Judge won’t lift limits on stem cell use
Washington Post / September 8, 2010

WASHINGTON — A federal judge yesterday denied a motion to lift an injunction he issued two weeks ago barring the government from funding research involving human embryonic stem cells.

US Chief District Judge Royce Lamberth rejected a request by the Obama administration to lift the temporary injunction he had issued pending an appeal of the decision. But Lamberth indicated that his injunction was less restrictive than had been interpreted by the administration.

“Defendants are incorrect about much of their ‘parade of horribles’ that will supposedly result from this court’s preliminary injunction,’’ Lamberth wrote. The ruling did not necessarily apply to research that had been funded under guidelines issued during the Bush administration or that had previously been “awarded and funded,’’ Lamberth wrote. He also indicated that he could make a final decision on the case soon.

[One of the plaintiffs in this case formerly taught at MIT, and was denied tenure. - ed]

Man caught with shrimp in his pants
By Herald staff – September 8, 2010

Security at Whole Foods Market near Fenway turned the catch of the day over to police.

Store officials told police that James Watson of Boston allegedly stuffed three bags of frozen Wild Key West Pink Shrimp down his pants and tried tailing it out of the store without paying Sunday afternoon, according to a police report.

Watson was arrested and charged with shoplifting and trespassing

Sovereign Bank and BU form alliance
By Yi Wu/BU Daily Free Press – September 8, 2010

Boston University is partnering up with Sovereign Bank to fund several school initiatives, according to a statement by the bank on Friday.

The new partnership will provide scholarships to students of BU’s School of Public Health and start an undergraduate program on Spanish language and culture, according to the statement.

The initiative also includes an outreach program that will give students the opportunity to share Spanish culture and language with the wider Boston community, the statement said.

“We are grateful to Sovereign Bank and Banco Santander for the generous support for two very promising initiatives – one in global health and one in language and literature,” BU President Robert Brown said in the statement. “They are making it possible for us to provide scholarship support for students in the School of Public Health who will do their field practice overseas. And this support is enabling our outreach to the Latino community in the greater Boston area through language and cultural programs. Through its Santander Universities consortium, Sovereign and Santander have made an extraordinary commitment to strengthening international higher education.”

Sovereign Bank, a subsidiary of the Spain-based company Banco Santander, intends to provide support to students through its “Santander Universities” program in order to show support of higher education throughout the world, the statement said.

Now THAT was a storm
By adamg/Universal Hub – 9/8/10 – 8:33 am
We got caught in it as we drove along the Fens: Frequent, vivid lightning flashes, rain coming down in sheets, people just walking slowly because they’d gotten to that point where they realized they were so soaked trying to rush was pointless.
And only 15 minutes earlier, we were busy enjoying a rainbow right over Faulkner Hospital.