newly elected President Hasan Rowhani, places his hand on his heart as a sign of respect, after speaking at a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 17, 2013. Rowhani showcases his reformist image by promising a "path of moderation," the easing of nuclear tensions and steps to narrow the huge divide with the United States. He also make clear where he won?t go, saying he opposes any halt to uranium enrichment, at the heart of the nuclear standoff. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this photo taken on Sunday, June 16, 2013, and released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, speaks during his meeting with President-elect Hasan Rowhani in Tehran, Iran. On Sunday, Rowhani had his first meeting as president-elect with Khamenei, who offered "necessary guidelines" to him, state TV said, without elaborating. (AP Photo/Office of the Supreme Leader)
Iranian President elect Hasan Rowhani, center, is accompanied by Hasan Khomeini, grandson of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, right, and Ayatollah Mousavi Bojnourdi, during visit of Ayatollah Khomeini's shrine, just outside Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Iran's newly elected reformist-backed president Hasan Rowhani said Sunday that the country's dire economic problems cannot be solved "overnight," as he took his first steps in consulting with members of the clerically dominated establishment on his new policies.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's newly elected president showcased his reform-leaning image Monday by promising a "path of moderation" that includes greater openness on Tehran's nuclear program and overtures to Washington. He also made clear where he draws the line: No halt to uranium enrichment and no direct U.S. dialogue without a pledge to stay out of Iranian affairs.
Hasan Rowhani's first post-victory new conference was a study in what may make his presidency tick.
Rowhani may be hailed as a force for change, but he also appears to carry a deep and self-protective streak of pragmatism. He knows he can only push his views on outreach and detente as far as allowed by the country's real powers, the ruling clerics and their military protectors, the Revolutionary Guard.
Many of Rowhani's statements reflected these boundaries, which could later expand or contract depending on how much the theocracy wants to endorse his agenda.
When he appealed to treat "old wounds" with the U.S., he also echoed the ruling clerics' position that no breakthroughs can occur as long as Washington is seen as trying to undermine their hold on power. Rowhani's urging for greater "nuclear transparency" as a path to roll back sanctions was also punctuated by a hard-liner stance: No chance to stop the uranium enrichment labs at the heart of the stalemate with the West and its allies.
Rowhani spoke eloquently about a "new era" on the international stage but avoided direct mention of the sweeping crackdowns at home since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
At the end of the news conference, a spectator ? whose identity was not immediately known ? yelled out for the release of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest for more than two years. Rowhani smiled but made no comment.
"You can make any kind of promises you want," said Merhzad Boroujerdi, director of the Middle East Studies program at Syracuse University. "At the end of the day, it's the ruling clerics that decide whether they go anywhere."
There is no doubt, however, that the overall tone of Rowhani's remarks resonates well in the West. The White House and others have already signaled cautious hope that Rowhani's presence could open new possibilities on diplomacy and efforts to break the impasse over Tehran's disputed nuclear program after four failed negotiating rounds since last year.
If nothing else, the contrast was vivid with Ahmadinejad and his hectoring style.
"We are on a path of moderation. ... We have to enhance mutual trust between Iran and other countries," Rowhani told journalists. "We have to build trust."
Rowhani appeared to borrow phrases from another cleric-president, reformist Mohammad Khatami, who preceded Ahmadinejad and opened a range of social and political freedoms that have been largely swept aside in the lockdown atmosphere of recent years.
"The basis of politics is constructive interaction with the world," said Rowhani, wearing a white turban and surrounded by violet flowers ? the signature color his campaign. "Circumstances have changed in the world by this election. . The new atmosphere will definitely be turned into a new opportunity."
Many questions remain, though. Rowhani sidestepped the issue of Iran's close alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying only that the efforts to end the civil war and restore stability rest with the "Syrian people."
In Paris, Israel's defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, underscored worries among some Israeli officials that their Western allies could hope for Rowhani-inspired breakthroughs while Iran continues "to make progress in their military nuclear project."
Although the 64-year-old Rowhani cannot directly set key policies, he might be able to use the strength of his landslide victory and his influential connections, including with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to shape opinions. Rowhani served as Iran's first nuclear envoy from 2003-2005 during a period of intense deal-making with Europeans.
Rowhani's aides have said he proposed an accord in 2005 with then-French President Jacques Chirac to allow uranium enrichment in exchange for the highest level of monitoring by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency. The deal did not gain support from other countries such as Britain and the U.S.
In an interview last year with the Iranian magazine Mehr Nameh, Rowhani said he also received a U.S. proposal in 2004, carried by the head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency at the time, Mohamed ElBaradei, for direct dialogue on nuclear and other issues. Rowhani said he passed along the offer to the ruling clerics and "the decision was that we should not negotiate with the U.S."
Rowhani has not given any clear details on his advice for the current talks, which face pressure from factions in the Israel and the U.S. urging greater consideration of military options.
But Rowhani appears to favor the general contours of the reported French-backed deal for greater openness as the way to ease Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear efforts. The sanctions have slashed oil revenue and contributed to a spike in inflation. "If sanctions have any benefits, they will only benefit Israel," he said at the news conference.
He outlined "step by step" measures to reassure the West about Iran's nuclear ambitions. The West suspects that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon. Iranian leaders, including Rowhani, insist Iran seeks reactors only for energy and medical applications.
Enriched uranium is used as fuel for energy and research reactors but it can be further boosted to make a nuclear warhead.
"The first step will be showing greater transparency. We are ready to show greater transparency and make clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran's actions are totally within international frameworks," he said. "The second step is promoting mutual confidence. We'll take measures in both fields. The first goal is that no new sanctions are imposed. Then, that the (existing) sanctions are reduced."
Rowhani, though, reaffirmed the positions that have contributed to the logjam in talks so far: Iran's insistence that Washington "should recognize all of Iran's rights, including the nuclear rights."
He further added that any hope for one-on-one dialogue with the U.S. depends on the improbable starting point already set out by the ruling clerics. "The Americans need to specify that they will never intervene in Iran's internal affairs," Rowhani said.
"It's not easy," he said. "There is an old wound. This wound could be treated through prudence. We will not seek increasing tensions. Wisdom requires that the two nations and the two governments look to the future."
On Syria, he said the ultimate responsibility to resolve the more than two-year-old civil war should be in the hands of the "Syrian people."
"We are opposed to foreign intervention," he said. "We hope peace and tranquility will return to Syria through cooperation with countries of the region and world."
Rowhani formally takes office in August. In the meantime, it appears Ahmadinejad's political foes could be plotting a payback, underscoring the often cutthroat nature of internal Iranian affairs.
Iran's official news agency said a criminal court summoned Ahmadinejad over a lawsuit filed by the country's parliament speaker and others.
The report gave no further details, but Ahmadinejad and the speaker, Ali Larijani, have waged political feuds for years. The court has set a November date for Ahmadinejad's appearance, it said.
___
Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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