Lance Armstrong left it 'all on table' with Oprah

All the speculation is about to end. In a matter of hours, viewers can judge for themselves whether Lance Armstrong told the truth this time.

Armstrong's confession to Oprah Winfrey about using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France a record seven times in a row will be televised at 9 p.m. Thursday, the first segment of a two-part special on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Since word of his confession during Monday's taping in Austin, Texas, was first reported by The Associated Press, there has been no shortage of opinions or advice on what Armstrong should say.

The International Olympic Committee didn't wait to listen.

The IOC on Wednesday stripped Armstrong of his 2000 bronze medal, sending him a letter asking him to return it, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

For others who will tune in Thursday, it's not just what Armstrong said that matters. How he said it, whether angry, tearful or matter-of-fact, will be judged as well.

"I left it all on the table with her and when it airs the people can decide," Armstrong said of his interview in a text sent to the AP on Wednesday. He dismissed a story earlier in the day that described him as "not contrite" when he acknowledged doping while dominating the cycling world.

Livestrong, the cancer charity Armstrong founded in 1997 and was forced to walk away from last year, said in a statement it expected him to be "completely truthful and forthcoming." A day earlier, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said nothing short of a confession under oath — "not talking to a talk-show host" — could prompt a reconsideration of Armstrong's lifetime ban from sanctioned events. And Frankie Andreu, a former teammate that Armstrong turned on, said the disgraced cyclist had an obligation to tell all he knew and help clean up the sport.

"I have no idea what the future holds other than me holding my kids," Armstrong said in the text.

Armstrong has held conversations with officials from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, including a reportedly contentious face-to-face meeting with USADA chief executive Travis Tygart near the Denver airport. It was USADA's 1,000-page report last year, including testimony from nearly a dozen former teammates, that portrayed Armstrong as the leader of a sophisticated doping ring that propelled the U.S. Postal Service team to title after title at the Tour de France. In addition to the lifetime ban, Armstrong was stripped of all seven wins, lost nearly all of his endorsements and was forced to cut ties with Livestrong.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Armstrong has information that might lead to his ban being reduced to eight years. That would make him eligible to compete in elite triathlons, many of which are sanctioned under world anti-doping rules, in 2020, when Armstrong will be 49. He was a professional athlete in the three-discipline sport as a teenager, and returned to competition after retiring from cycling in 2011.

That person also said the bar for Armstrong's redemption is higher now than when the case was open, a time during which he refused to speak to investigators. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential matter.

Armstrong, who always prized loyalty on his racing teams, now faces some very tough choices himself: whether to cooperate and name those who may have aided, abetted or helped cover up the long-time use of PEDs.

Armstrong left his hometown of Austin, where the interview was taped at a downtown hotel, and is in Hawaii. He is named as a defendant in at least two pending lawsuits, and possibly a third. The Justice Department faces a Thursday deadline on whether to join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping.

That suit alleges Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government by repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong could be required to return substantial sponsorship fees and pay a hefty fine. The AP reported earlier that Justice Department officials were likely to join the lawsuit.

___

Jim Litke reported from Chicago, Jim Vertuno from Austin.

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The New Old Age Blog: Officials Say Checks Won't Be in the Mail

The jig is up.

Two years ago, the Treasury Department initiated its Go Direct campaign to persuade people still receiving paper checks for their Social Security, Veterans Affairs, S.S.I. and other federal benefits to switch to direct deposit.

“At that point, we were issuing approximately 11 million checks each month,” or about 15 percent of the total, Walt Henderson, director of the campaign, told me.

After putting notices in every monthly check envelope, circulating public service announcements and putting the word out through banks, senior centers, the Red Cross, AARP and other organizations, the Treasury Department has since shrunk that number to five million monthly checks.

That means 93 percent of those getting federal benefits are using direct deposit or, if they prefer or lack a bank account, a Direct Express debit card that gets refilled each month and can be used anywhere that accepts MasterCard.

“So people have been getting the word and making the switch,” Mr. Henderson said. Now, federal officials are pushing the last holdouts to convert to direct deposit by March 1.

Although officials say the change is not optional, the jig isn’t entirely up. If you or your older relative does not respond to their pleading, “we’re not going to interrupt their payments,” Mr. Henderson said. But the department will start sending letters urging people to switch.

The major motive is financial: shifting the last paper checks to direct deposit or a debit card (only 2 percent of recipients go that route) will save $1 billion over the next decade, the department estimates.

But safety enters the picture, too. One reason some beneficiaries resist direct deposit, Mr. Henderson said, is that they fear their electronic deposits can be hacked or diverted. Having grown up in a predigital age, perhaps they feel safer with a check in their hands.

But they probably aren’t. In 2011, the Treasury Department received 440,000 reports of lost or stolen benefits checks. With direct deposit, “there’s no check lingering unattended in a mailbox,” Mr. Henderson noted.

The greater reason for sticking with paper is probably simple inertia. “It’s human nature to procrastinate,” he said.

But unless you or your relatives want a series of letters from the Treasury Department, it is probably time for the last fence-sitters to get with the program.

They don’t need to use a computer. People can switch to direct deposit, or get the debit card, at their banks or the local Social Security office. More simply, they can call a toll-free number, (800) 333-1795, and have agents walk them through the change. Or they can sign up online at www.GoDirect.org.

They will need:

1. Their Social Security number.
2. The 12-digit federal benefit number found on their checks.
3. The amount of the most recent check.
4. And, for direct deposit, a bank or credit union routing number, usually found on the front of a check. They can have direct deposit to a savings account, too.

A caution for New Old Age readers: If you think your relative has not switched because he or she is cognitively impaired and can no longer handle his finances, you can be designated a representative payee and receive monthly Social Security or S.S.I. payments on your relative’s behalf. This generally requires a visit to your local Social Security office, documentation in hand.

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Paula Span is the author of “When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions.”

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Initial jobless claims plunged last week to lowest level in 5 years

WASHINGTON -- Initial jobless claims fell sharply last week to 335,000, the lowest level in five years in a hopeful sign for the labor market as the new year begins.

The number of people filing the first time for unemployment benefits  dropped by 37,000 in the week ending Saturday from the previous week's revised figure of 372,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists say initial claims below 350,000 a week indicate strong job growth. But the numbers can vary widely from week to week.

Analysts had expected a more modest decrease last week, to 369,000, and the sharp drop could reflect the difficulty in making seasonal adjustments to the figures after the holidays.

The less-volatile four-week average fell to 359,250, down 6,750 from the previous week, a level consistent with the recent moderate job growth. The economy added 155,000 net new jobs in January and the unemployment rate remained at 7.8%.

But last week's figure was a positive sign.

The last time there had been fewer jobless claims in a week was in January 2008, just a month after the Great Recession began and well before the global financial crisis.

After the crisis hit, Claims surged to more than 500,000 a week for more than a year starting in November 2008. During the depths of the recession, in March 2009, weekly jobless claims peaked at 667,000.

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JPMorgan, Goldman profits rise sharply

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U.S. finalizes rules for financial firms to avoid foreclosures

Follow Jim Puzzanghera on Twitter and Google+.

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Helicopter crashes in central London, killing at least two people

A helicopter crash near a busy train station in London caused a huge fireball on the ground and killed two people. CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer reports.

LONDON -- A helicopter apparently crashed into a crane atop a high-rise building in central London during the morning rush hour Wednesday, falling to earth and killing at least two people, police said.

Video footage showed flaming debris on the ground where the chopper came down in the Vauxhall district of south London, close to the headquarters of MI6, Britain's spy agency.

Scotland Yard said two people were confirmed dead at the scene, with two others taken to the hospital. A fire official told the BBC that one of the dead had been aboard the helicopter. Authorities quickly cordoned off the area and shut down Vauxhall rail station.

PHOTOS: Helicopter crashes in central London

[Update, 4:26 a.m. Jan 16: Later Wednesday morning, police said one of the dead was the chopper's pilot. The other victim has not been identified, but the helicopter was not believed to be carrying passengers, police said. 

"At this stage, it appears a commercial helicopter on a scheduled flight was in collision with a crane on top of a building under construction," Scotland Yard said in a statement. 

Police said seven people were treated on the scene for minor injuries. Six people were taken to local hospitals, all for minor injuries except for one person who suffered a broken leg.

The crash occurred on a gray morning with thick clouds or fog lying low in the sky. Police did not speculate as to the cause of the crash, but the BBC reported that terrorism did not appear to be likely.

Nicky Morgan, a member of Parliament who was walking toward Vauxhall, told the broadcaster that she heard a huge explosion shortly before 8 a.m., a time when commuters and schoolchildren were going about their usual routine.

"I did wonder if it was a bomb explosion, because it was just such a loud bang," she said. "It was the thick black smoke that really meant that this is not right."

Helicopters are common in London, particularly around the city's financial district where many tall buildings are clustered.

The crash site is near the Nine Elms neighborhood south of the Thames, where the U.S. is planning to build a large new embassy.

ALSO:

Blue plaques that pay tribute to London's past may be history

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian teen in West Bank confrontation

Egyptian lawyer gets 5 years, 300 lashes for Saudi drug conviction

 

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Leaked BlackBerry 10 sales manual reveals new images and details

The buzz continues to mount leading up to the January 30th unveiling of Research In Motions’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform, but we’re not sure how much is left to learn. Many BlackBerry 10 features have already been announced, we’ve seen RIM’s first two next-generation handsets — the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10 — a number times, and now Rogers’ internal sales manual for BlackBerry 10 devices has leaked thanks to CrackBerry. The manual is packed full of images and it also confirms some specs reported a few months ago, and the full document is embedded at the source link below. RIM’s next-generation operating system and handsets will be unveiled during a press conference on January 30th, and BGR will be on hand reporting live.

[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Director defends 'Zero Dark Thirty' torture scenes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Director Kathryn Bigelow defends torture scenes in her Oscar-nominated film "Zero Dark Thirty," saying torture was an undeniable part of the hunt for Osama bin Laden after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The film opens by declaring it's based on firsthand accounts of actual events.

But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and other lawmakers criticized the film as misleading for suggesting torture led to the location of bin Laden. Lawmakers asked Sony Pictures to attach a disclaimer that the film is fictional.

"Experts disagree sharply on the facts and particulars of the intelligence hunt, and doubtlessly that debate will continue," Bigelow wrote in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.

The comments were Bigelow's most explicit reaction to the controversy so far.

"As for what I personally believe, which has been the subject of inquiries, accusations and speculation, I think Osama bin Laden was found due to ingenious detective work," she continued. "Torture was, however, as we all know, employed in the early years of the hunt. That doesn't mean it was the key to finding bin Laden. It means it is a part of the story we couldn't ignore."

"War, obviously, isn't pretty, and we were not interested in portraying this military action as free of moral consequences," she added.

Bigelow wrote that torture was part of the story and the backlash may be misdirected.

"I do wonder if some of the sentiments alternately expressed about the film might be more appropriately directed at those who instituted and ordered these U.S. policies, as opposed to a motion picture that brings the story to the screen," she wrote.

Last week, Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal responded forcefully to a "Zero Dark Thirty" anti-Oscar campaign waged by Ed Asner and other Hollywood actors, saying "to punish an artist's right of expression is abhorrent."

Bigelow and "Zero Dark Thirty" screenwriter Mark Boal had said previously that they "depicted a variety of controversial practices and intelligence methods that were used in the name of finding bin Laden.

"The film shows that no single method was necessarily responsible for solving the manhunt, nor can any single scene taken in isolation fairly capture the totality of efforts the film dramatizes," they said.

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Phys Ed: Exercise Can Boost Flu Shot's Potency

Phys Ed

Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.

As this year’s influenza season continues to take its toll, those procrastinators now hurrying to get a flu shot might wish to know that exercise may amplify the flu vaccine’s effect. And for maximal potency, the exercise should be undertaken at the right time and involve the right dosage of sweat, according to several recent reports.

Flu shots are one of the best ways to lessen the risk of catching the disease. But they are not foolproof. By most estimates, the yearly flu vaccine blocks infection 50 to 70 percent of the time, meaning that some of those being inoculated gain little protection. The more antibodies someone develops, the better their protection against the flu, generally speaking. But for some reason, some people’s immune systems produce fewer antibodies to the influenza virus than others’ do.

Being physically fit has been found in many studies to improve immunity in general and vaccine response in particular. In one notable 2009 experiment, sedentary, elderly adults, a group whose immune systems typically respond weakly to the flu vaccine, began programs of either brisk walking or a balance and stretching routine. After 10 months, the walkers had significantly improved their aerobic fitness and, after receiving flu shots, displayed higher average influenza antibody counts 20 weeks after a flu vaccine than the group who had stretched.

But that experiment involved almost a year of dedicated exercise training, a prospect that is daunting to some people and, in practical terms, not helpful for those who have entered this flu season unfit.

So scientists have begun to wonder whether a single, well-calibrated bout of exercise might similarly strengthen the vaccine’s potency.

To find out, researchers at Iowa State University in Ames recently had young, healthy volunteers, most of them college students, head out for a moderately paced 90-minute jog or bike ride 15 minutes after receiving their flu shot. Other volunteers sat quietly for 90 minutes after their shot. Then the researchers checked for blood levels of influenza antibodies a month later.

Those volunteers who had exercised after being inoculated, it turned out, exhibited “nearly double the antibody response” of the sedentary group, said Marian Kohut, a professor of kinesiology at Iowa State who oversaw the study, which is being prepared for publication. They also had higher blood levels of certain immune system cells that help the body fight off infection.

To test how much exercise really is required, Dr. Kohut and Justus Hallam, a graduate student in her lab, subsequently repeated the study with lab mice. Some of the mice exercised for 90 minutes on a running wheel, while others ran for either half as much time (45 minutes) or twice as much (3 hours) after receiving a flu shot.

Four weeks later, those animals that, like the students, had exercised moderately for 90 minutes displayed the most robust antibody response. The animals that had run for three hours had fewer antibodies; presumably, exercising for too long can dampen the immune response. Interestingly, those that had run for 45 minutes also had a less robust response. “The 90-minute time point appears to be optimal,” Dr. Kohut says.

Unless, that is, you work out before you are inoculated, another set of studies intimates, and use a dumbbell. In those studies, undertaken at the University of Birmingham in England, healthy, adult volunteers lifted weights for 20 minutes several hours before they were scheduled to receive a flu shot, focusing on the arm that would be injected. Specifically, they completed multiple sets of biceps curls and side arm raises, employing a weight that was 85 percent of the maximum they could lift once. Another group did not exercise before their shot.

After four weeks, the researchers checked for influenza antibodies. They found that those who had exercised before the shot generally displayed higher antibody levels, although the effect was muted among the men, who, as a group, had responded to that year’s flu vaccine more robustly than the women had.

Over all, “we think that exercise can help vaccine response by activating parts of the immune system,” said Kate Edwards, now a lecturer at the University of Sydney, and co-author of the weight-training study.

With the biceps curls, she continued, the exercises probably induced inflammation in the arm muscles, which may have primed the immune response there.

As for 90 minutes of jogging or cycling after the shot, it probably sped blood circulation and pumped the vaccine away from the injection site and to other parts of the body, Dr. Kohut said. The exercise probably also goosed the body’s overall immune system, she said, which, in turn, helped exaggerate the vaccine’s effect.

But, she cautions, data about exercise and flu vaccines is incomplete. It is not clear, for instance, whether there is any advantage to exercising before the shot instead of afterward, or vice versa; or whether doing both might provoke the greatest response – or, alternatively, be too much and weaken response.

So for now, she says, the best course of action is to get a flu shot, since any degree of protection is better than none, and, if you can, also schedule a visit to the gym that same day. If nothing else, spending 90 minutes on a stationary bike will make any small twinges in your arm from the shot itself seem pretty insignificant.

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Dunkin' Donuts planning to expand into Southern California

Dunkin’ Donuts is returning to Southern California, planning to open franchises in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties starting in 2015.

The Canton, Mass.-based company said an initial push will likely involve about 150 Southland stores but that the state could someday see as many as 1,000.

[Updated, 7:45 a.m.: The chain had a small presence in the state at one point, but closed down all its California shops by the late 1990s. A brief comeback attempt in Sacramento in 2002 didn’t last.

In July 2011, Dunkin’s initial public offering reignited hopes from analysts and fans that the chain – half of whose locations are in “fortress markets” of New England and New York – would head back west.]

Dunkin’ Donuts also said it opened 291 net new stores in the U.S. in 2012 and plans to open as many as 360 new outlets this year. The company said it is looking for more openings in venues such as colleges and universities, casinos, military bases, supermarkets and airports.

The company said it intends to eventually have more than 15,000 Dunkin’ Donuts stops nationwide. Already, the business sells 1.7 billion cups of coffee every year, according to the NPD Group, a research firm.

Executives on a conference call with reporters said they expect competition from national brands such as McDonald’s and Starbucks, regional convenience store chains and more local brands such as Winchell’s.

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Dunkin' Donuts heads west, but not to California

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Big rig accident closes 5 Freeway near Elysian Park

By Nicole Santa Cruz

January 15, 2013, 6:10 a.m.

All lanes of 5 Freeway near Elysian Park are expected to be closed until at least 9 a.m. as the result of a big rig crash, officials said early Tuesday.

At about 3:16 a.m., a driver lost control of a big rig, which hit the center divider and caught fire near the 2 Freeway, said Officer Ed Jacobs of the California Highway Patrol. No injuries were reported in the accident.

Traffic was backed up for miles in both directions as a result of the freeway closure. All lanes in both directions are expected to be closed for hours, Jacobs said.

Traffic is being diverted off the freeway at Fletcher Drive on the southbound side and at Stadium Way on the northbound side, officials said. Jacobs urged drivers to use an alternate route.

"You don't want to go in that area in general," he said. "It will affect traffic through the morning commute."

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Tata Consultancy says demand in U.S. strong across segments

MUMBAI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – India’s top software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) said demand in the key U.S. market is strong across its business segments, with regional banks stepping up spending on technology.

The Mumbai-based company said on Monday that profit jumped 23 percent in the quarter ended December, beating analysts‘ expectations. TCS also gave an upbeat growth outlook, sending its shares up the most in more than eight months and prompting analyst upgrades on the stock.

Economic uncertainty in the United States had fuelled investor worry that clients may keep their IT budgets tight and postpone decision-making on technology spending.

“The U.S. is still a growth market,” Chief Financial Officer S Mahalingam told Reuters in an interview at his Mumbai office on Tuesday. “If it sneezes then we have got a big problem. (But) the demand is very good across all segments.”

The United States accounts for about half of TCS’ revenue, compared with more than 60 percent overall for India’s $ 100 billion outsourcing industry.

Banks, insurers and other financial services clients usually account for more than a third of the revenue at companies such as TCS’ rival Infosys Ltd , where better-than-expected results on Friday and an increased revenue outlook powered a 20 percent rise in its shares over two sessions.

“(The) U.S. economy has regional banks as well, and they are starting to spend. So there is growth,” Mahalingam said.

While Monday’s results prompted analysts from HSBC and CLSA to increase their ratings on TCS stock, some analysts said volume growth was not especially impressive.

Volumes, or billable hours, rose 1.25 percent on a sequential basis, while revenue in dollar terms increased 3.3 percent over the September quarter.

“The key disappointment was soft volume growth of 1.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, we remain assured by management’s optimistic outlook on FY14 growth,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Ryan Woo)

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