| Banks treating Swan like a 'mug'
Opposition treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull backed comments by former Coalition treasurer Peter Costello last week that the banks were taking advantage of Treasurer Wayne Swan's inexperience. "Wayne Swan is being treated like a mug by the banks, no question," Mr Turnbull said on ABC radio today. He described as "absolutely dismal" Mr Swan's performance on interest rates. "When the NAB came out and put up rates the first time, Wayne Swan defended them with an eager enthusiasm that made him sound like a public relations officer for the Australian Bankers Association," Mr Turnbull said. The threat of the banks raising mortgage rates independently of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) was "always coming up in the lift". "Wayne Swan did nothing to get ready for it.
Britney Spears fails to regain lost visitation rights
BRITNEY Spears will not be able to visit her sons at least until her next custody hearing in February and K-Fed has full custody until April. TMZ.com reports that Commissioner Scott Gordon ruled against restoring the visitation rights she lost after the four hour standoff with emergency services a few weeks ago. The Commissioner heard evidence from several other witnesses, including Spears's ex-husband Kevin Federline, two LAPD cops who responded to a custody standoff a week ago Thursday; a parenting coach; a bodyguard, and the court monitor who was present during the drama. PageSix.com reports that the January 4 emergency order which gave Federline custody of sons Sean and Jayden was extended today until April. Britney arrived more than three hours late amid chaos at the courthouse packed with a media throng.
Science News in Brief
Scientists at Harvard have dramatically expanded the list of potential drug targets for AIDS with an announcement yesterday of the discovery of 273 proteins required for survival of the AIDS virus in humans.
Prior to the study, researchers had identified only a few dozen molecules needed by the virus to infect human cells. Because AIDS progression hinges on their presence, targeting them could slow infection.
The authors found the proteins by using an emerging research method called RNA interference that eliminates individual proteins and elucidates their role by measuring the effect of their absence.
The eight Harvard researchers urged use of the technique for other human pathogens as well, writing that their experiment had demonstrated the “power" of RNA interference to find new forms of treatment.
Rutkowski moving on
When Ed Rutkowski and his wife moved to the Patterson Park area on the city's east side in 1986, it was the sort of place, he said, where everything was in good shape and neighbors pitched in to keep it that way.
But over the next decade, the region slid headfirst into decline. Drug dealers set up shop in its 140-acre park. Prostitutes worked the corners, and Rutkowski's neighbors - the same ones he saw at community Christmas parties - abandoned Baltimore in droves.
Rutkowski, however, got to work. He founded the Patterson Park Community Development Corp., which many now credit for the area's healthy turnaround. And now, after 11 years at its helm, Rutkowski is moving on.
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