Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist Bob Welch has been found dead after apparently committing suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Bob Welch was 66.
According to police, Bob Welch was found dead by his wife after shooting himself in the chest at their Nashville home at around 12:15 p.m. local time yesterday.
Bob Welch had had health issues recently, according to police spokesman Don Aaron, who confirmed the singer left a suicide note.
The spokesman would not elaborate on specific details regarding Bob Welch’s health – but added that there was no evidence of foul play.
Bob Welch, who also had a solo career, was a guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974 and worked on albums such as Future Games and Bare Trees.
The artist formed the British rock group Paris in 1976, and had hits including Sentimental Lady in 1977 and Ebony Eyes in 1978.
Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham did backing vocals on Sentimental Lady.
Fleetwood Mac’s career took off in the mid-1970s after Bob Welch left the band.
Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist Bob Welch has been found dead after apparently committing suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Dreams was a Number 1 hit in 1977, and Don’t Stop hit the top of the charts the same year.
It later became the anthem for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. Hold Me was a hit in 1982 and Little Lies in 1987.
Bob Welch, a native of Los Angeles, scored his biggest hit with Sentimental Lady, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard chart.
His other singles included Precious Love in 1979 and Hot Love, Cold World in 1978.
Bob Welch fell out with his former band mates after suing the group in 1994 for unpaid royalties, which led to his exclusion from the group’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1998.
“It basically comes down to the fact that they don’t like me anymore,” he told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland at the time.
“I guess they can do what they want. I could understand it if I had been a sideman for a year. But I was an integral part of that band… I put more of myself into that band than anything else I’ve ever done.”
Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks told The Associated Press that Bob Welch’s death hit her hard.
“The death of Bob Welch is devastating… I had many great times with him after Lindsey and I joined Fleetwood Mac. He was an amazing guitar player – he was funny, sweet – and he was smart. I am so very sorry for his family and for the family of Fleetwood Mac – so, so sad.”
As a songwriter, Bob Welch had his songs recorded by Kenny Rogers, Sammy Hagar, the Pointer Sisters and others.
In 1999 he released a CD, Bob Welch Looks at Bop, a salute to bebop music in the 1940s.
In an interview with The Tennessean in 2003, Bob Welch said he never dreamed he’d be remembered for much.
“I just wanted to play guitar in a good band,” he said.
“I wanted to make the music I love. I wanted to travel the world and have adventures.”
Bob Welch also said “music is disposable now. It doesn’t have the emotional impact anymore. That’s sad.”
He had lived in Nashville since the 1990s.
Bob Welch is the second member of Fleetwood Mac to die this year. In January, another former guitarist for the band, Bob Weston, died in London from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage, aged 64.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s diamond and pearl earrings were among the most admired at St Paul’s Cathedral over the Bank Holiday.
So it will come as a surprise to those who spent a fortune on jewellery at Graff and Asprey that Kate’s sparklers weren’t diamonds at all and cost a mere £48 ($75).
In fact, they were a very good copy under the description “fabulous fakes” designed by Belinda Hadden, ex-wife of top PR man Abel Hadden.
Belinda Hadden was astonished to learn that Kate had worn her creations on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Mother-of-three Belinda Hadden, who set up little-known Heavenly Necklaces in the Nineties as a hobby when her daughters were small, said: “I was at a wedding, so I had no idea Kate had worn my earrings until another client sent me an email asking: <<Are they the same as mine?>>”
The Duchess of Cambridge’s diamond and pearl earrings were among the most admired at St Paul’s Cathedral over the Bank Holiday
It wasn’t long, however, before the “Kate effect” began to work, with internet chatrooms abuzz.
Belinda Hadden, daughter of the late Tory MP for Gosport and Fareham, Hants, Sir Reginald Bennett, says: “Within the next 24 hours, I had sold out. I sold 60 on my website, which is the amount I would usually sell in a whole year.”
Belinda Hadden, who sources her fakes from India, China and Hatton Garden in London, says: “They are made of finest grade cubic zirconia, but what makes them look authentic is the settings they are in.”
The pearls, she says, are made from ground-up freshwater pearls reconstituted with resin.
She adds: “Usually, I would never dream of talking about my clients but, in this case, Kate’s earrings were outed on various blogs.
“I had no idea there was this huge internet chat about where, when and what she wears.”
Belinda Hadden designs 75% of her earrings, necklaces and bracelets herself and explains: “I have always loved jewellery and I did a short design course – two terms – at a further education centre run by my local council.”
Parasitic Varroa mite has helped a virus wipe out billions of honeybees throughout the globe, say scientists.
A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus.
The mites act as tiny incubators of one deadly form of the disease, and inject it directly into the bees’ blood.
This has led to “one of the most widely-distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet”.
The findings are reported in the journal Science.
A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus
The team, led by Dr. Stephen Martin from the University of Sheffield, studied the honeybees in Hawaii, where Varroa was accidentally brought from California just five years ago.
Crucially some Hawaiian islands have honeybee colonies that are still Varroa-free.
This provided the team with a unique natural laboratory; they could compare recently-infected colonies with those free from the parasite, and paint a biological picture of exactly how Varroa affected the bees.
The team spent two years monitoring colonies – screening Varroa-infected and uninfected bees to see what viruses lived in their bodies.
Dr. Stephen Martin explained that most viruses were not normally harmful to the bees, but the mite “selected” one lethal strain of one specific virus.
“In an infected bee there can be more viral particles than there are people on the planet,” he explained.
“There’s a vast diversity of viral strains within a bee, and most of them are adapted to exist in their own little bit of the insect; they get on quite happily.”
But the mite, he explained, “shifts something”.
In Varroa-infected bees, over time, the vast majority of these innocuous virus strains disappear and the bees’ bodies are filled with one lethal strain of deformed wing virus.
And when it comes to viral infection, it’s the sheer quantity that kills; each viral particle invades a cell and takes over its internal machinery, turning the bee’s own body against itself.
Although it is not clear exactly why this strain thrives in mite-infected bees, Dr. Stepehn Martin explained that it could be the one virus best able to survive being repeatedly transmitted from the mites to the bees and back, as the mites feed on the bees’ blood.
The effect appears to take once the mites have changed this “viral landscape” in the bees’ bodies, the change is permanent.
“So the only way to control the virus is to control the levels of the mite,” said Dr. Stephen Martin.
Experts say a common chiropractic treatment for neck pain, which involves applying thrusts to the neck area of the spine, should be abandoned.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Neil O’Connell from the Centre for Research and Rehabilitation at Brunel University and colleagues say that cervical spine manipulation carries a low risk of stroke, resulting from damage to the major neck arteries.
They say the technique is “unnecessary and inadvisable”.
But other experts believe it is a valuable addition to patient care.
Spinal manipulation can be used to treat neck and back pain or other musculoskeletal conditions. It is a technique used by physiotherapists, osteopaths and most commonly by chiropractors.
Neil O'Connell from the Centre for Research and Rehabilitation at Brunel University and colleagues say that cervical spine manipulation carries a low risk of stroke, resulting from damage to the major neck arteries
Cervical spine manipulation focuses on the neck and involves a range of high-speed manual manoeuvres that stretch, mobilize or manipulate the upper spine in order to relieve pain.
Neil O’Connell and colleagues argue that cervical spine manipulation “may carry the potential for serious neurovascular complications”.
They also say that studies “provide consistent evidence of an association between neurovascular injury and recent exposure to cervical manipulation.”
Such injuries include tearing the lining of the vertebral artery, which is located in the neck and supplies blood to the brain, and stroke.
O’Connell and colleagues refer to a Cochrane review of randomized trials of neck manipulation or mobilization which found that as a stand-alone treatment, the technique provides only moderate short-term pain relief.
They point to other recent, high-quality trials which suggest that manipulation is no better than other treatments such as physical exercise.
In their view, the risks of using manipulation for neck pain outweigh the benefits.
They conclude: “The potential for catastrophic events and the clear absence of unique benefit lead to the inevitable conclusion that manipulation of the cervical spine should be abandoned as part of conservative care for neck pain.”
However, not all experts agree.
Writing in the same edition of the BMJ, Professor David Cassidy, from the University of Toronto, and colleagues argue that cervical spine manipulation should not be abandoned as a treatment for neck pain.
They point to high quality evidence that “clearly suggests that manipulation benefits patients with neck pain” and raises doubt about any direct relation between manipulation and stroke.
But they want to see more research into the pros and cons of this and other techniques with the aim of identifying safe and effective treatments.
Relatives of victims of General Augusto Pinochet’s military rule in Chile have protested against plans to pay homage to the late dictator this weekend.
They held a rally in Santiago, calling for the screening of a new pro-Pinochet documentary to be banned.
The relatives say it is insensitive, but the government says it is a private event and it will not intervene.
More than 3,000 people disappeared or were killed during General Augusto Pinochet’s rule, which ended in 1990.
Relatives of victims of General Augusto Pinochet's military rule in Chile have protested against plans to pay homage to the late dictator this weekend
General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled the South American nation for 17 years, died in 2006.
The protesters held a rally at a former detention and torture centre in the Chilean capital.
Many wore photos of their relatives.
“In Chile, state-sponsored terrorism existed. Forced disappearances existed. Torture existed. Executions. And the systematic violation of hundreds of Chileans. We cannot allow this. We can’t allow a tribute to this,” Alejandra Arriaza, of the Corporation for the Promotion and Defence of People’s Rights was quoted as saying by the AP news agency.
The documentary, Pinochet, will be screened in a theatre in Santiago on Sunday.
The organizers say it aims to show General Augusto Pinochet as he really was, and not as the media portrayed him – as a ruthless dictator.
Right-wing politicians and former members of the Chilean military have been invited.
The controversy shows how divisive General Augusto Pinochet remains, nearly four decades after the coup that brought him to power.
For some he was a hero who saved Chile from Communism, but for others he was as brutal murderer who should be reviled, not applauded.
The funeral of Bee Gees star Robin Gibb is to be held later in his home town in Oxfordshire.
Robin Gibb, who lived in Thame, died from kidney failure last month after suffering from cancer and pneumonia.
A glass-sided carriage, drawn by four horses, will travel through the town at about 13:30 BST followed by a private church service.
His son Robin-John said the Bee Gees hit I Started A Joke would be played at the church.
The track Don’t Cry Alone, which is one of Robin Gibb’s final compositions from his Titanic Requiem – premiered only weeks before his death – will also be played.
The funeral of Bee Gees star Robin Gibb is to be held later in his home town in Oxfordshire
His family said his wish was to say a “final goodbye” to fans and the town.
Radio presenter Henry Wymbs has known the Gibb family for a number of years as Robin Gibb’s wife Dawina was a fan of his Irish Eye programme.
Henry Wymbs said: “Part of my youth died with him because he created so many of the songs I loved.
“But I enjoyed meeting him. He was humble, down to earth, a very genuine man who wasn’t affected by fame or wealth.
“Apparently he had really become a part of the community in Thame and I can believe that because he was such a nice man.”
The carriage will leave from Priests End and travel along the High Street to the town hall.
It will then return through the High Street to St Mary’s Church where a private family service will be held.
US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb.
At the time, the mother was just 18 weeks into the pregnancy.
The doctors said the findings, reported in Science Translational Medicine, could eventually lead to foetuses being screened for thousands of genetic disorders in a single and safe test.
However, they also caution it would raise “many ethical questions”.
US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb
The scientists at the University of Washington used pieces of the foetus’ DNA which naturally float around in the pregnant woman’s blood.
These fragments were then pieced together using the parents’ DNA as a guide to build a complete “map” of the foetus’s genome.
They then compared the genetic map drawn 18 weeks into pregnancy with the foetus’ actual DNA taken from the umbilical cord after birth. It was 98% accurate.
The researchers hope their findings will one day be used to test safely for genetic diseases.
Tests do already exist such as those for Down’s syndrome. To test for Down’s syndrome a sample is taken from the sac around the developing foetus, which comes with a risk of miscarriage.
They also say new genetic defects, which are not present in the parents, could be picked up if the technique could be improved. Such mutations form in the eggs, sperm or at conception.
There were 44 new mutations in the foetus and the screen at 18 weeks found 39 of them. However, the screening also detected 25 million possible new mutations or false positives.
One of the researchers, Dr. Jay Shendure, said: “This work opens up the possibility that we will be able to scan the whole genome of the foetus for more than 3,000 single-gene disorders through a single, non-invasive test.”
Filmmaker Tyler Perry was so afraid Bobbi Kristina Brown couldn’t act he only gave her a handful of lines for her appearance on his upcoming TV sitcom For Better Or Worse.
Tyler Perry believed Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, had the potential to be a star and wrote a part specifically for her – hoping that her work on set would take her mind off the tragedy surrounding her mother’s death in February.
He was hesitant about Bobbi Kristina Brown’s abilities, but he admits he was blown away with her performance after her first day on set.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry was so afraid Bobbi Kristina Brown couldn't act he only gave her a handful of lines for her appearance on his upcoming TV sitcom For Better Or Worse
Tyler Perry told ETonline.com: “I’m so proud of her because she said she wanted to act and I had a feeling she could but I wasn’t sure until she hit the set.
“The first couple of shows she did, she had very few lines because I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but the kid showed up and blew my mind. She definitely has it (star potential).”
Tyler Perry is convinced Bobbi Kristina Brown has a bright future ahead of her if she chooses to pursue a career onscreen: “She’s a definite actor, and she can go as far as she wants to go in the business.”
He was recently forced to speak out against false reports suggesting Bobbi Kristina Brown walked off the set of For Better or Worse and urged the media to stop spreading rumors about the youngster.
In a post on his blog, Tyler Perry wrote: “Please Leave This Baby Alone!!!! And She Is A Baby!!! Please stop the lies and give this child some room to breathe and grieve.“
Kate Middleton wore the same pair of nude shoes to the Epsom Derby last June, to Prince Philip’s 90th birthday at Windsor, to attend Zara Phillips’s wedding, and on a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.
On tour in Canada and the U.S., Kate Middleton was seen in them six times. On Sunday, she chose them for the Royal Barge. And on Tuesday she put them on to attend the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s cathedral.
Just what is it about Kate and her $296 pair of LK Bennett nude patent courts? Perhaps she bought a dozen pairs of the Sledge Court Shoe, first produced in 2009, as she loved them so much? Perhaps they are such good value and never scuff.
Despite their four-inch heel, the shoes must be comfy, given they have been worn in so wonderfully (the Queen asks her dresser, Angela Kelly, to break in shoes for her. Kate clearly has no need of such a service).
Kate Middleton wore the same $296 pair of LK Bennett nude shoes at each event
What’s more, at St Paul’s, Samantha Cameron wore the same pair, only in black. For after they became such a success, LK Bennett brought out a Sledge 2: identical, but in a patent leather rather than a high-shine leather.
In the more recent photos, Kate is wearing the patent version – which means she definitely has at least a pair to wear and a pair to air.
So what is wrong with Kate Middleton endlessly showcasing a High Street shoe?
The “safe” nude shoe is very much a 2011 trend, as is the slim platform; seen endlessly on the High Street.
Kate has occasionally patronized other shoe brands: Jimmy Choo twice, Pied a Terre once, and an Aquatalia Rumba boot – an awful suede affair. And wedge espadrilles, too. All pretty ghastly.
But what should Kate be putting on those size seven feet?
Kate should patronize Aruna Seth, a 30-year-old British-born designer who makes wonderful shoes that hover around the $960 to $1,280 mark.
Or show courtier Georgina Goodman, who sadly went into liquidation in May, but she still hopes to make bespoke commissions.
Or how about patronizing the new generation of shoe couturiers, such as Rupert Sanderson, Charlotte Dellal, Camilla Skovgaard and Tracey Neuls?
Controversial author Ed Klein claims Hillary Clinton does have the White House in her sights for 2016 but only “if her health holds out”.
Ed Klein claims the Secretary of State, now 64, is planning to take time off to “get back into shape” but – in comments that are unlikely to be welcomed by Hillary Clinton – remarked that she looks “overweight” and “very tired’.
The author – the man behind books including The Truth About Hillary and a former New York Times editor – says Hillary Clinton will only be able to make a White House bid “if her health holds out” and “that’s a big if, of course”.
In an interview on America’s Fox News Radio, Ed Klein said: “At this very moment that we’re speaking right now… [the Clintons] are already thinking seriously about running in 2016.
“She’ll be 69 years old. And as you know – and I don’t want to sound anti-feminist here – but she’s not looking good these days. She’s looking overweight, and she’s looking very tired.”
Ed Klein added: “And if her health holds out – that’s a big if, of course – if her health holds out, there’s no question in my mind she and Bill – two for the price of one – will run in 2016.”
In May, photos taken of the former First Lady during visits to Bangladesh and India, showed the Secretary of State looking tired and withdrawn – far from the well-coiffed image she has maintained over the past two decades in politics.
The images – in which she was make-up free, casually dressed and wearing glasses – came as she claimed she had no desire to make another bid for the White House because she wanted a rest.
Ed Klein claims Hillary Clinton does have the White House in her sights for 2016 but only if her health holds out
In January, Hillary Clinton announced that she was ready to step off the “high wire” of U.S. politics altogether.
“I have made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur” if Barack Obama is re-elected, she told a town hall meeting.
“But I think after 20 years, and it will be 20 years, of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am.”
However, Hillary Clinton took the time to sharply rebuff comments made by her detractors that focused solely on her appearance.
In an interview last month, Hillary Clinton laughed at the attention she had received for her sense of style, especially after the photographs of her make-up-free face.
Hillary Clinton was photographed with an all-natural look at press events held in Bangladesh and India after completing a whirlwind, three-day tour of the region.
She told CNN: “You know, at some point, it’s just not something that deserves a lot of time and attention.”
The Secretary of State added: “I feel so relieved to be at the stage I’m at in my life right now… and if others want to worry about it, I let them do the worrying for a change.
“Because you know, if I want to wear my glasses I’m wearing my glasses. If I want to wear my hair back I’m pulling my hair back.”
Hillary Clinton was referring to the attention she received after a member of staff criticized her frequent use of hair scrunchies.
The Democrat has appeared to make some slight sartorial changes, toning down her once-gaudy colored trouser suits in recent months.
She also became to subject of an Internet meme, Texts From Hillary, which shifted the focus from the Secretary of State’s appearance to her relentless routine of international travel, high-powered meetings and 24/7 attention to her Blackberry.
Hillary Clinton is far from the first high-profile female politician to have attracted comments about her appearance.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy commented loudly and uncharitably on the quantity of cheese Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel consumed at a dinner, while Sarah Palin, the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, was criticized for her $150,000 designer wardrobe.
Ed Klein, 75, is a former New York Times magazine editor who has written extensively about the Kennedys and Hillary Clinton.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney raised almost $17 million more than President Barack Obama’s re-election effort in May, according to new figures.
Mitt Romney and the Republicans raised $76.8 million, while the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party brought in $60 million.
Mitt Romney now has $107 million cash on hand, almost matching the $115 million Barack Obama’s campaign had by the end of April.
Barack Obama’s May total included $15 million raised at the home of George Clooney, with tickets costing $40,000.
Members of the public also bought $3 raffle tickets to win a spot at that star-studded event.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney raised almost $17 million more than President Barack Obama's re-election effort in May
Both presidential candidates are in the midst of a hectic fund-raising schedule as they prepare for the long campaign ahead of November’s election.
Barack Obama is campaigning this week in California and Nevada, while Mitt Romney has been in Texas.
The monthly campaign fundraising totals do not include millions of dollars being raised and spent by independent committees backing each campaign.
May’s fundraising figures were the first since Mitt Romney became the official Republican nominee, having won the required numbers of delegates during the primary season to ensure he will face Barack Obama in November.
Announcing its fundraising totals early on Thursday, the Obama campaign said on Twitter that 572,000 people donated in May, 147,000 of them for the first time.
His campaign also reported that 98% of the contributions were less than $250.
In its statement shortly afterwards, the Romney campaign reported that donations of $250 or less made up 93% of all donations and $12 million of the total amount raised.
“Our strong fundraising is a sign that Americans are tired of President Obama’s broken promises and want a change of direction in the White House,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
Barack Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt used Twitter to play down Mitt Romney’s fundraising haul: “Reminder on RNC/Romney camp fundraising: 1st month joint committee was in existence, so all their primary donors wrote their maxout checks.”
Both the camps raised considerably more in May than in April, when the Obama campaign and the Democrats brought in $43.6 million, slightly ahead of their opponents.
Prosecutors in Greece have issued an arrest warrant for Ilias Kasidiaris, the spokesman of the far-right Golden Dawn party, after he slapped a left-wing politician in the face on live television.
Ilias Kasidiaris, who was elected to Greece’s parliament in last month’s elections, was debating with two female politicians on a chat show.
Video footage shows him throwing a glass of water at one of the women.
When the other intervened, he slapped her in the face three times.
Ilias Kasidiaris appeared to have been provoked when Rena Dourou of the radical left-wing Syriza party mentioned his alleged involvement in an armed robbery in 2007.
He jumped up and threw a glass of water across the table at her, a YouTube clip of the Antenna television channel showed.
When Liana Kanelli of the Greek Communist party, the KKE, apparently threw a newspaper at him, he responded by slapping her around the face with three right-left blows.
When Liana Kanelli of the Greek Communist party, the KKE, apparently threw a newspaper at him, Ilias Kasidiaris responded by slapping her around the face with three right-left blows
A journalist at Antenna told the AFP news agency that colleagues were unable to stop Ilias Kasidiaris from leaving the building.
Golden Dawn has risen in profile after it won just under 7% of votes, or 21 seats, in parliamentary elections on 6 May.
The party’s staunch anti-immigration policy has led to accusations of racism and instigating violent attacks against immigrants.
Golden Dawn’s leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, has also denied the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz and questioned the Holocaust, but he rejects the label neo-Nazi.
Greece’s political system has been thrown into disarray as the results of last month’s elections failed to give any party enough seats in parliament to form a coalition.
Another vote is due to be held on June 17 to try and end a political impasse that eurozone leaders say is harming Greece’s ability to tackle its economic crisis.
The FBI is accused of “illegally” copying evidence used in a case against file-sharing site Megaupload.
Megaupload was shut down in January and its operators arrested in New Zealand because, alleged the FBI, it was being used to pirate content.
Lawyers acting for Megaupload said the FBI had illegally removed hard drives containing evidence.
NZ government lawyers said the removal was legal because the relevant law only covered “physical” items.
Megaupload lawyers leveled the accusation at the FBI in an Auckland court saying the FBI had broken written agreements covering what could be done to digital evidence.
The FBI is accused of "illegally" copying evidence used in a case against file-sharing site Megaupload
New Zealand police seized seven hard drives during raids on Megaupload when the site was shut down. The written agreements said the drives should not be handed to US investigators prior to a hearing to decide how they were to be treated.
However, Megaupload lawyers say that FBI agents copied the drives and took the cloned information back to the US before the hearing took place.
If the copying and removal was done without the consent of the New Zealand authorities it would constitute an “illegal act”, said Megaupload lawyers.
The New Zealand authorities were summoned to court to explain how the FBI was allowed to remove the data from the country.
The government’s legal head said the agreement the FBI was accused of breaking did not apply in this case. He said the relevant document only covered “physical” material not information.
The trial of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and the site’s management team is due to start on 6 August.
A new book written by psychologist Dr. Terri Apter explains what happens when you are raised by a “difficult” mother.
In Difficult Mothers, Dr. Terri Apter, a Cambridge academic, examines the different types of problem mother – controlling, angry, hyper-critical, emotionally unavailable – and explains what can be done to turn her negative influence into a positive one.
“For most parents and their children, whatever the glitches, scuffles and conflicts, the relationship is largely comforting and supportive,” she says.
“But for some, there’s more pain in the mother-child relationship than comfort and pleasure.
“My own mother’s violent and unpredictable outbursts can still affect me today.
“When I wrote a magazine article on the emotional and behavioral fallout of being raised by a <<difficult>> mother last year, I was amazed by the number of letters and emails I received from both men and women who wanted to share their experiences.
“When I researched the phenomenon further, I found that difficult mothers seemed to fall into distinct patterns of behavior, each resulting in its own painful, sometimes lifelong legacy, for the child.
“But there were positive sides to these traumatic experiences, too. Once you identify which category your <<difficult>> mother falls into, and take time to discover what is really going on in your relationship with her, you can learn not only to survive it, but how to manage it, and, in some cases, even turn it to your advantage.”
In her book, Dr. Terri Apter identifies five types of difficult mothers and reveals how each can leave their children with different, but positive, strengths.
1. ANGRY MOTHER
“As a psychologist, and mother, I am aware that all parents get angry – usually when we’re tired or stressed, or when we need to warn children of danger or teach them an important life lesson.
“Although no child likes it when a parent is angry, a single outburst does not produce a difficult relationship. It is only when a parent repeatedly uses anger to close conversations and control family members that it becomes a problem.
“When anger overshadows everything at home, children live in a constant state of high alert, waiting for emotional explosions. As well as being psychologically damaging, this type of long-term stress is also toxic to the young brain.
“Flooded with unremitting anxiety, a child’s brain has been shown to form fewer of the mental circuits needed to regulate emotional states. The awful irony is that children who most need to acquire the skill to soothe themselves and control their responses end up being the least well equipped to do so. If not addressed, these problems can continue into adulthood too.
“Many adults say they still panic in the face of their mother’s anger and grew up feeling they were constantly in the wrong. These people will often become appeasers – gearing themselves to please and placate others.
“This can be a valuable skill. You may be a diplomat, or the person everyone wants at a party because you’re so good at smoothing over awkward situations.
“However, don’t let your tendency to please others stunt your ability to make genuine friendships. It may be time to let people get to know the real you.”
In Difficult Mothers, Dr. Terri Apter, a Cambridge academic, examines the different types of problem mother and explains what can be done to turn her negative influence into a positive one
2. CONTROLLING MOTHER
“This type of mother will try to take charge of every aspect of their child’s life – to the extent that she even tells the child what to see, feel and want.
“In a healthy relationship, control is used to shape general values and set down specific rules; but it is always informed by listening, and it respects a growing child’s ability to take sensible decisions of its own.
“Instead, day-by-day, a controlling mother implies: <<I know who you are, and you don’t>>, or <<I need you to be this, and that is more important than what you want>>. She sees herself as custodian and controller of her child’s mind.
“Having been told repeatedly that mother knows best, children of controlling parents can become distrustful of their own wants, needs and opinions. Even simple independent decisions can fill them with anxiety. They also learn to lie – to say what the controlling mother wants to hear – in order to keep her happy.
“The upside of this incredibly difficult experience is that you are likely to have developed a thoughtful personality, having learned to weigh up your thoughts and opinions before you share them with others.
“However, even as an adult, living in your own home and miles away from your mother, you may still carry the scars of that relationship. Sharing your experiences and worries with other people will definitely help you identify how difficult the relationship was and how it has affected you. It will also help you hone your resistance to its effects.
“Going back to basics and identifying what you want and what you think in all areas of your life will help too. Take time to listen to yourself, catching sight of what appeals to you, noticing what attracts you and what feels easy and comfortable.”
3. NARCISSISTIC MOTHER
“The definition of a <<narcissist>> is a person who is totally self-involved.
“A mother with narcissistic tendencies will be largely unable to show the empathy that is so important to a healthy parent-child relationship, because she sees every request for attention by her child as competition.
“Tell her you’re tired, for example, and she’ll snap back: <<Don’t talk to me about feeling tired. I’ve been hard at work all day. You don’t know what being really tired is>>.
“In her egotistical way, she also sees her offspring as a reflection of her; so her children must be outstanding in every aspect of their being to be <<worthy>> of her.
“It’s a bewildering and volatile situation, as any child of a narcissistic mother will be under constant pressure to be both subservient to his or her mother’s ego, yet expected to shine.
“A narcissistic mother craves attention and adoration that comes from her own feelings of low self-worth. But no matter how hard you try to please her, you will live under a constant cloud of disdain, regardless of your efforts. Narcissists have fragile relationships with others, too – as their overblown ego means they often take offence at the smallest imagined slight and will suddenly cut people out of their lives or punish them in some way for <<insulting>> them.
“Children in this situation often live with the fear that their relationship with their mother could break apart at any minute should they inadvertently offend her.
“But some good can come of growing up with a narcissist, too. You may have learned to be extremely diplomatic, patient and set high standards for yourself.
“On the downside, you probably downplay your achievements and may even scupper opportunities because you worry about not being perfect enough.
“To get over this, write a list of things that you enjoy and in which you take pride. It will help you to realize what you have to be proud of – and that another person’s success does not take away what you have.”
4. ENVIOUS MOTHER
“Normally, parents long to see a child happy. But for the envious mother, a child’s success arouses hostility.
“Glowing with good news, a son or daughter expects a parent’s face to reflect admiration; instead, the envious mother’s jaw freezes, the corners of her mouth pull down in contempt.
“<<Someday you’ll realize you’re not as good as you think you are>>, she warns. Or perhaps the initial response is cheerful, but later you notice that ordinary things you do irritate her. <<Stop making such a racket>>, and, <<Why do you have to go on and on about it?>>.
“Instead of bolstering a child’s confidence and inspiring a sense of his or her potential, an envious parent begrudges her child’s independence and self-pride. She looks at her child and thinks: <<Why can she feel joy when I don’t?>> or, <<Why does she have a chance to be successful when I have been disappointed?>>
“Children learn that the good things in their lives somehow offend, even harm, the person who matters deeply to them, and whom they long to please.
“Parental envy is particularly common when a child hits adolescence and starts to make their own way in the world. Instead of seeing a child’s success as a source of pride, and taking delight in a son or daughter flourishing, an envious mother feels something is being taken away from her.
“She believes that she can have a comfortable and secure bond with her child only if her child’s self-worth is as low as hers.
“But the psychological effects of coping with an envious mother are not all bad – you may have learned how to stave off the envy of others with charisma, or to look past negative comments. You may even be a high achiever, driven by your mother’s dissatisfaction.
“But if years of trying to please someone in vain has made it hard to enjoy your achievements, the following thoughts may help bolster your self-esteem and help you to extricate yourself from the fallout.
“First, remember your mother’s start and finish point is dissatisfaction – nothing will ever change that. Second, there is considerable scientific evidence to show that pursuing the approval of others leads to greater unhappiness than pursuing what you yourself value.”
5. EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE MOTHER
“Often the result of depression or perhaps a drug or alcohol dependency, a mother’s emotional unavailability can be incredibly difficult for a child to deal with and lead to all kinds of upset and confusion.
“A mother’s prolonged emotional absence has even been shown to affect the physical and chemical make-up of a child’s brain.
“<<Affective sharing>>, or emotional exchanges between mother and baby, increases brain growth and generates those crucial brain systems that help us manage our own emotions, organize our thoughts, and plan our lives.
“Positive emotional exchanges have been shown to stimulate the growth of the cortisol receptors in the brain that absorb and buffer stress hormones. It builds the brain strength we need to bounce back from disappointment and failure.
“Children with depressed, emotionally unavailable mothers can grow up seeing their role as a comforter and protector. They may feel guilty for feeling happy and often take on large amounts of responsibility to make up for her <<absence>>.
“As a grown-up, ordinary emotions such as joy and sadness may strike you as extreme, self-indulgent and even dangerous. You may also have deep-seated beliefs about the role you should play in close relationships, believing that other people’s needs are more important than your own, that you always have to be mature and ‘grown up’, and that you cannot trust people to be there for you.
“While living with <<difficult>> people can help us to become better at dealing with others, it’s all too easy to allow an emotionally unavailable mother to take over huge amounts of your time and energy.
“If you accept that you are an adult now, and start to question some of the ways you behave (perhaps you frequently discount the importance of your own feelings, feel guilty when others are unhappy and hold yourself back from growing and gaining confidence), you will realize that a big step in creating a new story for yourself is to confront and understand the old one and make room for new experiences.”
The 650lb Virgin David Smith’s transformation to handsome personal trainer – with a doting girlfriend – made headlines in 2009.
In a sad turn of events, David Smith, 35, from Phoenix, Arizona, revealed yesterday that he is once again morbidly obese, having re-gained over 250 of the 400 lbs he lost.
In an interview on Wednesday morning, David Smith admitted that by putting on weight at this rate, his life was at risk.
He told the Today show: “I’ve gained more than 250 lbs in two years, and with all that extra weight so quickly added to my body, I don’t know how I’m still living right now… The way I’m going, I’m not going to live for too much longer.”
He added that he could already feel his health deteriorating.
“You know when your body’s making a turn for the worse,” David Smith said.
“I felt it before when I was 650 lbs, and I’m feeling it again at 500.”
David Smith revealed that his slide back into an unhealthy lifestyle was because he could not come to terms with this newly-slim self, and though he had been outwardly thriving, he was struggling within.
“I wasn’t doing too well. I looked really good on the outside, but inside I was a terrible mess,” he said.
“All my life I was this monster in my head and all of a sudden, to be this good looking guy, it blew my mind away. I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
David Smith revealed yesterday that he is once again morbidly obese, having re-gained over 250 of the 400 lbs he lost
He was also troubled by the multiple surgeries that had failed to entirely remove the excess skin on his body, leaving him scarred and disappointed with his appearance.
David Smith turned to alcohol and drugs for a brief time, but eventually found solace in food, the old demon that had caused his weight to spiral out of control the first time.
“I’d eat in my car before I’d get home, or if everybody was out I’d eat something really quick then throw it away before they’d come home,” he admitted.
“It was tough. A lot of people were counting on me to be inspiring, and I didn’t want to let anybody down, but I just felt so bad. I didn’t know how to cope.”
The side-effects of his ballooning weight were multiple. Embarrassed by his failure to keep in shape, David Smith became withdrawn. He lost his job, and his friendship with his own trainer suffered. Terrified that he would also lose girlfriend Megan, he admitted that he even contemplated suicide.
Breaking down as he spoke of his girlfriend, David Smith said: “Her support means the world to me. I love her so much, and I know I put her through a lot. She’s stayed by my side through everything.”
But Megan insists she is going nowhere, and has even inspired her boyfriend to start hitting the gym once more to try and lose the weight.
She told the show: “He’s really finally ready for it this time, of course I’m going to be there. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since he started gaining. For him to really want to be healthy again.”
David Smith, under no illusions about the challenge ahead, agrees that the time is right to start again.
“As much as you’ve worked on the outside, you have to work on the inside,” he explained.
“And if your foundation isn’t built up, you’re just going to crumble down. And unfortunately I fell down, but I know I can climb back up.”
Championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL) 2011–12 season has reached its apogee with 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.
This is the first playoff series between the Eastern Conference playoff champion, New Jersey Devils, and the Western Conference playoff champion, Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings enter the game four as favorites and they could complete a sweep of the Devils at the Staples Center in front of the fans who have been waiting 45 years for this chance to celebrate. For Los Angeles team, this is the second Finals appearance, since a five-game Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Montreal in 1993.
Apparently, sweeps are hard to come by in the Stanley Cup finals. NHL squads looking to finish a series with a 3-0 lead are only 17-19 in game four in the last 10 years.
It is a challenge for the Devils to overtake the Kings, but coming back from three games down to win the Stanley Cup is not quite a rarity. However, the only time a team has rallied from 0-3 down to win the Stanley Cup was in 1942, when Toronto overtook Detroit. This is their first since the 2003 Cup win over Los Angeles’s rival Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games and they have a total of five appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Devils defeated the Kings in both games in this year’s two-game regular season series, but they are the lowest-seeded team to have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, a record previously held by the Devils when they won the Cup as a fourth seed in 2000.
This combined seeds of the teams, 14, is the highest ever for a Stanley Cup Finals. Regardless of the outcome, the winner of the series will become the lowest seeded team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup.
Sports betting odds and Stanley Cup Finals
The Los Angeles Kings are -180 (risking $1.80 to win $1) favorites to defeat the New Jersey Devils at the Staples Center and bring the Stanley Cup to the West Coast. In the mean time, the Devils come back at +165. No major profits are expected from betting and the number of people willing to bet is quite low.
In 1993 there was a betting frenzy, bettors wagered on the NHL more than ever, when Wayne Gretzky led the Kings to a Western Conference Championship.
However, it is estimated that a Stanley Cup final game drawn in only a tenth compared to the number of people attracted by a NBA playoff contest.
Before the playoffs started, the Kings odds to win the Cup were 25-to-1, 10-to-1 after defeating the Vancouver Canucks, 3-to-1 after making the Western Conference finals and -170 before the series with New Jersey began. The bettors who have wagered $100 on the Kings in each of their playoff games this year, made a profit of around $1,340.
Odds for gains in single bet are noted in various formats: American format (moneyline odds), European format (decimal odds), UK format (fractional odds). Decimal odds of 2.00 are an even bet. Fractional odds of 1/1 are an even bet. US odds of 100 are an even bet.
The remains of Elizabethan theatre Curtain, where some of William Shakespeare’s plays were first performed, have been discovered by archaeologists.
The remains of the Curtain Theatre, which opened in 1577, were found behind a pub in Shoreditch, east London, as part of regeneration works.
The venue was immortalized as “this wooden O” in the prologue to Henry V.
It is hoped the site could be opened to the public, with plays staged there in the future.
Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) stumbled across parts of the playhouse’s yard and gallery walls after development began on the site last October.
“This is a fantastic site which gives us unique insight into early Shakespearean theatres,” lead archaeologist Chris Thomas said.
The remains of Elizabethan theatre Curtain, where some of William Shakespeare's plays were first performed, have been discovered by archaeologists
The Curtain Theatre was operated by theatre manager James Burbage and was home to Shakespeare’s Company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, from 1597 until The Globe opened two years later.
The theatre disappeared from historical records in 1622 but could have remained in use until the outbreak of the Civil War, 20 years later.
Plays thought to have premiered there include Henry V, Romeo and Juliet and Ben Jonson’s Every Man in His Humour.
“This is one of the most significant Shakespearean discoveries of recent years,” a spokesman for Plough Yard Developments, which owns the site, said.
“Although The Curtain was known to have been in the area, its exact location was a mystery.
“The quality of the remains found is remarkable and we are looking forward to working with MOLA, [the] local community and Shakespearean experts to develop plans that will give the public access to the theatre remains as part of a new development.”
Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd added: “I look forward to touching the mud and stone, if not wood, and feeling the presence of that space where Shakespeare’s early work, including the histories, made such a lasting impact.”
Further excavations are expected to take place later this year.
Charlotte Sarkozy, the ex-wife of Olivier Sarkozy, has spoken out about his relationship with Mary-Kate Olsen, branding the pair as “grotesque”.
Speaking to the National Enquirer about their blooming relationship Charlotte Sarkozy said: “That’s not right. It’s grotesque.”
Mary-Kate Olsen is 17 years junior to Olivier Sarkozy, but they are said to be “head over heels” after being spotted cuddling up to each other at Madison Square Gardens on April 25.
An insider also told the National Enquirer: “Charlotte certainly won’t want her kids to be around Mary-Kate, who has a history of wild-partying and booze binges.”
Charlotte Sarkozy, the ex-wife of Olivier Sarkozy, has spoken out about his relationship with Mary-Kate Olsen, branding the pair as “grotesque”.
Charlotte and Olivier Sarkozy have two children together.
Charlotte – a children’s book author – married the former French president’s half brother in 1997 and divorced him around 13 years later. He has previously been linked to actress Stella Schabnel, 29.
When the unlikely couple was first snapped at the New York Knicks game at the end of April, Olivier Sarkozy – an investment banker – was seen stroking Mary Kate Olsen’s hair and whispering in her ear.
They are also said to have enjoyed a break together in the Hamptons recently.
The asset manager further stirs up the eclectic mix of Mary-Kate Olsen’s boyfriends, who have included artists, actors and shipping heirs.
Mary Kate Olsen has also dated New York artist Nate Lowman for two years before their split in 2010.
She has also hinted at how breaking up with her one-time boyfriend, Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos led to her drop out of NYU in 2005.
Mary-Kate Olsen has also been linked to shoe designer Seth Campbell and the late actor Heath Ledger before his death in 2008.
News of her blossoming love life comes as business also appears to be doing well. Along with twin sister Ashley, Mary-Kate Olsen was recently listed in a list of the fashion’s top 30 names under 30.
A new study suggests that multiple CT scans in childhood can triple the risk of developing brain cancer or leukaemia.
The Newcastle University-led team examined the NHS medical records of almost 180,000 young patients in UK.
Writing in The Lancet the authors emphasized that the benefits of the scans usually outweighed the risks.
They said the study underlined the fact the scans should only be used when necessary and that ways of cutting their radiation should be pursued.
During a CT (computerized tomography) scan, an X-ray tube rotates around the patient’s body to produce detailed images of internal organs and other parts of the body.
In the first long-term study of its kind, the researchers looked at the records of patients aged under 21 who had CT scans at a range of British hospitals between 1985 and 2002.
Because radiation-related cancer takes time to develop, they examined data on cancer cases and mortality up until 2009.
A new study suggests that multiple CT scans in childhood can triple the risk of developing brain cancer or leukaemia
Brain cancer and leukaemia are rare diseases.
The study estimated that the increased risk translated into one extra case of leukaemia and one extra brain tumour among 10,000 CT head scans of children aged under ten.
Dr. Mark Pearce, an epidemiologist from Newcastle University who led the study, said: “We found significant increases in the risk of leukaemia and brain tumors, following CT in childhood and young adulthood.
“The immediate benefits of CT outweigh the risks in many settings.
“Doses have come down dramatically over time – but we need to do more to reduce them. This should be a priority for the clinical community and manufacturers.”
CT scans are useful for children because anaesthesia and sedation are not required.
This type of check is often ordered after serious accidents, to look for internal injuries, and for finding out more about possible lung disease.
Regulations on their use in the UK mean CT scans should only be done when clinically justified – and the researchers said their study underlined that point.
Professor Sir Alan Craft, a co-author and leading expert in child health, said: “The important thing is that parents can be reassured that if a doctor in the UK suggests a child should have a CT scan, the radiation and cancer risks will have been taken into account.
“There’s a much greater risk of not doing a CT scan when it’s suggested.
“This study will push us to be even more circumspect about using it. We have much stricter rules here about using CT than in the United States, for example.”
Asus has presented Transformer Book, its Windows 8-based laptop-tablet hybrid device, in Taipei, Taiwan.
Transformer Book features Windows 8 OS, the newest version of the Windows operating system.
It converts into a tablet once the screen is detached.
A number of other firms are expected to unveil devices running Windows 8 OS once the event starts on Tuesday.
The detached screen of the Transformer Book becomes “the world’s biggest tablet”, said Asus chairman Jonney Shih at a pre-Computex press conference.
The display comes in 11.6, 13 or 14-inch options, indeed making the tablet one of the largest on the market.
Asus has presented Transformer Book, its Windows 8-based laptop-tablet hybrid device, in Taipei
Another hybrid device unveiled by the Taiwanese firm is called the Taichi.
It looks like a regular laptop – but it has two displays.
When closed, the device is transformed into a tablet.
But when open, it becomes a laptop with a full-HD screen on each side – allowing two people sitting face-to-face to simultaneously view a screen.
“Not that there’s anything wrong sitting next to each other, but this looks much better,” said Jonney Shih.
Both Asus devices run Microsoft’s new Windows 8 OS, expected to be released later this year.
The Transformer Book, though, also runs Android operating system – which comes into play once the device is converted into a tablet.
It is expected that Windows 8 OS will be present on a number of devices technology companies are getting ready to unveil at the show.
Besides Asus, other Taiwanese computer manufacturers, such as Acer and Micro Star International, have said that they will demonstrate products running Windows 8.
Computex 2012 organizer, The Taipei Computer Association, said that the convertible notebook-tablet computers will be the “reinforced battle power of Windows 8”.
The new operating system is touch-enabled and has been designed for tablets, notebooks and other hand-held devices.
According to Microsoft, Windows 8 will allow users to freely switch between the touch control interface, a keyboard or mouse.
Microsoft said that tens of thousands of improvements had been made to what it calls the most important redesign of its interface since Windows 95.
Consumers can now download the release preview of Windows 8, a system which Microsoft says is its most tested operating system ever.
It is expected to go on sale in the autumn, three years after Windows 7.
Vodafone and 02-owner Telefonica have announced plans to create one shared grid in the UK.
The move is designed to improve existing coverage and to speed up the roll-out of superfast 4G services.
The companies say it will mean 4G mobile services, which allow users to download music and videos to their phones at high speed, can be delivered by 2015.
That is two years ahead of regulator Ofcom’s requirement of 98% coverage by 2017.
Vodafone and 02-owner Telefonica have announced plans to create one shared grid in the UK
The two firms will continue to compete but will pool their network infrastructure.
“Exceptional customer demand for the mobile internet has challenged the mobile industry to consider innovative solutions to building a nationwide network that will be fit for our customers in the future and support the products and services that will truly make Britain digital,” said Ronan Dunne, chief executive of Telefonica UK.
Guy Laurence, Vodafone UK chief executive, said: “This partnership will close the digital divide for millions of people across the country and power the next phase of the smartphone revolution.”
The deal will help keep costs down for the operators at a time when consumer spending in Europe is weak. Telefonica in particular has been under pressure to cut its debt and is currently disposing assets.
A huge dock torn from a Japanese port by March 2011 tsunami has washed up in the US state of Oregon – 8,050 km (5,000 miles) across the Pacific.
The 20m-long (66ft) concrete dock weighing 165 tons was spotted on Agate beach, south-west of Portland.
A Japanese consulate official said a commemorative plaque showed it had come from the fishing port of Misawa.
Radiation checks proved negative, but scientists say invasive species foreign to the area may have hitched a ride.
A huge dock torn from a Japanese port by March 2011 tsunami has washed up in the US state of Oregon
A starfish native to Japan was among the marine life still clinging to the structure, Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Havel was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
“This is tsunami debris, not just from Japan, but from the tsunami itself,” Chris Havel said.
Oregon police have now been deployed to keep people from climbing on the dock, which was first mistaken by local residents for a barge.
Misawa lost four docks during an earthquake and resulting tsunami on 11 March 2011. Two docks are still missing.
This April, the US Coast Guard used cannon to sink a crewless Japanese ship that drifted to Alaska after the tsunami.
A month later, a Japanese owner of a Harley-Davidson motorbike swept away by the tsunami was amazed to find out that it had been washed up inside a container on a beach in Canada – about 6,400 km away.
Japanese scientists estimate that some 20 million tons of debris were generated by the earthquake and the incoming rush of water.
Most would have stayed on land, and a fair proportion pulled out to sea would have sunk rapidly. But it is possible a million tons of debris is still afloat.
Nearly 16,000 people were killed by the quake and tsunami in Japan.
Facebook investors have been offered $40 million by the NASDAQ stock exchange for a computer hitch that stopped them trading on debut day.
Some shareholders had hoped to sell the much-hyped shares on the issue day to take advantage of pent-up buyer demand.
But technical problems kept many investors from buying shares in the morning or selling them later in the day.
The payout is meant to reimburse those who lost money because of the fault.
The opening of trading was delayed by half an hour and some investors were unable to tell whether their orders were processed, while others said they were left holding shares they did not want.
Facebook investors have been offered $40 million by the NASDAQ stock exchange for a computer hitch that stopped them trading on debut day
Facebook’s shares went on sale at $38 a share on 18 May, but rose sharply in early trading, something many buyers had hoped to capitalize on by selling during the day.
They ended the day barely above the starting level though, and have floundered since, falling to around $25 a share.
NASDAQ says it will reimburse those who tried to sell into the first-day bounce at $42 or less, but either couldn’t sell or sold at a lower price than they intended.
The $40 million is more than 10 times the $3 million previously paid by NASDAQ for technical errors, but already there have been complaints from some investors it will not be enough to cover losses.
NASDAQ’s chief rival, the New York Stock Exchange, has accused NASDAQ of giving itself an unfair advantage, saying the move gives investors an incentive to move more of their trading to NASDAQ.
In a statement it said: “This is tantamount to forcing the industry to subsidize NASDAQ’s mis-step and would establish a harmful precedent that could have far-reaching implications for the markets, investors and the public interest.”
The exchange added it would “strongly press our views” against the proposal, which has to be approved by the watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Armand D’Angour, a lecturer in classics at the University of Oxford and author of The Greeks and the New: Novelty in Ancient Greek Imagination and Experience and the forthcoming Eureka: Seven Principles of Innovation from Ancient Greece, has imagined several solutions ancient Greeks would give to help modern Greeks with their current financial worries.
1. Debt, division and revolt. Here’s the 6th Century BC news from Athens.
In the early 6th Century BC, the people of Athens were burdened with debt, social division and inequality, with poor farmers prepared to sell themselves into slavery just to feed their families.
Revolution was imminent, but the aristocrat Solon emerged as a just mediator between the interests of rich and poor. He abolished debt bondage, limited land ownership, and divided the citizen body into classes with different levels of wealth and corresponding financial obligations.
His measures, although attacked on all sides, were adopted and paved the way for the eventual creation of democracy.
Solon’s success demonstrates that great statesmen must have the courage to implement unpopular compromises for the sake of justice and stability.
2. What happens next? The Delphic oracle
Ancient Delphi was the site of Apollo’s oracle, believed to be inspired by the god to utter truths. Her utterances, however, were unintelligible and needed to be interpreted by priests, who generally turned them into ambiguous prophecies.
In response to, say: “Should Greece leave the euro?” the oracle might have responded: “Greece should abandon the euro if the euro has abandoned Greece,” leaving proponents and opponents of “Grexit” to squabble over what exactly that meant. It must have been something like listening to modern economists. At least the oracle had the excuse of inhaling the smoke of laurel leaves.
Wiser advice was to be found in the mottos inscribed on the face of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, advocating moderation and self-knowledge: “Know yourself. Nothing in excess.”
3. Nothing new under the sun: The sage Pythagoras
If modern Greeks feel overwhelmed by today’s financial problems, they might take some comfort from remembering the world-weary advice from their ancestor Pythagoras that “everything comes round again, so nothing is completely new”.
Pythagoras of Samos was a 6th Century BC mystic sage who believed that numbers are behind everything in the universe – and that cosmic events recur identically over a cycle of 10,800 years.
His doctrine was picked up by the biblical author of Ecclesiastes in the 3rd Century BC, whose phrase “There is nothing new under the sun” is repeated more than 20 times.
If you look at the picture at top of the story, the young man with a laptop on a Greek vase from 470 BC (in fact, a writing-tablet) seems to prove the proposition.
In the early 6th Century BC, the people of Athens were burdened with debt, social division and inequality, with poor farmers prepared to sell themselves into slavery just to feed their families
4. Mind you, it could be worse… Odysseus and endurance
“Hold fast, my heart, you have endured worse suffering,” Odysseus exhorts himself in Homer’s Odyssey, from the 8th Century BC.
Having battled hostile elements and frightful monsters on his return home across the sea from Troy to his beloved Ithaka and wife Penelope, Odysseus here prevents himself from jeopardizing a successful finale as a result of impatience.
The stirring message is that whatever the circumstances, one should recognize that things could be, and have been, even worse. Harder challenges have been faced and – with due intelligence and fortitude – overcome.
5. Are you sure that’s right? Socrates and tireless inquiry
“The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being,” said Socrates.
By cross-examining ordinary people, the philosopher aimed to get to the heart of complex questions such as “What is justice?” and “How should we live?” Often no clear answer emerged, but Socrates insisted that we keep on asking the questions.
Fellow Athenians were so offended by his scrutiny of their political and moral convictions that they voted to execute him in 399 BC, and thereby made him an eternal martyr to free thought and moral inquiry.
Socrates bequeathed to humanity a duty to keep on thinking with tireless integrity, even when – or particularly when – definite answers are unlikely to be found.
6. How did those jokers end up in charge? Aristophanes the comedian
The most brilliantly inventive of comic playwrights, Aristophanes was happy to mock contemporary Athenian politicians of every stripe. He was also the first to coin a word for “innovation”.
His comedy Frogs of 405 BC, which featured the first representation of aerial warfare, contained heartfelt and unambiguous advice for his politically fickle fellow citizens: choose good leaders, or you will be stuck with bad ones.
7. Should we do the same as last time? Heraclitus the thinker
“You can’t step into the same river twice” is one of the statements of Heraclitus, in the early 5th Century BC – his point being that the ceaseless flow of the water makes for a different river each time you step into it.
A sharp pupil pointed out “in that case you can’t step into the same river once”, since if everything is constantly in flux, so is the identity of the individual stepping into the water.
While change is constant, different things change at different rates. In an environment of ceaseless flux, it is important to identify stable markers and to hold fast to them.
Bond markets, debt and bail-outs must feel like a similar challenge.
8. Tell me the worst, doctor. Hippocrates faces the facts
Western medicine goes back to Hippocrates, late 5th Century BC, and doctors still take the “Hippocratic oath”. An extensive set of ancient medical observations details how patients fared when they were treated by means such as diet and exercise.
What is exceptional in ancient thinking about health and disease is the clear-sighted recognition that doctors must observe accurately and record truthfully – even when patients die in the process.
Magical or wishful thinking cannot bring a cure. Only honest, exhaustive, empirical observation can hope to reveal what works and what does not.
9. Seizing the opportunity: Cleisthenes and democracy
The ancient Greeks were strongly aware of the power of opportunity – in Greek, kairos. Seizing the moment – in oratory, athletics, or battle – was admired and viewed as an indication of skill.
In many cases, such temporary innovation, born of the moment, will be more enduring, especially if successive innovators build on its principles.
When the tyrants of Athens were deposed at the end of the 6th Century, the leading citizen Cleisthenes needed to think up a constitution that would cut across existing structures of power and allegiance.
He devised with amazing rapidity a system of elective government in which all the citizens (the Greek word “demos” means “the people”) had a single vote – the world’s first democracy.
10. Big problem, long bath: Archimedes the inventor
Asked to measure whether a crown was made of pure gold, the Sicilian Greek Archimedes (3rd Century BC) puzzled over a solution.
The story goes that when he eventually took a bath and saw the water rising as he stepped in, it struck him that an object’s volume could be measured by the water it displaced – and when weighed, their relative density could be calculated.
He was so excited by his discovery that he jumped out of the bath and ran naked through Syracuse shouting “Eureka!” – Greek for “I’ve got it!”
Finding the solution to a knotty problem requires hard thinking, but the answer often comes only when you switch off – and take a bath.
