Most Recent Polls Show Obama Still Ahead of Romney in Two Battleground States

President Barack Obama's post-convention bounce may be beginning to fade. New polls released Friday show Obama with slim leads over Republican Mitt Romney in two key battleground states. Nationally, the polls remain close, with at least one poll showing either candidate in front.

Virginia

The latest Rasmussen poll of Virginia gave Obama a slim one-point edge over Romney, 49 to 48 percent. The poll surveyed 500 likely voters with a 4.5 percent margin of error. Two polls earlier this week found opposite results, one with Romney ahead by 5 points, the other with Obama ahead by the same amount.

Colorado

Another new poll of Colorado also gave Obama a slim one-point lead over Romney. The poll, conducted by Survey USA/Denver Post , surveyed 615 likely voters. Obama was ahead 47 to 46 percent, well within the poll's 4 percent margin of error. According to polling data aggregated by Real Clear Politics , President Obama has led in most polls of Colorado during this campaign, averaging a three-point led in the most recent polls.

North Carolina

The Democratic Party's presence in the Tar Heel State for their convention has not given the president any bounce in the polls there. Another new poll of North Carolina by Rasmussen has Romney in the lead by six points, 51 to 45 percent. The poll surveyed 500 likely voters, with a margin of error of 4.5 percent. Romney has led in the majority of polls of North Carolina this campaign season, with an average lead of 4.8 percent.

New Jersey

A poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University found Obama ahead in the Garden State, confirming the president's long-standing lead. The poll of 706 likely voters gave Obama a 14-point lead over Romney, 52 to 38 percent, with a 3.8 percent margin of error. The president has led in every poll of New Jersey since the beginning of the campaign.

National Polls

The Rasmussen Tracking Poll gave Romney the advantage nationally, 48 to 45 percent. The poll averages three days of polling 500 likely voters each night with a 3 percent margin of error. The Gallup Tracking Poll , which averages more than 3,000 likely voters over seven days, found Obama with a 5 point lead, 49 to 44 percent, with only a 2 percent margin of error. The most recent CBS/NY Times poll also found Obama with a lead nationally, 49 to 46 percent. The poll surveyed 1,162 likely voters with a 3 percent margin of error.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/most-recent-polls-show-obama-still-ahead-romney-200900557.html

packers stock sale jason mayhem miller margarito margarito

US identifies anti-Muslim filmmaker

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Federal authorities identified a Southern California man who is on federal probation for financial crimes as the key figure behind an anti-Muslim film that has spawned mob violence against American embassies across the Mideast, a U.S. law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday.

There was no sign of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, at his family's home Thursday in Cerritos outside Los Angeles, as details slowly began to emerge about his checkered past, his connections among Southern California's right-wing Christian organizations and his central role in the production of the film.

Excerpts from the movie, which the filmmaker said was called "Innocence of Muslims," enraged Islamic protesters in Egypt, Libya and Yemen over its portrayal of the prophet Muhammad.

Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed Thursday that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other diplomats killed during an attack on the American mission in Benghazi. It was not immediately clear whether authorities were focusing on Nakoula as part of that probe.

Much about the film remains a mystery, including who financed it. Several actors have come forward and claimed they were duped about their roles, and that incendiary language was dubbed over their lines.

The permit to shoot the film, normally a public document, is being withheld at the "request of federal authorities, who have cited public safety concerns," according to Ryan Alsop, assistant chief executive office for Los Angeles County. He did not elaborate. Such permits normally contain little more than logistical information.

Questions remained about whether Nakoula's filmmaking and Internet distribution activities might have violated his federal probation and send him back to prison.

Nakoula pleaded no contest in 2010 to federal bank fraud charges in California and was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered not to use computers, the Internet or online user or screen names for five years without approval from his probation officer. He is still on probation, according to court records.

The YouTube account under the username "Sam Bacile," which was used to publish excerpts of the provocative movie in July, was used again as recently as this week.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees federal probation offices, and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, which prosecuted Nakoula, declined to discuss his case Thursday. Under court rules, the government may ask a judge to send a convict back to prison if there is probable cause to show that probation conditions were violated.

A convict on probation doesn't have the same rights to free speech or against unreasonable searches, said Jennifer Granick, a criminal defense lawyer who specializes in online crimes.

"Until you're done with supervision, you don't have full rights," Granick said. "They can search you without a warrant."

The law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because this official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, confirmed the AP's earlier reporting that Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a figure who initially claimed to be the writer and director of the film. Bacile turned out to be a false identity, and the AP tracked a cellphone number used by Bacile to a home in Cerritos where it found Nakoula.

Sheriff's deputies were called to Nakoula's property overnight, though Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Nakoula was not in protective custody. He said county authorities were present because roughly two dozen reporters and film crews were waiting to interview Nakoula.

Nakoula's criminal record includes a 1997 conviction for possessing drugs used to make methamphetamine, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.

Sheriff's authorities testified that Nakoula was stopped in March that year after unloading boxes of pills from a U-Haul truck at a house in Lake Elsinore, Calif. Authorities stopped Nakoula later and found a receipt for the purchase of pseudophedrine, a main ingredient in meth, and $45,000 in a paper bag.

He avoided a one-year county jail sentence by performing community service and was on probation for three years.

Nakoula told the AP that he is Coptic Christian.

An official of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles said in a statement Thursday that the church's adherents had no involvement in the "inflammatory movie about the prophet of Islam." The official, identified as Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox of Los Angeles, said that "the producers of this movie should be responsible for their actions. The name of our blessed parishioners should not be associated with the efforts of individuals who have ulterior motives."

Egypt's Christian Coptic populace has long decried what they describe as a history of discrimination and occasional violence from the country's Muslim majority.

Coptic Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the largest Christian church in Egypt.

Once a majority in Egypt, Coptic Christians now make up about 10 percent of the country's 85 million people. They are the largest Christian community in the Middle East. Many Egyptian Christians fled to the U.S. to escape what they say is religious discrimination in the majority Muslim nation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-identifies-anti-muslim-filmmaker-231930586.html

randy moss hunger games premiere the bachelor good morning america red meat bachelor ben jon hamm kim kardashian

Kim Kardashian Klarifies Kancer Komments

Kim Kardashian has taken to her official website to clarify excerpts from a recent interview with The Guardian in which she appeared to compare her televised wedding to a cancer diagnosis.

Going into a bit more detail about the time she spent with a girl who was unfortunately diagnosed with this disease, Kim made it clear:

"In no way was I comparing my own experiences to that of a cancer patient. I was merely talking about how there are times in your life, and everyone goes through them, when you find out who loves you enough to stand by you through thick and thin."

We'll grant Kardashian a mulligan on this one, especially considering how she's been affected by the tragic illness.

"Many of you know that my father passed away from cancer, and my grandma is a cancer survivor," Kim adds. "This is a disease that has brought so much pain and heartache to our family and I would never want to offend or upset anyone who was battling cancer, or whose family members were battling or had passed away from cancer.

"What I said in the interview was misconstrued and I wanted to explain to you all what the context was around my phone call with this girl."

Perhaps Kardashian should stick to bikini photos.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/09/kim-kardashian-klarifies-kancer-komments/

yu darvish mad cow pennsylvania primary jerome simpson hand sanitizer obama on jimmy fallon google drive

dudeslife: from my blog: Art of Video Games Exhibit @ Smithsonian Washington DC http://t.co/ZpYwsCT7 #c64 #Commodore #Travel

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/dudeslife/statuses/246741374689505280

the godfather cape breton bowling green marysville tornados dr. seuss dr seuss

Immune system compensates for 'leaky gut' in inflammatory bowel disease susceptibility

ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2012) ? New research could clarify how inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), conditions that include ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, are triggered and develop.

Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have shown how the immune system can compensate for a "leaky gut" and prevent disease in mice that are susceptible to intestinal inflammation. These findings could explain why some individuals who are susceptible to developing IBD do or do not get the disease.

The results will be published online Sept. 13 in the journal Immunity.

"Our results suggest that when there is a chronically leaky intestine, defects in the immune system need to be present for the development of IBD," says senior author Charles Parkos, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.

"Breakdown of the intestinal barrier can occur as a result of intestinal infections or stress. The normal response involves several components of the immune system that help to heal the injury while controlling invading bacteria. When this normal response is defective and there is a leaky barrier, the risk of developing IBD is increased."

Parkos and co-senior author Tim Denning, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, and their colleagues have been studying mice that are deficient in a protein called JAM-A (junctional adhesion molecule A). JAM-A is an important regulator of the epithelial barrier in the intestine. Denning describes JAM-A and other "tight junction" molecules as forming a seal between epithelial cells like a zipper, which keeps bacteria away from the rest of the body.

JAM-A deficient mice have a "leaky gut," meaning that chemicals and bacteria can cross more easily from the insides of the intestines to the rest of the body. Passage of bacteria across the intestinal wall and into the body can cause inflammation and disease. JAM-A deficient mice have more bacteria in the liver and lymph nodes, and they are more susceptible than regular mice to a chemical treatment (DSS) that induces colitis (intestinal inflammation). Surprisingly, despite these defects, JAM-A deficient mice do not develop spontaneous colitis.

"This is a situation that may be analogous to first degree relatives of people with Crohn's disease," Parkos says. "Some of these people have increased intestinal permeability, which suggests that they are more susceptible to developing disease, but they don't get sick. Gut permeability also transiently increases in normal people based on what we eat and drink, yet disease doesn't occur. We think that immune compensation is what protects the body under these conditions."

The researchers wanted to dissect which types of immune cells were responsible for this compensatory effect. To this end, they treated JAM-A deficient mice with antibodies that depleted certain types of immune cells or, in some cases, examined mice with additional genetic changes in combination with the JAM-A deficiency. They found that a type of immune cell, CD4+ T cells, is needed to produce signals that encourage production of a type of antibody, IgA. IgA is especially important for limiting incursions by bacteria in the intestine.

"In normal mice, immune cells such as CD4+ T cells and IgA-producing B cells do not play a big role in DSS-triggered colitis," Denning says. "But if the mice have a preexisting leak, the immune system plays an important role."

Under normal conditions, B cells are needed to produce IgA, which helps to keep bacteria from invading through the intestinal wall. While defects in the production of IgA alone do not result in colitis, the presence of a chronically leaky gut in concert with IgA deficiency results in increased susceptibility to abnormal intestinal inflammation that involves other types of immune cells. During intestinal inflammation, the amount of JAM-A in the epithelium can decrease, thus further weakening the intestinal barrier.

"There is a 'chicken or the egg' question with respect to whether inflammation or alterations in the intestinal barrier come first," Parkos says. "Many people with IBD report that their first severe episode was brought on by a stressful event or an intestinal illness, and it is possible that these events serve as a trigger that starts a vicious cycle of altered barrier and inflammation."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Emory University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Manirath Khounlotham, Wooki Kim, Eric Peatman, Porfirio Nava, Oscar Medina-Contreras, Caroline Addis, Stefan Koch, Benedicte Fournier, Asma Nusrat, Timothy?L. Denning, Charles?A. Parkos. Compromised Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Induces Adaptive Immune Compensation that Protects from Colitis. Immunity, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2012.06.017

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/GJDE-ZmYOtc/120913123512.htm

uc berkeley harrison barnes brett ratner stevie nicks anchorman capybara duggars

India launches satellites in 100th space mission

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"13697051","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-161838567", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-161838567", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "13697051", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "13697051" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

7-year-old Colo. girl recovers from bubonic plague

Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., smiles during a news conference about her recovery from bubonic plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver. It is believed Downing caught the bubonic plague from burying a dead squirrel. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., smiles during a news conference about her recovery from bubonic plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver. It is believed Downing caught the bubonic plague from burying a dead squirrel. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., is pushed to a news conference about her recovery from Bubonic Plague by her mother Darcy and father Sean Downing along with nurses at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver. It is believed Downing caught the Bubonic Plague from burying a dead squirrel. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Jennifer Snow, MD, pediatric intensivist in the pediatric intensive care unit, center talks to the media about the recovery of seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing's recovery from Bubonic Plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver. Tracy butler, MD., left, and Wendi Drummond, MD, pediatric infectious disease specialist, right, look on. It is believed Downing caught the Bubonic Plague from burying a dead squirrel. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., looks on while her father Sean Downing and mother Darcy Downing talk about her recovery from Bubonic Plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's during a news conference Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver. It is believed Downing caught the Bubonic Plague from burying a dead squirrel. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., is pushed in a wheel chair by a nurse following a news conference about her recovery from Bubonic Plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver. It is believed Downing caught the Bubonic Plague from burying a dead squirrel. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

DENVER (AP) ? The parents of 7-year-old Sierra Jane Downing thought she had the flu when she felt sick days after camping in southwest Colorado.

When she had a seizure, her father rushed her to the local hospital in Pagosa Springs. An emergency room doctor who saw Sierra Jane for the seizure and a 107-degree fever late Aug. 24 wasn't sure what was wrong either, and called other hospitals before the girl was flown to Denver.

There, a pediatric doctor at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children racing to save Sierra Jane's life got the first inkling that she had bubonic plague. Dr. Jennifer Snow first suspected the rare disease using the girl's symptoms, a history of where she'd been and an online journal's article on a teen with similar symptoms.

"If she had stayed home, she could've easily died within 24 to 48 hours from the shock of infection," Snow said.

It was the first bubonic plague case Snow and her colleagues had seen.

The bubonic plague hasn't been confirmed in a human in Colorado since 2006, when four cases were reported, according to state health officials. Federal health officials say that on average, seven cases are reported in the U.S. each year.

Sierra Jane's heart rate was high, her blood pressure was low, and she suffered a swollen lymph node in her left groin so painful it hurt to undergo the ultrasound that helped detect it, Snow said. However, the girl is recovering and could go home within a week, doctors said Wednesday.

"She's just a fighter," said her mother, Darcy Downing.

Darcy Downing said her daughter may have been infected by insects near a dead squirrel she wanted to bury.

Plague is generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas but also can be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, rabbits and pets. It can be treated with antibiotics.

Symptoms of the bubonic form of the plague in humans include fever, chills, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea and swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck areas. Pneumonic plague, which is an infection of the lungs, can include severe cough, difficulty breathing and bloody sputum.

The bubonic plague wiped out at least one-third of Europe in the 14th century. Today, it can be easily treated with antibiotics.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-09-05-Bubonic%20Plague/id-90b588ff541449159f56f560ea5d2cae

navy jet crash virginia beach crash stephen hawking marion barry virginia beach jet crash ridiculously photogenic guy amanda bynes dui

Horse training/lessons, clinics - Classified Ad

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.classifiedads.com/pet_services_stores-ad18704972.htm

adrian peterson ESPYs 2012 venus williams Freeh Report direct tv wimbledon ray allen

Cambodia arrests Pirate Bay co-founder

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ? A co-founder of popular file sharing website The Pirate Bay was arrested in Cambodia at the request of Sweden, where he faces a one-year prison term for violating copyright laws, authorities said Monday.

Cambodian authorities arrested Gottfrid Svartholm Warg on Thursday at a home he had rented in the capital, Phnom Penh, said national police spokesman Kirth Chantharith.

"He is being detained in Cambodia and we are waiting to expel him," Kirth Chantharith said. Cambodia has no extradition treaty with Sweden but has requested details of Svartholm Warg's crime in order to process his handover, he said, adding that Cambodia would act as quickly as possible.

Svartholm Warg and the site's three other founders were convicted in 2009 by a Swedish court of assisting copyright infringement by helping millions of the site's users to illegally download music, movies and computer games. All were sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay 30 million kronor ($3.6 million) to entertainment companies, including Warner Bros., Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Columbia Pictures.

Svartholm Warg failed to show up at an appeal hearing in 2010. At the time, his defense attorney told the court he had received text messages from Svartholm Warg's mother saying her son had fallen ill in Cambodia and would not appear in court.

The appeals court reduced the prison sentences for the three other co-founders from one year to between four and 10 months and raised the amount they have to pay in damages to the entertainment industry to 46 million kronor ($6.5 million).

All four defendants denied the charges, arguing that The Pirate Bay doesn't actually host any copyright-protected material itself. Instead, it provides a forum for users to download content through so-called torrent files. The technology allows users to transfer parts of a large file from several different users, increasing download speeds.

Kirth Chantharith said a group of Swedish officials was scheduled to arrive in Cambodia on Monday or Tuesday to present documents concerning the case and discuss procedures for returning Svartholm Warg.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cambodia-arrests-pirate-bay-co-founder-034046775--finance.html

mike trout ryan broyles jerel worthy alshon jeffery miami heat bulls red dawn