Disgraced cloning expert convicted in S. Korea

Scientist escapes jail term for embezzlement, illegally buying human eggs

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33476693/ns/health-cloning_and_stem_cells/

SEOUL, South Korea - A disgraced cloning expert who falsely claimed major breakthroughs in stem cell research was convicted Monday for embezzlement and other charges connected to the scandal, but he will not serve time in prison.
Hwang Woo-suk, 56 — once considered a national hero in South Korea for his work on stem cells and for producing the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy — was cleared of the main charge of fraud but was convicted of embezzling research funds and illegally buying human eggs for his research.
Prosecutors had asked for four years in prison, but Judge Bae Ki-yeol of Seoul Central District Court said Hwang had shown remorse and gave him a suspended sentence, sparing him jail time if he stays out of trouble for three years.Hwang, who appeared confident as he walked into the hearing, made no comment as he left the courthouse.
The verdict marked the culmination of a long fall from grace for a man once hailed as a pioneer in stem cell research.
In 2004, Hwang and former colleagues at Seoul National University claimed in a paper published in the journal Science that they had created the world's first cloned human embryos — and had extracted stem cells from them.
Stem cell research is highly sensitive, and Hwang had been the only South Korean scientist allowed to carry out studies on the master cells that scientists say could lead to revolutionary cures for hard-to-treat diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
A year later, Hwang's team also claimed in the journal that they had created human embryonic stem cells genetically matched to specific patients, a purported breakthrough that promised a way to withstand rejection by a patient's immune system.
Faked dataBut questions about his claims led to an investigation by a university committee. The committee concluded that the 2004 paper was based on faked data, and also cast doubt on the 2004 findings. The journal, Science, retracted both papers.
The South Korean government stripped him of the right to conduct stem cell research in 2006.
He was charged later that year of fraud for allegedly accepting some 2 billion won ($2 million) in private donations under false pretenses. He also was accused of embezzling 800 million won (about $800,000) and buying human eggs for research in violation of South Korea's bioethics laws.
Hwang eventually admitted the data was faked but claimed he had been deceived by a fellow researcher.
The protracted trial, which heard testimony from more than 60 witnesses, lasted more than three years. During an August hearing, Hwang pleaded for leniency, saying he was ready to "pour the last of my passion" into research.
On Monday, Judge Bae dismissed the main fraud charge against him, saying it was difficult to believe Hwang intended to deceive the donors just to get the funding.
Hwang — who with his Seoul National University team of scientists created the first known cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005 — has focused on cloning canines since being fired by the university and stripped of the right to conduct stem cell research.
Hwang still has a loyal following. Dozens of supporters rallied outside the court Monday, chanting "We trust Dr. Hwang."

Manolo Blahnik stamps out the platform shoe

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/shoppingandfashion/6416453/Manolo-Blahnik-stamps-out-the-platform-shoe.html



‘Sex & The City’ shoe designer prefers the ‘Zero Sole’



There can be chine else in the world as thrilled as Manolo Blahnik, the man who put the sexy shoe into ‘Sex & The City’, that the clumpy, plodding reign of The Platform appears to be finally tottering to a close.
“Yes, yes, yes. No more platforms, please. I’m so glad!” the celebrity cobbler said this week at the launch of his spring/summer 2010 collection at Soho House, which features elegant spike-heeled stilettos on a fine, ‘zero’ sole, and pretty flat sandals.
“Maybe I lost money by not doing them (platforms) when they were in fashion this time. But I don’t care. I did them in the 70s. That was enough for me. Never again! I don’t like them!”
A quick browse through the elegant Thames & Hudson publication, “Manolo Blahnik drawings”, with a foreword by no less than Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, reveals Blahnik’s obsession with the platform sole nearly forty years ago. Several drawings, signed, dated and accompanied by descriptions and notes in his flowery script, are of platform designs made in 1971 for Ossie Clarke. Another drawing features a lime-green, one-strap sandal, balanced on what Blahnik describes as ‘a brick’, of black patent leather; another, an ankle-strap platform in leopard-print with a high, stacked heel, could have stepped straight off the Paris catwalks during the autumn/winter designer shows in March.
“Don’t talk to me about platforms. I’ve done it all before. It bores me now. I want shoes to be beautiful, so women walk beautifully. Shoes should be beautiful - Oh, and of course, a little fun also.”
Next season’s collection is certain to thrill the international fan club of ‘Manolo-cholics’. The designs are grouped in several categories. Sculpture, for example, takes reference points from the works of Alexander Calder, and architecture, and includes a glorious ‘Guggenheim’ high-heeled, sandal in curved, semicircles of different neutral shades. ‘Equestrian’ covers the thonged, strapped and laced styles, with a hint of dressage and saddlery which take their inspiration from the riders and horses in paintings by Rubens. ‘Spectacle’ gives free rein to Blahnik’s sense of wit and fun and draws on the theatre and the Big Top. One style, in particular, in purple and white-checked satin and crepe-de-chime, has a hint of the gladiatress, with cut-outs and a peep-toe; another, a peep-toe, sling-back ankle-boot, is in a pretty, blue rose, Liberty print; while a black-and-white canvas, ‘clown spot’ flat, piped in red, is tied at the ankle with a wide, leather bow.
‘Applique’ embraces a range of heels and flats, decorated with revetted, leather flowers, while medieval ironwork craftsmen have given rise to intricate sandals, cut from a single piece of Cordovan leather, worked in swirls and filigrees. There is not a platform to be seen.
But will we be seeing more Manolo’s in the movie sequel to ‘Sex & The City’, which recently started filming in New York?
“I’ve sent them lots, but you never know,” the shoe designer says.
If I’m any judge, SJP/Carrie will have taken one look at Manolo Blahnik spring/summer 2010 - and decided she needs much, much more wardrobe space.
In the meantime, Blahnik is working on the second edition of his drawings which will be published next year.

Women only parking spots - Seoul

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/10/20/lustout.skorea.pink.parking.cnn?iref=videosearch

Report calls Eritrea world's worst country for press freedom

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/20/report-calls-eritrea-worlds-worst-country-for-press-freedom/


(CNN) - How bad is it to be a journalist in Eritrea? Even reporters who leave the Horn of Africa nation are fearful of talking about what happens there, according to Reporters Without Borders.

The group rated Eritrea as the world's worst place to be a journalist in its annual report on press freedom, issued Tuesday.

"Nobody knows about that country, because you can't report on what's going on there," said Clothilde Le Coz, the Washington director of Reporters Without Borders. Eritrean journalists who travel abroad won't talk, she said, because "they really fear for their lives."

The group's report offered a mixed view of how much freedom journalists had in 175 nations from September 1, 2008, through August 31, 2009, based on a 40-question survey completed by hundreds of media figures around the world.

It showed the Baltic Sea region as the best place for media freedom, with five of the top six nations on the list - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden - located there.

Conversely, Eritrea was rated the worst - No. 175 - slightly behind North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran, Burma and Cuba.

The United States was rated No. 20, an improvement of 20 places over the previous year, with the report citing "Barack Obama's election as president and the fact that he has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor."

Brady, Patriots get historic 59-0 win over Titans

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091018/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_titans_patriots;_ylt=AkuDXWin8kqPcOUfG9cw3ses0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM2YXV1OWIyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMDE4L2Zibl90aXRhbnNfcGF0cmlvdHMEY3BvcwMxMARwb3MDNwRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA2JyYWR5cGF0cmlvdA--

AP – New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates a touchdown with wide receiver Wes Welker …

By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer – 23 mins ago

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – This was the Tom Brady everyone expects to see.

Brady threw six touchdown passes — five in one quarter, an NFL mark — and the New England Patriots sent the hapless Tennessee Titansplummeting to a new low in their winless season with a 59-0 win on a snowy Sunday.

Brady had five TD passes in the second quarter, a record for one period. The six touchdown throws tied Brady's own Patriots record. And the 59-point margin matched the largest since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Los Angeles Rams' 59-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons in 1976.

The Patriots (4-2) gained a club-record 619 yards with Brady completing 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards.

The Titans (0-6) took their worst loss since they began play in 1960 as the Houston Oilers, eclipsing the 61-7 setback to Cincinnati in 1989. They won their first 10 games last season.

The white-and-powder-blue throwback uniforms the Titans wore to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the AFL may have been the only resemblance to that team that won that league's inaugural championship.

The Titans couldn't even stop New England when Brian Hoyer, a free agent rookie from Michigan State, took over for Brady on the second series of the third quarter with the score 52-0. He completed 9 of 11 passes for 52 yards in his pro debut and scored on a 1-yard run on his first series.

By that time, the wide empty spaces in the snow-covered stands matched the huge gaps in the Titans' defense that played without injured starting cornerbacks Cortland Finnegan and Nick Harper. Rookies started in their spots.

"You never go into a game thinking it's going to be like this," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "It's just our day today."

The Patriots led 10-0 after one quarter on a 45-yard run by Laurence Maroney and a 33-yard field goal byStephen Gostkowski.

Then came Brady's historic second quarter after five games of inconsistency.

In his sixth game since suffering a season-ending knee injury in last year's opener, his production for that quarter was remarkable even by his standards: touchdown passes to Randy Moss of 40 and 28 yards, toKevin Faulk of 38 yards, and to Wes Welker of 30 and 5 yards.

Brady came back for the first series of the third quarter and threw a 9-yard scoring pass to Moss. Then Hoyer took over and scored on a 12-play, 61-yard drive that lasted 7:42.

In one 17-play stretch in the second quarter, the Titans gave up three scoring passes, lost two fumbles and an interception and even had a roughing-the-passer penalty on one of those touchdowns. One positive note: Collins threw his only completion of the first half in that miserable span.

He completed only 2 of 12 passes for minus-7 yards. Vince Young replaced him after Hoyer's touchdown and threw an interception, one of five Tennessee turnovers, on his first play. His only other pass was an incompletion.

Tennessee's defense was so bad that New England didn't punt until 4:13 remained in the game.

The Titans, whose 13-3 record last year was the NFL's best, have lost their last three games by 20, 22 and 59 points. They allowed Welker to catch 10 passes for a career-high 150 yards and Moss to get eight receptions for 129 yards.

A rare bright spot for Tennessee was Chris Johnson, who entered as the NFL's third leading rusher. He ran for 128 of the Titans' total of 186 overall.

At A&M, a Dance of Decorum for Obama Visit

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/us/politics/16texas.html?m=&sq=a&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print

October 16, 2009

COLLEGE STATION JOURNAL

By MICHAEL BRICK

COLLEGE STATION, Tex. — The most dangerous young man on campus stands about five and a half feet tall, covers his fiery red hair with a modest ball cap, drawls sir and ma’am at his elders, and seems well on his way to establishing a fine medical practice someday. First, he has the weekend to get through.

The young man, Justin Pulliam, 19, the chairman of the Texas A&M University chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas, has been asked to attend a forum featuring two presidents of the United States, one of them the current officeholder.

“I actually did get an invitation,” Mr. Pulliam said, “but I had to decline due to our protest.”

All across campus, from the large-animal veterinary clinics to the storied Military Walk, students, professors and administrators have been bracing for the arrival on Friday of President Obama, an admitted Democrat and, here, a suspected socialist. For an institution often cast as country cousin to the University of Texas at Austin, a turn in the national spotlight will present the chance to put on a display of diversity, hospitality and achievement. Or not.

Founded during Reconstruction as a men’s technical college, A&M (which stood for Agricultural and Mechanical) has nurtured a stoic brand of conservatism steeped in the tradition of its Aggie farmer nickname and the Corps of Cadets.

Public service is a serious proposition typified by the annual Big Event, a sort of latter-day barn-raising that deploys thousands of students in College Station and across the nearby city of Bryan to mow lawns, pick up litter, paint and perform odd jobs. In recent years, the university has established an international presence with a robust student exchange program and centers in Mexico, Italy and Qatar.

Still, this is no Berkeley. The university last made national news in 1999 for the collapse of a pep rally bonfire tower that killed 12 people. A walk across campus remains a quiet, almost solemn idyll, where cadets march in formation, the most provocative T-shirts feature slogans in favor of Jesus and the destination signs on shuttles flash “Bush School.”

The first President Bush (“Forty-one” to his admirers), for whom the school of government is named, bears responsibility for inviting his less-conservative successor to the campus. On Friday afternoon, Mr. Obama is to join Mr. Bush before an invitation-only audience of 2,500 at Rudder Auditorium to commemorate the 20th anniversary of ”Points of Light,” the presidential call to volunteer service.

“Surely everyone, almost everyone, anyhow, will take pride in a visit by a sitting president,” said George C. Edwards III, a distinguished professor of political science at the university.

For his part, Mr. Bush has been taking no chances. After a summer of contentious nationwide protests culminating in an outburst during a Congressional address, Mr. Bush issued a call for decorum on the front page of the student newspaper this week.

“Howdy,” his letter began, going on to renounce politics for the occasion and conclude: “I cannot wait for Obama to experience the open, decent and welcoming Aggie spirit for himself. This will be an important national moment, and a moment for Texas A&M to shine in the national spotlight as it always does. I hope and believe it will serve as a point of Aggie pride for many years to come.”

But among the great Aggie traditions, few outshine the spirit of the Twelfth Man, a reference to the stadium crowds at Kyle Field taking an active role, by force of volume and sheer will, in the outcome of events.

Unchecked fervor, of course, can be a raw and fearsome thing. Last year, the Young Conservatives embarrassed the university by throwing eggs at a picture of Mr. Obama (“He’ll throw away your nest egg,” was the topical message lost to history) on national television. T-shirts bearing the legend “Beat the Hell Outta Obama,” an ad hominem twist on a football slogan, did little to improve matters.

“He’s the president, and I respect him and I respect the office, but I’m afraid students may not get that,” said Hayden Paul, 19, a sophomore student government official. “We’ve got student groups on campus that may do something stupid, and that scares me to death.”

Mr. Pulliam, the leader of the Young Conservatives, was raised on a 100-acre cattle spread near the North Texas city of Sherman. He counts 90 followers paying $20 for an annual membership, which includes a maroon T-shirt depicting the school mascot, a purebred collie, Reveille, and the slogan “Don’t Tread on Me.”

Believing his fellow students have lost their conservatism to a mix of apathy and professorial indoctrination, he has planned a rally for Friday afternoon involving costumes like Dr. Obama (a jab at the president’s stance on health care), the Grim Reaper (a less subtle jab on the same topic), and Uncle Sam (?).

Since the egg-throwing episode, Mr. Pulliam has grown determined to keep protest signs focused on policy messages. But he has little control over the nonstudent groups, the likes of the Tea Party chapters of Dallas and Houston, that have announced plans to join his protest. Though he submitted a request for space across from the auditorium, Mr. Pulliam anticipates being pushed across campus.

“It seems that maybe the university administration,” he said, “has been letting the White House be their main client.”

Rick Rojas contributed reporting.

Rev. Moon to marry off 40,000 followers

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33296507/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

Unification Church leader, 89, to preside over another mass wedding

ASAN, South Korea - Nearly a half-century after the Rev. Sun Myung Moon performed his first mass wedding, the 89-year-old leader of the Unification Church is getting ready to marry off tens of thousands of people in spectacles from the United States to South Korea.
The church says Moon will wed or reaffirm the marriages of more than 40,000 people. More than 20,000 will participate Wednesday at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, in a ceremony that will be broadcast live at similar events worldwide.
One of the largest "blessing ceremonies" will take place at the Unification Church-owned New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan on Tuesday night, church officials said.
The mass weddings — the church's largest in a decade — come as Moon is moving to hand day-to-day leadership over to three of his 11 children.
The three sons insist their father remains in charge and in good health. Church officials say the massive global ceremony is meant to mark two key anniversaries in the leader's life: his 90th birthday and his 50th wedding anniversary.
'Tear down barriers' Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah who says he was 15 when Jesus Christ called upon him to carry out his unfinished work, has courted controversy and criticism since founding the Unification Church in Seoul in 1954.
He held his first mass wedding in the early 1960s, arranging the marriages of 24 couples himself and renewing the vows of 12 married couples.
Over the next two decades, the weddings grew in scale and began to involve followers from Japan, Europe, Africa, the U.S. and elsewhere. Several were held at Madison Square Garden in New York, with protesters shouting outside.
"My wish is to completely tear down barriers and to create a world in which everyone becomes one," Moon said in his recent autobiography. He says the blessing ceremonies pairing followers from different backgrounds are part of his vision of building a multicultural religious world.
In recent years, the weddings have been smaller in scale. Still, church officials said this time followers in nearly every U.S. state would take part.
Critics who accuse the church of engaging in cultlike practices say the mass weddings prove it brainwashes its followers. In the past, followers let Moon pick their spouses on the belief that he has divine insight. Many met their mates for the first time at the mass weddings.
These days, prospective partners meet days or weeks before their wedding, church officials say, and couples are matched after careful scrutiny of their photographs, biographies and other personal data.
Participants can also reject Moon's choice of their spouses — but few do, church officials said.
"There is no other faster way than a cross-cultural wedding to reach the ideal of a peaceful world," Moon wrote in "As a Peace-loving Global Citizen." "We must marry people from countries we consider enemies to achieve our goal of a peaceful world as quickly as possible."
'Overcome by love'The Rev. Moon Hyung-jin, the American-born, Harvard-educated son tapped to head the church's religious affairs, defended his father's vision.
The native New Yorker allowed his father to arrange his own marriage to a South Korean; he was 17 at the time. The father later married three of his grandchildren to followers from Japan, Korea's former colonizer.
"The philosophy behind my father's blessing is that the pain and grief between enemies can only be overcome by love," Moon Hyung-jin told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "If people from Korea and Japan marry with this broad mindset, their children won't see their parents' countries as enemies and instead will come to love both countries."