Car Review: Nissan Pathfinder takes a new road

To see the evolution of the SUV market, park the all-new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder next to its first-generation ancestor from 1985. They share nothing but a name tag.

That's hardly unique to Nissan Motor Co. When sport utility vehicles started crowding mall parking lots in the mid-1980s, they were little more than rear-wheel-drive truck frames with a square box strapped to their backs. Capable and rugged, they offered little comfort or efficiency. Three decades later, most SUVs are essentially station wagons with a hormone problem. Nearly all share a platform with a front-wheel-drive sedan. Fuel efficiency and comfort must now be balanced with practicality, towing capacity and value.

Some find this balance better than others. The 2013 Pathfinder finds it better than most.

Much bigger than its predecessor, the new Pathfinder now comfortably seats seven adults in three rows of seats. To do this, Nissan stretched the Pathfinder's length by 5 inches and its width by more than 4 inches.

That cleared out 7 more inches of legroom in the middle row. But that gain comes with an asterisk: It's measured with the middle seat adjusted all the way back, at the expense of back-row passengers. Third row passengers get 2 more inches of legroom, and both the middle and rear seats fold flat for cargo. Overall, the Pathfinder's interior is more than 8 cubic feet larger.

This Nissan's bigger insides mean it's bigger on the outside too, so be prepared to steer a lot of vehicle. The Pathfinder's girth gives it the turning radius of your average battleship. Speed-sensitive steering helps, but the Pathfinder still feels big.

It also looks big. More curves and softer lines can't mask this Nissan's newfound width. Adding to its visual mass are large, angled headlights. Their lines then flow into a trapezoid grille trimmed with thick chrome bars. Meanwhile, the front bumper juts forward, giving the Pathfinder a bit of a snout. The upscale Pathfinder Platinum I tested added additional bits of chrome around the exterior and 20-inch alloy wheels.

Fortunately my $39,995 tester also came standard with a feature borrowed from several Infiniti vehicles called Around View. While you park, the view from a camera on each side of the Pathfinder is stitched together on the navigation screen to form a bird's-eye view of the entire vehicle. It's awesome; expect plenty of Nissan dealers to earn their holiday bonus selling customers on this feature.

But the Pathfinder's growth has little effect on its weight. The previous Pathfinder used a heavier body-on-frame setup like that of a pickup truck. Bowing to the aforementioned trend for SUVs, the 2013 model now uses the same unibody construction found on competitors such as the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer, Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Highlander. It also shares a front-wheel-drive crossover platform with its mechanical twin, the Infiniti JX, and Nissan's smaller Murano. The switch from the prior Pathfinder's setup means ground clearance on the 2013 model drops by more than 2 inches, so if you are finding paths, make sure they're at least gravel.

The switch helps shed several hundred pounds and gives the Pathfinder class-leading fuel economy. The two-wheel-drive model I tested is rated at 20 mpg in the city and 26 on the highway, gains of 5 mpg and 4 mpg, respectively. During 350 miles of more city than highway driving, I averaged 19 mpg on regular-grade gas.

A new and more fuel-efficient transmission also reduces thirst. Nissan has been busy dropping a continuously variable transmission — the kind with no fixed gears — into recent models such as the mid-size Altima and compact Sentra sedans and the Quest minivan. So it should come as no surprise that a CVT is the only option on the Pathfinder.

It's paired with a single engine option as well: a 3.5-liter V-6 that Nissan borrowed from its Altima makes 260 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque. On paper, these figures put the Pathfinder toward the bottom of its class for six-cylinder engines. But on the road, this SUV does not lack for power. Both the engine and transmission do their jobs without drama, leaving all seven passengers to enjoy not being squished together in the quiet, comfortable cabin.

Spring for the Platinum model and your charges will also get to enjoy amenities pulled right out of the Pathfinder's upscale cousin, the Infiniti JX. My test vehicle came with items including leather seats, heated and cooled up front, a touch-screen navigation system with traffic updates, a 13-speaker Bose sound system, power liftgate, Bluetooth streaming audio and the aforementioned Around View monitor.

The only other options offered are the $2,300 premium package — dual moon roofs and a rear-seat entertainment system with dual DVD screens — and all-wheel-drive, for $1,600. The base Pathfinder starts at $29,095 and comes with a 4-inch color trip computer, push-button start, three-zone climate control, six-speaker sound system with a six-disc CD changer and steering wheel-mounted controls.

All models include safety features such as anti-lock brakes, six air bags, traction control and the LATCH system for child seats.

Rather than stand out in one or two areas while compromising performance in others, the 2013 Pathfinder does nearly everything well. Nissan realized that most SUV buyers will be finding paths much less often than they'll be finding parking, and has adjusted this vehicle's ethos accordingly. It's not the Pathfinder of yore, and that's just fine.

david.undercoffler@latimes.com

Read More..

Jesse Jackson Jr. resigns from Congress

Rep. Jesse Jackson resigned from Congress Wednesday, months after going on medical leave for treatment of bipolar depression.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner says the office received a letter of resignation from Jackson but would not release any details.

Earlier, Jackson's brother Jonathan Jackson told the Chicago Tribune that he was going to resign "momentarily."

The congressman could not be reached.

News of the resignation on the eve of Thanksgiving, when Congress was not meeting and many Washingtonians were traveling, seemed to take even Jackson staffers by surprise.
 
His press secretary, Frank Watkins, said Wednesday morning that he didn’t know anything about a possible resignation. Watkins attributed the rumors to press speculation.
 
Watkins said that, late Tuesday afternoon when he left a movie, he learned from another staffer that Jackson had been planning a conference call with his staff. The call was to be held Wednesday but was canceled and did not take place, according to Watkins, who said he is on vacation.

Watkins refused to name the staffer who alerted him to the conference call.

Jackson, 47, a South Side Democrat, has been treated for bipolar depression and has been on a medical leave from Congress since June. He has been under investigation by federal authorities for alleged misuse of campaign dollars and also has faced a congressional ethics probe.

Although he did not wage a campaign, Jackson won re-election on Nov. 6 to another two-year term in the House by defeating a Republican and independent challenger. Under Illinois law, Gov. Pat Quinn, a fellow Democrat, would call a special election to fill Jackson’s 2nd District congressional seat, which extends from Chicago’s South Side to Kankakee.

He is the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, and the husband of Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, 7th.

Rep. Jackson has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged improprieties related to his bid to win appointment in 2008 to the Senate seat that had been held by President Barack Obama. A Jackson emissary is alleged to have offered to raise up to $6 million in campaign funds for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for the governor appointing Jackson to the Senate seat.

Blagojevich is serving a prison term for corruption convictions including trying to sell or trade the Senate seat.

After the March primary election, the congressman’s aides belatedly announced his medical leave, which at first was blamed on “exhaustion.”

Read More..

Justin Bieber won't face charge for May encounter

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors decided not to file any charges against Justin Bieber after investigators found no evidence that the pop star had kicked and punched a photographer after leaving a movie theater last month, a document obtained Wednesday states.

Prosecutors had been asked by police to consider filing a misdemeanor battery charge against Bieber, but Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators found no visible injuries, video or photographs to confirm the allegations by the photographer.

Bieber, 18, was leaving the theater in suburban Calabasas with girlfriend Selena Gomez on May 27 when he had the encounter in a parking lot.

A doctor found only superficial injuries, and deputies observed no injuries on the man after the incident, the document states.

Authorities interviewed several witnesses but none reported seeing Bieber kick the man, and they noted that the photographer kept taking photos as the two singers left the location, according to the charge evaluation worksheet prepared by the district attorney's office.

"All the photos and video taken during this incident by the many photographers were obtained and reviewed," the document states. "There are no photos of a physical altercation."

The case was rejected on Oct. 22 and first reported Wednesday by celebrity website TMZ.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Read More..

The New Old Age Blog: Patience, Consciousness and White Lies

My wife and I are blessed with having three “semi-independent” parents in their mid-80s living within a few blocks of us. Our children grew up knowing their grandparents as integral parts of our nuclear family, within walking distance for most of their childhoods. But now that our nest is empty, we find ourselves reliving many of the parenting issues we faced when our children were little — now in geriatric versions, at close range. As it turns out, parenting was good practice for the issues we face with our own parents.

What exactly does semi-independence mean as applied to elderly parents? Among our three, we have two canes, five walkers, one wheelchair (for long walks), four artificial joints, a pacemaker, four hearing aids and a knee brace. The list of medical conditions is long, and the list of medications even longer, requiring different color pill box organizers for morning, afternoon and evening.

Our parents all live in the same homes they have been in for many years. Keeping them safe and healthy there, as well as when they leave the house, has become a big part of our day-to-day work these days. Therein the yin and yang of parenting has returned — independence versus helicoptering.

Children’s yearning for independence begins in toddlerhood: “I can do it myself!” It escalates through childhood, accelerates with the driver’s license, and crescendos, with pomp and circumstance, at high school graduation.

The urge for independence is seen in all animal species, but relinquishing independence and accepting assistance in old age is unique to humans. For most elderly, it comes with a struggle, reflecting how hardwired our brains are for independence. The thought of getting in-home help is antithetical to our parents’ sense of self worth, exceeded only by the dread of leaving their homes for assisted living facilities. So, as tasks that were once mundane and automatic have become onerous and stressful for them, we attempt to foster autonomy while protecting them from harm, as we did with our children just a few short years ago.

Childproofing – Our home has again become hazardous, as have theirs. Furniture must be rearranged, booster seats placed on chairs to ease standing up, slippery rugs removed, lighting improved, bathrooms accessorized with handles and rails.

Dressing – Body shapes change in childhood and in old age. Our parents’ wardrobes, like those of our children’s before them, need frequent attention to preserve self-esteem. Their unwillingness to part with old clothes turns us into tailors. And, once again, we shop for slip-on sneakers with Velcro ties.

Driving – For our teens, driving was the symbolic liberation from childhood to young adulthood. For our parents, driving is the symbolic resistance to infirmity and old age. Our attempt to wean them from their cars, in precisely the reverse order we used to phase our teens into driving, has been torture for our parents and for us.

Toys – We have filled our parents’ shelves with new toys to help them with everything from opening cartons of milk (I would like a word with whoever designed those plastic pull loops) and zipping their clothes, to opening jars and removing the protective seals from over-the-counter medicines. A “picker-upper” device helps them avoid bending too low, and a key turner gives them leverage to open their door. Large digital clock faces, easy-to-read telephone keypads, and magnifying glasses keep them in touch with the world, and an e-mail printer keeps them in touch with their grandchildren.

Medicating – Filling those plastic pill box organizers with a week’s worth of medicines has become a personal barometer of competence for our parents, yet, as with our children when they were young, we feel compelled to oversee the dosing.

Mobility – Despite numerous falls, it was only with much teeth gnashing (or denture gnashing, as the case may be) that our mothers consented to use canes; more gnashing when canes gave way to walkers. For long walks, we hide the wheelchair half way there and back so the neighbors don’t see.

The more we do for our parents, the more frail and guilty they feel. Our efforts are sometimes resented. Helping them get in and out of the car, or bracing them under the arm as they negotiate a bumpy sidewalk, can be an affront. “I can do it myself!”

Can I ride my bike to tennis practice if I’m really careful crossing Holly Street? Why can’t I take a cab home from the seniors program at the community center? Can I walk to grandma’s by myself this time? Can I take the bus to the supermarket today? Everyone is hanging out at the park after school, can I go? I’ll just walk down the block to the neighbor’s house this afternoon, O.K.?

What wisdom did we gain the first time around to help us now? Patience, consciousness and white lies.

Patience to wait for them to come to the same conclusions we did. Mom, do you think Rosalind would have fallen and broken both wrists if she had been using a walker?

Consciousness about their need for independence as ballast to our need for their well-being. Why don’t you just let us drive you at night for now?

And white lies: I’m going to the supermarket anyway, we can shop together.

The longer we can protect our parents from harm, the more we can share our lives with them and the more joy they can have from their grandchildren. The trick is doing it without hurting them in other ways.

We have been through this before. It was worth it then, and it is worth it now.

Dr. Harley A. Rotbart is professor and vice chairman of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the author of “No Regrets Parenting.”

Read More..

Rate on 30-year mortgage hits record 3.31%

Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week, a trend that is boosting home sales and aiding the housing recovery.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Wednesday that the average rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.31 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1971. That's down from 3.34 percent last week, the previous record low.

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage also dropped to 2.63 percent. That's down from 2.65 percent last week and also a new record.

The average rate on the 30-year loan has been below 4 percent all year. It has fallen further since the Federal Reserve started buying mortgage bonds in September to encourage more borrowing and spending.

Quiz: How much do you know about California's economy?

Home sales and construction are rising, providing a much-needed boost to the economy. Home prices are also increasing, which makes consumers feel wealthier and more likely to spend.

Lower rates have also persuaded more people to refinance. That usually leads to lower monthly mortgage payments and more spending. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic activity.

Still, the housing market has a long way to a full recovery. And many people are unable to take advantage of the low rates, either because they can't qualify for stricter lending rules or they can't afford the larger down payments that many banks require.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for 15-year loans also remained at 0.7 point.

The average rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage ticked up to 2.56 percent from 2.55 percent. The fee for one-year adjustable-rate loans rose two-tenths to 0.5 point.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage 2.74 percent, the same as the previous week. The fee was unchanged at 0.6 point.

Read More..

Nintendo’s Wii U: First Impressions

GamePad

The Wii U GamePad has a 6.2-inch touchscreen.

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Meet the Super Fan Who Waited in Line for a Month for a Wii U [VIDEO]]

Nintendo‘s newest console has only been available for one day, but that’s still enough time for early-bird consumers to get their hands on the Wii U, and test out its features and games.

We spent the last 24 hours playing with the Wii U, and have organized our early thoughts on the system. Read on if you’re on the fence about buying one.

[More from Mashable: Toys ‘R’ Us Says Wii U Pre-Order Shipments May Be Delayed]

Out of the Box

Setting up the Wii U is easy, but installing the software is more of a process. Nintendo issued a day-one patch to activate features such as MiiVerse, the company’s social features; this means users will spend between one to three hours (depending on connection speed) downloading and installing a patch that bricks their system. Not a great way to greet consumers excited to play your games. But there’s a chance that servers won’t be as busy in the coming weeks, so download times may improve. Each game I inserted had its own patch too, which users have to install on the second playthrough.

After getting through the patch, user still face an involved setup. They have to create their Mii avatar before they start playing, and create a Nintendo Network ID for network play. Users must also set up the GamePad’s universal remote functionality, which is thankfully the easiest part of the process. They only have to pick their TV manufacturer (the Wii U knows what to do next). The GamePad controls volume, input source and channels.

Look and Feel

The GamePad is the Wii U’s main portal, so users need it to access all the relevant menus (the console shows a different menu from the television); here, users can launch applications by touch. The default view includes apps such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video Services and YouTube; but only Netflix is available now, which seems a bit like false advertising. Loading other options, such as the Nintendo eShop, requires pressing the Home button on the controller, which is unintuitive at first. But soon, the button quickly becomes a handy way to navigate to other parts of the Wii U, like the upcoming Nintendo TVii.

The most troublesome thing about the console is that everything moved slowly; launching games and apps took a long time. I felt like I spent awhile looking at a spinning blue circle.

Wii U games definitely take advantage of the console’s ability to support high-definition graphics. Cartoony games, such as Scribblenauts Unlimited or Nintendo Land look beautiful. For games such as ZombiU, which are supposed to appear more realistic, users might be disappointed. This system is supposed to be the next-generation of gaming consoles — meant to outshine the Xbox 360 — but I can’t say it achieves that.

The GamePad

Pre-launch, Nintendo has spent much of its time crowing about the features of the GamePad, a hybrid touch screen and controller that’s central to the Wii U. The first thing I noticed is its large size; but after spending a few hours with the GamePad, I’ve concluded that it won’t weigh you down like an iPad, yet is substantial enough that it doesn’t feel like a toy (though the glossy finish makes it look like one.)

Unfortunately, the GamePad takes some getting used to as an actual controller, especially for games that require more than simple controls or the gyroscope. My biggest complaint is that Nintendo bucked all gaming-controller tradition by swapping the position of the right analog stick and the four letter buttons. Anyone who has played any other modern console (including Nintendo’s own GameCube) knows instinctively that the analog stick goes below the buttons; but Nintendo flipped them on both the GamePad and the Pro Controller. If the company is only targeting non-gamers, they won’t notice; but this will be a difficult change for many others. Despite this drawback, the buttons, and especially triggers, feel good.

The GamePad is mostly dominated by the 6.2-inch touch screen with a passable resolution: 854 x 480. The most appealing feature of the Wii U — that users can play games or watch movies entirely on the GamePad — may be spoiled for some looking for HD crispness. Still, I watched a whole episode of Portlandia from Netflix on the GamePad, and also spent time playing New Super Mario Bros. U with the television off. Being able to isolate your gameplay to a smaller screen is very novel, and one of my favorite parts of the system.

Games

Nintendo’s Wii U has a better launch lineup coming out, compared to other consoles — but only a few titles stick out. Almost everyone I talked to in line at the Nintendo World store during the Wii U launch wanted New Super Mario Bros. U or ZombiU, both of which are fun titles. Nintendo Land, which is a pack-in if users purchase the Deluxe model, is going to be a huge hit at parties; from what I’ve seen so far, it has some engrossing minigames. I haven’t cracked open Scribblenauts Unlimited yet, but in demos it looks like a very promising title that would go well with a touch screen.

Some non-exclusive titles on other consoles are also appealing. I’m looking forward to digging in to Epic Mickey 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. While the system had 24 launch titles, many more are expected to debut in the coming months.

I plan to spend Thanksgiving week exploring the Wii U, and will write a more detailed report on whether it’s the right console for gamers, families or casual users.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Feds charge former hedge fund manager in big insider-trading case

WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a former hedge fund portfolio manager with securities fraud in connection with what they said was the most lucrative insider-trading case ever prosecuted.

In complaints filed in New York, authorities said investment advisors and hedge funds made more than $276 million in illegal profits or avoided losses by trading before the announcement in 2008 of negative results from clinical trials for an Alzheimer's disease drug being developed by Elan Corp. and Wyeth.

Prosecutors charged Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager at CR Intrinsic, an unregistered investment adviser, with securities fraud for allegedly illegally using information about the clinical trial results that he obtained from a neurologist at a hospital involved in the testing.

The criminal complaint did not name the neurologist, which it said was a cooperating witness in the case.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a a related civil suit Tuesday against Martoma, CR Intrinsic and Dr. Sidney Gilman, a neurology professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. The SEC suit said Gilman was chairman of the safety monitoring committee overseeing the clinical trials of the Alzheimer's drug.

Martoma met Gilman some time between 2006 and 2008 through paid consultations, the SEC complaint says. "During these consultations, Gilman provided Martoma with material, nonpublic information about the ongoing trial," the SEC complaint said.

In mid-July 2008, "Gilman provided Martoma with the actual, detailed results of the clinical trial" before an official announcement on July 29, 2008, the SEC said.

The FBI, SEC and U.S. attorney's office in New York scheduled a 12:30 p.m. EST news conference to discuss the case.

"The charges unsealed today describe cheating coming and going – specifically, insider trading first on the long side, and then on the short side, on a scale that has no historical precedent," said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for Manhattan.  "As alleged, by cultivating and corrupting a doctor with access to secret drug data, Mathew Martoma and his hedge fund benefited from what might be the most lucrative inside tip of all time."

Follow Jim Puzzanghera on Twitter and Google+.

Also:

Senate moves insider trading bill to Obama's desk.

Baseball star Eddie Murray settles insider-trading investigation.

Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta guilty of insider trading.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/17/business/la-fi-sec-murray-20120818

Read More..

Documentary: Inmate may be involved in OJ case

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A documentary says a Florida death-row inmate might have been involved in the murder of O.J. Simpson's ex-wife and her friend, a claim being criticized by one victim's family and being looked at skeptically by a detective who has dealt with the convict.

The Investigation Discovery show, "My Brother the Serial Killer," will air Wednesday. The film is a look at Glen Rogers, a carnival worker whom Florida jurors convicted in 1997 of killing a woman in a Tampa motel room.

Rogers, who is now 50, was also convicted of murder in California and is a suspect in homicides in Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky — and possibly several other states.

Most of his victims were women he had met in bars while drifting across the country. All of his victims were stabbed to death. With blazing blue eyes, a scraggly beard and long, blond hair, Rogers was arrested in November 1995, near Waco, Ky., after a nationwide manhunt for the so-called "Cross-Country Killer" and a 100 mph chase.

Rogers, who is from Hamilton, Ohio, met Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994 when he was living in Southern California, his family says in the documentary.

A criminal profiler in the film says he received paintings by Rogers with clues possibly linking him to the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. The profiler says that Rogers sent him a painting of the murder weapon used in the slayings.

"I believe that Glen believes he killed them," said Anthony Meoli, an Atlanta criminal profiler who has received more than 1,000 letters from Rogers and has interviewed him in prison.

Simpson was accused in those killings but the so-called "trial of the century" in Los Angeles ended with his acquittal in 1995.

Simpson never testified at the criminal trial, but memorably demonstrated in court that a glove found near the slaying scene did not fit his hand. He testified at length in a wrongful death trial that led a Los Angeles civil court jury in 1997 to find him liable for damages in the case. Simpson is serving a prison sentence in Nevada after being convicted in 2008 of leading five men, including two with guns, in a September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers and a middleman at a Las Vegas casino-hotel.

Much of the film is narrated by Rogers' brother, Clay Rogers, who used to rob homes with Glen Rogers as a teen but in 1993, called police on his brother after finding a body at the family's Kentucky cabin.

Clay Rogers said that in 1994, weeks before the infamous murders, his brother told him about meeting Nicole Simpson.

"They've got money, they're well off and I'm taking her down," Clay Rogers recalls Glen Rogers saying.

Other family members also said Glen Rogers talked about meeting Simpson's ex-wife.

In a statement, Goldman's sister criticized the documentary.

"I am appalled at the level of irresponsibility demonstrated by the network and the producers of this so-called documentary," Kim Goldman said. "This is the first time we are hearing about this story, and considering that their 'main character,' Glen Rogers, confessed to stabbing my brother and Nicole to death, you would think we would be in the loop."

Meoli said Rogers told him that OJ Simpson paid him to break into Nicole Brown Simpson's house to steal a pair of $20,000 earrings. Other clues, Meoli said, were that Rogers drove a white pickup for his construction job — a white pickup was seen near the Simpson house on the day of the murders — and that a second bloody footprint at the scene was never identified.

Rogers' family also said he sent his mother a gold angel pin with a diamond; Rogers later wrote to Meoli that he had sent it to his mother the day after the Simpson murders and implied that he stole it from Nicole Brown Simpson. "It's something everyone missed," Rogers wrote. Rogers' mother wore the pin at his Florida murder trial.

"All those things put together a plausible alternative theory," said Meoli.

In 1996, an Ohio newspaper reported that Rogers told his attorneys that he met Nicole Brown Simpson in a Los Angeles bar.

The film's director, David Monaghan, said Tuesday that he feels investigators should look into Rogers' claims of killing Simpson and Goldman — and the inmate should be held accountable for several other murders around the country as well.

"I considered very closely on whether I was part of a con game by Glen Rogers," said Monaghan, who said he began looking into Rogers' life during the Tampa trial. "I met many of his victims' families and I met families who have no closure, because Glen has not faced trial in those states. I believe he should not face the death penalty until all those crimes have been investigated."

But at least one detective who interviewed Rogers, though, says the convicted killer is lying in a misguided effort to get off death row.

Dan Frazee, a retired sheriff's deputy from Clermont County, Ohio, questioned Rogers about a 1992 unsolved homicide while Rogers was in prison. Rogers tried to make Frazee believe he had knowledge of the case when he really didn't, in hopes of going to Ohio, Frazee said.

"He's got nothing to do in prison right now but sit there and play games," Frazee said, adding that Rogers talked incessantly about death and murder and was "the most evil person I've ever talked to."

"It's like he has no soul," said Frazee.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Read More..

Ecstasy Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Shows Promise

Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which is financing research into the drug Ecstasy.

Hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress have recently contacted a husband-and-wife team who work in suburban South Carolina to seek help. Many are desperate, pleading for treatment and willing to travel to get it.

The soldiers have no interest in traditional talking cures or prescription drugs that have given them little relief. They are lining up to try an alternative: MDMA, better known as Ecstasy, a party drug that surfaced in the 1980s and ’90s that can induce pulses of euphoria and a radiating affection. Government regulators criminalized the drug in 1985, placing it on a list of prohibited substances that includes heroin and LSD. But in recent years, regulators have licensed a small number of labs to produce MDMA for research purposes.

“I feel survivor’s guilt, both for coming back from Iraq alive and now for having had a chance to do this therapy,” said Anthony, a 25-year-old living near Charleston, S.C., who asked that his last name not be used because of the stigma of taking the drug. “I’m a different person because of it.”

In a paper posted online Tuesday by the Journal of Psychopharmacology, Michael and Ann Mithoefer, the husband-and-wife team offering the treatment — which combines psychotherapy with a dose of MDMA — write that they found 15 of 21 people who recovered from severe post-traumatic stress in the therapy in the early 2000s reported minor to virtually no symptoms today. Many said they have received other kinds of therapy since then, but not with MDMA.

The Mithoefers — he is a psychiatrist and she is a nurse — collaborated on the study with researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

The patients in this group included mostly rape victims, and experts familiar with the work cautioned that it was preliminary, based on small numbers, and its applicability to war trauma entirely unknown. A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense said the military was not involved in any research of MDMA.

But given the scarcity of good treatments for post-traumatic stress, “there is a tremendous need to study novel medications,” including MDMA, said Dr. John H. Krystal, chairman of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.

The study is the first long-term test to suggest that psychiatrists’ tentative interest in hallucinogens and other recreational drugs — which have been taboo since the 1960s — could pay off. And news that the Mithoefers are beginning to test the drug in veterans is out, in the military press and on veterans’ blogs. “We’ve had more than 250 vets call us,” Dr. Mithoefer said. “There’s a long waiting list, we wish we could enroll them all.”

The couple, working with other researchers, will treat no more than 24 veterans with the therapy, following Food and Drug Administration protocols for testing an experimental drug; MDMA is not approved for any medical uses.

A handful of similar experiments using MDMA, LSD or marijuana are now in the works in Switzerland, Israel and Britain, as well as in this country. Both military and civilian researchers are watching closely. So far, the research has been largely supported by nonprofit groups.

“When it comes to the health and well-being of those who serve, we should leave our politics at the door and not be afraid to follow the data,” said Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, a psychiatrist who recently retired from the Army. “There’s now an evidence base for this MDMA therapy and a plausible story about what may be going on in the brain to account for the effects.”

In interviews, two people who have had the therapy — one, Anthony, currently in the veterans study, and another who received the therapy independently — said that MDMA produced a mental sweet spot that allowed them to feel and talk about their trauma without being overwhelmed by it.

“It changed my perspective on the entire experience of working at ground zero,” said Patrick, a 46-year-old living in San Francisco, who worked long hours in the rubble after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks searching in vain for survivors, as desperate family members of the victims looked on, pleading for information. “At times I had this beautiful, peaceful feeling down in the pit, that I had a purpose, that I was doing what I needed to be doing. And I began in therapy to identify with that,” rather than the guilt and sadness.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 20, 2012

An earlier version of this article described incorrectly the office arrangement the Mithoefers use to conduct therapy sessions using MDMA. They hold the sessions in an office in a converted house, but they do not conduct the sessions in their home office.

Read More..

Stocks sink after Bernake comments; HP takes a hit

A warning from the Federal Reserve chairman about the “fiscal cliff” helped push stocks lower Tuesday.

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Chairman Ben Bernanke urged Congress to take action to avoid the steep federal spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

Asked in a Q&A session whether the Fed could limit the economic hit posed by the budget-tightening measures, Bernanke said: “If the economy goes off the broad fiscal cliff, I don't think the Fed has the tools to offset that.”

The stock market was already slightly lower. The Dow Jones industrial average sank to a loss of 94 points shortly after Bernanke spoke. By late afternoon, it was down 34 points at 12,760.

Energy companies slumped along with the price of oil, and a surprise announcement from Hewlett-Packard weighed on tech stocks.

HP's executives said that a company HP bought for $10 billion last year lied about its finances. CEO Meg Whitman said that there were “serious accounting improprities, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations” at the company, Autonomy, which makes search engines. She stopped short of alleging fraud.

HP took an $8.8 billion charge in its latest quarter to bring the accounting value of Autonomy in line with its real value.

In the broader stock market, the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5 points to 1,382. The Nasdaq composite index, heavy with technology companies, fell 12 points to 2,904.

Energy stocks and the price of crude oil fell after the president of Egypt predicted that Israel's weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip would end in hours and the Israeli prime minister said Israel would be a “willing partner” to a cease-fire.

Crude oil was down $2.78, more than 3 percent, to $86.50 per barrel. It traded above $89 earlier in the day. Energy stocks in the S&P declined 0.8 percent as a group.

Housing stocks were among the best. The government said that U.S. builders started construction last month on the most homes and apartments since July 2008.

PulteGroup rose 4.3 percent, Lennar 3.7 percent and D.R. Horton 2.5 percent.

On Monday, the Dow soared 207 points. Investors focused on signs over the weekend that congressional Republicans and the White House might be able to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

In the bond market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged up to 1.65 percent.

Among stocks making headlines:

— Hormel Foods dropped $1.34, or 4 percent, to $29.96 after its earnings and revenue fell below Wall Street expectations. The company said sales of Spam remained strong, and it increased its annual dividend 13 percent, to 68 cents per share.

— Best Buy fell $1.77, or 13 percent, to $11.98, its lowest in more than a decade. The company, which has struggled for years against increased competition from online electronics retailers, turned in another dismal earnings report.

— Krispy Kreme Doughnuts climbed $1.87, or 25 percent, to $9.41 after it forecast earnings for 2013 above what Wall Street was expecting.

— Green Mountain Coffee rose $1.54, or 6 percent, to $28.87 after picking a new CEO, Brian Kelley of Coca-Cola.

— Groupon gained 31 cents, or 10 percent, to $3.42 after a hedge fund, Tiger Global, said it had bought a 10 percent stake in the company.

Read More..