Jury convicts former South Texas DA of corruption

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) ? A former Texas prosecutor and one-time candidate for Congress was convicted Friday of accepting bribes in exchange for court favors, including an $80,000 payment in a scheme that allowed a convicted murder to escape.

Jurors convicted former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges. They acquitted him on two extortion charges.

Villalobos is the highest-profile target to stand trial in an FBI investigation into legal corruption in Cameron County. The former prosecutor was accused of taking more than $100,000 in bribes from attorneys.

Villalobos denied any wrongdoing and testified during his trial that he did not request money from lawyers in exchange for appointments with him.

Among the allegations were that Villalobos participated in a scheme involving Amit Livingston, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend, Hermila Hernandez, in 2007. Prosecutors alleged former state District Judge Abel Lima agreed to work with Villalobos and Villalobos' former law partner, Eddie Lucio, in criminal and civil cases involving Livingston. The trio's target was the $500,000 bond put up for Livingston's release before trial.

Federal prosecutors alleged Villalobos set up Lucio to represent Hernandez's three children in their lawsuit against Livingston, and the criminal and civil cases both landed in Limas' courtroom. In the criminal case, Limas agreed to convict and sentence Livingston on the same day, thereby freeing up his bond to be used as the settlement in the civil suit.

However, Limas also agreed that day to Livingston's request that he would have 60 days to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison. That meant Livingston was released without bond ? highly unusual for a convicted killer already sentenced to decades in prison. Livingston didn't report to prison as scheduled and hasn't been seen since.

Lucio received $200,000 in attorney's fees for handling the civil case. Prosecutors said he kicked $80,000 back to Villalobos and together they gave about $10,000 to Limas to keep quiet. Lucio also faces charges in the case. Lima, who was one of the main witnesses at Villalobos' trial, pleaded guilty to racketeering and awaits sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wynne told jurors in his opening statement that the cash payments Villalobos accepted from attorneys in exchange for his prosecutorial discretion amounted to "having a district attorney on retainer."

"You pay him in advance so when you need him, he's there," Wynne told jurors at the federal courthouse in Brownsville.

Prosecutors allege the activity took place from October 2006 through May 3, 2012. Villalobos, a two-term district attorney, served from 2005 through the end of 2012. He ran for Congress last year, losing in the Democratic primary.

Villalobos remains free on bond. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the seven counts on which he was convicted. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jury-convicts-former-south-texas-da-corruption-031721623.html

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Sixth night of violence in Sweden, but police say capital calmer

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Community patrols and a beefed-up police presence helped to calm violence around Stockholm overnight on Saturday but 20 to 30 cars were still torched in poor immigrant suburbs and serious incidents were reported outside the capital for the first time. The rioting in Stockholm abated after a week of masked youths vandalizing schools and police stations, setting cars alight and hurling stones at firefighters, police said.

Syrian opposition resumes tough talks on unity key to peace push

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's opposition resumed talks on Saturday aimed at closing their fractious ranks, crucial to launching an international peace conference, and government forces pressed an onslaught on a rebel-held town to try to gain the upper hand in civil war. Failure of the opposition to unite could weaken the hand of conference co-sponsors Russia and the United States in ending Syria's conflict, which has killed 80,000 people, threatens to spill across borders and whip up wider sectarian conflict.

Pakistan school bus explosion and blaze kill 17 children: media

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Seventeen Pakistani children burnt to death on Saturday when a gas cylinder on the bus taking them to school exploded, media said. Ten children were injured in the blaze on the outskirts of Gujrat, 100 miles southeast of Islamabad, DawnNews said.

Suicide car bombing in Russia's Dagestan injures 11

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew herself up in car near a police building in Russia's Dagestan region on Saturday, injuring 11 policemen and passers-by, Russian media reported. Dagestan, an ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus, where insurgents say they are fighting to carve out an Islamic state out of southern Russia.

As border tightens, some U.S.-Mexico neighbors reach across the fence

NACO, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican activist Maria Elena Borquez takes up a paintbrush and daubs a bright splotch of color on the rusted steel fence separating the small Mexican town of Naco from a neighboring town in the United States. "The wall projects hostility," she said, paint pot in hand and surrounded by youngsters from both the United States and Mexico. "The idea is to transform it with art, friendship, colors and life ... into something that unites us," said Borquez, who is director of the local museum.

Ukraine's first gay march held under police protection

KIEV (Reuters) - About 100 Ukrainian gay rights activists held the country's first gay rally on Saturday, helped by police who arrested 13 people for trying to break up the march. The activists walked for about 250 meters (yards) along Victory Avenue in the capital Kiev while Orthodox Christian activists nearby chanted slogans denouncing them.

Aid groups urge EU to fulfil commitments to Palestinians

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A group of 80 international aid agencies urged the European Union on Saturday to follow through on pledges it made last year to back Palestinian communities seen as vulnerable to Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. Not enough action has been taken since EU foreign ministers last May urged Israel to ease curbs to growth on Palestinian villages and criticized its settlement policies, the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) said in a report.

Hezbollah, Syria government forces push for advance in Qusair

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah launched a fierce campaign to seize more rebel territory in the border town of Qusair on Saturday, sources on both sides of the conflict said. Rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad said additional tanks and artillery had been deployed around opposition-held territory in Qusair, a Syrian town close to the Lebanese border.

British police arrest man after spy claim in soldier case

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested a man under anti-terrorism laws at BBC headquarters after an interviewee said security services tried to recruit one of the two men arrested after a soldier was hacked to death in a London street. Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under armed guard in hospital after being shot and arrested by police on suspicion of the murder of 25-year-old Lee Rigby, a veteran of the Afghan war, on Wednesday.

Interpol rejects Russia's 'political' case against fund manager Browder

By Jason Bush MOSCOW - Interpol has refused to include UK-based fund manager William Browder on its international search list after deciding that Russia's tax evasion case against him is "of a predominantly political nature".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-001211224.html

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Downloads Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Planning for Law ...

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Are You Ready? Guide | Ready.gov What is Are You Ready? Are You Ready? provides a step-by-step approach to disaster preparedness by walking the reader through how to get informed about local. . Click on the buttons to the right to find out how you can prepare yourself and your. Earthquake + Hurricane Preparedness (72. FEMA.gov | Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, education, and references. Home | Ready.gov Emergency preparedness guidance from the U.S. We're the best choice for Emergency and Prepper Supplies to get you Prepared for Earthquakes, Hurricanes and. Emergency Survival Kit, Bug Out Bag and Survival Gear for. Department of Homeland Security, lists and explains specific threats and response. Emergency Survival Gear and Disaster Preparedness Kits & Equipment. Are you prepared? In a major disaster, it might be several days before vital services are restored. Preparedness.com - Emergency Preparedness Supplies & Kits Preparedness.com for Emergency Preparedness Supplies. Home & Family MRE and Dehydrated Food & Water Storage. CDC Emergency Preparedness and You Emergency Preparedness and You. The possibility of public health emergencies arising in the United States concerns many people in the wake of recent hurricanes. How to prepare, glossary, feedback

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Source: http://nryrsqf.typepad.com/blog/2013/05/downloads-disaster-preparedness-recovery-planning-for-law-firms.html

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Weight Loss News Headlines - Yahoo! News

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who eat diets high in fruit, certain vegetables, pasta and red wine are less likely to have hot flashes and night sweats during menopause, a new study from Australia suggests. Researchers found that of about 6,000 women followed over nine years, those who ate a lot of??

Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/weightloss

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A Clever Plastic Brace Turns Long-Stemmed Flowers Into Their Own Vase

Florists around the country, pay attention. If you're looking for a value-added reason for people to buy a dozen roses from your shop, then find a way to get this brilliant Crown Vase put into production and include one with every bouquet.

Designed by Lambert Rainville, a student at the Royal College of Art, the Crown Vase works as a support allowing flowers to stand via their own stems, like a simple shelter crafted by an experienced outdoors person. A shallow dish or bowl full of water is still needed to keep the flowers alive for more than a day, but when they eventually die everything can be composted and recycled, making cleanup an eco-friendly affair.

[Lambert Rainville via Notcot]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-clever-plastic-brace-turns-long-stemmed-flowers-into-509714046

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Integrative Medicine: Work stress increases heart-attack risk | Health ...

By DRS. KAY JUDGE AND MAXINE BARISH-WREDEN ? The Sacramento Bee

Two interesting studies have come up over the past month on heart attacks. Scientists have found a temporary condition that can quadruple your chance of having a heart attack. Scientists have found that job stress leads to more heart attacks, but there is a treatment that can reduce job stress-related heart attacks by 50 percent.

Curious? The first study involved almost 4,000 patients, and was conducted at Harvard, with results published in the American Journal of Cardiology. The surprising condition that could lead to a quadrupling of heart attacks was anger. The researchers collected data from patients who were part of a study between 1989 and 1996 to determine what brought on their heart attacks.

A total of 1,484 participants reported having outbursts of anger in the previous year, 110 of whom had those episodes within two hours of the onset of their heart attacks. The researchers found that with each increment of anger intensity, the risk of heart attack in the next two hours rose.

That risk was 1.7 times greater after feeling "moderately angry, so hassled it shows in your voice"; and 2.3 times greater after feeling "very tense, body tense, clenching fists or teeth" and 4.5 times greater after feeling "enraged! lost control, throwing objects, hurting yourself or others."

Why does anger increase heart attacks? Anger induces a fight-or-flight response in the body, releasing chemicals epinephrine and norepinephrine that raise blood pressure, raise our heart rate, constrict blood vessels and promote stickiness in platelets. All these are not good for the cardiovascular system and can lead to a heart attack.

The second study looked at job stress and heart attacks, and found that the magical cure with a 50 percent success in reducing heart attacks from job stress was a healthy lifestyle. The study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. In this study, researchers studied 102,000 men and women, ages 17 to 70, in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Sweden and Finland. Over 10 years, the rate of coronary artery disease was 18.4 per 1,000 for people with job stress and 14.7 per 1,000 for those without job stress

The lifestyles measured were smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, inactivity and obesity. Those with a healthy lifestyle had no risk factors, while people with a moderately unhealthy lifestyle had one risk factor. Two or more risk factors was an unhealthy lifestyle.

What is fascinating is the extraordinary impact of lifestyle on the reduction of heart-attack risk with job stress: When lifestyle and work were factored together, the heart disease rate was 31.2 per 1,000 for people with job stress and an unhealthy lifestyle and decreased to 15 per 1,000 for those with job stress and a healthy lifestyle.

Take-home points? Anger is dangerous for the heart, and escalating expressions of anger - far from being cathartic - appear to hurt the body. And if you are at risk for heart disease and have job stress, you can decrease that risk by changing your lifestyle. Both of these studies help quantify the benefits of a holistic approach to your health - in addition to seeing your doctor, do focus on mind/ body/spirit wellness.

(Drs. Kay Judge and Maxine Barish-Wreden are medical directors of Sutter Downtown Integrative Medicine program in Sacramento, Calif. Have a question related to alternative medicine? Email fitness@sacbee.com.)

Source: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/05/24/4539001/integrative-medicine-work-stress.html

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Amanda Bynes Arrested After Throwing Huge Bong From NY Apartment (VIDEO)

Amanda Bynes Arrested After Throwing Huge Bong From NY Apartment (VIDEO)

Amanda Bynes was taken away in handcuffs after being arrested for drug possession (marijuana) and reckless endangerment, after throwing a large bong out the window of her 36th floor apartment in front of cops! The troubled actress, whose erratic behavior has everyone worried for her mental health, arrived to the police station in a strange ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/05/amanda-bynes-arrested-after-throwing-huge-bong-from-ny-apartment-video/

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