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Hot Headlines . . . 07/24/08

Cell Phones give you Cancer and More!

culled from

Pittsburgh cancer center warns of cell phone risks

PITTSBURGH (AP) -

The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Herberman is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now - especially when it comes to children.

``Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later,'' Herberman said.

No other major academic cancer research institutions have sounded such an alarm about cell phone use. But Herberman's advice is sure to raise concern among many cell phone users and especially parents.

In the memo he sent to about 3,000 faculty and staff Wednesday, he says children should use cell phones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing.

Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cell phones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields.

The issue that concerns some scientists - though nowhere near a consensus - is electromagnetic radiation, especially its possible effects on children. It is not a major topic in conferences of brain specialists.

A 2008 University of Utah analysis looked at nine studies - including some Herberman cites - with thousands of brain tumor patients and concludes ``we found no overall increased risk of brain tumors among cellular phone users. The potential elevated risk of brain tumors after long-term cellular phone use awaits confirmation by future studies.''

Studies last year in France and Norway concluded the same thing.

``If there is a risk from these products - and at this point we do not know that there is - it is probably very small,'' the Food and Drug Administration says on an agency Web site.

Still, Herberman cites a ``growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer.''

``Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone use,'' he wrote in his memo.

A driving force behind the memo was Devra Lee Davis, the director of the university's center for environmental oncology.

``The question is do you want to play Russian roulette with your brain,'' she said in an interview from her cell phone while using the hands-free speaker phone as recommended. ``I don't know that cell phones are dangerous. But I don't know that they are safe.''

Of concern are the still unknown effects of more than a decade of cell phone use, with some studies raising alarms, said Davis, a former health adviser in the Clinton Administration.

She said 20 different groups have endorsed the advice the Pittsburgh cancer institute gave, and authorities in England, France and India have cautioned children's use of cell phones.

Herberman and Davis point to a massive ongoing research project known as Interphone, involving scientists in 13 nations, mostly in Europe. Results already published in peer-reviewed journals from this project aren't so alarming, but Herberman is citing work not yet published.

The published research focuses on more than 5,000 cases of brain tumors. The National Research Council in the U.S., which isn't participating in the Interphone project, reported in January that the brain tumor research had ``selection bias.'' That means it relied on people with cancer to remember how often they used cell phones. It is not considered the most accurate research approach.

The largest published study, which appeared in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2006, tracked 420,000 Danish cell phone users, including thousands that had used the phones for more than 10 years. It found no increased risk of cancer among those using cell phones.

A French study based on Interphone research and published in 2007 concluded that regular cell phone users had ``no significant increased risk'' for three major types of nervous system tumors. It did note, however, that there was ``the possibility of an increased risk among the heaviest users'' for one type of brain tumor, but that needs to be verified in future research.

Earlier research also has found no connection.

Joshua E. Muscat of Penn State University, who has studied cancer and cell phones in other research projects partly funded by the cell phone industry, said there are at least a dozen studies that have found no cancer-cell phone link. He said a Swedish study cited by Herberman as support for his warning was biased and flawed.

``We certainly don't know of any mechanism by which radiofrequency exposure would cause a cancerous effect in cells. We just don't know this might possibly occur,'' Muscat said.

Cell phones emit radiofrequency energy, a type of radiation that is a form of electromagnetic radiation, according to the National Cancer Institute. Though studies are being done to see if there is a link between it and tumors of the brain and central nervous system, there is no definitive link between the two, the institute says on its Web site.

``By all means, if a person feels compelled that they should take precautions in reducing the amount of electromagnetic radio waves through their bodies, by all means they should do so,'' said Dan Catena, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society. ``But at the same time, we have to remember there's no conclusive evidence that links cell phones to cancer, whether it's brain tumors or other forms of cancer.''

Joe Farren, a spokesman for the CTIA-The Wireless Association, a trade group for the wireless industry, said the group believes there is a risk of misinforming the public if science isn't used as the ultimate guide on the issue.

``When you look at the overwhelming majority of studies that have been peer reviewed and published in scientific journals around the world, you'll find no relationship between wireless usage and adverse health affects,'' Farren said.

Frank Barnes, who chaired the January report from the National Research Council, said Wednesday that ``the jury is out'' on how hazardous long-term cell phone use might be.

Speaking from his cell phone, the professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder said he takes no special precautions in his own phone use. And he offered no specific advice to people worried about the matter.

It's up to each individual to decide what if anything to do. If people use a cell phone instead of having a land line, ``that may very well be reasonable for them,'' he said.

Susan Juffe, a 58-year-old Pittsburgh special education teacher, heard about Herberman's cell phone advice on the radio earlier in the day.

``Now, I'm worried. It's scary,'' she said.

She says she'll think twice about allowing her 10-year-old daughter Jayne to use the cell phone.

``I don't want to get it (brain cancer) and I certainly don't want you to get it,'' she explained to her daughter.

Sara Loughran, a 24-year-old doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh, sat in a bus stop Wednesday chatting on her cell phone with her mother. She also had heard the news earlier in the day, but was not as concerned.

``I think if they gave me specific numbers and specific information and it was scary enough, I would be concerned,'' Loughran said, planning to call her mother again in a matter of minutes. ``Without specific numbers, it's too vague to get me worked up.''

Jennifer Yates reported from Pittsburgh. Science Writer Seth Borenstein reported from Washington. Reporter Ramit Plushnick-Masti contributed from Pittsburgh and Science Writer Malcolm Ritter contributed from New York.

On the Net:

Advice from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute:

www.environmentaloncology.org/node/201

Food and Drug Administration on cell phones:

www.fda.gov/cellphones/qa.html

07/23/08 21:11 © Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press

Top online, Windows exec to depart Microsoft

By JESSICA MINTZ

SEATTLE (AP) -

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said the executive in charge of its Windows and Web operations is leaving the company.

Kevin Johnson had served since 2005 as president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, which included the Windows operating system and Windows Live programs such as Web e-mail and instant messaging. The division also included online advertising, search and Microsoft's MSN sites.

Johnson's three years at the helm overlapped with the anticlimactic release of Windows Vista and, more notably, with Microsoft's recent failed bid to buy Yahoo Inc.

He also spearheaded the $6 billion acquisition of online advertising company aQuantive in 2007. Incorporating aQuantive has boosted Microsoft's Web ad revenue, but not enough to put the software maker in league with leader Google Inc.

Johnson, who joined Microsoft in 1992, will help with a transition, Microsoft said in a statement. He has taken a job with networking hardware maker Juniper Networks Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal. Neither Microsoft nor Juniper returned calls seeking comment.

Microsoft says the platforms and services division will now be split in two, with heads of the Windows and online groups reporting directly to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

The Windows/Windows Live division will be led by senior vice presidents Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte.

Microsoft said it will search for a new leader for its online services business. In the interim, senior vice presidents Satya Nadella and Brian McAndrews will remain in the lead of engineering and advertiser and publisher solutions.

Microsoft says the platforms and services division will now be split in two, with heads of the Windows and online groups reporting directly to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

The Windows/Windows Live division will be led by senior vice presidents Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte.

07/23/08 20:50 © Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press

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Hot Headlines . . . 07/23/08

Alaska House OKs gas pipeline license

By STEVE QUINN

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -

The Alaska State House of Representatives has approved a state license for a Canadian company to pursue a natural gas pipeline project that could unlock 4.5 billion cubic feet of North Slope gas reserves daily.

The House backed the plan on a 24-16 vote Tuesday. A reconsideration vote is planned Wednesday, but that's usually a formality. If approved then, the bill will go to the state Senate, which must approve or reject it before Aug. 2.

Lawmakers in Alaska's House voted to support Gov. Sarah Palin's proposal to award TransCanada Corp. an exclusive license to pursue federal certification for the 1,715-mile pipeline estimated to cost between $26 billion and $30 billion.

TransCanada Vice President Tony Palmer wasn't ready to celebrate just yet, nor would he make any predictions on how the Senate's vote will play out.

``I'm always uncertain until I see the votes,'' Palmer said. ``I had no expectations as to how the votes would go until I saw the buttons pressed.''

The license doesn't guarantee pipeline construction. It simply calls for TransCanada to embark on a costly process of pursuing a federal certificate, but also with up to $500 million in state seed money.

There's the rub, said Rep. Mike Hawker, an Anchorage Republican who spoke out against the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, or AGIA, license before casting a dissenting vote.

``We have to make it very clear is that this AGIA license is not a commitment to do anything other than process a whole lot of paper,'' Hawker said. ``There is no commitment to move a shovel full of dirt toward a pipeline project.''

Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat, backed Palin's endorsement of TransCanada with the same understanding as Hawker, but with a different outlook.

``I think this is going to put the state on a stable footing,'' Gara said. ``There is no clear path to a gas line. This is the clearest path to a gas line that protects the state's interest. That's all it is.''

Even if the Senate concurs, it will still be at least another 10 years before any market sees Arctic gas. And there is still a competing pipeline moving forward without the state's startup money.

That project is a joint venture between North Slope oil producers and gas leaseholders ConocoPhillips and BP PLC, who believed Palin's AGIA format was too restrictive.

In the end, Majority Leader Ralph Samuels said the it's not the government's role to pick a winner. The Anchorage Republican was the lone dissenting vote when the law as passed last year, but had more support this year.

``The government is ill equipped to pick a winner in the marketplace,'' Samuels said. ``We've simply blessed a winner in AGIA here.''

House Rules Chairman John Coghill, a North Pole Republican, disagreed before voting yes.

``We are not picking a winner here, because there is not gas going to market,'' Samuels said. ``What we are picking here is somebody who will work with us under certain conditions.

``It gets us lined up with a pipeline builder who not only who knows how to do it, but we get to know how they do it both in cost and timeline.''

The vote takes the state another step away from a contract unsuccessfully pushed by former Gov. Frank Murkowski.

He settled in principle with BP, Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips on fiscal terms - taxes and royalties - for producing the North Slope gas.

The deal would have frozen oil taxes for 30 years and gas taxes for up to 45 years for the three major oil companies, but it did not guarantee a pipeline would get built.

The Legislature would not vote on it because many lawmakers believed it was too much of a giveaway to the energy industry, about $10 billion over the lifetime of the deal.

This Legislature, however, acted under AGIA, a year-old law that established bid requirements for those interested in building a pipeline.

It was also a law had BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil balking and refusing to submit plan under those guidelines last at the Nov. 30, 2007 deadline.

TransCanada's was one of five applications that applied and the only one deemed compliant under the AGIA guidelines. Meanwhile BP and ConocoPhillips weighed in three months ago their a pipeline project called Denali.

And the two companies have already filed paperwork for preliminary federal permitting and $40 million worth of field work is under way.

But Denali's 12- to 15-page plan is routinely criticized as sorely lacking details compared to TransCanada's itemized offering found in thick three-ring binders.

Some lawmakers believed turning back TransCanada would have left Alaska only with the Denali plan and would set the state back several years.

``I don't want to go back to where I was with the oil companies completely running the show,'' said Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican.

``I do not wish to go return to a one-option scenario that has been sold to us with a power-point presentation,'' he said. ``If we turn this down that would be a serious, serious mistake.''

Washington Mutual posts 2Q loss of $3.3 billion

BY SARA LEPRO

NEW YORK (AP) -

Washington Mutual, the Seattle-based bank known for its buoyant advertising slogan, ``Whoo hoo!,'' had little to cheer about as it reported a staggering $3 billion loss - the biggest quarterly loss in its history.

The nation's largest savings and loan increased its loss reserves to more than $8 billion to cover souring loans in its mortgage portfolio.

The bank also said Tuesday it will be cutting up to $1 billion in expenses by the end of 2009

For the April to June period, WaMu reported a loss of $3.33 billion, or $6.58 per share, compared with a profit of $830 million, or 92 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Results include a previously disclosed, one-time reduction of $3.24 per share related to the company's $7.2 billion capital raise in April. Excluding the reduction, the loss per share was $3.34.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected a loss of $1.05 per share. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time, unusual charges.

WaMu's total loan-loss reserves increased by $3.74 billion to $8.46 billion, as it set aside a total of $5.91 billion during the quarter to cover bad loans. The increase in loan-loss provision reflects falling home prices, increased delinquencies, reduced availability of credit and the weakening economy, the bank said.

Total net charge-offs, or loans written off as unpaid, increased to $2.17 billion, while nonperforming assets grew to 3.62 percent of total assets as of June 30, from 2.87 percent at the end of the first quarter.

The company now expects losses in its residential mortgage portfolio to total $19 billion, the high end of previous guidance, and said cumulative 2008 will be the peak year for provisioning.

In response to worsening credit trends, WaMu shortened the time used to evaluate default frequencies in its prime mortgage portfolio to a one-year period from a three-year period, which is reflected in the increased provision.

WaMu said the fastest rising delinquencies were among its ``option'' adjustable rate mortgage loans. The bank stopped originating the negative amortizing loans, also called option ARM loans, in June. Option ARM loans offer very low introductory payments and let borrowers defer some interest payments until later years.

Early stage delinquencies for the subprime and home equity portfolios, however, showed signs of stabilization, the bank said.

Net interest income, or income generated from loans and deposits, rose 13 percent to $2.3 billion from $2.03 billion. Noninterest income, or income generated from fees and other charges, dropped 68 percent to $561 million from $1.76 billion in the same quarter last year, due in part to the company's exit from wholesale lending and the closing of its home loan centers.

During the quarter, WaMu announced plans to exit the wholesale lending business and close all remaining standalone home loan centers, resulting in 3,000 job losses. The bank said it would instead focus its mortgage-originating efforts in its retail bank branches and Web site, and by expanding its call center operations. WaMu announced an additional 1,200 job cuts in June.

The bank earlier this year also slashed its quarterly dividend to 1 cent from 15 cents, which will result in savings of about $490 million a year.

In total, WaMu expects these and other cost-cutting initiatives to result in annualized cost savings of $1 billion by the end of 2009. The company will record total restructuring costs of about $450 million, $207 million of which was recorded in the second quarter.

Steve Rotella, president and chief operating officer, said some of the cost-cutting actions initiated during the quarter will play out over the course of the year and into 2009. Rotella said WaMu continues to evaluate ways to increase productivity, but he would not comment on whether that includes additional jobs cuts.

WaMu ended the quarter with more than $40 billion of readily available liquidity, and its capital ratio increased to 7.79 percent, up from 6.40 percent in the first quarter.

As a result, WaMu said it has sufficient capital to ride out the remainder of the credit crunch and does not anticipate raising additional capital going forward.

WaMu became one of the first retail banks to seek outside cash in the wake of the credit crisis when it agreed to sell equity securities to an investment fund managed by TPG Capital and to other investors this spring, raising $7.2 billion in fresh capital.

``We think they are taking the right action in strengthening operations and reducing costs and supporting the franchise,'' said Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for TPG. ``The losses they reported today were in line with what TPG expected when it did its underwriting for the investment.''

Late Tuesday, Moody's Investors Service put WaMu's senior unsecured rating of ``Baa3'' on review for possible downgrade. A rating of ``Baa3'' is one notch above junk status.

``Though liquidity remains sufficient, WaMu experienced some declines in its commercial and brokered institutional deposit balances in the second quarter of 2008,'' Moody's said. ``This reduced financial flexibility makes it more difficult for the company to successfully navigate through unanticipated events.''

Stephanie Hall, senior analyst at Gradient Analytics, viewed the reserve build-up as a positive. ``The firm has been extremely slow in provisioning for loan losses,'' she said, adding that she expects the company to report additional provisions in the third and fourth quarters, but likely smaller than those in the first half.

WaMu shares surged in afternoon trading ahead of the earnings report, rising 34 cents, or 6.2 percent, to close at $5.82. Its shares fell in aftermarket trading, shedding 24 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $5.58. They are down about 57 percent for the year

Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press

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