NEW YORK ? Exxon Mobil Corp.'s fourth-quarter profit rose 2 percent as higher oil prices made up for a drop in production.
Benchmark crude prices rose 10.3 percent in the final three months of 2011.
That helped Exxon post net income of $9.4 billion, or $1.97 per share, in the fourth quarter, matching Wall Street expectations. It made $9.25 billion, or $1.85 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 15.6 percent to $121.6 billion in the latest quarter.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company has seen production decline even after spending a record $36.8 billion last year in search of new sources of crude and natural gas.
Exploration projects can take years to yield new production. And some of Exxon's biggest investments recently have been in U.S. natural gas fields, which so far haven't paid off because gas prices have dropped to their lowest level in a decade. Oil and gas production fell 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the same period last year.
For the full year, Exxon's net income rose 34.8 percent while revenue rose 26.9 percent.
Last week, Chevron Corp. said profits slipped 3.2 percent. ConocoPhillips reported a 66-percent increase in quarterly earnings, though much of that came from the sale of a pipeline and other assets. Royal Dutch Shell expects to report its financial results later this week.
Exxon shares fell by 55 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $84.94 in premarket trading.
? ?I predict a sell out of this gaming technology book within hours of store openings,? said Tricia Valerie, when asked about Tepler Atwill?s recent new book
?This is the biggest story of my career,? said Wetzstein Bonello, a reporter for ?The Globe?, a state wide newspaper with the best circulation rates, ?I?m getting calls from gaming technology industry executives, investors, and general employees all asking about what is going on, and if they can provide information for the news agency. Of course, they want their names mentioned so that a little publicity is given to their particular gaming technology company, but it does save me from hunting these people down and taking interviews.? Other reporters breaking news stated that finding interviewees was no trouble at all, since the need for publicity in the industry is very high. Cobo Kostick Corp, which is based down town, also released plans to expand its building into the old Wiren Straight Mercantile Shop, which has been vacant for about a year now. Said CIO Ferranti Mancusi, ?The recent news in the gaming technology industry means big things for us, including the need to expand our physical building and operations. We?ll be able to hire an additional, and much needed, 100 new employees who will help push our efforts forward. This is going to be great!? Reaction from the market regarding the news in the gaming technology sector was positive overall. Stock from key companies, such as Brzezinski Miltner Corp., Steffanie Preisach and Partners, and Danna Yochum LLC all saw dramatic increases in share value. Each of these companies uses important gaming technology technology in its general operations, and the news of advancements has spurned more venture capitalists to invest and make some quick cash. ?This is a huge opportunity for everyone,? said Dabney Canute, a day trader at the Polo Bring INC firm, which also manages a series of hedge funds in the gaming technology sector. ?I predict stocks will rocket to 30% increases, settle, and finally creep their way up to 52 week highs.? Investors won?t be the only ones reaping a profit from these latest developments. The research and development company Letty Mazon INC, which did most of the work on creating this new technology, will get a huge payoff as it auctions its products off to gaming technology industry heavy weights. Patrina Welty, President of Letty Mazon INC, had this to say: ?To keep things fair for all parties, we?re going to begin a general auction for our new products within 30 days. Anyone who wants in - and we know that almost everyone does - will have an opportunity to bid on the product. First dibs go to the top 3 companies, who will enjoy a 90 period free of competition from other gaming technology entities. Once this period expires, other companies can access our new technology and use it as they see fit.? Reporters were scurying around to every gaming technology industry exec they could find to get the scoop on the lastest developments. Mailander Lundvall, who writes for economics publication ?The Stanford Bramblett Journal? was busy waiting for an exclusive talk with COO Rosenwinkel Eisbach of the Macpherson Gearin and Sons company. Macpherson Gearin, who has been the most outspoken and technology savvy gaming technology industry exec, plans a vast period of ramping up company operations, hiring, and investment. Other reporters also learned of plans to acquire another gaming technology related out-of-state company, alhtough this tip came from an anonymous source who did not wish to face charges of insider trading. In addition, there was speculation that increased trade in the gaming technology sector would create a larger market in the USA, and keep dollars within the country. Reporter Karin Cutrona was researching this angle, and believes that the recent news means more money for USA based gaming technology companies and their subsidiaries. Said Karin Cutrona, ?For the past five years, there has been a noticable trade imbalance between the USA and other nations working within the gaming technology market, particularly in operations and human capital. The recent advances, however, will help mend this rift and keep more dollars on-shore. I expect to see demand for labor increase in the long run, with additional long run profits for strong gaming technology USA companies that move forward.? Although the gaming technology news was received well by most, their was some concern at the local 359 labor union. Many organized labor groups become weary with new technological advances, since this tends to spell the end for human labor, especially in the gaming technology market. ?Our fingers are crossed that corporate execs will honor all current contracts and not fire anyone,? said Union leader Hutchin Stong, ?and if all contracts are solid, we?re willing to negotiate with management at an appropriate time in the future to make sure our interests are being satisfied.? The union has been apart of the gaming technology sector for some fifteen years, and commands strong loyalty and respect from its members. Cornelia Blome, a wire reporter, was pleased to announce the recent news in the gaming technology industry. ?I?m pleased to report that technological advances by Libutti Saraiva INC have created a much higher degree of efficieny in operations. This means big profits for most gaming technology related companies and their subsidiaries? Libutti Saraiva continued with a complete analysis, including some raw data that was mind blowing: ?Output of gaming technology related products will nearly double, overhead will decrease by 1/3, and employee salaries will increase by 15%.?
?Posted on: Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12:07 am ?Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
Cancer sequencing initiative discovers mutations tied to aggressive childhood brain tumorsPublic release date: 29-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Summer Freeman summer.freeman@stjude.org 901-595-3061 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project provides first evidence linking cancer to mutations in genes involved in DNA organization
Researchers studying a rare, lethal childhood tumor of the brainstem discovered that nearly 80 percent of the tumors have mutations in genes not previously tied to cancer. Early evidence suggests the alterations play a unique role in other aggressive pediatric brain tumors as well.
The findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) offer important insight into a poorly understood tumor that kills more than 90 percent of patients within two years. The tumor, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is found almost exclusively in children and accounts for 10 to 15 percent of pediatric tumors of the brain and central nervous system.
"We are hopeful that identifying these mutations will lead us to new selective therapeutic targets, which are particularly important since this tumor cannot be treated surgically and still lacks effective therapies," said Suzanne Baker, Ph.D., co-leader of the St. Jude Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program and a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. She is a corresponding author of the study published in the January 29 online edition of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
DIPG is an extremely invasive tumor that occurs in the brainstem, which is at the base of the skull and controls such vital functions as breathing and heart rate. DIPG cannot be cured by surgery and is accurately diagnosed by non-invasive imaging. As a result, DIPG is rarely biopsied in the U.S. and little is known about it.
Cancer occurs when normal gene activity is disrupted, allowing for the unchecked cell growth and spread that makes cancer so lethal. In this study, investigators found 78 percent of the DIPG tumors had alterations in one of two genes that carry instructions for making proteins that play similar roles in packaging DNA inside cells. Both belong to the histone H3 family of proteins. DNA must be wrapped around histones so that it is compact enough to fit into the nucleus. The packaging of DNA by histones influences which genes are switched on or off, as well as the repair of mutations in DNA and the stability of DNA. Disruption of any of these processes can contribute to cancer.
Researchers said that the mutations seem unique to aggressive childhood brain tumors.
"It is amazing to see that this particular tumor type appears to be characterized by a molecular 'smoking gun' and that these mutations are unique to fast-growing pediatric cancers in the brain," said Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., director of The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and one of the study's corresponding authors. "This is exactly the type of result one hopes to find when studying the genomes of cancer patients."
The results are the latest from the PCGP, an ambitious three-year effort to sequence the complete normal and cancer genomes of 600 children with some of the most poorly understood and aggressive pediatric cancers. The human genome includes the complete set of instructions needed to assemble and sustain human life. The goal is to identify differences that explain why cancer develops, spreads and kills. Researchers believe the findings will provide the foundation for new tools to diagnose, treat or prevent the disease.
For this study, researchers sequenced the complete normal and cancer genomes of seven patients with DIPG. "The mutations were found at such high frequency in the cancer genomes of those seven patients that we immediately checked for the same alterations in a larger group of DIPGs," Baker said. When researchers sequenced all 16 of the related genes that make closely related variants of histone H3 proteins in an additional 43 DIPGs, they found many of the tumors contained the same mistakes in only two of these genes.
Of the 50 DIPG tumors included in this study, 60 percent had a single alteration in the makeup of the H3F3A gene. When the mutated gene was translated into a protein, the point mutation led to the substitution of methionine for lysine as the 27th amino acid in this variant of histone H3 protein. Another 18 percent of the DIPG patients carried the same mistake in a different gene, HIST1H3B.
Researchers are now working to understand how mutations in H3F3A and HIST1H3B impact cell function and contribute to cancer. Earlier research provides some clues. The lysine that is mutated is normally targeted by enzymes that attach other molecules to histone H3, influencing how it interacts with other proteins that regulate gene expression, Baker said. Mutations in the enzymes that target histone H3 have been identified in other cancers, but this is the first report showing a specific alteration of histones in cancer.
H3F3A and HIST1H3B were also mutated in other aggressive childhood brain tumors, glioblastoma, that develop outside the brain stem. Of 36 such tumors included in this study, 36 percent carried one of three distinct point mutations in the genes. The alterations included another single change in the makeup of H3F3A not found in DIPGs.
The histone H3 genes, however, were not mutated in any of the 252 other childhood tumors researchers checked for this study. The list included the brain tumors known as low-grade gliomas, medulloblastomas and ependymomas plus other cancers outside the brain and nervous system. The H3 changes have not been reported in any other cancers, including adult glioblastoma. "This suggests these particular mutations give a very important selective advantage, particularly in the developing brainstem and to a lesser degree in the developing brain, which leads to a terribly aggressive brain tumor in children, but not in adults," Baker said.
"This discovery would not have been possible without the unbiased approach taken by the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project," Baker said. "The mutations had not been reported in any other tumor, so we would not have searched for them in DIPGs. Yet the alterations clearly play an important role in generating this particular tumor."
###
The study's first authors are Gang Wu, Alberto Broniscer and Troy McEachron, all of St. Jude. The study's other corresponding authors are Jinghui Zhang and James Downing, both of St. Jude. The other study authors are Charles Lu, Li Ding and Elaine Mardis, all of Washington University; and Barbara Paugh, Jared Becksfort, Chunxu Qu, Robert Huether, Matthew Parker, Junyuan Zhang, Amar Gajjar, Michael Dyer, Charles Mullighan, Richard Gilbertson and David Ellison, all of St. Jude.
The research was funded in part by the PCGP, including Kay Jewelers, a lead project sponsor; the National Institutes of Health, the Sydney Schlobohm Chair of Research from the National Brain Tumor Society; the Cure Starts Now Foundation, Smile for Sophie Forever Foundation, Tyler's Treehouse Foundation, Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, the Noyes Brain Tumor Foundation and ALSAC.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more has been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by visiting http://www.stjude.org or following us on http://www.facebook.com/stjude and Twitter@StJudeResearch.
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Cancer sequencing initiative discovers mutations tied to aggressive childhood brain tumorsPublic release date: 29-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Summer Freeman summer.freeman@stjude.org 901-595-3061 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project provides first evidence linking cancer to mutations in genes involved in DNA organization
Researchers studying a rare, lethal childhood tumor of the brainstem discovered that nearly 80 percent of the tumors have mutations in genes not previously tied to cancer. Early evidence suggests the alterations play a unique role in other aggressive pediatric brain tumors as well.
The findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) offer important insight into a poorly understood tumor that kills more than 90 percent of patients within two years. The tumor, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is found almost exclusively in children and accounts for 10 to 15 percent of pediatric tumors of the brain and central nervous system.
"We are hopeful that identifying these mutations will lead us to new selective therapeutic targets, which are particularly important since this tumor cannot be treated surgically and still lacks effective therapies," said Suzanne Baker, Ph.D., co-leader of the St. Jude Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program and a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. She is a corresponding author of the study published in the January 29 online edition of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
DIPG is an extremely invasive tumor that occurs in the brainstem, which is at the base of the skull and controls such vital functions as breathing and heart rate. DIPG cannot be cured by surgery and is accurately diagnosed by non-invasive imaging. As a result, DIPG is rarely biopsied in the U.S. and little is known about it.
Cancer occurs when normal gene activity is disrupted, allowing for the unchecked cell growth and spread that makes cancer so lethal. In this study, investigators found 78 percent of the DIPG tumors had alterations in one of two genes that carry instructions for making proteins that play similar roles in packaging DNA inside cells. Both belong to the histone H3 family of proteins. DNA must be wrapped around histones so that it is compact enough to fit into the nucleus. The packaging of DNA by histones influences which genes are switched on or off, as well as the repair of mutations in DNA and the stability of DNA. Disruption of any of these processes can contribute to cancer.
Researchers said that the mutations seem unique to aggressive childhood brain tumors.
"It is amazing to see that this particular tumor type appears to be characterized by a molecular 'smoking gun' and that these mutations are unique to fast-growing pediatric cancers in the brain," said Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., director of The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and one of the study's corresponding authors. "This is exactly the type of result one hopes to find when studying the genomes of cancer patients."
The results are the latest from the PCGP, an ambitious three-year effort to sequence the complete normal and cancer genomes of 600 children with some of the most poorly understood and aggressive pediatric cancers. The human genome includes the complete set of instructions needed to assemble and sustain human life. The goal is to identify differences that explain why cancer develops, spreads and kills. Researchers believe the findings will provide the foundation for new tools to diagnose, treat or prevent the disease.
For this study, researchers sequenced the complete normal and cancer genomes of seven patients with DIPG. "The mutations were found at such high frequency in the cancer genomes of those seven patients that we immediately checked for the same alterations in a larger group of DIPGs," Baker said. When researchers sequenced all 16 of the related genes that make closely related variants of histone H3 proteins in an additional 43 DIPGs, they found many of the tumors contained the same mistakes in only two of these genes.
Of the 50 DIPG tumors included in this study, 60 percent had a single alteration in the makeup of the H3F3A gene. When the mutated gene was translated into a protein, the point mutation led to the substitution of methionine for lysine as the 27th amino acid in this variant of histone H3 protein. Another 18 percent of the DIPG patients carried the same mistake in a different gene, HIST1H3B.
Researchers are now working to understand how mutations in H3F3A and HIST1H3B impact cell function and contribute to cancer. Earlier research provides some clues. The lysine that is mutated is normally targeted by enzymes that attach other molecules to histone H3, influencing how it interacts with other proteins that regulate gene expression, Baker said. Mutations in the enzymes that target histone H3 have been identified in other cancers, but this is the first report showing a specific alteration of histones in cancer.
H3F3A and HIST1H3B were also mutated in other aggressive childhood brain tumors, glioblastoma, that develop outside the brain stem. Of 36 such tumors included in this study, 36 percent carried one of three distinct point mutations in the genes. The alterations included another single change in the makeup of H3F3A not found in DIPGs.
The histone H3 genes, however, were not mutated in any of the 252 other childhood tumors researchers checked for this study. The list included the brain tumors known as low-grade gliomas, medulloblastomas and ependymomas plus other cancers outside the brain and nervous system. The H3 changes have not been reported in any other cancers, including adult glioblastoma. "This suggests these particular mutations give a very important selective advantage, particularly in the developing brainstem and to a lesser degree in the developing brain, which leads to a terribly aggressive brain tumor in children, but not in adults," Baker said.
"This discovery would not have been possible without the unbiased approach taken by the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project," Baker said. "The mutations had not been reported in any other tumor, so we would not have searched for them in DIPGs. Yet the alterations clearly play an important role in generating this particular tumor."
###
The study's first authors are Gang Wu, Alberto Broniscer and Troy McEachron, all of St. Jude. The study's other corresponding authors are Jinghui Zhang and James Downing, both of St. Jude. The other study authors are Charles Lu, Li Ding and Elaine Mardis, all of Washington University; and Barbara Paugh, Jared Becksfort, Chunxu Qu, Robert Huether, Matthew Parker, Junyuan Zhang, Amar Gajjar, Michael Dyer, Charles Mullighan, Richard Gilbertson and David Ellison, all of St. Jude.
The research was funded in part by the PCGP, including Kay Jewelers, a lead project sponsor; the National Institutes of Health, the Sydney Schlobohm Chair of Research from the National Brain Tumor Society; the Cure Starts Now Foundation, Smile for Sophie Forever Foundation, Tyler's Treehouse Foundation, Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, the Noyes Brain Tumor Foundation and ALSAC.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more has been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by visiting http://www.stjude.org or following us on http://www.facebook.com/stjude and Twitter@StJudeResearch.
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 file photo, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Sanaa, Yemen. Yemen's President's office says Yemeni leader Saleh has arrived in London en route to the U.S. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hamoud, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 file photo, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Sanaa, Yemen. Yemen's President's office says Yemeni leader Saleh has arrived in London en route to the U.S. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hamoud, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 file image made from video, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks on Yemen State Television. Yemen's President's office says Yemeni leader Saleh has arrived in London on route to the US. (AP Photo/Yemen State TV, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The embattled president of Yemen arrived Saturday in the United States for medical treatment for burns he suffered during an assassination attempt in June.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived at an unspecified location in the United States, according to the country's foreign press office. His journey had taken him from Oman, through London.
The one-line Yemeni statement said Saleh was in the U.S. for a "short-term private medical visit." His staff has said he is in the United States to be treated for injuries suffered during the assassination attempt. He was burned over much of his body and had shards of wood embedded into his chest by the explosion that ripped through his palace mosque as he prayed.
After months of unrest, Saleh agreed in November to end his 33-year-rule of the Arabian state.
His trip to the U.S. comes as Yemen, a key counterterrorism partner, prepares for an election on Feb. 21 to select his successor.
Human Rights Watch, which says it has documented the deaths of hundreds of anti-government protesters in confrontations with Saleh's security forces, was outraged by the Yemeni president's travel to the U.S. for medical treatment.
"It's appalling that President Saleh arrives here for first-rate medical treatment while hundreds of Yemeni victims, assaulted by his security forces have neither proper medical care nor justice for the crimes they've suffered," Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said in an emailed statement. "The Obama administration should insist those responsible for atrocities in Yemen be brought to the dock."
Maneuvering and manipulation had been reliable tactics for Saleh throughout his rule over mountainous, semi-desert Yemen, mired in poverty and divided among powerful tribes and political factions. But his room to maneuver steadily narrowed when the Arab Spring revolts swept into Yemen last year. From late January 2011, hundreds of thousands of Yemeni marched in the streets nearly every day, despite crackdowns. After a particularly bloody shooting of protesters in Sanaa, many ruling party members, lawmakers, Cabinet ministers and, most importantly, powerful military generals and tribal leaders abandoned him, siding with the opposition.
It is unclear how long Saleh intends to remain in the U.S. In a speech before he left Yemen for Oman a week ago, he promised to return home before the election, but the U.S. and its allies have pressured Saleh to leave Yemen for good.
American officials don't wish him to settle in the U.S., however, over concerns that it would be seen as harboring an autocratic leader accused by many of his countrymen of using violence to remain in power. Opponents have accused him of trying to interfere in Yemen's new unity government, even after he supposedly relinquished authority two months ago. He spent three months previously in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, only to return to Yemen, prompting more protests.
Saleh's travel plans in the United States have not been disclosed for security reasons. It wasn't clear where he intended to stay while in the country, or where he would be receiving medical care.
He had been traveling on a chartered Emirates plane with a private doctor, several armed guards and relatives, according to an official in the Yemeni president's office who spokes with the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details.
The Obama administration agreed last week to allow Saleh to come to the U.S. temporarily for the medical treatment, a move aimed at easing the political transition in Yemen.
Saleh initially requested a U.S. visa in December, putting the Obama administration in the awkward position of either having to bar a friendly president from U.S. soil or risking appearing to harbor an autocrat with blood on his hands.
U.S. officials believe Saleh's exit from Yemen could lower the risk of disruptions in the lead-up to presidential elections there.
The Yemeni embassy in Washington has said Saleh planned to return home in February to attend a swearing-in ceremony for the country's newly elected president.
___
AP correspondent Jill Lawless in London and Ahmed Al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, contributed to this report.
Run! Spartacus and his rebels are on the loose! In the Season 2 premiere of Spartacus: Vengeance, we see that no Roman is safe ? not even those spending their hard-earned coin at a brothel!
It's war between Spartacus' unwashed gang and the Romans, mainly Gaius Claudius Glaber and new pup Seppius, whom we foresee will be equally annoying and entertaining. Also, what's with the Folgers-ad-worthy banter and chemistry between him and his sister Seppia? Meanwhile, after the rebels go on a bordello killing spree, Crixus learns that his love Naevia is being sold from dominus to dominus as a sex slave. We also see Oenomaus running around incognito in a hooded robe, Lucretia has survived her abdomen wound but isn't quite sane, and Glaber is forcing his wife Ilythia to hang out in Capua while he seeks to defeat Spartacus.
Spartacus: What to expect in Season 2 (beyond the blood and bodies)
Let's check out this week's "Ew!" moments:
The Blood - Body count*: innumerable. In the opening battle, it was Agron brutally bashing one of the Roman's heads into a stone repeatedly that had us covering our eyes (and ears!). Later, Oenomaus makes short work with some men who attack him in an alley ? breaking one assailant's arm so that the bone sticks through the skin and then splitting another guy's abdomen from bottom to top, much as one would do with a human-sized haggis. There's plenty of naked bodies getting sliced and chopped up in the brothel massacre, but two rather disturbing highlights include one large Roman voyeur getting his throat impaled from behind and then Crixus using a ruthless interrogation tactic: wiggling his finger around in the slaver Trebius' fresh sword wound. Ouch!
The Bodies - Total scenes: 2.5. There's minor nudity scattered throughout the episode, and Ilythia gets hot and bothered flashing back to her masked tryst with Spartacus, while in reality, Spartacus is having unmasked relations with Mira. But really, this episode is all about the unique tour of the whorehouse, in which we see ladies and gents alike being manhandled and abused. Although there's plenty of sex, it's not really sexy considering these slaves can't fight back and Spartacus' men are splashing blood and entrails everywhere.
Liam McIntyre takes over as Spartacus' rebel with a cause
Best Line of the Week: From one of Spartacus' men: "You had me at whores."
*It should be noted that we may have to dispense with the body count this season now that it's open season on Romans and freed slaves alike. "I tried to [keep track] this season," series star Liam McIntyre told TVGuide.com in early January, "but because they're not in an arena where it's nice and tidy one-on-one, it's just ridiculously massive."
What did you think of the premiere? How do you like McIntyre as the new Spartacus? Which scenes disturbed you the most?
NFL Football Discussion Thread: SBXLVI; SBXLII rematch
Does a win in SB46 cement Eli in the HOF?
?
01-23-2012, 01:17 AM
?
#2
Custom User Title
?
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 23,867
vCash: 735
Go Giants!
?
01-23-2012, 01:18 AM
?
#3
Registered User
?
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Manalapan, NJ
Posts: 1,683
vCash: 500
Quote:
Does a win in SB46 cement Eli in the HOF?
I think so.
And minor nitpick, 42 is XLII, not XVII.
?
01-23-2012, 01:19 AM
?
#4
Zachy Poo
?
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Blairstown
Posts: 10,875
vCash: 500
Quote:
I think so.
And minor nitpick, 42 is XLII, not XVII.
I knew that. Blaming it on the victory Jack and Cokes
?
01-23-2012, 01:21 AM
?
#5
Custom User Title
?
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 23,867
vCash: 735
?
01-23-2012, 01:22 AM
?
#6
Ecrasez l'infame!
?
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 74,091
vCash: 500
Quote:
Does a win in SB46 cement Eli in the HOF?
Certainly possible, especially if he continues on to have several more good regular seasons.
?
01-23-2012, 01:23 AM
?
#7
Zachy Poo
?
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Blairstown
Posts: 10,875
vCash: 500
It's funny, before the season started I was saying Cruz was going to pass Manningham on the depth chart and be a solid #2. He just needed to learn the playbook better and get some chemistry with Eli. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he would do this though.
?
01-23-2012, 01:24 AM
?
#8
Ecrasez l'infame!
?
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 74,091
vCash: 500
Nicks and Cruz have been very dependable. They make the big gain circus catch plays, but they also make the short yardage, drive extending third down catches, and that's important.
?
01-23-2012, 01:28 AM
?
#9
Registered User
?
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Manalapan, NJ
Posts: 1,683
vCash: 500
Idea for a Super Bowl drinking game: One shot for every time Michaels or Collinsworth says "elite". One shot for every time Michaels or Collinsworth mentions Super Bowl XLII.
We'd all be dead by the five minute mark of the first quarter.
?
01-23-2012, 01:44 AM
?
#10
Registered User
?
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,230
vCash: 500
GMEN!
Hopefully Eli becomes the last Manning to ever win a game in Indy
Ready for same Brady beatdown v2.0. Neither team is better than they were in 2007 but Giants D-line is pretty close to edging out 07's IMO. Strahan, Tuck, Osi vs. Tuck, Osi, JPP?
It worked four years ago and its gonna work again!!
2 in 4! LETS GO!
?
01-23-2012, 02:25 AM
?
#11
Sean Waivery
?
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Morristown, NJ
Posts: 19,234
vCash: 500
For the 30 losers that aren't headed to the Super Bowl, what are some things on your offseason wish lists for your teams? Broncos In the draft, we need to add a penetrating interior lineman. Guys like Still from Penn State and Worthy from Michigan State should be on the board at pick #25. We also need a talented safety valve at tight end. Dwayne Allen from Clemson is arguably the best TE in this class, and should be there at 25 as well. Eddie Konz should be a dominant center in this league for years to come, and although we just recently drafted JD Walton, if you have the opportunity to significantly improve a position, you go for it. A guy like Kendall Wright at WR, David Wilson at RB, or Josh Norman at CB (fast riser at the Shrine Bowl) would be great second round picks.
As far as free agency, we need to try to add a backup QB that will challenge Tebow for playing time and therefore push him to get better. Not that Tebow won't try to improve, because he obviously will, but we need a viable option behind him in case he flops. Brady Quinn was not going to cut it this year. I'd like to see us add a veteran middle linebacker that can be a difference maker. Lofton will probably resign in Atlanta, but a guy that I'm banking we'll pursue is Dan Connor from Carolina. Fox drafted him, after all, and when Beason went down this year, he played very well. We could really use a veteran CB like Terrell Thomas (might want more money than the Giants are willing to give after the ACL injury), Brandon Carr, or Tracy Porter (nagged by injuries and fell victim to the emergence of Patrick Robinson). A dominant DE to play opposite Dumervil is probably a luxury at this point, given our other more gaping needs. Avril would be awesome, but he's in a great situation on that emerging D-line in Detroit and will probably re-up. If they don't see a DT prospect they like in the draft, then Jason Jones would be a terrific option. Probably the best available interior pass rusher this offseason. A one-cut running back like Ryan Grant or Michael Bush, along with McGahee, would give Fox the physical running game he's looking for.
The wish list is long, and we need to fill a lot of holes to compete. But a lot of these options are realistic, and I'm hoping Elway can have another solid draft and put together some quality free agents in this, his first normal offseason.
?
01-23-2012, 02:35 AM
?
#12
Win for Larsson
?
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Middletown, NJ
Posts: 9,811
vCash: 500
Colts - draft Luck, re-sign Wayne, replace every defensive player not named Freeney, Mathis, Bethea, and Angerer.
?
01-23-2012, 02:38 AM
?
#13
KOVY NEEDS LEMAIRE!!
?
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,961
vCash: 500
PATS/GIANTS SuperBowl, huh?
SOMEBODY SHOOT ME.
This is an absolute NIGHTMARE for me as a Jets fan.
?
01-23-2012, 02:44 AM
?
#14
Sean Waivery
?
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Morristown, NJ
Posts: 19,234
vCash: 500
Quote:
This is an absolute NIGHTMARE for me as a Jets fan.
Rex Ryan Nightmare Bowl II
?
01-23-2012, 03:20 AM
?
#15
KOVY NEEDS LEMAIRE!!
?
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,961
vCash: 500
?
01-23-2012, 03:53 AM
?
#16
Sean Waivery
?
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Morristown, NJ
Posts: 19,234
vCash: 500
I really, really want the Broncos to draft Russell Wilson. I don't care how short he is.
?
01-23-2012, 06:11 AM
?
#17
Registered User
?
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 2,940
vCash: 500
Awesome game. What a classic.
?
01-23-2012, 06:52 AM
?
#18
Volchamania
?
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Long Island
Posts: 18,084
vCash: 50
Falcons fan but I'll root for the Giants. I don't catch any **** in from Gmen fans so I don't mind them.
?
01-23-2012, 07:47 AM
?
#19
Zachy Poo
?
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Blairstown
Posts: 10,875
vCash: 500
ESPN isn't even showing the Bradshaw "fumble". So much for it being a controversy this week.
?
01-23-2012, 08:18 AM
?
#20
Registered User
?
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 2,940
vCash: 500
Quote:
ESPN isn't even showing the Bradshaw "fumble". So much for it being a controversy this week.
I wasn't in here to see the reaction but I thought the forward progress ruling was accurate. Veron Davis did seem to step out of bounds well before the endzone for his 73 yard TD catch though.
?
01-23-2012, 08:20 AM
?
#21
Zachy Poo
?
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Blairstown
Posts: 10,875
vCash: 500
I thought Davis stepped out too but there is no definite shot of it so I can't complain of the call
?
01-23-2012, 08:29 AM
?
#22
Registered User
?
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 2,940
vCash: 500
The ball slightly touching the return man call was quite amazing though. I swore the refs were going to stay with the call on the field because even with the replays it was so close. Between that and the fumble in OT that return man should be on suicide watch. Poor guy, I hope he doesn't let it bother him long.
?
01-23-2012, 08:30 AM
?
#23
Hello Hockey Season!
?
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: NJ
Posts: 22,712
vCash: 500
I'm a Jets fan and I root for the Giants every game, except when they play the Jets (every 4 years).
I'm loving this right now. And as far as Rex goes..>SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE YOU BIG FAT PIG!! I'm so tired of him running his mouth...
?
01-23-2012, 08:34 AM
?
#24
Registered User
?
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 30,198
vCash: 500
Krinkle, I like you dude, but you have to give it a rest. If the MVP was a "true value of a player to a team award", since Peyton Manning can't get it for being hurt (which honestly he should because holy crap is that team putrid without him), Eli Manning is the true MVP of the NFL this season.
This is his year. 5856 yards, 37 TDs - 17 INT. on a team that has a line that has shown up probably 1/3rd of the time, and can't run the ball to save their lives.
BG's post isn't even worth a comment. Beat a 15-1 team on the road, handily, obviously they had nothing to do with it. They're in the Super Bowl, and if he got his knee blown out in preseason they'd be lucky to be a 4 or 5 win team.
That being said, the 49ers D was pretty awesome today (see, BG, I give credit to the other team instead of saying the Giants line was the cause of the problem), and that was a sucky way for them to go out. I think we may have won eventually without it, barring a disasterous turnover, because Smith had a big time case of the yips from the end of the 4th on, but still...
?Posted on: Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12:07 am 
?Uncategorized. ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 29-Jan-2012
Share ] 
?
