10 things every parent should know about autism

Autism is a complex disorder with characteristics in four fundamental areas: sensory processing challenges, speech/language delays and impairments, the elusive social interaction skills and whole child/self-esteem issues.

These four elements may be common to many children, but keep in mind that autism is a spectrum disorder: No two (or 10 or 20) children with autism will be completely alike.

Autism is a genetic disorder

Although autism was once believed to be the result of improper parenting, researchers now believe that genes – not psychological factors – are to blame. If a couple has one autistic child, there is a 5 to 10 percent chance that siblings will have some sort of autistic disorder. With identical twins, the likelihood is 60 percent. Even though profoundly autistic people rarely have children, researchers often find that a relative has mild autistic symptoms or a high-functioning autism-spectrum disorder known as Asperger's syndrome.

I am a child

As an adult, you have control over how you define yourself. If you want to single out one characteristic, you can make that known. As a child, they are still unfolding, so give your child some time to see what he or she is capable of.

Behavior is communication

All behavior occurs for a reason. It tells you, even when words can’t, what is happening around the child. Negative behavior interferes with the learning process, but merely interrupting these behaviors is not enough. Parents must help teach their child to exchange these behaviors with proper alternatives so that real learning can flow.

Negative behavior usually means the child is overwhelmed by disordered sensory systems, cannot communicate his wants and needs, or doesn’t understand what is expected of him. Look beyond the behavior to find the source of resistance. Keep notes as to what happened immediately before the behavior, people involved, time of day, activities and other environmental settings. Over time, a pattern may emerge.

Never assume anything

Without factual expression, an assumption is only a guess. Your child may not know or understand the rules. She may have heard the instructions, but did not understand them. She may have known yesterday what to do, but can’t retrieve that information today.

Stick with your child through enough repetition of the task to where he or she will feel competent. And remember, children with autism may need more practice to master tasks than other kids.

Communication comes in many forms

It’s hard for your child to tell you what he wants or needs when he doesn’t have a way to describe his feelings. He may be hungry, frustrated, frightened, or confused, but sometimes he just can’t find the right words to communicate his feelings. Parents should be alert for body language, withdrawal, agitation or other signs that tell you something is wrong.

Focusing on the positive helps

Like any one of us, children with autism can’t learn in an environment where they are constantly made to feel that they are not good enough and that they need fixing. Avoid trying new things that could lead to criticism, no matter how “constructive” you think you’re being. Look for strengths in your child and capitalize on them. Remember that there is more than one right way to do most things.

Social interactions can be difficult

In some instances, it may look like children with autism don’t want to play with the other kids on the playground, but it may be as simple as they don’t know how to start a conversation to join their play. Take the time to teach them how to play with others. Invite and encourage other children to play along.

Most autistic children don’t know how to read facial expressions, body language, or the emotions of others. Take the time out and teach the dos and don’ts of good and bad.

Transitioning can be tricky

It can take a child with autism a little longer to plan the motor movement involved in going from one activity to the next. Make sure and give them a 5-minute warning and a 2-minute warning before an activity changes. A simple trick is putting a clock face or timer on child’s desk to give him or her visual cues as to the time of the next transition, and can even help encourage independence independently.

Sensory overload is real

Ordinary sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches that you may not even notice can be downright painful for children with autism spectrum disorders. Their environment often feels hostile manifesting behaviors that can appear withdrawn or angry because they are trying to defend themselves.

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Amazon unveils new Fire TV streaming video box

Amazon.com is officially entering the streaming video settop box competition.

The online retailer-turned tech company and content provider announced its new Amazon Fire TV product today at an event in New York. The $99 is available for order now on Amazon.com.

The 0.7-inch thin WiFi-supporting settop box streams 1080P high definition and connects to your TV via HDMI. It comes with a remote that lets you use voice to search for content; available separately is a $39.99 controller for playing video games.

"Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price — people are going to love Fire TV," Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. "Voice search that actually works means no more typing on an alphabet grid. Our exclusive new ASAP feature predicts the shows you'll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly. And our open approach gives you not just Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, but also Netflix, Hulu Plus, and more. On Fire TV you can watch Alpha House and House of Cards."

Amazon hopes Fire TV gives it an advantage over streaming competitor Netflix, which does not sell its own connected devices but is available on more than 1,000 devices including smart TVs, Blu-ray Disc players and video game consoles.

Amazon "sees the millions of set top boxes that they sell, they know this is a hot market," said analyst James McQuivey, author of Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation. McQuivey was among several analysts and tech journalists attending the event, providing updates on Twitter about Amazon's announcement.

The new settop box, unveiled by Peter Larsen, the company's vice president in charge of Kindle, is "very thin, about the size of a small piece of toast," McQuivey said. And the Fire TV name "makes good sense, builds on the brand," he added.

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield posted that the Fire TV settop box promises to be three times as fast as competing products. For Netflix, which is a competitor in terms of streaming video content, Amazon's announcement is good news in a way.

The "more IP-enabled TVs the better for #netflix - makes it easier to get to their service on the big screen," he noted on Twitter.

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5 Dead After Powerful Quake Strikes Off Chile's Coast

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 struck off the coast of Chile tonight, strong enough to be felt nearly 300 miles away in the Bolivian capital, and triggering a small tsunami.

Five people are confirmed dead - four men and one woman, Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said. The victims died from either cardiac arrest or falling debris.

The quake, which was centered 61 miles west-northwest of Iquique, and was 6.21 miles deep, was initially measured at 8.0, but was later upgraded, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

nullFrancesco Degasperi/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom
Locals sit on the street following a tsunami alert after a powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit off Chile's Pacific coast, on April 1, 2014 in Antofagasta.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a six-foot tsunami hit Pisagua, Chile, at 8:04 p.m. ET. There was some damage reported on roads linking northern towns between Iquique and Alto Auspicio.
A tsunami warning for countries in the area - including Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama - was canceled.

An advisory remains in effect for Hawaii, but the waves aren't expected to cause much damage, Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, told ABC News.

"The waves will not be big enough to cause any flooding, so nobody needs to evacuate. But we just want to clear the beaches. And fortunately, since it's 3:30 in the morning, that's really no hardship," Fryer said.

“The biggest worry is the currents. If anyone is in the water, you know fishing or something like that, they could get banged up or swept out to sea or something.”

The northern part of Chile is being declared a disaster zone and armed forces are on their way to the area, President Michelle Bachelet said at an overnight press conference. The presidents of Peru and Argentina have called, lending support if needed, Bachelet said.

The earthquake was so strong that the shaking it caused in La Paz, Bolivia, 290 miles from the epicenter, was the equivalent of a 4.5-magnitude tremor, authorities there said. The quake triggered at least eight strong aftershocks in the first few hours, including a 6.2 tremor.

In Chile, evacuation orders were issued for the cities of Arica, Iquique and Antofagasta. All cities were along a low coast and each evacuation involved a significant climb to higher land further inland.

Salvador Urrutia, the mayor of Arica, said there were minor injuries in the city but no deaths reported. Some homes were damaged, but the modern structures and taller buildings were not damaged.

He said the city was without power and had no cellphone service.

Despite the fear caused by the evacuation order, which was not limited to the coast, he said people remained calm.


Evacuations were ordered along the coast in Peru. In the seaside town of Boca del Rio, waves 2 meters above normal hit the shore, but there were no injuries or major damage, Col. Enrique Blanco, the regional police chief in Tacna, a Peruvian city of 300,000 near the Chilean border, told The Associated Press.

"The lights went out briefly, but were re-established," Blanco said.

Two waves hit initially Iquique and Pisagua, but none larger than two meters.

The first wave was not necessarily the strongest, local officials said, and people were warned not to return to the coastline until alert is lifted.

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Seven a day 'better than five' fruit and veg portions

Eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day is healthier than the five currently recommended and would save more lives, researchers say.

A study of 65,226 men and women indicated the more fruit and vegetables people ate, the less likely they were to die - at any age.

"Seven a day" cut death risk by 42%, "five a day" by 29%, it indicated.

But the government says its "five-a-day" advice is sufficient and that many of us struggle to achieve even this.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

The clear message here is that the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to die at any age”

Dr Oyinola Oyebode
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL
Experts said other lifestyle factors, such as not smoking or drinking excessively, may have accounted for the drop in mortality, not just fruit and veg consumption, although the study authors said they had tried to account for this.

The University College London researchers used the National Health Survey, which collects data from people in the UK each year through questionnaires and nurse visits, to look at diet and lifestyle.

They analysed data between 2001 and 2008, which provided a snapshot rather than people's continuing dietary habits throughout the seven-year period.

Continue reading the main story
Five a day

The five-a-day message is based on advice from the World Health Organization
It highlights the health benefits of getting five 80g (3oz) portions of fruit and vegetables every day
Your five portions should include a variety of fruit and vegetables
Most fruits and veg count towards five a day
The government says it can include fresh, frozen, canned, dried or pure juices
Potatoes and cassava don't count because they mainly contribute starch to the diet
Death risk from any cause decreased as fruit and veg consumption increased.

Risk of death by any cause was reduced by:

14% by eating one to three portions of fruit or veg per day
29% for three to five
36% for five to seven
42% for seven or more
Fresh vegetables had the strongest protective effect, followed by salad and then fruit.

Fruit juice conferred no benefit, while canned fruit appeared to increase the risk of death - possibly because it is stored in sugary syrup, say the researchers.

woman eating broccoli Fresh vegetables appeared to offer the most protection
Lead investigator Dr Oyinlola Oyebode said: "The clear message here is that the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to die - at any age."

She said the size of the effect was "staggering", but added that eating a few portions a day was still better than nothing.

'Struggling' for five
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

You cannot extrapolate from this kind of information to make sensible pronouncements about what people should eat”

Prof Tom Sanders
School of Medicine, King's College London
Fruit and vegetables could have a protective effect against disease as they contained antioxidants, which repair damage to cells, she said.

Experts said the work was not conclusive and that other lifestyle factors may have influenced the results.

Prof Tom Sanders, at the School of Medicine, King's College London, said it was "already known" that people who said they ate lots of fruit and vegetables were health conscious, educated and better-off, which could account for the drop in risk.

"You cannot extrapolate from this kind of information to make sensible pronouncements about what people should eat."

Prof Naveed Sattar, of the University of Glasgow, said promoting a seven-a-day message would be "really challenging".

"It would require governmental support such as subsidising the cost of fruit and vegetables, perhaps by taxing sugar-rich foods, and making available high quality products to all in society," he said.

A spokeswoman for Public Health England said it "welcomes this new research, which supports existing evidence showing the health benefits of consuming fruit and vegetables".

But she added about 66% of adults did not eat five a day and some only ate one.

She said the organisation would focus on increasing the "overall" consumption of fruit and veg to cut the risk of disease.

Victoria Taylor, senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, said people were still struggling to meet the existing target of at least five a day.

"While you may not be getting your five a day, there's no reason to give up and stop trying as this study showed there were health benefits for every extra portion of fruit and veg people ate," she said.

In Australia, the government's advice is "two plus five" a day - encouraging people to eat two helpings of fruit and five portions of vegetables.

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Global Warming Impacts Widespread, U.N. Panel Says

The second part of a four-part report from the United Nations finds global warming has already had a widespread effect and the problem will become increasingly difficult to manage. Report co-author Michael Oppenheimer joins the News Hub with the key takeaways. Photo: NASA.

Climate change is having a big impact on both the earth's natural systems and how people live, according to the most comprehensive assessment of the threat of a warming planet done so far.

The second part in a four-part report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the problem will become increasingly difficult to manage, with possible threats to everything from the food supply to coral reefs and low-lying coastal areas.

"The striking feature of observed impacts is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to large continents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest," said Chris Field, a researcher at the Carnegie Institution of Science in Stanford, Calif., and one of the lead authors of the report.

The report is the most comprehensive assessment of its kind since a similar IPCC report was published in 2007. The first part, which analyzed the scientific evidence of climate change and was released in September, concluded that human activity was the dominant cause behind a rise in global temperatures.

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Put together by more than 300 scientific authors, the report is based on hundreds of additional studies whose findings weren't available for the 2007 report. While many of the conclusions echo those in the previous one, they are based on many more measurements – taken from the seas, land and from space.

The authors acknowledge that it is still hard to pinpoint the impact of climate regions in many parts of the world. Future projections are also hindered by a reliance on highly-complex models, which are only as good as their design and the quality of data that goes into them. For this reason, some of the IPCC's projections in the past have been criticized as being alarmist.

Some of the most striking findings involved the impact on crop and food production. For example, observed data and several studies showed that a warming climate generally reduces yields of staple cereals such as wheat, rice and maize, though the impact varies in different regions and latitudes. That could leave many more people struggling to feed themselves.

The report noted, with "medium confidence," that since 2007 there had been several periods of rapid food and cereal price increases following climate extremes in key producing regions, and that "several of these climate extremes were made more likely as the result of [man-made] emissions."

"The key new finding that they're emphasizing is that climate change is being felt by people and not just by polar bears," said Myles Allen, climate scientist at the University of Oxford in England, who wasn't involved in the latest IPCC report.

Since the last impact-assessment done by the IPCC, "the scientific literature has advanced and we have a lot more information, especially about the opportunities for adapting to climate change."

As in past assessments, the IPCC has qualified the degree of certainty for each key finding on the basis of different levels of confidence, ranging from "very low" to "very high." The levels are determined by a team of researchers who together sift through scores of studies on a particular subject in order to evaluate the evidence. "Generally, evidence is more robust when there are multiple, consistent lines of high-quality evidence," the IPCC said.

Based on an assessment of several studies they cite, the authors conclude they have "high confidence" that mass bleaching and death of coral, triggered by unusually warm temperatures, "is the most widespread and conspicuous impact of climate change."

Elsewhere, the study says it "is very likely that mean annual temperature has increased over the past century over most of North America," while warming has been less pronounced over areas of the central and southeastern U.S. In this case, "very likely" means 90%-100% probability, according to the IPCC's methodology.

The IPCC report says a global-temperature rise of 2.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels could lead to global economic losses between 0.2% and 2.0% of income.

Funding needed to offset the impact of climate change is lacking, the report warned, saying developing countries would need between $70 billion to $100 billion a year to implement needed measures. And efforts to reduce the effects of climate change would only have a marginal effect on reducing poverty unless "structural inequalities are addressed and needs for equity among poor and non-poor people are met."

The third installment of the IPCC assessment, on how to cut greenhouse gases, will be published in April.

—Alexander Martin in Tokyo contributed to this article.

Write to Gautam Naik at gautam.naik@wsj.com

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Boston Red Sox - TeamReport

MLB Team Report - Boston Red Sox - INSIDE PITCH

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The odds of winning another World Series are stacked against the Boston Red Sox even before they play a game.

Over the last 35 years, there were only two repeat champions: the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992-93 and the dynastic New York Yankees, who won four titles in five seasons, including three in a row from 1998-2000. Since 2000, defending World Series champs averaged only 88.4 wins. Six of the last 13 didn't even make the playoffs one year after spraying champagne.

While repeating is difficult, it isn't impossible. And with 19 of 25 players from the World Series roster back in the fold, including core stars David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester, the Red Sox believe they are well-positioned to win again.

"I don't think we're looking at it as repeating," said Lester, the Red Sox's ace lefty. "We look at it as a new goal and a new challenge. We're going to go out there and do a lot of the same things we did last year as far as grinding each game out, worrying about now and not tomorrow or yesterday or anything like that. Not a lot has changed. I expect a lot of the same from these guys."

The Red Sox accomplished most of their goals in spring training, including finding a replacement for Jacoby Ellsbury, the center fielder who bolted for a $153 million contract from the rival New York Yankees.

Once among the league's most dynamic players, Grady Sizemore proved he is finally healthy after microfracture surgery on both knees. He outplayed rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. during spring training and was set to claim the job in the days leading up to the season opener.

The Red Sox also began to infuse their core with a group of young players. Touted 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts will take over at shortstop. He is displaying the 20-homer power and veteran poise that made him such a prized prospect. Meanwhile, third baseman Will Middlebrooks will look to bounce back after a disappointing 2013 in which he wound up back in the minors for seven weeks.

"This is a game for young players," team president Larry Lucchino said. "The idea of having young players play such pivotal roles on the team is one of the most interesting dynamics of the game. I love the idea of going with younger players and watching them develop in front of our eyes."

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MLB Team Report - Boston Red Sox - NOTES, QUOTES

--RF Shane Victorino injured his right hamstring March 29 in the spring training finale, and he underwent an MRI exam March 30. More tests were expected to be done, leaving Victorino's status for the March 31 season opener uncertain. Manager John Farrell said Jackie Bradley Jr., who was sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket, could be called back up if Victorino needs to be replaced.

--LHP Jon Lester will start Opening Day. The 30-year-old veteran, who helped the Red Sox win the World Series last fall, will pitch March 31 against the Orioles in Baltimore. "I know, earth-shattering news, and the world is round. So he starts Monday," manager John Farrell said March 27 in Fort Myers, Fla.

Lester, 30, will pitch the season opener for the fourth time. He is coming off a World Series in which he went 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA as the Red Sox topped the St. Louis Cardinals. In five postseason starts, Lester went 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA. In the 2013 regular season, Lester finished 15-8 with a 3.75 ERA. A two-time All-Star, Lester has a 100-56 career record and a 3.76 ERA in eight seasons with Boston.

--Contract extension talks between the Red Sox and Lester are being put on hold, according to the Providence Journal.

General manager Ben Cherington told the newspaper the two sides decided to "hit the pause button" on the negotiations after hoping to have a deal worked out by Opening Day.

Cherington recently said talks were going well but since they could not work out a deal, they decided to focus on the season instead. Lester and the club are still interested in possibly reviving talks later in this year.

Lester, 30, has one year left on his contract. He is reportedly looking for a new deal for five years and about $100 million.

--DH David Ortiz got his wish for a contract extension that almost certainly will keep him with the Red Sox for the rest of his career. "You have a guy like David who's meant so much to the team, on and off the field, for so long, he sort of goes beyond the typical player relationship," GM Ben Cherington said. "I think we owe him our time, a conversation, whenever he wants it. That doesn't mean we're always going to find a way to resolve something or find agreement on something, but he's sort of passed in our eyes the typical player in the context of a contract negotiation."

Ortiz will make $16 million in 2015, a $1 million raise from his 2014 salary. The agreement also includes a vesting option for 2016 that has a base value of $10 million and escalates to $11 million with 425 plate appearances in 2015, $12 million with 475, $13 million with 525, $14 million with 550, $15 million with 575 and $16 million with 600. There's a 2017 club option with the same escalating values.

"I guess you guys get tired of me talking about contracts all the time," Ortiz said of the importance of the option years.

--LHP Jon Lester isn't about to judge anyone else's decisions, but he admits he wouldn't have turned down the $144 million the Tigers put in front of RHP Max Scherzer. "It would be tough, let's put it that way," Lester said. "It would be tough." Like Scherzer, Lester is eligible for free agency after the season. However, while Scherzer tabled conversations, Lester is still trying to work out a deal. The left-handed Lester and right-handed Scherzer were born seven months apart in 1984. Lester owns the better overall career, with two All-Star appearances and 100 victories before his 30th birthday. Scherzer has had the best single season, his 21-3 Cy Young Award-winning 2013 that ended with a loss to Lester's Red Sox in the American League Championship Series.

--3B Will Middlebrooks can't recite his spring training batting average (.341 through March 26), but he knows he feels different at the plate.

"Approach-wise, this is the most consistent I've been," Middlebrooks said. "Just swinging at what I want to swing at, not minding going down 0-2 if the pitcher throws me what I'm not looking for. I just feel comfortable throughout the count with all pitches -- off-speed, fastball, in, out."

A free swinger with power who is far more prone to striking out than drawing a walk, Middlebrooks never will be confused with his Red Sox teammates who grind out long at-bats and drive up pitch counts. However, he spent considerable time talking with LF Jonny Gomes and DH David Ortiz in an attempt to develop a more disciplined approach.

"My contact's there, power's there, and I think I just finally am seeing the ball how I should be," he said. "I think a lot of that goes with being healthy and working on my approach, talking with the guys, watching a lot of video. A lot's gone into it, so it's nice for it to all start to come together a little bit."

--LHP Craig Breslow (left shoulder soreness) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 21. Breslow didn't make his spring training debut until March 24, giving him one week to prove he was ready for Opening Day. But the Red Sox are, in manager John Farrell's words, taking a realistic approach with Breslow, and it is telling that the veteran lefty was pitching in minor league games. By keeping him out of big league spring training games, the Sox are giving themselves flexibility to backdate his stint on the disabled list. Farrell said the move could be made retroactively, which would allow Breslow to be activated as early as April 5. In Breslow's absence, the Red Sox are expected to give the final seat in the bullpen to RHP Brandon Workman, who would be used in a multi-inning role after getting stretched out as a starter in spring training.

--C A.J. Pierzynski is 37, only four years younger than Jason Varitek. He made his big league debut in 1998, Varitek's first full season in the majors. Pierzynski has started 1,589 games behind the plate, the most among active catchers and 217 more than Varitek in his celebrated 15-year career. However, that hasn't stopped Pierzynski from soliciting pointers from Varitek this spring. Two years after retiring, Varitek spent time in camp in his role as a special adviser, assisting catching instructor Dana LeVangie. Pierzynski sought out the former Red Sox captain to unearth a few of the secrets that sparked his admiration for his longtime catching contemporary.

"He's one of those guys, he came before me, so you kind of always looked up to him," Pierzynski said. "To be able to be in the same organization and be able to talk to him and learn things from him, it's huge. You can always get better, and he was one of the best, so anything he can bring to the table to help me, I'm definitely going to take and use."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's like I told Ben when we were going through this negotiation: 'There's going to be that day when I'm not going to feel like doing what I normally do. When that happens, everybody is going to know it.' Meanwhile, I feel great. I'm still hungry. I want to keep on winning. Winning is good. You feel great when you go out there and kick some ass." -- DH David Ortiz, after signing a contract extension that likely will keep him with the Red Sox for the rest of his career.

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MLB Team Report - Boston Red Sox - ROSTER REPORT

ROTATION:

1. LHP Jon Lester

2. RHP John Lackey

3. LHP Felix Doubront

4. RHP Jake Peavy

5. RHP Clay Buchholz

Lester is the ace after going 15-8 with a 3.75 ERA last season and playing a starring role in the playoffs. Lester went 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA against the Cardinals in the World Series, and he may have been named MVP if not for DH David Ortiz batting .688. Lester will make his fourth consecutive Opening Day start, and he was discussing a contract extension that would remove him from the free agent market next winter and possibly allow him to finish his career with the Red Sox.

Lackey made a successful return last season after missing 2012 while recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery. Doubront may have the highest upside of any pitcher in the rotation, posting a 2.99 ERA over a 15-start stretch last season while Lester struggled and Buchholz was injured.

Peavy was acquired at the trade deadline and went 4-1 with a 4.04 ERA in 10 starts for the Red Sox. He isn't nearly as dominant as earlier in his career when he won a Cy Young Award, but he remains a proven veteran.

In many ways, Buchholz is the wild card in the rotation. When healthy, he is among the best pitchers in the league. However, Buchholz has never stayed healthy for a full season. Last year, he went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA but missed nearly three months with a shoulder strain, then battled a lat injury in the playoffs and World Series. He hasn't made more than 29 starts or thrown more than 189 1/3 innings in a season, so the Red Sox are slotting him at the back of the rotation to build in additional rest wherever possible.

BULLPEN:

RHP Koji Uehara (closer)

RHP Edward Mujica

RHP Junichi Tazawa

LHP Andrew Miller

RHP Burke Badenhop

LHP Chris Capuano

RHP Brandon Workman

Uehara wasn't the Red Sox's first or second choice to close games last season, but after injuries to RHPs Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey, he emerged as one of the most dominant ninth-inning pitchers in history. Uehara posted a 1.09 ERA and 21 saves, and his 0.57 walks-plus-hits-to-innings-pitched ratio was the lowest in major league history.

The Red Sox learned last season that bullpen depth is essential, and because Uehara threw a career-high 88 innings (including the playoffs), they signed Mujica to serve as the primary setup man and closer insurance. It is a role Mujica held last season with the Cardinals, for whom he notched 37 saves and a 2.78 ERA. Tazawa will reprise his seventh- and eighth-inning role, and he should return with added confidence after a stellar postseason.

Miller will serve as the primary lefty after coming back from season-ending Lisfranc surgery on his left foot last July. Eventually, he will be joined by LHP Craig Breslow, who will open the season on the disabled list. Until then, Workman will pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen, although the Red Sox still view him as a long-term starter. Badenhop was signed as a free agent because of his ability to get groundballs, while the addition of Capuano gives the Red Sox another multi-inning reliever and depth for the rotation.

LINEUP:

1. CF Grady Sizemore

2. 2B Dustin Pedroia

3. DH David Ortiz

4. 1B Mike Napoli

5. LF Daniel Nava

6. RF Shane Victorino

7. SS Xander Bogaerts

8. C A.J. Pierzynski

9. 3B Will Middlebrooks

Sizemore was the front-runner to claim the center field job in the final days of spring training, having proven he was healthy again after missing the past two seasons while recovering from multiple surgeries. From 2006-08, he was among the most dynamic players in the majors, and the Red Sox are hoping the 31-year-old can help them replace Jacoby Ellsbury in center field and atop the order. Pedroia is healthy again after playing almost all of last season with a torn ligament in his wrist. At age 38, Ortiz is as productive as ever. He was one of only three players last season to bat at least .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBIs, joining Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera.

Napoli remains a middle-of-the-order force and a right-handed complement to the lefty-swinging Ortiz. Nava is a switch hitter, but because he is better from the left side of the plate, he typically starts against right-handed pitching and sits against lefties. Victorino was productive in his first season with the Red Sox, and after recovering from offseason thumb surgery, he may go back to hitting from both sides of the plate. He batted almost exclusively from the right side down the stretch and in the playoffs last year.

Bogaerts may wind up batting in the middle of the order before long, although the Red Sox likely will take some pressure off the touted rookie by starting him lower in the order. Ditto for Middlebrooks, who will attempt to rebound from a poor second season after a promising rookie year. Pierzynski takes over for departed free agent C Jarrod Saltalamacchia and arrives with a proven track record for durability, having started more games behind the plate (1,589) than any active major league catcher.

RESERVES:

C David Ross

OF Jonny Gomes

INF Jonathan Herrera

INF/OF Mike Carp

Ross is so well-regarded within the organization that he took over behind the plate for starter Jarrod Saltalamacchia midway through the World Series. Known for his game-calling and defense, he figures to play more than the typical backup catcher. Gomes is part of a productive left field platoon with Nava, playing primarily against left-handed pitching.

Herrera takes over as a versatile middle infielder capable of playing shortstop, second base and third base. Carp was valuable as a super-sub and a left-handed pinch hitter last season. In only 216 at-bats, he had nine homers, 43 RBIs and a .523 slugging percentage.

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Mozilla under fire for new CEO’s anti-gay past

It’s been a rough week for Mozilla.

Seven days after naming its new CEO, the Mountain View-based corporation best known for developing the popular web browser Firefox has yet to put out the fires it developed for placing Brendan Eich at the company’s helm.

Though Eich’s professional background could color anyone impressed (he created JavaScript, one of the most popular programming languages on the Web, and co-founded mozilla.org), his personal background has one, glaring, black mark for a company committed to the principle of equality: Six years ago, Eich donated $1,000 to the campaign for Proposition 8, California’s now-defunct ban on same-sex marriage.

The donation itself isn’t breaking news; it first became public in 2012 when Eich was still the company’s chief technology officer, and one year before the U.S. Supreme Court hammered the final nail in Prop 8’s coffin. But his elevation to the top job at Mozilla last Monday sparked a renewed backlash, one with public condemnations from employees and resignations from half the company’s board.

“As a gay couple who were unable to get married in California until recently, we morally cannot support a foundation that would not only leave someone with hateful views in power, but will give them a promotion and put them in charge of the entire organization,” wrote Hampton Catlin, CTO of Moovweb and CEO of Rarebit, which he co-founded with his husband, Michael Catlin. The couple pulled their software company’s apps from the Firefox Marketplace in protest of Eich’s appointment.

Adding to the company’s PR nightmare, three of Mozilla’s six board members —  including two former CEOs — resigned in the wake of Eich’s hiring. According to The Wall Street Journal, the board members did not step down over political views, but because they wanted to see an outside candidate with experience in the mobile industry take over the chief executive slot.

Many Mozillians took to Twitter to voice their disapproval.

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Kerry Seeks to Save Mideast Talks as Pollard Release Raised

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry returned to the Middle East on a surprise trip to rescue stalled peace talks, as a release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard emerged as a possible bargaining chip.

Early freedom for Pollard, the imprisoned American naval intelligence analyst convicted in 1987 of passing secrets to Israel, was among incentives Kerry offered in two hours of meetings yesterday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz said, citing an unidentified Israeli official. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki didn’t dispute the report.

Kerry is trying to craft a formula for extending nine months of peace talks that are due to expire at the end of April. With the negotiations stumbling most recently over an overdue Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners, that deadline is looming.

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The previous goal of reaching agreement on a “framework” as a first step toward a peace deal is fading as the focus shifts to extending the talks and moving toward resolving “final status” issues in an agreement by late this year, according to one U.S. official who wasn’t authorized to comment by name.

Kerry changed his travel plans yesterday to squeeze in a last-minute visit to Israel and the West Bank, deciding “it would be productive to return to the region,” Psaki said. Kerry met early today with Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority.

Pollard’s Imprisonment

Pollard’s imprisonment has long been a source of tension in U.S.-Israeli relations. Netanyahu has been trying to get the U.S. to release Pollard since his first term as prime minister.

Pollard, 59, who was sentenced to life in prison and is eligible for parole, is scheduled to be released from a medium-security prison in Butner, North Carolina, on Nov. 21, 2015, pending a final review by the U.S. Parole Commission, said Chris Burke, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

While freeing Pollard about a year and a half early could spur Israel to make concessions that would keep the peace talks alive, it also may cause an uproar among current and former U.S. intelligence officials who consider him a traitor.

‘Real Outrage’

“We would express our real outrage that an unrepentant spy is being released for an abstract political point that really won’t make a difference,” said Oliver “Buck” Revell, who served as associate deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation when Pollard was convicted.

“He hasn’t cooperated,” Revell said in a telephone interview. “He hasn’t apologized, so let his sentence run out.”

In 1998, more than a decade after Pollard’s conviction, Israel acknowledged Pollard’s espionage activities in an attempt to facilitate his release. He was granted Israeli citizenship during his imprisonment.

Kerry sandwiched the Mideast trip between talks with the Russian foreign minister in Paris and a meeting with foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization scheduled for today in Brussels. His broader mission is to get Israelis and Palestinians to agree on guidelines for conducting substantive talks on the peace treaty they’ve been negotiating intermittently for more than 20 years.

Threat to Quit

Palestinian leaders have threatened to quit the talks if the prisoner release that was scheduled for March 29 is postponed further. Some of Netanyahu’s coalition partners say they’ll leave the cabinet if he proceeds with the release, threatening his government with collapse. Before the peace talks resumed in July, Israel agreed to release 104 prisoners in four rounds, and three groups have been freed.

Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., told reporters on a conference call yesterday that the talks probably will continue past April. “I’ve only had indications that everybody’s interested in pushing beyond the deadline,” he said.

Pollard was arrested in 1985, after delivering to Israel about 800 documents, some of which were classified top secret, according to the National Security Archive, a nonprofit research group at George Washington University in Washington. He also stole an estimated 1,500 U.S. intelligence summary messages.

The Central Intelligence Agency’s 1987 damage assessment of Pollard’s activities showed he provided Israel with information on topics including Iraqi and Syrian chemical warfare production capabilities, Soviet arms shipments to Syria and other Arab states, Pakistan’s nuclear program and the capabilities of Tunisian and Libyan air defense systems. He also provided a U.S. assessment of Israeli military capabilities, according to a summary from the National Security Archive.

To contact the reporters on this story: Terry Atlas in Jerusalem at tatlas@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Ferziger in Tel Aviv at jferziger@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net; John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net Larry Liebert

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Mississippi high court halts woman's execution, orders a new trial

Until Monday, Michelle Byrom was set to become the first woman executed by Mississippi in 70 years -- for a murder her son reportedly confessed to committing.

The Mississippi Supreme Court halted Byrom's execution, threw out her murder conviction and ordered a new trial in one of the nation's most closely watched capital-punishment cases.

In the decision handed down Monday, the court called its own move "extraordinary and extremely rare," at least compared to similar death-penalty appeals, few of which result in new trials.
But the particulars of Byrom's case have also been peculiar, according to observers who have followed it.
Byrom, 56, had been convicted of masterminding the 1999 murder of her husband, Edward Byrom Sr., and got the death penalty despite confessions by her son, Edward Jr., that pointed to a possible crime of passion.
"As I sat on my bed, tears of rage flowing, remembering my childhood my anger kept building and building, and I went to my car, got the 9mm, and walked to his room, peeked in, and he was asleep," read one letter by Edward Byrom Jr., quoted in the Jackson Free Press. "I walked about 2 steps in the door, and screamed, and shut my eyes, when I heard him move, I started firing."
But jurors never heard of those confessions, according to local media. Instead, officials argued that one of Edward Byrom Jr.'s friends, Joey Gillis, was the triggerman as part of a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Michelle Byrom.

Gillis and Edward Byrom Jr. were convicted of lesser crimes and are now free, while Michelle Byrom got the death penalty. At one point, her execution had been scheduled for last week.
The prosecution has received national criticism, with legal analyst Andrew Cohen writing in the Atlantic that the case contained an "unholy trinity" of constitutional problems: "Her lawyers acted incompetently at trial, making one mistake after another. Exculpatory evidence that likely would have changed the outcome of her trial was hidden from her by the trial judge, and perhaps by prosecutors as well. Dealing with codefendants, prosecutors played a form of musical chairs with the facts and with the charges."
One Mississippi Supreme Court justice had previously written of Byrom's defense against the death penalty: "I have attempted to conjure up in my imagination a more egregious case of ineffective assistance of counsel during the sentencing phase of a capital case. I cannot."

In the en banc order handed down Monday, the state's highest court did not detail the specifics about why it threw out the conviction, saying simply that the court had reviewed the materials surrounding the case and that Byrom's appeal was "well taken and should be granted."
After the ruling, Byrom's lawyers said in a statement that they were "grateful" for the decision and for the opportunity to give Byrom another shot in court.
"Michelle suffered extreme sexual and physical abuse from an early age and throughout her marriage," the statement said. "We are pleased that Ms. Byrom will now have the opportunity to present the overwhelming evidence that she is innocent of murder-for-hire.”
The case was ordered back to Tishomingo County to be assigned to a different trial judge.

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'Walking Dead' finale: The biggest reveals

Editor's note: Warning: Do not read any further if you have yet to watch the finale of "The Walking Dead's" fourth season.

(CNN) -- It wouldn't be a finale to "The Walking Dead" without at least a few moments that make you gasp, and Sunday night's season ender certainly delivered.

Last week, several survivors, including Glenn and Maggie, arrived at Terminus in what was promised to be a safe haven, but was it really?

We caught up this week with Rick, Carl and Michonne -- interspersed with flashbacks to the comparatively idyllic life back at the prison -- and they too had a rough road to Terminus.

Here are some of the big moments from this week's episode:

1. Joe meets Rick again

Just when it almost seemed like Rick's trio had it all figured out (he even created a new way to trap game), they were set upon by Joe and his up-to-no-good crew of "rule followers" with Daryl in tow.

Despite Daryl begging for mercy, Joe's men started to beat him to death, while others set upon Carl and Michonne.

2. Rick fights back, big time

When Rick saw his son in trouble, he moved his head back and injured Joe, whose gun went off. Rick -- well, there's no other way to put this -- then bit Joe on the neck and went after the rest of his crew, including the man who attacked Carl, repeatedly stabbing him to death.

The other survivors couldn't believe what they were seeing. Needless to say, don't mess with Carl.

On the bright side, Daryl is back. He and Rick are like brothers now, too.

3. Welcome to Terminus

Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Carl finally arrived at Terminus -- sneaking in through the back, of course.

The moment Rick noticed one of the denizens of Terminus wearing Hershel's watch (now owned by Glenn), he pulled a gun on someone -- and wait, isn't that woman wearing Maggie's poncho, too?

It just wouldn't be a finale without a shootout, and we certainly got one as Rick and crew fired against Gareth and the rest from Terminus.

4. What is this place?

Entrails seen in a courtyard? A room where the words "Never again" are painted on the walls? Something's just not right with Terminus. Unfortunately, we didn't find out too much more about this. ...

5. Reunited

Gareth finally gets the upper hand and orders Rick, Daryl and Michonne (the "ringleader, archer and samurai") to enter a train car. An enraged Rick asks about his son, and Gareth tells Carl to walk over to the car.

When they make their way in, they soon realize that Glenn, Maggie, Abraham and others in their group are alive.

Carol, Tyrese and Judith are still making their way to Terminus, as far as we know, but Beth's whereabouts remain unknown.

Rick delivers one of the best lines in the series' history when he tells Glenn, "They're going to feel really stupid when they find out ... they're screwing with the wrong people."

Rick certainly proved that with his actions this week. He's gone from a lawman to the "Ricktator" to something of a go-for-broke violent avenger over the years.

Were you happy to see so many of the survivors reunited and find out that no one died in this finale? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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