To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee is back in court.
Only weeks ago, the 87-year-old writer settled a dispute with her former agent over an alleged "scheme to dupe" her into assigning the valuable copyright to her book. Now, she's alleging that a museum in her hometown of Monroe County, Ala., is exploiting her trademark and personality rights.
The lawsuit filed in Alabama federal court targets the Monroe County Heritage Museum.
According to the complaint, "The town’s desire to capitalize upon the fame of To Kill a Mockingbird is unmistakable: Monroeville’s town logo features an image of a mockingbird and the cupola of the Old County Courthouse, which was the setting for the dramatic trial in To Kill a Mockingbird."
The museum is reported to have generated more than $500,000 in revenue in 2011, and Lee objects to claims made in IRS documents that its mission is "historical."
"Its actual work does not touch upon history," says the lawsuit. "Rather, its primary mission is to trade upon the fictional story, settings and characters that Harper Lee created in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Harper Lee's own renown as one of the nation's most celebrated authors."
It's not often that a celebrity picks a legal war over a hometown institution that aims to profit on the back of a local icon. "Historical facts belong to the world," notes the lawsuit, "but fiction and trademarks are protected by law."
In Lee's 1960 book, the small-town lawyer character Atticus Finch defends an African-American man accused of rape. Among the alleged unauthorized uses of her trademark is the way the museum is advertising its venue: "Restored to its 1930s appearance, our courtroom is the model for Harper Lee’s fictional courtroom settings in To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s now one of the most recognized courtrooms in America because of the popular film version of the book.”
The museum (website: tokillamockingbird.com) is said to be selling aprons, T-shirts, fleece vests, onesies, hand towels, soaps, wine bags, magnets, glassware, bookmarks, beverage huggers and more.
Lee stops short of saying she's selling any of these commercial items herself. But she leaves open the possibility. According to the complaint (read in full here), "It was likely that, when Defendant began its use of the words, terms and name 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Harper Lee,' long after Plaintiff’s marks and names had become famous, that the Plaintiff was already likely to enter those fields."
The author has attempted trademark registrations on To Kill a Mockingbird, and has been opposed by the Monroe County Heritage Museum. Lee says the attempts to cancel her trademark have been made in "bad faith" and goes so far as to claim that "Defendant knowingly withheld material information from the [Trademark Trials and Appeals] Board that it had made material statements to Plaintiff and to third parties that are inconsistent with the Defendant’s claim of senior rights in the mark."
Lee also accuses the museum and its attorney of lying to the media. After a Reuters article appeared about the fight at the trademark office, the museum's lawyer is alleged to have pushed for a correction to make clear it was not refusing to share profits with Lee.
"The correction was incorrect," says the lawsuit. "In correspondence dated June 6, 2013, Defendant’s counsel demanded a 'royalty-free' license as a condition of not opposing Ms. Lee’s application for registration of her trademark and on August 1, 2013 refused Ms. Lee’s offer to sell authorized merchandise to Defendant. The Defendant steadfastly refused, saying that 'the museum is not going to purchase its TKAM merchandise from Ms. Lee'; it falsely denied this behavior when asked about it by the press."
Lee won't be denied satisfaction in court just because of her age.
"Ms. Lee suffered a stroke and is in ill health," says the lawsuit. "The Defendant apparently believes that she lacks the desire to police her trademarks, and therefore seeks to take advantage of Ms. Lee’s condition and property. The Defendant is mistaken."
"I have not read it and not been served," says Stephanie Rogers, the museum's executive director. "The museum has been doing what we always have done. We honor her here. We don't sell anything with her name. We sell memorabilia to those who come to see a production of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' that we secure dramatic rights to. Everything we do is above board. I'm shocked by this."
Itching for a better smartphone camera, but can't afford to buy an unlocked device? You're in luck: Samsung's Galaxy S4 Zoom appears to be coming to AT&T. Images of the AT&T branded smart camera (complete with carrier identification and official apps) appeared on Twitter today, hinting that a AT&T subsidized version of the device could be forthcoming. The 16-megapixel Zoom is an intriguing mash up between the Galaxy Camera and the Galaxy S4 Mini, but unless Ma Bell has made some major tweaks to the device, we wouldn't run out to your local AT&T store: the original was kind of a mess.
The team at Gogo is flying high lately both in the sky and on the ground thanks to its new hybrid GTO technology, which brings in-air download speeds up to 60 Mbps. To test the future of in-flight WiFi, Gogo uses the "Gogo One," a flying laboratory that comes outfitted with some pretty intense ...
Hikers and campers can now keep their cameras charged with FlameStower, which uses heat from a campfire, stove or even candles to charge any device powered by a USB connection. While this can seem superfluous — powering up while getting away from it all — creators Andrew Byrnes and Adam Kell says the device can also bring power to people in developing countries where wireless technology has leapfrogged others, places where people have cellphones but not electricity.
Byrnes and Kell were both studying materials science at Stanford University and at first thought about a generator wired to a toaster, but they quickly dismissed that idea. They spoke to a business school professor, who told them something that's been their guiding principle since — build something that can cook a pot of rice and charge a cellphone at the same time.
The technology is fairly simple. The FlameStower has a blade that extends out over the fire, while the other end is cooled by a reservoir of water. That means one part of the blade is hotter than the other. The temperature difference generates electricity, and semiconductors amplify the voltage to a useful amount. It gives you the same charge as connecting your phone to a laptop. The Mars Curiosity Rover uses the same technology, though its heat source comes from decaying radioactive materials.
This phenomenon of heat to electricity is called the Seebeck effect, and it doesn't generate a lot of energy, which means it wasn't that useful until people started walking around with cameras and smartphones.
"Now you have these tools that are insanely powerful, and increasingly are stingy on their energy use, so that value of the low amount of electricity is getting higher," Byrnes says.
He and Kell want to bring the FlameStower not only to stores in the U.S. but to developing countries as well. Kell recently returned from a trip to rural Kenya and Ethiopia to refine the FlameStower for users there, because around 65 percent of people in Africa have cellphones, but only 42 percent have electricity.
"[The cellphone] has been the first technology that people in rural villages are actually buying," Kell says.
Kell says products sold in developing countries are usually made to be cheaper than their counterparts in the U.S., with the exception of energy, which is much more expensive and less reliable.
Kell and Byrnes aren't the only people to come up with something like this. The BioLite CampStove and PowerPot are both pots that will charge a device and cook your food or boil water at the same time. But Kell says they weren't as successful in developing countries because people there often want to use their own pots, so the FlameStower founders made something that can work on any stove or fire.
At the moment a FlameStower costs $80, and the project is being funded on Kickstarter until late October.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Greens ruled out any further coalition talks with Angela Merkel's conservatives early on Wednesday, leaving the chancellor to focus on discussions with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in her efforts to form a new government.
After almost six hours of detailed policy discussions the Greens concluded they simply did not have enough in common with Merkel's conservative bloc in areas such as energy, climate targets and taxation, to make further discussions fruitful.
"After these talks the Greens do not find themselves able to enter coalition talks," said Hermann Groehe, second-in-command of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
"We will approach the representatives of the SPD tomorrow with a view to scheduling the explorative talks we had already eyed for Thursday."
Merkel needs to find a partner for her third term after she won September's election but fell short of an absolute majority. Polls suggest the German public would like her to enter full-blown negotiations with the SPD, and aim for a repeat of the 'grand coalition' in which she governed from 2005-2009.
The SPD, however, are playing hard to get. Its representatives spoke to the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), for eight hours on Monday, and while stating their willingness to talk again, they also said they could also say no to Merkel.
The prospect of months of coalition talks worries Germany's European partners, who fear delays to crucial decisions for fighting the euro zone crisis, such as a plan for banking union.
An eventual grand coalition is expected to boost spending on investment in Germany, helping shore up Europe's largest economy and increasing trade with the struggling euro zone, helping address imbalances.
Although the CDU/CSU and Greens were ultimately unable to bridge differences, the fact that the former arch-enemies spoke at all and for so long is already groundbreaking and signals a new political culture in Germany.
"I want to stress that even in areas where there were differences, there were none which we would have viewed as insurmountable," said Groehe.
However, taxation appeared a major stumbling block, with the Greens anxious to fund an ambitious investment program.
Former Greens co-chair Claudia Roth said: "We always said it was about seeing whether there was a solid foundation for four years of government together - and after these talks it appears there wasn't."
The policy divide with the SPD looks to be smaller.
The SPD has already signaled it could stop insisting on tax hikes if Merkel's camp can come up with other ways to pay for more investment in infrastructure, education and research, which all the mainstream parties agree is necessary.
The big sticking point is a minimum wage. In the talks on Monday, the SPD made clear it would not compromise on its demand for a nationwide wage floor of 8.50 euros per hour.
But even here, the divide between the parties is more about method than substance. Merkel agrees in principle to the idea of a wage floor, but wants this to be negotiated sector by sector, rather than imposed from above.
On a range of other issues, from how to tackle Europe's economic and financial woes to completing Germany's shift from nuclear to renewable energy, the differences are minimal.
Still, the path to an eventual grand coalition won't be smooth.
SPD leaders must take care not to appear overly eager for a deal with Merkel given deep skepticism among the party's rank and file. On Sunday, 200 senior SPD members will vote on whether to continue coalition talks, and any final decision on forming a new government will be put to a vote by the party's 472,000 members.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Hans Edzard Buseman; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Annika Breidthardt and Paul Simao)
20th Century Fox announced that Son of God, the film based on History Channel's miniseries The Bible, will open wide in U.S. theaters on Feb. 28, 2014.
The 10-hour miniseries The Bible, produced by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, was a breakout hit for History, garnering an average of 15 million viewers per episode. It also earned three Emmy nominations.
The big-screen treatment will follow Christ from his birth through his crucifixion and resurrection.
Portuguese actor DiogoMorgado is starring. The film will feature selections from the miniseries plus additional scenes that were left on the cutting room floor. Hans Zimmer created the score.
"We are very excited to be working with 20th Century Fox to release Son of God as a major motion picture," said Downey and Burnett in a statement. "We responded to an overwhelming demand for the greatest story ever told to be seen as a shared experience on the big screen. The result is a beautiful stand-alone movie. It's the story of Jesus for a whole new generation."
Son of God will go up against two other wide releases on Feb. 28. Universal's airplane thriller Non-Stop starring Liam Neeson and Paramount's sci-fi thriller Almanac, which centers around a time machine, also open on that date.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House dismissed the latest fiscal proposal offered by Republicans who control the House of Representatives on Tuesday, calling it a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party conservatives.
With time running out toward a Thursday deadline to avert a historic U.S. debt default, House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Washington, proposed an alternative to a Senate plan that would affect Obama's signature healthcare law.
White House spokesman Amy Brundage said Obama has vowed repeatedly that lawmakers "don't get to demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation's bills."
"Unfortunately, the latest proposal from House Republicans does just that in a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place," she said.
Brundage said Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have been working in a good-faith effort to end the fiscal stalemate and "it's time for the House to do the same."
(Reporting By Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland; editing by Christopher Wilson)
A key al-Qaeda planner indicted for bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzaniahas been brought to American soil for medical treatment, sparking outrage by some who say he should have been sent to Guantanamo Bay. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
FBI via AP
By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News
A suspected al Qaeda operative captured by U.S. special forces in Libya is due in federal court in New York on Tuesday to face charges that he helped plan the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa.
The suspected operative, Abu Anas al-Libi, was whisked off the streets of Tripoli on Oct. 5 and held aboard the USS San Antonio, where he was locked in the brig and questioned without Miranda rights, U.S. officials said.
Because of what U.S. officials have described as a serious medical condition — his family says it is severe hepatitis — he was taken within a week to New York, where he has been under indictment since 1998.
Some Republicans in Congress said that he should have been sent to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for further interrogation.
“This isn’t a question of getting a conviction,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. “It was a question of getting intelligence.”
He is one of 21 men indicted in the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people. He is among nine in custody. Eight have been killed, including Osama bin Laden; one died awaiting trial, and three are at large.
The indictment accuses al-Libi of helping plan the attacks and of conducting surveillance of the embassy and other diplomatic facilities in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to testimony at an earlier embassy bombing trial, it was al-Libi, who was in London at the time of the attacks, who first proposed the bombing of foreign embassies in 1993.
Richard Engel of NBC News contributed to this report.
Related:
Fugitive al Qaeda leader was hardly lying low in Libya, photos show
Slow-motion manhunt: U.S. relentlessly pursues '98 embassy bombing suspects
This story was originally published on Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:38 AM EDT
Quirky singer Ke$ha made an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and talked about her past lives and having a ghost exorcised from her va-jay-jay.
The singer showed off her newly-trim body and killer legs, rocking newly multi-color locks!
Last night Ke$ha told Jimmy Kimmel about the treacherous conditions she endured on her way to his show from Alaska, sharing a video of herself in a boat in really nasty weather.
Ke$ha debuted cotton candy-colored hair as she told the talk show host some crazy stuff.
The singer talked about hypnotherapy and how she lived past lives as a warrior and as a “cool” man. She is known for saying and doing outlandish things but seems to really believe them.
Ke$ha said her hypnotherapist revealed she had dead people in her body, with a ghost-meter alerting them to problems in her private area. Ke$ha said she believes that was caused by her “going through a dry spell”.
Jimmy Kimmel asked Ke$ha about her recent sexy photos posted online and she claimed she was just bored and had cabin fever.
Ke$ha’s tour with Pitbull’s Australian tour was recently canceled just weeks before they were to perform.
The singer tweeted, “Im so so bummed that our aussie tour was cancelled!! aussie animals, i love you very much and im working out how to come see you again asap”.
The second-largest hospital in the Southern African country of Swaziland may be operating a black market in human body parts used in magic spells, according to claims made by a reverend and others.
The organ trade at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in the city of Manzini has been described as "an open secret" by critics such as Rev. Grace Masilela. Accusers say people come to the hospital from neighboring South Africa to buy bones, hearts, brains and other organs.
Whether or not this particular claim is true, such a practice is not uncommon in the area. There, traditional healers or witch doctors often grind up body parts and combine them with roots, herbs, seawater, animal parts and other ingredients to prepare potions and spells for their clients. Sometimes clients eat the mixture or rub it on the skin or into open wounds. In the region, the practice of using body parts for magical ritual or benefit is called "muti," a Zulu word meaning "medicine." [15 Crazy Urban Legends Debunked]
Magical beliefs
Belief in magic is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a 2010 Gallup poll in which over half of the respondents reported personally believing in witchcraft and magic.
"Setbacks or calamities, such as drought or illness, are signs that the natural and social order have been disturbed. One means of obtaining this extra portion of luck or restoring the natural order is through the use of strong muti. It is with this strong muti that muti murders are often associated. Muti made from human body parts is considered to be exceptionally powerful."
Muti murders differ from ritual or sacrificial killings in that the goal is not necessarily to kill the victim (though that often happens due to shock and blood loss), but instead to obtain body parts.
Just as different ingredients in a recipe are used for different purposes, certain body parts are used for particular goals. For example, eyes may be stolen and used in a magic ritual to help restore a client's failing eyesight, whereas severed hands are used to assure business success, and genitals are believed to attract luck. [The Surprising Origins of 9 Common Superstitions]
In some cases, criminals have been arrested during robberies with muti in their pockets, having been told by a healer that the medicine from such body parts would make the thieves invisible to police — or even bulletproof.
Fresh body parts needed
Body parts from live victims are said to be the most powerful, though organs taken from the dead are sometimes used, as is claimed to have happened in Swaziland. Labuschagne notes, "There seems to be an increase in grave robbing, where the body parts removed are similar to those used in muti. Also, theft or sale of body parts from hospitals and mortuaries has occurred. It is uncertain whether or not the traditional healer would be able to tell if a body part is removed pre- or post-mortem."
Stealing organs from the dead for use in magic spells is a ghastly crime, but at least the unwilling donors are deceased. Just as often, murderers working on behalf of witch doctors attack and kill innocent people for their body parts. Muti murders are particularly brutal, with knives, machetes or even glass shards used to cut and hack off limbs, breasts and other body parts from their victims, including children.
In East Africa, at least 50 albinos were murdered for their body parts in 2009, according to the Red Cross. An albino's' arms, fingers, genitals, ears and blood are highly prized for their especially powerful magic, according to believers.
Muti murders have occurred throughout South Africa, and especially in rural areas. Reliable figures on the number of muti murders in the country are elusive, because police do not track those murders separately from other homicides. Even so, estimates range from a few dozen to a few hundred murders per year.
Science fiction fans may recall that muti was featured in the hit South African film "District 9," in which a local warlord tries to steal the hero's body parts, believing the stolen limbs would give him magical powers.
Most Africans, and most traditional healers there, reject muti murder and don't engage in the practice. Still, the belief that body parts can aid in magic rituals has been a part of African culture for centuries, and it will likely remain so.
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of "Skeptical Inquirer" science magazine and author of six books including "The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media Panics and Hoaxes." His Web site is www.BenjaminRadford.com.
Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.
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Just as in the cosmological model that explains how the universe sprang into existence from an infinitely dense singularity, CBS’ The Big Bang Theory has grown with such explosive force that it appears to be its own ever-expanding universe.
According to media buyers surveyed byAdweek, The Big Bang Theory in its seventh season now commands a staggering $326,260 per 30-second spot, topping the likes of NBC’s TheVoice ($264,575 for the higher-rated Wednesday night show), ABC’s ModernFamily ($257,435) and Fox’s The Simpsons ($256,963).
The robust unit cost is a function of BigBang’s monster ratings—three episodes into the fall season, Chuck Lorre’s sitcom is averaging 19.2 million viewers and a 5.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demo—and its seemingly unstoppable growth. After posting full-season highs two years running, Big Bang’s ratings are currently trending up 12 percent versus the 2012-13 campaign.
While the NFL commands the highest unit cost of any TV property—Fox’s roster of eight late national NFC games fetches a jaw-dropping $595,000 per :30, while each unit in NBC’s Sunday Night Football franchise is worth around $570,000 a throw—the general entertainment programs enjoy a longer run: 35 weeks when lower-priced repeats are factored in.
Among the Big Four broadcast nets, CBS earns the biggest average premiums for its freshman series. The Crazy Ones, the new Tuesday 9 p.m. anchor starring RobinWilliams as an idiosyncratic ad agency boss, boasts an average unit cost of $175,200—the highest rate for any new comedy. The defending ratings champ also earns top dollar for Big Bang lead-out The Millers ($122,390), Lorre’s latest multicamera sitcom Mom ($138,575) and the ratings-challenged serialized thriller Hostages ($134,420).
ABC’s established reach vehicles (Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy and, more recently, Scandal) and its popularity with younger, affluent women have allowed it to remain competitive despite ongoing ratings hiccups. But it’s a new male-skewing series that’s really leading the charge this fall, as Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is pricing at an average rate of $169,730 per :30. Lead-out comedies The Goldbergs ($93,200) and Trophy Wife ($91,175) are roughly on par with the former time slot occupants, while the canceled lottery drama Lucky 7 was a bad bet at $86,355 a pop.
ABC’s new Rebel Wilson sitcom Super Fun Night is fetching around $130,823 for each 30-second spot, an increase of some 33 percent compared to its predecessor, The Neighbors.
Having inherited the plum Voice lead-out from Revolution, NBC’s The Blacklist enjoys the distinction of being the most valuable new series on the dial ($198,667). And while that has helped establish NBC as the most expensive environment on Monday nights, pricing parity hasn’t trickled down to new shows like Ironside ($71,500) and Welcome to the Family ($62,370). That said, The Michael J. Fox Show commands a healthy $110,050 per spot.
Fox’s lighter load of newbies includes broadcast’s best new bargain (Sleepy Hollow, $139,120), the underperforming Dads ($120,100) and the on-the-bubble AndySamberg comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine ($96,225).
A photo released by NASA this summer shows a photo composed of nearly 900 images taken by the rover Curiosity, showing a section of Gale Crater near the equator of Mars. The rovers are continuing to work through the U.S. government shutdown.
NASA/AP
A photo released by NASA this summer shows a photo composed of nearly 900 images taken by the rover Curiosity, showing a section of Gale Crater near the equator of Mars. The rovers are continuing to work through the U.S. government shutdown.
NASA/AP
The budget negotiations in Washington are not front-page news on Mars. There, millions of miles away, NASA's rovers continue to operate, taking photographs and collecting data as they prepare for the coming Martian winter.
NPR's Joe Palca has this report for our Newscast unit:
"NASA's newest rover, called Curiosity, is on the move. It's headed to the base of Mount Sharp, a mountain that towers three-and-a-half miles above the floor of Gale crater where the rover landed. Scientists hope the foothills of the mountain will reveal some of the ancient geologic history of Mars.
"The other rover called Opportunity is studying something similar at the rim of Endeavor crater. In January, the rover that was designed to last 90 days will mark its tenth year on Mars.
"Some of Opportunity's instruments have stopped working, but it's still taking pictures and still roves across the surface, albeit quite a but slower than its newer partner on the other side of the planet."
The two rovers are taking in data and getting into strategic locations before winter arrives on Mars in a few months.
The scarcity of sunlight shouldn't pose a challenge for Curiosity, whose systems are powered by heat generated by the radioactive decay of plutonium. NASA hopes that the older Opportunity, which powers itself with solar panels, will be aided by its position on a north-facing slope.
As the Planetary Society website notes, this will be Opportunity's sixth winter:
"Harsh beyond belief, winters on Mars are life threatening, even for robots. Opportunity must endure constant, sometimes radical fluctuations in daily temperatures, not to mention survive temperatures as low as 100 degrees below freezing, all of which is really tough on her metal parts. Of course, the veteran rover has proved its resilience many times over while exploring this sub-freezing planet."
The Cancer Genome Atlas exposes more secrets of lethal brain tumor
Public release date: 10-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Scott Merville smerville@mdanderson.org 713-792-0661 University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Project delves deeply into genomics of 599 glioblastoma multiforme cases to better target disease
HOUSTON When The Cancer Genome Atlas launched its massively collaborative approach to organ-by-organ genomic analysis of cancers, the brain had both the benefit, and the challenge, of going first.
TCGA ganged up on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and lethal of brain tumors, with more than 100 scientists from 14 institutions tracking down the genomic abnormalities that drive GBM.
Five years later, older and wiser, TCGA revisited glioblastoma, producing a broader, deeper picture of the drivers and potential therapeutic targets of the disease published in the Oct. 10 issue of Cell.
"The first paper in 2008 characterized glioblastoma in important new ways and illuminated the path for all TCGA organ studies that have followed," said senior author Lynda Chin, M.D., professor and chair of Genomic Medicine and scientific director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
"Our new study reflects major improvements in technology applied to many more tumor samples to more completely characterize the landscape of genomic alterations in glioblastoma," said Chin, who was also co-senior author of the first paper while she was on the faculty of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
"Information generated by this unbiased, data-driven analysis presents new opportunities to discover genomics-based biomarkers, understand disease mechanisms and generate new hypotheses to develop better, targeted therapies," Chin said.
About 23,000 new cases of GBM are predicted in the United States during 2013 and more than 14,000 people expected to die of the disease. Most patients die within 15 months of diagnosis.
Well of rich, detailed data will nurture better treatment
New information about genetic mutations, deletions and amplifications; gene expression and epigenetic regulation; structural changes due to chromosomal alterations, proteomic effects and the molecular networks that drive GBM make for a deep, broad dataset that will underpin research and clinical advances for years to come.
"Our main contribution is this tremendous resource for the GBM research community, which is already heavily relying on the earlier TCGA study," said co-lead author Roeland Verhaak, Ph.D., assistant professor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at MD Anderson. "Whatever new treatments people come up with for GBM, I'm very confident that their discovery and development will in some way have benefited from this rich and detailed data set," he said.
The Cell paper describes analysis of tumor samples and molecular data from 599 patients at 17 study sites. Detailed clinical information including treatment and survival was available for almost all cases.
New targetable mutations
In addition to confirming significantly mutated genes discovered earlier, such as the tumor suppressors TP53, PTEN and RB1 and the oncogene PIK3CA, the analysis identified 61 new mutated genes. The most frequent mutations occurred in from 1.7 to 9 percent of cases.
Two of these, BRAF and FGFR, might have more immediate clinical relevance, Verhaak noted. MD Anderson neuro-oncologists are checking to see if patients have these mutations. Drugs are available to address those variations now, Verhaak said. The BRAF point mutation in GBM is the same commonly found in melanoma, which is treated by a new class of drugs.
More twists and turns for EGFR
The larger data set and an improved analytical algorithm allowed major refinement of gene amplification and deletion information. For example, common amplification events were found to occur more frequently than previously known, including amplification of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on chromosome 7.
EGFR is both amplified and mutated frequently in GBM; yet therapeutic efforts targeting EGFR so far have failed. "We found EGFR is more frequently altered than we already thought," Verhaak said.
Overall, the EGFR gene was mutated, rearranged, amplified or otherwise altered in 57 percent of tumors. Increased EGFR protein levels in GBM cells correlated with the many mechanisms of EGFR alteration, Verhaak said.
A treatment based on EGFR still has great potential, he noted. But strategies to target EGFR will need to address the likelihood that different alterations of EGFR might be present in the same tumor and affect the impact of targeted drugs.
Breaking GBM into molecular subtypes
Verhaak and other researchers in recent years have begun to classify GBM tumors by gene expression. Four such subgroups -- neural, proneural, mesenchymal and classical -- were further characterized by DNA methylation pattern, signaling pathway activity and by clinical measures such as survival and treatment response. Methylation of a gene turns it off.
Understanding the subgroups could establish biomarkers to guide treatment and identify new therapeutic targets.
The team found, for example, that the survival advantage of the proneural subtype depends on a specific DNA methylation pattern known as G-CIMP and that DNA methylation of the MGMT gene may serve as a biomarker of treatment response in the classical subtype.
###
Co-authors with Chin and Verhaak are 56 investigators from 39 institutions on behalf of the TCGA Research Network. MD Anderson co-authors are Siyuan Zheng, Ph.D., Rahulsimham Vegesna, and John Weinstein, M.D., Ph.D., of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; W.K. Yung, M.D., of Neuro-Oncology; Kenneth Aldape, M.D., and Wei Zhang, Ph.D., of Pathology and Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., of Systems Biology.
Zhang, Weinstein and Chin are all leaders or co-leaders of three of the seven TCGA Genome Analysis Centers.
Co-lead authors with Verhaak are Cameron Brennan, M.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Aaron McKenna, Ph.D., of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
TCGA is a joint project of the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health. This glioblastoma project was funded by NIH grants (U24CA143883, U24CA143858, U24CA143840, U24CA143799, U24CA143835,
U24CA143845, U24CA143882, U24CA143867, U24CA143866, U24CA143848, U24CA144025, U24CA143843, U54HG003067, U54HG003079, U54HG003273, U24CA126599, U24CA126544, U24CA126546, U24CA126551, U24CA126554, U24CA126561, U24CA126563, U24CA143731, U24CA143843.)
About UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world's most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. MD Anderson is one of only 41 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute. For 10 of the past 12 years, including 2013, MD Anderson has ranked No. 1 in cancer care in U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Hospitals" survey. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).
Get MD Anderson News Via RSS Follow MD Anderson News on Twitter
Contact:
Scott Merville External Communications 713-792-0611 office 713-515-4855 mobile smerville@mdanderson.org
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The Cancer Genome Atlas exposes more secrets of lethal brain tumor
Public release date: 10-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Scott Merville smerville@mdanderson.org 713-792-0661 University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Project delves deeply into genomics of 599 glioblastoma multiforme cases to better target disease
HOUSTON When The Cancer Genome Atlas launched its massively collaborative approach to organ-by-organ genomic analysis of cancers, the brain had both the benefit, and the challenge, of going first.
TCGA ganged up on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and lethal of brain tumors, with more than 100 scientists from 14 institutions tracking down the genomic abnormalities that drive GBM.
Five years later, older and wiser, TCGA revisited glioblastoma, producing a broader, deeper picture of the drivers and potential therapeutic targets of the disease published in the Oct. 10 issue of Cell.
"The first paper in 2008 characterized glioblastoma in important new ways and illuminated the path for all TCGA organ studies that have followed," said senior author Lynda Chin, M.D., professor and chair of Genomic Medicine and scientific director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
"Our new study reflects major improvements in technology applied to many more tumor samples to more completely characterize the landscape of genomic alterations in glioblastoma," said Chin, who was also co-senior author of the first paper while she was on the faculty of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
"Information generated by this unbiased, data-driven analysis presents new opportunities to discover genomics-based biomarkers, understand disease mechanisms and generate new hypotheses to develop better, targeted therapies," Chin said.
About 23,000 new cases of GBM are predicted in the United States during 2013 and more than 14,000 people expected to die of the disease. Most patients die within 15 months of diagnosis.
Well of rich, detailed data will nurture better treatment
New information about genetic mutations, deletions and amplifications; gene expression and epigenetic regulation; structural changes due to chromosomal alterations, proteomic effects and the molecular networks that drive GBM make for a deep, broad dataset that will underpin research and clinical advances for years to come.
"Our main contribution is this tremendous resource for the GBM research community, which is already heavily relying on the earlier TCGA study," said co-lead author Roeland Verhaak, Ph.D., assistant professor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at MD Anderson. "Whatever new treatments people come up with for GBM, I'm very confident that their discovery and development will in some way have benefited from this rich and detailed data set," he said.
The Cell paper describes analysis of tumor samples and molecular data from 599 patients at 17 study sites. Detailed clinical information including treatment and survival was available for almost all cases.
New targetable mutations
In addition to confirming significantly mutated genes discovered earlier, such as the tumor suppressors TP53, PTEN and RB1 and the oncogene PIK3CA, the analysis identified 61 new mutated genes. The most frequent mutations occurred in from 1.7 to 9 percent of cases.
Two of these, BRAF and FGFR, might have more immediate clinical relevance, Verhaak noted. MD Anderson neuro-oncologists are checking to see if patients have these mutations. Drugs are available to address those variations now, Verhaak said. The BRAF point mutation in GBM is the same commonly found in melanoma, which is treated by a new class of drugs.
More twists and turns for EGFR
The larger data set and an improved analytical algorithm allowed major refinement of gene amplification and deletion information. For example, common amplification events were found to occur more frequently than previously known, including amplification of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on chromosome 7.
EGFR is both amplified and mutated frequently in GBM; yet therapeutic efforts targeting EGFR so far have failed. "We found EGFR is more frequently altered than we already thought," Verhaak said.
Overall, the EGFR gene was mutated, rearranged, amplified or otherwise altered in 57 percent of tumors. Increased EGFR protein levels in GBM cells correlated with the many mechanisms of EGFR alteration, Verhaak said.
A treatment based on EGFR still has great potential, he noted. But strategies to target EGFR will need to address the likelihood that different alterations of EGFR might be present in the same tumor and affect the impact of targeted drugs.
Breaking GBM into molecular subtypes
Verhaak and other researchers in recent years have begun to classify GBM tumors by gene expression. Four such subgroups -- neural, proneural, mesenchymal and classical -- were further characterized by DNA methylation pattern, signaling pathway activity and by clinical measures such as survival and treatment response. Methylation of a gene turns it off.
Understanding the subgroups could establish biomarkers to guide treatment and identify new therapeutic targets.
The team found, for example, that the survival advantage of the proneural subtype depends on a specific DNA methylation pattern known as G-CIMP and that DNA methylation of the MGMT gene may serve as a biomarker of treatment response in the classical subtype.
###
Co-authors with Chin and Verhaak are 56 investigators from 39 institutions on behalf of the TCGA Research Network. MD Anderson co-authors are Siyuan Zheng, Ph.D., Rahulsimham Vegesna, and John Weinstein, M.D., Ph.D., of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; W.K. Yung, M.D., of Neuro-Oncology; Kenneth Aldape, M.D., and Wei Zhang, Ph.D., of Pathology and Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., of Systems Biology.
Zhang, Weinstein and Chin are all leaders or co-leaders of three of the seven TCGA Genome Analysis Centers.
Co-lead authors with Verhaak are Cameron Brennan, M.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Aaron McKenna, Ph.D., of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
TCGA is a joint project of the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health. This glioblastoma project was funded by NIH grants (U24CA143883, U24CA143858, U24CA143840, U24CA143799, U24CA143835,
U24CA143845, U24CA143882, U24CA143867, U24CA143866, U24CA143848, U24CA144025, U24CA143843, U54HG003067, U54HG003079, U54HG003273, U24CA126599, U24CA126544, U24CA126546, U24CA126551, U24CA126554, U24CA126561, U24CA126563, U24CA143731, U24CA143843.)
About UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world's most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. MD Anderson is one of only 41 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute. For 10 of the past 12 years, including 2013, MD Anderson has ranked No. 1 in cancer care in U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Hospitals" survey. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).
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Scott Merville External Communications 713-792-0611 office 713-515-4855 mobile smerville@mdanderson.org
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For the last hundred years, scientists have been wondering why the dinosaurs disappeared so quickly. Was there one key reason, or several?
Volcanologists pointed to volcanoes. Climatologists suggested global warning, or possibly, global cooling. Ocean experts thought the oceans receded. Some biologists blamed egg snatching mammals. Some botanists suggested toxic plants. In his new book on everything dinosaurish, My Beloved Brontosaurus, Brian Switek lists a "slew of weird ideas" proposed by various scientists 50, 60 years ago, before our current favorite, the asteroid theory, gained favor.
Some supported the dinosaurs-developed-cataracts theory, some the "slipped disc" theory. Others thought dinosaurs got zapped by cosmic radiation. Still others felt as dinosaurs got bigger (while their brains stayed small), they became too stupid to compete with smaller animals. Nobody knew so everybody guessed.
"There had to be some reason the dinosaurs disappeared, and the floor was open to just about anyone who had even the slightly inkling on the subject," writes Brian.
The Caterpillar Theory
Of all the theories he looked at, Brian's favorite is so wonderful to think about, so deeply odd (even if it's almost certainly wrong), I want to retell it. It comes from a California scientist, Stanley Flanders, who made his living as an entomologist, an insect man, which is perhaps why, in 1962, he wrote a paper called, "Did the Caterpillar Exterminate the Giant Reptile?" Dr. Flanders proposed that the great dinosaurs were eliminated by a giant influx of moths and butterflies.
I'm not making this up.
Here's his argument. Flanders reasoned that "the inherent weakness of the reptile was an extraordinary need for an abundance of plant material."
Can't argue with that. Big vegetable eaters ? the hadrosaurs and sauropods ? needed to eat leaves by the bushel. Bushels upon bushels. So if anybody else got to those leaves ahead of them, that was dangerous.
Caterpillars, of course, eat leaves too. They are much, much, much smaller than dinosaurs, so you wouldn't think of them being a threat, unless ... and here's where Dr. Flanders imagined his catastrophic possibility.
Suppose, he said, that somewhere around the time the dinosaurs disappeared, a new insect happened on the scene. These little guys were the first representatives of the Lepidoptera, animals that today we call moths and butterflies. When they lay eggs, their babies, the caterpillars, eat prodigious amounts of leaf. If there were birds around, or caterpillar loving parasites, lots of those caterpillars would have been eaten or destroyed, killed by their natural enemies.
But what if, asked Dr. Flanders, the first baby moths and butterflies were so new, they didn't yet have enemies?
Then, because they could have had so many babies much more quickly than giant dinosaurs, they could not only multiply enormously, they might have achieved a population large enough to out-eat the dinosaurs. He'd seen such a thing happen in Australia when a new caterpillar, "imported from Argentina in 1925, destroyed within 6 years approximately 50 million acres of the prickly pear." It had no Australian enemies.
Sixty-five million years ago, those moths and butterflies would eventually become dinner for even newer animals, but for a little while, wrote Dr. Flanders, he could imagine the dinosaurs getting hungrier and hungrier as caterpillars made off with their food until, eventually, a great die-off began.
"Thus," Flanders concluded, "the giant reptiles which had survived during eons characterized by great changes in climate, continental uplifts, and different diets, may have been exterminated by the lowly caterpillar."
Thinking about this, Brian Switek imagines the final scene: On the forest floor you see the dead hulks of hadrosaurii, sauropods, the horned dinosaurs wasting away while all about them in growing profusion is a cloud of moths and butterflies getting thicker and thicker, a haze of tiny wings, as billions of moths maybe showing first traces of blues, greens, pinks, flutter about. ... Kind of beautiful, no?
Alas, Dr. Flanders' theory never attracted much scientific support. There is no evidence in the fossil record of any epidemic of caterpillars. Instead, we now think the main reason for the dinosaur's going is an asteroid, about the size of Manhattan that crashed to earth ? an asteroid Dr. Flanders knew nothing about at the time.
It was discovered by a father and son team named Alvarez. Walter, the son, is a geologist (a rock guy). His dad Luis was a physicist (knows about objects in motion). Scientists, like the rest of us, seem to go where their enthusiasms take them. But this time, the evidence, in the mineral earth, the fossil record, confirmed their story. Not everybody agrees it was just that big rock that did it, but when the data says "yes," biologists, botanists, zoologists, paleontologists have no choice but to accept the evidence.
That's how science works. Sometimes even the most beautiful stories, the ones you'd love to believe in, end up, alas, in the garbage can.
Light shines through a cabin window on seat 17A, the empty seat that an Aeroflot official said was booked in the name of former CIA technician Edward Snowden, shortly before Aeroflot flight SU150 takes off from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, Monday, June 24, 2013. Snowden, who has admitted to leaking National Security Agency secrets, was expected to fly from Russia to Cuba and Venezuela en route to possible asylum in Ecuador, but AP reporters on the flight never saw him get on board. (AP Photo/Max Seddon)
Light shines through a cabin window on seat 17A, the empty seat that an Aeroflot official said was booked in the name of former CIA technician Edward Snowden, shortly before Aeroflot flight SU150 takes off from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, Monday, June 24, 2013. Snowden, who has admitted to leaking National Security Agency secrets, was expected to fly from Russia to Cuba and Venezuela en route to possible asylum in Ecuador, but AP reporters on the flight never saw him get on board. (AP Photo/Max Seddon)
FILE - In this June 21, 2013 file photo, a banner supporting Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, is displayed at Central, Hong Kong's business district. The Hong Kong government says Snowden wanted by the U.S. for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has left for a "third country." The South China Morning Post reported Sunday, June 23, 2013 that Snowden was on a plane for Moscow, but that Russia was not his final destination. Snowden has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
A TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Graphic shows key locations in the life and career of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden; 3c x 5 inches; 146 mm x 127 mm;
Journalists show passengers arriving from Hong Kong a tablet with a photo of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at Sheremetyevo airport, just outside Moscow, Russia, Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
MOSCOW (AP) ? A plane took off from Moscow on Monday headed for Cuba, but the seat booked by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was empty, and there was no sign of him elsewhere on board. His whereabouts were unknown.
An Aeroflot representative who wouldn't give her name told The Associated Press that Snowden wasn't on flight SU150 to Havana. AP reporters on the flight couldn't see him.
Security around the aircraft was heavy prior to boarding and guards tried to prevent photographers and cameramen from taking pictures of the plane, heightening the speculation that he might have been secretly escorted on board.
The Interfax news agency, which has extensive contacts with Russian security agencies, cited a source as saying that Snowden could have flown out in a different plane unseen by journalists. Others speculated that Russian security agencies might want to keep Snowden in Russia for a more thorough debriefing.
Aeroflot said earlier that Snowden had registered for the flight using his American passport, which the United States recently annulled.
Snowden has not been seen since he arrived in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong, where he had been hiding for several weeks to evade U.S. justice. Ecuador is considering Snowden's asylum application.
After spending a night in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, the former National Security Agency contractor ? and admitted leaker of state secrets ? had been expected to fly to Cuba and Venezuela en route to possible asylum in Ecuador.
Snowden, also a former CIA technician, fled Hong Kong to dodge U.S. efforts to extradite him on espionage charges. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government had received an asylum request, adding Monday that the decision "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world." The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks also said it would help Snowden.
Ecuador has rejected the United States' previous efforts at cooperation, and has been helping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.
Snowden gave documents to The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers disclosing U.S. surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and online data in the name of foreign intelligence, often sweeping up information on American citizens. Officials have the ability to collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.
Snowden had been in hiding for several weeks in Hong Kong, a former British colony with a high degree of autonomy from mainland China. The United States formally sought Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong to face espionage charges but was rebuffed; Hong Kong officials said the U.S. request did not fully comply with their laws.
The Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Hong Kong. During conversations last week, including a phone call Wednesday between Attorney General Eric Holder and Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen, Hong Kong officials never raised any issues regarding sufficiency of the U.S. request, a Justice representative said.
The United States was in touch through diplomatic and law enforcement channels with countries that Snowden could travel through or to, reminding them that Snowden is wanted on criminal charges and reiterating Washington's position that Snowden should only be permitted to travel back to the U.S., a State Department official said.
U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.
Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said, "Given our intensified cooperation after the Boston marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters ? including returning numerous high-level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government ? we expect the Russian government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged."
Still, the United States is likely to have problems interrupting Snowden's passage. The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but does with Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. Even with an extradition agreement though, any country could give Snowden a political exemption.
The likelihood that any of these countries would stop Snowden from traveling on to Ecuador seemed remote. While diplomatic tensions have thawed in recent years, Cuba and the United States are hardly allies after a half-century of distrust.
Another country that could see Snowden pass through, Venezuela, could prove difficult, as well. Former President Hugo Chavez was a sworn enemy of the United States and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, earlier this year called President Barack Obama "grand chief of devils." The two countries do not exchange ambassadors.
It also wasn't clear Snowden was finished disclosing highly classified information.
Snowden has perhaps more than 200 sensitive documents, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
___
Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace and Associated Press writers Philip Elliott, Matthew Lee and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, Lynn Berry in Moscow, Kevin Chan in Hong Kong and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.
___
Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott
Actress Kelly Rutherford celebrates Michael Kalish's Belle Epoque Sculpture in New York City in 2012.
?Gossip Girl? star Kelly Rutherford, who earned $468,000 a month while working on the CW show, has filed for bankruptcy after spending $1.66 million on her custody battle with her ex-husband, according to documents obtained Monday by NBC News.
The 44-year-old year actress and mother of two filed Chapter 7 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California on May 20 declaring to be over $2 million debt -- and with a current monthly income of $1,279.33.
Rutherford divorced Daniel Giersch in 2010. In August, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that Rutherford?s daughter and son must live with their father in France after his visa was revoked. Rutherford and Giersch are supposed to split their time with the children equally, even though they live in different countries. They are 6 and 4 years old now.
"I do think the kids are at risk because I was the primary, and now I'm the visitor," Rutherford said in an emotional interview on TODAY last year. "What I was in court trying to get to the bottom of is that he could disappear tomorrow and I don't know where to look."
Rutherford has been traveling to France regularly to see her children and Skypes with them daily.
According to the bankruptcy petition, Rutherford has $23,937 in assets -- $11,487 in her checking account, $5,000 in furniture, $5,000 in clothes, and $1,500 in jewelry. The documents also show Rutherford owes over $350,000 in last year?s federal and New York state income taxes and over $300,000 to friends and family for personal loans.
She also owes American Express $25,000 and Citibank nearly $36,000.
?Gossip Girl? wrapped last year. Rutherford also starred on ?Melrose Place? in the ?90s.
An American Army Public Health nurse with a group of children in a camp for Polish displaced persons at Bensheim,Germany on June 19, 1945. Other Polish children ended up in New Zealand as refugees.
Photo by Universal Images Group/Getty Images
WELLINGTON, New Zealand?A fish restaurant in New Zealand seemed an odd place to discuss a war that took place several thousand miles away and several decades ago, but there we were: Sea bream was served, sauvignon blanc was poured, the rain drummed down outside, and I listened while three septuagenarians smiled, laughed, and told me of the unimaginable tragedy they had lived through as children.
All three were born in eastern Poland, and all three were arrested and deported, along with hundreds of thousands of other Poles, after the Soviet invasion in 1939. Soviet soldiers and police packed their families into boxcars and exiled them to Siberia or central Asia, where many died of illness or starvation. Only in 1942, after Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, were survivors released and allowed to form a Polish army in exile. After crossing the border into Iran, the adults formed themselves into fighting units and began to travel back to Europe via Palestine.
But their children could not fight. Some were already orphans, having lost their parents to hunger or disease. More would lose their parents, or lose track of their parents, in the course of the war. An international appeal went out: Thousands of Polish children could not remain in Isfahan forever. Among others, New Zealand?a country that had never before accepted refugees?responded.
On Oct. 31, 1944, their ship pulled into Wellington harbor. More than 750 orphans, from toddlers to young teenagers, and 100 adult caretakers, teachers, and doctors disembarked. Hundreds of New Zealanders met them at the port, cheering and waving flags. More people lined the roads and waved as the Polish orphans drove through the countryside to a refugee camp created for them in Pahiatua, a village in the southeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. There they stayed together, studied together, organized Polish scouting troops, and waited for the war to end so they could go home.
In one sense, this story does not have a happy ending. The war ended, but Poland did not regain its independence. Eastern Poland, where the children of Pahiatua had been born, became part of the Soviet Union. The western part of the country became a Soviet satellite state. Most inhabitants of the Pahiatua camp had nothing, and no one, to return to.
But in another sense there was a happy ending?one that we might usefully contemplate. In recent years, the gap in educational attainments of rich and poor Americans has grown wider, largely because of the enormous resources many of us pour into our children. Success, we have come to believe, depends on excellent schools, carefully organized leisure and, above all, on high-concentration, high-focus parenting.
The orphans of Pahiatua did not have any of these things. On the contrary, they had witnessed the deaths of parents and siblings, experienced terrible deprivation, and lost years of education before finding themselves in an alien country on the far side of the world. And yet they learned the language, they assimilated, they became doctors, lawyers, farmers, factory workers, teachers, and businessmen. Krystyna Tomaszyk?a Pahiatua child who became a pioneering social worker?told me over lunch that she was proud of their success. "We all had difficult childhoods. But none of us became criminals or vagabonds. We fit in."
There were reasons for that success. New Zealand boomed after the war: Logging and mining expanded, and work was easy to find. The Polish children had an unusually warm reception here at an unusual moment: Knowing where they had come from, people went out of their way to be kind.
But more than 70 years later, the now-elderly children of Pahiatua have an additional explanation. Zdzislaw Lepionka now believes that "the fact that we weree kept together, that we sang Polish songs and did scouting drills together? that was a kind of therapy." Lepionka was 3, he thinks?there are no records?at the time of his family's deportation. His mother died in exile; he lost track of his father, whom he never saw again. But he and those of his siblings who boarded the boat to Wellington long ago founded families and careers of their own. Decades later, he is still in touch with many of the "Pahiatua children," who still offer one another moral support.
Is an idyllic childhood a prerequisite for a happy life, or are there other roads to contentment? Are parents the key to future success, or are there other ways to get there? Is a turbulent childhood always a recipe for adult failure, or can some people overcome tragedy? I saw many amazing things in New Zealand?a volcano, a geyser, and some extraordinary lush, green landscapes?but none made me think more than that Wellington lunch.
This month, Slate is sharing stories of people who started over?like budget wonk Ina Garten, better known as the Barefoot Contessa?in our "Second Acts" Hive. We want to hear your tales, too. Please go here?to submit your story about starting over.
The team at Gogo is flying high lately both in the sky and on the ground thanks to its new hybrid GTO technology, which brings in-air download speeds up to 60 Mbps. To test the future of in-flight WiFi, Gogo uses the "Gogo One," a flying laboratory that comes outfitted with some pretty intense ...
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An American Army Public Health nurse with a group of children in a camp for Polish displaced persons at Bensheim,Germany on June 19, 1945. Other Polish children ended up in New Zealand as refugees.