Cassini sees the two faces of Titan's dunes

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? A new analysis of radar data from NASA's Cassini mission, in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, has revealed regional variations among sand dunes on Saturn's moon Titan. The result gives new clues about the moon's climatic and geological history.

Dune fields are the second most dominant landform on Titan, after the seemingly uniform plains, so they offer a large-scale insight into the moon's peculiar environment. The dunes cover about 13 percent of the surface, stretching over an area of 4 million square miles (10 million square kilometers). For Earthly comparison, that's about the surface area of the United States.

Though similar in shape to the linear dunes found on Earth in Namibia or the Arabian Peninsula, Titan's dunes are gigantic by our standards. They are on average 0.6 to 1.2 miles (1 to 2 kilometers) wide, hundreds of miles (kilometers) long and around 300 feet (100 meters) high. However, their size and spacing vary across the surface, betraying the environment in which they have formed and evolved.

Using radar data from the Cassini spacecraft, Alice Le Gall, a former postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., who is currently at the French research laboratory LATMOS, Paris, and collaborators have discovered that the size of Titan's dunes is controlled by at least two factors: altitude and latitude.

In terms of altitude, the more elevated dunes tend to be thinner and more widely separated. The gaps between the dunes seem to appear to Cassini's radar, indicating a thinner covering of sand. This suggests that the sand needed to build the dunes is mostly found in the lowlands of Titan.

Scientists think the sand on Titan is not made of silicates as on Earth, but of solid hydrocarbons, precipitated out of the atmosphere. These have then aggregated into grains 0.04 inch in size by a still unknown process.

In terms of latitude, the sand dunes on Titan are confined to its equatorial region, in a band between 30 degrees south latitude and 30 degrees north latitude. However, the dunes tend to be less voluminous toward the north. Le Gall and colleagues think that this may be due to Saturn's elliptical orbit.

Titan is in orbit around Saturn, and so the moon's seasons are controlled by Saturn's path around the sun. Because Saturn takes about 30 years to complete an orbit, each season on Titan lasts for about seven years. The slightly elliptical nature of Saturn's orbit means that the southern hemisphere of Titan has shorter but more intense summers. So the southern regions are probably drier, which implies they have less ground moisture. The drier the sand grains, the more easily they can be transported by the winds to make dunes. "As one goes to the north, we believe the soil moisture probably increases, making the sand particles less mobile and, as a consequence, the development of dunes more difficult." says Le Gall.

Backing this hypothesis is the fact that Titan's lakes and seas are not distributed symmetrically by latitude. These reserves of liquid ethane and methane are predominantly found in the northern hemisphere, suggesting again that the soil is moister toward the north and so, again, the sand grains are less easy to transport by the wind.

"Understanding how the dunes form as well as explaining their shape, size and distribution on Titan's surface is of great importance to understanding Titan's climate and geology because the dunes are a significant atmosphere-surface exchange interface," says Nicolas Altobelli, ESA's Cassini-Huygens project scientist. "In particular, as their material is made out of frozen atmospheric hydrocarbon, the dunes might provide us with important clues on the still puzzling methane/ethane cycle on Titan, comparable in many aspects with the water cycle on Earth."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the U.S. and several European countries.

For more information about the Cassini mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

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Even without Hormuz blockade, Iran has options (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Under pressure over its nuclear ambitions, Iran might never act on its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz but could retain enough tricks in its playbook to keep its enemies, shippers and global markets on edge.

As Western states tighten sanctions and its enemies wage an apparent covert war against its uranium enrichment program, Tehran has warned several times it may seal off the waterway, choking the supply of Gulf crude and gas.

Few intelligence, military and security experts contacted by Reuters either in or outside government, however, believe that is genuinely likely. Instead, they say, Iran's leaders will be looking for ways to harass enemies and cause disruption while falling short of triggering a massive U.S.-led retaliation.

Possible Iranian gambits could include harrying tanker traffic in the Gulf with fast attack boats, seizing uninhabited Gulf islands claimed by other states, grabbing hostages from passing civilian or military ships, stoking trouble in Sunni Muslim-ruled Arab states with restive Shi'ite Muslim communities and orchestrating attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere using militant "proxies" such as Hezbollah.

The risk inherent in all this, however, is that someone on either side miscalculates and triggers a full-blown conflict.

"These scenarios make sense as likely actions falling short of actively blocking the Strait -- but they will certainly raise tensions," says Nikolas Gvosdev, professor of national security studies at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island.

"Iran's goal in raising tensions in the Gulf may be to get other countries to put pressure on the United States to show restraint (and) as a way to create some breathing room for Tehran to maneuver."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard plans more military exercises for February, sending more swarms of gunboats into international waters and showing off its anti-ship missile arsenal.

That in itself could close some areas of the Gulf to shipping, as well is rattling neighbors and shipping firms.

Iran's 2007 capture of 15 British naval personnel proved hugely embarrassing for London. Tehran may be looking for similar ways success in humbling Western powers without inflicting physical harm.

Already, U.S. and allied naval officers say their vessels are often shadowed by Iranian gunboats, and some worry that if matters escalate further those confrontations could intensify.

"They could easily keep it coming and make it more harassing," said one Western naval officer with considerable experience in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

"But short of an Iranian small boat actually attacking one of our ships, our responses will be within the letter of the law and non-lethal in nature."

HEAVY POSTURING

Beyond the waters of the Gulf, many analysts expect Iran to further raise its support for regional proxies, from militants attacking U.S. forces in Afghanistan to Shi'ite protesters and militants in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

It could add to the growing sense of regional confrontation arising from Iran's defiance of several U.N. resolutions demanding that it suspend its atomic energy program, seen in the West as a camouflaged bid for nuclear weapons capability, and engage in negotiations with world powers on a solution.

Washington seems keen to stress its resolve and showcase its military strength. This week, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln passed through Hormuz flanked by British and French warships - in open defiance of Tehran's warning earlier this month that Washington should keep its carriers out of the Gulf.

In reality, naval sources say the move was likely planned months or longer in advance - every time a giant U.S. carrier docks anywhere, dozens of contracts need to be in place for it to be serviced and supplied.

But this time, given the Iranian threat and the heightened tension, the warships' entry would have been approved at the highest level and deliberately publicized to an unusual degree.

"Both sides are engaged in heavy posturing right now," said Reva Bhalla, director of strategic intelligence for U.S.-based consultancy Stratfor. "Iran is focused right now on highlighting its deterrence tools in the Persian Gulf ... This, of course, increases the risk of miscalculation."

Whilst some analysts believe the Islamic Republic may already worry it has overreached itself, others worry that pulling back may become increasingly difficult politically.

The conventional military mismatch between Iran and its enemies remains colossal.

As well as the Abraham Lincoln, the United States routinely retains a second carrier in the Indian Ocean - currently the USS Carl Vinson - within easy striking distance.

Between them, the two battle groups have the capacity to carry well over 120 aircraft, while escort ships will be carrying dozens if not hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles. Then there are U.S. combat aircraft based in the Gulf and Afghanistan, together with other well-equipped local air forces, particularly that of Saudi Arabia, not to mention Israel.

Long-range stealth and other bombers based either in the continental United States or the British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia could also hit Iranian targets with virtual impunity.

"Closing Hormuz is a myth. Iran tried to do that for eight years during the (1980s) Iran-Iraq war, and it wasn't successful even for one hour," said Mustafa Alani, head of Security and Terrorism Studies at the Gulf Research Center.

"They put mines, hit ships, but traffic through the strait continued. They were hit very hard and learned their lesson when they hit an American ship. The U.S. president ordered the U.S. navy to attack, and two-thirds of the Iranian navy was destroyed in one day. We saw that and we know their limitations," he said.

"This is why there are clear statements coming from Saudi Arabia and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) saying, indirectly, that they will replace Iran's oil."

"ASYMMETRIC WARFARE" THREAT

Iran's functional air force is limited to perhaps as few as a few dozen strike aircraft, either Russian or aging U.S. models acquired before the 1979 Iranian revolution and for which Tehran has long struggled to find spare parts.

The conventional Iranian Navy (IRIN) is also weak by modern standards. In any war, its corvettes and relatively advanced three Russian-built Kilo diesel electric submarines -- the pride of its navy -- would almost certainly be destroyed.

Its missile, torpedo and sea mine-equipped mini submarines are also seen as likely to be sunk within days.

More of a worry to Western strategists and shippers are the hardline Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval Forces (IRGCNF) with their focus on "asymmetric warfare" designed to work around Tehran's conventional military inferiority.

Firing their truck-mounted missiles directly at a warship or commercial vessel would be swiftly judged an act of war and prompt the immediate U.S. destruction of coastal batteries. But hundreds of Iranian small boats - believed to include suicide craft modeled on those once used by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers -would offer more options.

Operating in international waters, they can perform threatening passes of both commercial and military shipping, perhaps even firing warning shots and essentially daring international forces to respond. Individual craft could even conduct damaging and perhaps deniable attacks.

For many -- including the insurance companies nervously watching Gulf waters as they determine premiums -- the key question is whether such forces are under responsible control.

"Whereas the IRIN (Iran's mainstream navy) is a conventional military force and likely to be under tight control, the same is not true of the IRGCN," said John Cochrane, senior global risk forecaster at Exclusive Analysis, a London-based consultancy advising foreign firms in the region, including insurers.

"We assess there is a higher risk of a low-level IRGC small boat commander taking unsanctioned action - or just making a mistake - that would result in an incident in which lethal force was used by one side or the other."

Many of the commercial ships passing through Hormuz now carry their own often heavily armed private security details to protect against Somali pirates in the wider Indian Ocean.

Already accused of sometimes shooting unnecessarily at fishing boats, some worry that private security units could spark wider confrontation by inadvertently firing the first shots against Iranian forces.

But ultimately, many believe, wiser heads would probably prevail before matters spiraled out of control.

Such action would not be without precedent.

After frigate USS Samuel B Roberts was heavily damaged by an Iranian mine during the so-called "tanker war" in 1988, the U.S. military launched a limited retaliatory strike that wiped out much of Iran's navy.

But outright war was avoided, as it was again a month later after the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner, killing 290 in what Washington said was a tragic accident.

"I think it's unlikely to escalate -- Iran has too much to lose... and our forces are too professional to let any kind of a localized event blow up into a larger conflict," said the senior Western naval officer.

"If there is an incident, we will quickly get our forces into our respective corner, establish a defensive posture - albeit ready to go on the offensive if directed... - and wait to see what Iran's next move on the chessboard will be."

(Additional reporting by William Maclean in London and Joseph Logan in Dubai; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wl_nm/us_iran

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Egyptians want new parliament to 'hear our voice'

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Demonstrations continue next to the Egyptian Parliament as they hold their first session since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak on Monday in Cairo, Egypt.

By Charlene Gubash

CAIRO ? Egyptians were greeted by a series of firsts Monday:? Egypt's first democratically elected parliament and first predominantly Islamist parliament convened for their first session.??

New lawmakers were greeted by a now familiar sight.? Roughly 1,000 chanting demonstrators greeted them ? despite being kept at a distance from the parliament building by riot police, metal barriers and sharp shooters mounted on roofs.?

They had come to hold lawmakers accountable for a wide variety of promises they believe are essential for the new Egypt.

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From labor laws to honoring martyrs
Shima'a Sa'ib, a 28-year-old engineeer from Cairo, stopped chanting for a minute to explain why she came to protest. ?We want them to hear our voice, to give us rights and to give rights to the families of the martyrs,? she said, referring to those killed in the revolution.??

Mahmoud Hussein held a poster filled with photos of people who were killed when police opened fire on them near a police station during the revolution.?He pointed to the picture of a father of two who was killed.

"He was my neighbor.? His family was never compensated by the government,? said Hussein. ?Now their landlord lets them stay for free.?They can't afford to pay rent.? He fears that the new politicians will also ignore their needs.? "They are in power now, they will forget those in need."

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Mahmoud Hussein holds a poster showing people killed during the revolution.

Ahmed Desouki, a lanky university student, explained in perfect English why he had come.? "I am here for worker's rights because workers have been suffering from this capitalist government. We need better wages, stop privatization and make the labor unions stronger."? Asked if he thought the new parliament would meet his demands, his reply was swift.? "No.?I don't have hope.?

Desouki also expressed distrust about the cozy relationship between the military government known as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, and the Islamists.

Hazdem Mohammed, a 25-year-old computer system administrator from Cairo and a member of the April 6 Youth Movement, the main organization behind the revolution, agreed.

?The people in parliament stole the revolution.?The Muslim Brotherhood stole it in order to come to power,? said Mohammed.??The Brotherhood is like Hamas in Gaza, once they come to power, they will never leave.? If the revolution was on the right track, those in the military would be in prison for killing protesters."? He said the April 6 Youth Movement plans to continue organizing opposition to the government.?

Pediatrician Hazem Nasser said he was there to remind lawmakers that they are accountable for upholding some of the larger goals of the revolution.?"Nothing has changed in Egypt since the revolution.?Maybe they will be dictators, too, if people don?t stand up and tell them right from wrong.? If we don't do that, maybe 500 Mubaraks will arise."?

Looking for more man-friendly family law
Still others, like Salah Hassan and Ahmed Ibrahim, were there for very personal reasons: to protest some of the more female-friendly divorce laws introduced under former President Hosni Mubarak that give mothers preference in child custody disputes.

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Salah Hassan, left, and Ahmed Ibrahim, right, demonstrate for change in family law to favor men.

Both men said their divorced wives had prevented them from seeing their children for the past 10 years, so they were hopeful that the majority Islamist parliament would uphold religious Muslim laws that are more favorable to men.?

Under the current law, women gain child custody in divorce cases until the children are 15 years old, at which time the child can decide who he or she wants to live with.?Mothers are also allowed to stay in their homes while they have custody.

But under Islamic law, the father would get the child and the home when boys reach the age of 7 and girls reach the age of 9.?

"I may not agree with the Muslim Brotherhood in other things but for this reason, I voted for them," said Ibrahim, a civil engineer. ?I have not seen my child for 10 years."? He also wants to revoke a woman?s right to divorce with ease.? "She just called and told me, I am divorcing you and taking your child and your house.?

Ibrahim reckoned there were as many as 300 others there who were also protesting to overturn Egypt's moderate family laws.

With all of the diverse issues, it will be a wonder what the parliament can get done, but the protesters seem determined to at least make their demands heard.

See Photoblog: Egypt parliament opens for the first time following the fall of Mubarak

Source: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10217366-egyptians-want-new-parliament-to-hear-our-voice

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Video: Two Horse Race: Mitt vs. Newt

Debating whether Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich is a stronger candidate to face President Obama in the 2012 election, with Dick Armey, FreedomWorks, and fmr Gov. Tim Pawlenty, (R-MN).

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Why The Colts Should Pass On Peyton Manning (Time.com)

Nearly four years ago, when the NFL announced that Indianapolis would host the Super Bowl in 2012, you couldn't blame a Hoosier for getting all dreamy. Back then, Peyton Manning was 32, and had never missed a game in his dominant NFL career. He was coming off another stellar season, in which the Colts finished 13-3 and took their fifth straight division title. His Colts had won the Super Bowl the prior year, over the Chicago Bears. The dream of Manning marching off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, hoisting the Lombardi trophy in front of an adoring home crowd, seemed very real.

Now, the dream has been shattered, in a way that no one saw coming. The only Manning who might be winning a Super Bowl in Indy is Eli, Peyton's kid brother, whose Giants will play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the NFC Championship game (New England hosts Baltimore in the AFC title game). And just as the city he turned into an NFL powerhouse enjoys the spotlight that comes with a Super Bowl, it's entirely possible that Peyton may have already played his last game for the Colts. (MORE: Tebow the Terrible, Colts Win By Losing: Three Lessons from the NFL's Week 17)

The team is coming off a dismal 2-14 season in which Manning didn't take a snap because of a neck injury that has already required three surgeries. The team's third-year coach, Jim Caldwell, who led the Colts to a Super Bowl in his first season ? the New Orleans Saints knocked them off ? has been fired. Colts vice chairman Bill Polian, who built the 21st century Colts into consistent winners, was also let go. And in case there hasn't been enough drama of late: on Wednesday, an actor who plays the city manager of a fictional Indiana town on television, Parks and Recreation star Rob Lowe, tweeted: "Hearing my fave, #18 Peyton Manning will not return to #NFL. Wow. #Colts." Both Manning's father, Archie, and his agent denied that Manning was hanging it up, though Lowe, who is friendly with Colts owner Jim Irsay, has insisted he's got good sources.

Who knows, maybe Lowe is the best-connected ? and by far best-looking ? NFL reporter around. But unless Manning's injuries are debilitating, it's hard to believe such a fiercely competitive and talented QB would hang it up for good just yet. That doesn't mean, however, that he would still be playing for the Colts.

Because of Manning's injury, the 2011 Colts finished 2-14, the worst record in the league, giving Indianapolis the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Typically, when a team with a player on the level of a Peyton Manning at quarterback receives such a high pick, it looks to trade it away, or to select a non-quarterback to improve the talent around him. But this also happens to be a year in which a prospect labeled as the next Peyton Manning ? Stanford University quarterback Andrew Luck - is available. So as the Colts well know, when a Peyton Manning is out there, you grab him ? just like Indianapolis did in the 1998 draft, after the team finished with league-worst 3-13 record, and Manning had just completed an outstanding college career at Tennessee. ( MORE: The NFL's Royal Family)

Those Colts started Manning right away, and that move worked out pretty well for them. Wouldn't it make sense to give Luck the ball immediately, especially since there are still serious concerns about Manning's health? Recent history says these top prospects can play: last year's top pick, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, just became the first rookie to pass for over 4,000 yards. Plus, what team wants to pay someone $15 million, which is about what Luck will make his rookie year in signing bonus and base salary, to be a backup?

Then again, that's a tad better than having an $18.5 million-a-year backup, which is what Manning would be if the Colts were to keep him and then hand the ball to Luck. The Colts are facing a huge economic decision with Manning, and the most cost-effective option would be to let him go. After the NFL returned from the lockout in late July, the Colts signed Manning to a 5-year, $90 million deal, which on the surface seems reckless, since Manning had already undergone two neck surgeries. But the deal was structured to give the Colts an escape route if Manning did not recover quickly from the operations, which he clearly hasn't.

As part of the deal, the Colts owe Manning a $28 million option bonus, which they must pay him by March 8th. Indy can release Manning before March 8th and save themselves an enormous payout: if they do so, the Colts would likely take a $16 million hit against the salary cap in 2012, according to Brian McIntyre, salary cap expert for footballoutsiders.com, an analytics site. But after 2012, Manning's contract would come off the salary cap books, which would give the Colts an annual windfall with which to build a team around Luck. (In 2011, the NFL salary cap was around $120 million per team). Further complicating the decision is that the Colts cannot trade Manning before March 8. But if the Colts pay Manning his $28 million and then trade him, not only are the Colts out $28 million, but the salary cap penalties are even more severe: the Colts would take a $9.6 million hit in 2012, then a crushing $28.8 million blow in 2013. Plus, the Colts might not get much in return for a player whose long-term health is questionable. If the Colts bet that Manning will be healthy for the life of the contract and hold onto him, they're out $28 million on the option bonus, and he'd take up $18.5 million of the Colts salary cap, on average, for the next four years.

"I don't think the Colts are going to pick up the option," says McIntyre. "Look at what's going on: the Colts are completing a clean sweep. As good as he has been, it's hard to imagine Manning being the financial anchor of the franchise going forward." ( MORE: Tim Tebow and Faith's Place in Football)

Yes, we can get sentimental, and mention how it's hard to picture Manning in another NFL uniform. But cutting the chord with a franchise player has worked out well in the past for other teams ? and the jilted legends as well. The San Francisco 49ers, for example, traded an aging, achy Joe Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of his career to pave the way for Steve Young. Young won a Super Bowl in the 1994 season, and Montana led the Chiefs to the AFC championship game in the 1993 season. The franchise hasn't won a playoff game since. Green Bay nudged Brett Favre aside for Aaron Rodgers in 2008. Rodgers also won a title, and though Favre became a national punch line because of his dithering, and sexting shenanigans, let's not forget his 2009 season with Minnesota, one of the best of his Hall of Fame career.

The Colts are grappling with a dilemma most successful sports franchises face at some point ? whether to overpay for the subpar twilight years of a team's longtime star. While football teams have made rational decisions, baseball tends to reward aging legends for past performances, rather than future returns over the life of a contract. The New York Yankees, for example, gave Derek Jeter, 37, a 3-year, $51 million deal last off-season. Jeter hit .297 in 2011, but spent time on the disabled list and finished with career lows in home runs (6) and RBI (61). He's no $16 million-a-year player. The Yankees are probably also ruing the 10-year, $275 million deal they gave Alex Rodriguez in 2007, when he was 32: at 36, he appeared pretty shot in last year's playoffs, and they're on the hook for another $143 over the next six years. The Los Angeles Angels should expect impressive production from Albert Pujols, 32, whom they signed to a 10-year, $254 million contract. But history suggests that Pujols won't be a $30 million-a-year player when he's pushing 40.

Football is a crueler business than other sports, thanks to non-guaranteed contracts for NFL players, and the hard salary cap for its teams. A team has a distinct disincentive to overpay a beloved, but unproductive, aging star as a token of appreciation, even if it could afford to do so and the fan favorite could still sell tickets: a bloated salary takes up precious cap space, hampering its ability to build a winner. Plus, the specialized nature of the game forces such hard choices. Indy's 2-14 campaign is similar to the 1996-1997 NBA season, when San Antonio Spurts star David Robinson, like Manning, missed the season with an injury. The Spurs, like the Colts regular championship contenders, suffered through a miserable season, ala Indy: San Antonio finished 20-62, and also won the first pick in the draft, which they used on Tim Duncan. The Duncan-Robinson twin towers combo won two NBA titles together.

Unfortunately for the Colts, two quarterbacks can't play at the same time. So as shocking as it may be to their fans, Indy should probably press their Luck, and part ways with Peyton.

Sean Gregory is a staff writer at TIME. Keeping Score, his sports column for TIME.com, usually appears Friday. Follow him on Twitter at @seanmgregory. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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Is Camille leaving 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'?

Tibrina Hobson / Getty Images

According to Radar, Camille Grammer might not be back on "RHOBH."

By Anna Chan

Fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" have watched Camille Grammer go through some trying times on the hit?Bravo reality show. And now, Radar Online is reporting that the reality personality may not return next season.

"Producers are asking Lisa Vanderpump, Adrienne Maloof and Kyle Richards if any of their wealthy female friends would be interested in appearing on the show," a network insider reportedly told the website. "It's an open secret that Camille most likely won't be back for a third season."

A source close to the show told us that casting decisions have not yet?been made.

Bravo had no comment on Camille's rumored exit on Friday.

Would you miss Camille if she left? Who do you think should leave the show? Take our poll, and share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

{"contentId":"10201860","totalVotes":"13812"}

If one person had to leave 'RHOBH,' who should it be?

?

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Dana Wilkey	? 30.1% (4,151 votes)
Kim Richards	? 26% (3,589 votes)
Taylor Armstrong	? 18.6% (2,572 votes)
Brandi Glanville	? 15.2% (2,097 votes)
No one should leave. The cast is great!	? 4.3% (600 votes)
Camille Grammer	? 2.4% (331 votes)
Kyle Richards	? 1.9% (262 votes)
Adrienne Maloof	? 0.8% (114 votes)
Lisa Vanderpump	? 0.7% (96 votes)

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10201860-is-camille-leaving-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills

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Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.

A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents_ a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013.

Sativex contains marijuana's two best known components ? delta 9-THC and cannabidiol ? and already has been approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries for a different usage, relieving muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

FDA approval would represent an important milestone in the nation's often uneasy relationship with marijuana, which 16 states and the District of Columbia already allow residents to use legally with doctors' recommendations. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes pot as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but the availability of a chemically similar prescription drug could increase pressure on the federal government to revisit its position and encourage other drug companies to follow in GW Pharma's footsteps.

"There is a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what the states have pushed for and what the market is providing," said Aron Lichtman, a Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacology professor and president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. "It seems to me a company with a great deal of vision would say, `If there is this demand and need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lot of money.'"

Possessing marijuana still is illegal in the United Kingdom, but about a decade ago GW Pharma's founder, Dr. Geoffrey Guy, received permission to grow it to develop a prescription drug. Guy proposed the idea at a scientific conference that heard anecdotal evidence that pot provides relief to multiple sclerosis patients, and the British government welcomed it as a potential way "to draw a clear line between recreational and medicinal use," company spokesman Mark Rogerson said.

In addition to exploring new applications for Sativex, the company is developing drugs with different cannabis formulations.

"We were the first ones to charge forward and a lot of people were watching to see what happened to us," Rogerson said. "I think we are clearly past that stage."

In 1985, the FDA approved two drug capsules containing synthetic THC, Marinol and Cesamet, to ease side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The agency eventually allowed Marinol to be prescribed to stimulate the appetites of AIDS patients. The drug's patent expired last year, and other U.S. companies have been developing formulations that could be administered through dissolving pills, creams and skin patches and perhaps be used for other ailments.

Doctors and multiple sclerosis patients are cautiously optimistic about Sativex. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has not endorsed marijuana use by patients, but the organization is sponsoring a study by a University of California, Davis neurologist to determine how smoking marijuana compares to Marinol in addressing painful muscle spasms.

"The cannabinoids and marijuana will, eventually, likely be part of the clinician's armamentarium, if they are shown to be clinically beneficial," said Timothy Coetzee, the society's chief research officer. "The big unknown in my mind is whether they are clearly beneficial."

Opponents and supporters of crude marijuana's effectiveness generally agree that more research is needed. And marijuana advocates fear that the government will use any new prescription products to justify a continued prohibition on marijuana use. .

"To the extent that companies can produce effective medication that utilizes the components of the plant, that's great. But that should not be the exclusive access for people who want to be able to use medical marijuana," Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes said. "That's the race against time, in terms of how quickly can we put pressure on the federal government to recognize the plant has medical use versus the government coming out with the magic bullet pharmaceutical pill."

Interest in new and better marijuana-based medicines has been building since the discovery in the late 1980s and 1990s that mammals have receptors in their central nervous systems, several organs and immune systems for the chemicals in botanical cannabis and that their bodies also produce natural cannabinoids that work on the same receptors.

One of the first drugs to build on those breakthroughs was an anti-obesity medication that blocked the same chemical receptors that trigger the munchies in pot smokers. Under the name Acomplia, it was approved throughout Europe and heralded as a possible new treatment for smoking cessation and metabolic disorders that can lead to heart attacks.

The FDA was reviewing its safety as a diet drug when follow-up studies showed that people taking the drug were at heightened risk of suicide and other psychiatric disorders. French manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis, pulled it from the market in late 2008.

Given that drug companies already were reluctant "to touch anything that is THC-like with a 10-foot- pole," the setback had a chilling effect on cannabinoid drug development, according to Lichtman.

"Big companies like Merck and Pfizer were developing their own versions (of Acomplia), so all of those programs they spent millions and millions on just went away..." he said.

But scientists and drug companies that are exploring pot's promise predict the path will ultimately be successful, if long and littered with setbacks.

One is Alexandros Makriyannis, director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Northeastern University and founder of a small Boston company that hopes to market synthetic pain products that are chemically unrelated to marijuana, but work similarly on the body or inhibit the cannabinoid receptors. He also has been working on a compound that functions like the failed Acomplia but without the depressive effects.

"I think within five to 10 years, we should get something," Makriyannis said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_bi_ge/us_marijuana_drug_development

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