Source: money.ca.msn.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
(Reuters) - Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Co (HBC) is close to buying U.S. luxury department store Saks Inc , according to a media report. ...
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The latest diplomatic push follows months of intense shuttle diplomacy by US secretary of state John Kerry who said a week ago the groundwork had been laid for a breakthrough, while setting no specific date for talks to restart.
"Today Kerry spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and personally extended an invitation to send senior negotiating teams to Washington to formally resume direct final status negotiations," state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday.
"Initial meetings are planned for the evening of Monday July 29 and Tuesday July 30," she said.
Nabil Abu Rdaineh, a senior aide to Abbas, who was in Amman, said the Palestinian leader had received Kerry's invitation there from the US ambassador to Jordan and that his negotiating team would be in Washington on Monday.
Israeli negotiators were set to fly to Washington late on Sunday, a government official said.
The US-sponsored talks broke down in late 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, which Palestinians say denies them a viable state.
Netanyahu's cabinet cleared the way earlier on Sunday for the renewal of the talks by approving the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners.
Thirteen ministers voted in favour of the release, seven voted against and two abstained, a government official said.
"The cabinet has authorised the opening of diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinians," said a statement issued by the prime minister's office.
Netanyahu had urged divided rightists in his cabinet to back the prisoner deal.
"This moment is not easy for me, is not easy for the cabinet ministers, and is not easy especially for the bereaved families, whose feelings I understand," he said when the cabinet met, referring to families who have lost members in militant attacks.
"But there are moments in which tough decisions must be made for the good of the nation and this is one of those moments."
Prisoner release
Justice minister Tzipi Livni, who is set to head Israel's negotiation team and will be accompanied by Netanyahu confidant Yitzhak Molcho, told her cabinet colleagues that resuming talks with the Palestinians was a vital national interest.
"Today's cabinet decision is one of the most important for the future of Israel ... Starting a (peace) process is in Israel's security and strategic interests," Livni said.
Abbas has demanded the release of prisoners held since before a 1993 interim peace accord took effect. Israel has jailed thousands more Palestinians since then, many for carrying out deadly attacks.
The prisoner release would allow Netanyahu to sidestep other Palestinian demands, such as a halt to Jewish settlement expansion and a guarantee that negotiations over borders will be based on boundaries from before the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who will be accompanied to Washington by Mohammed Ishtyeh, an Abbas aide, welcomed Israel's decision, which he said had come 14 years late. He pledged to work to free all prisoners held by Israel.
"This Israeli cabinet decision is an overdue step towards the implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement of 1999," he said in a statement. "We call on Israel to seize the opportunity ... to put an end to decades of occupation and exile and to start a new stage of justice, freedom and peace for Israel, Palestine and the rest of the region."
In any future peace deal, Israel wants to keep several settlement blocs and East Jerusalem, which it annexed as part of its capital in a move never recognised internationally.
Hundreds of protesters from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) staged a rally against the resumption of peace talks, clashing with police in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of Abbas's Palestinian Authority.
PFLP activists also demonstrated in Gaza and chanted: "Listen Abbas, our land is not for sale... The (Palestinian) cause will never be resolved except by the rifle."
Appealing for support on his Facebook page on Saturday, Netanyahu said the inmates would be freed in groups only after the start of talks, expected to last at least nine months.
Israeli Channel 1 television said prisoners would be released in three stages, depending on progress in the talks, with a group who are Israeli citizens left until the last stage.
The 22-member cabinet also discussed legislation that would require a referendum on any statehood deal reached with the Palestinians involving a withdrawal from land Israel captured in the 1967 war. It will be sent for parliamentary debate shortly.
Before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud party that Israel would pay a price if peace talks did not resume, according to one official who was there.
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When someone says the word ?healthcare? what immediately comes to mind? If you are like most people you probably first think of doctors, nurses, clinics and hospitals. But in reality there is so much more to health and healthcare than that. In fact, most healthcare takes place where we live, work and play?in our cities and in our homes. Sure, clinics and hospitals are essential, but they are just a part of the healthcare ecosystem and really not even the most important part.
Most of today?s health problems and chronic diseases are determined by our genetic make up (something we cannot control) and how we live (something we often can control).?
Overall health is very much determined by the everyday decisions we make about what we eat, whether we get exercise, our habits (especially smoking and alcohol), our friends, our work, and so much more. Care actually starts in the home and all too often only ends up in clinics or hospitals when what we do at home stops working.
Even the clinic and hospital part of healthcare is shifting these days to put more emphasis on keeping people well instead of only taking care of them when they are sick. But this means a much greater focus is needed on resources, tools and technologies to arm people with the information they need to make smarter decisions and then act on those decisions.
Earlier this month, Microsoft kicked offCityNext, a global initiative that harnesses the power of people?whether as citizens, in businesses, or in governments?to create healthier, greener, safer, and more prosperous places to live. Although the focus of CityNext is far broader than health and healthcare, for all the reasons outlined above it is entirely appropriate that we include health in the dialogue we are having with citizens, businesses, and government leaders. Specific to health and healthcare we are demonstrating how cloud technologies, smart devices, mobile applications and people-centric solutions provide a framework for better access to health information, resources, and services from virtually any location. This includes new tools for personal health and wellness, remote care and case management, social benefits and administration, population health management, and more.
On the personal health and wellness front, I?m pleased to announce that my colleagues in our search division will release a new?Bing Health and Fitness?app in Windows 8.1. Just as there are currently apps for travel, music, video and news, when you install Windows 8, when you install Windows 8.1 there will be an app designed with your health and fitness in mind. Among other cool services in the Bing Health and Fitness app is integration with Microsoft?s application for storing and sharing personal health information, MicrosoftHealthVault. The new Bing Health and Fitness app works through a well organized, very intuitive and frankly quite beautiful aggregation of tools and topics including Diet Tracker, Nutrition and Calories, Exercise Tracker, Exercises, Health Tracker, Symptom Check, Drug Information, and Conditions. You can learn more about Bing Health and Fitness?here. There?s even a preview edition of the app you will see right now if you download thepreview version of Windows 8.1.
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In coming months you?ll be hearing a lot more about CityNext and in particular from me, about how Microsoft and partner technologies are being used to improve communication and collaboration, data analytics, and productivity in health and healthcare for citizens and patients as well as for all of those who work in the healthcare industry.
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Bill Crounse, MD??????? Senior Director, Worldwide Health??????????Microsoft
Connect: 
Authored by:
Bill Crounse, MD, is Senior Director, Worldwide Health for the Microsoft Corporation. He is responsible for providing worldwide thought leadership, vision, and strategy for Microsoft technologies and solutions in the healthcare provider industry. He received his B.S. Degree at the University of Puget Sound and is a graduate of the Medical University of Ohio. As a board certified family ...
See complete profile
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DANBURY, Conn. -- Western Connecticut State University graduate Angelo Tsingerliotis of Norwalk is awaiting a call on whether he will play for the Greek national baseball team in the European Championship for the second time.
Tsingerliotis, also a Trinity Catholic High School graduate, played for Greece in the European Championships in 2012. He is hoping to represent the country of his ancestors again in the 2014 games in Prague.
?Playing for the country of my heritage was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, one that I will remember forever,? Tsingerliotis said in a statement. ?It was much more than representing a town, a state or even a college. I was representing millions in Greece with the word ?Hellas? on the front of my jersey."
Tsingerliotis, who played for the men's soccer team at WestConn in Danbury, was selected for the 2012 Greek national team after a successful tryout in Athens. He had a batting average of more than .300 for Spartakos Glyfadas, a leading team in Greece?s Champions League.
The highlight of the tournament was his start in a game against Croatia, where he delivered a hit and drove in a run in a 7-2 victory, Tsingerliotis said.
His tournament experience was cut short by a shoulder injury, but the excitement of being a member of the Greek national team has lingered long after the competition?s end.
?After the games, kids would line up and we would sign autographs for them, and just seeing their faces was worth a million words,"?Tsingerliotis said in the statement.
Tsingerliotis will return to his high school alma mater this fall as an assistant soccer coach for the Trinity Catholic boys soccer team.
Source: http://danbury.dailyvoice.com/sports/westconn-grad-awaits-call-play-baseball-greece
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Goose-stepping soldiers, columns of tanks and a broad array of ominous-looking missiles poised on mobile launchers paraded through Pyongyang's main square in a painstakingly choreographed military pageant intended to strike fear into North Korea's adversaries and rally its people behind young ruler Kim Jong Un on the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
The lavish assembly of weapons and troops is reminiscent of the marches held by the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Cold War. It is one of the few chances the world gets to see North Korea's military up close. Although Pyongyang frequently uses the occasion to reveal new, though not always operational, hardware, there didn't appear to be any new weapons in Saturday's parade. Its arsenal of missiles, however, was front-and-centre.
Overlooking a sea of spectators mobilised in Kim Il Sung Square to cheer and wave flags, leader Kim Jong Un saluted his troops from a review stand. He was flanked by senior military officials, the chests of their olive green and white uniforms laden with medals. As fighter jets screamed overhead, a relaxed looking Kim smiled and talked with China's vice president.
China fought with North Korea during the war and is Pyongyang's only major ally and a crucial source of economic aid. Kim did not make a speech.
Saturday's parade marks a holiday the North Koreans call "Victory Day in the Fatherland Liberation War," although the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and the Korean Peninsula remains technically at war.
In Washington, President Barack Obama marked the day with a speech at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, saying the anniversary marks the end of the war and the beginning of a long and prosperous peace.
"Here today, we can say with confidence, that war was no tie, Korea was a victory," with 50 million South Koreans living in freedom and "a vibrant democracy" in stark contrast to dire conditions in the North, Obama said.
He said the US-South Korea partnership remains "a bedrock of stability" throughout the Pacific region, and gave credit to the US service members who fought all those years ago and to the men and women currently stationed there.
Kim's rule, which began in late 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, has been marked by high tensions with Washington and Seoul. He has overseen two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear test that drew widespread condemnation and tightened UN sanctions.
North and South Korea have turned to tentative diplomacy in recent weeks, but March and April saw North Korean threats of nuclear war against Washington and Seoul in response to annual South Korean-US military drills and UN condemnation of Pyongyang's February nuclear test, the country's third. Long-stalled North Korean nuclear disarmament talks show no sign of resuming.
Last year's parade in Pyongyang, held to commemorate the April celebrations of the 100th birthday of the late national founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, created a buzz among military watchers when the North rolled out a mysterious long-range missile known abroad as the KN-08. Most outside observers now believe the missiles were mock-ups, but they were carried on mobile launchers that appeared to have been obtained from China, possibly against UN arms trade sanctions.
Choe Ryong Hae, the army's top political officer, said North Korea should be ready to fight to defend the stability the country needs to revive the economy. But his speech at Kim Il Sung Square was mild compared with past fiery rhetoric from Pyongyang attacking the United States and South Korea.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, President Park Geun-hye vowed not to tolerate provocations from North Korea - Seoul says North Korean attacks in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans - but she also said Seoul would work on building trust with the North. "I urge North Korea to give up the development of nuclear weapons if the country is to start on a path toward true change and progress," Park said in a speech.
North Korea is estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear bombs, but many analysts don't think it has yet mastered the technology needed to build warheads small enough to fit on long-range missiles.
About 200 people gathered in Seoul, some burning pictures of the North's ruling Kim dynasty, at a rally meant "to condemn the nuclear development and threatening strategy of the tyrannical regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un," said Park Chan-sung, an anti-North Korea activist.
Shin Eun-gyeong, who visited an exhibit on the armistice on Saturday at a recently opened history museum, said she wants the rival Koreas to be unified - but as a democracy, not under North Korea's autocratic rule. "It's a real tragedy for Korea that we are still a divided nation," Shin said.
The North's parade tradition goes back to the founding of the country in 1948. Few countries - including North Korea's communist models - continue to trot out their military forces in public squares with such pomp and pageantry. But Pyongyang has stuck with them because its leaders believe they are a good way to show the world those things about the military they want to reveal, while at the same time sending a potent message domestically of the power of the ruling elite.
"The beauty of a parade is that weapons systems don't actually have to work in order to be impressive - a missile launcher looks good even when the missile won't launch," said David Stone, an expert on the Soviet and Russian militaries at Kansas State University.
That can be risky, however.
Almost as soon as last year's parade was over, military experts around the world said they thought the stars of the show - the long-range KN-08 missiles - were mock-ups of a design that is still being perfected and probably couldn't actually fly, despite North Korea's claims that it has the capability to strike the United States with nuclear-tipped ICBMs.
"They certainly learned that they might lose some reputation by showing imperfect mock-ups," said Marcus Schiller, a private-sector aerospace engineer in Germany who is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea's missile capabilities. "Better to show nothing and let the world know by `leaked secret information' how dangerous they are."
Even so, analysts say the parades send important messages meant to signal strength to North Korea's people - who are not privy to such outside analysis. As it rolled out its arsenal Saturday, military helicopters, jets in formation and other warplanes did flyovers. Later, thousands of civilians marched alongside festive floats, a departure from previous parades. A truckload of soldiers wore chest packs with nuclear symbols.
"After watching this parade, I feel our country could defeat anyone," said Ryang Un Ho, 84, a captain in the North Korean infantry during the war who sat in the hot sun with other veterans at the square for the two-hour spectacle.
- AP
Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10904232&ref=rss
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Enda Tuomey?s WriteFix is a fantastic open resource aimed at English language learners focused on IELTS and TOEFL speaking or writing exams. Enda compiled and refined these study opportunities over the past ten years while working at a technical college in the Middle East. He advises that, ?If you have time, the best thing to do is to start at the beginning, and go step-by-step through the procedure for writing an argument essay.?
Source: http://edtechisus.com/?p=4206
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Gamers and the gaming community have often been seen as being unnecessarily aggressive in games with ? ?slurs on people?s mothers being the absolute norm and attacks on peoples? gender, race and belief systems simply par for the course. So why do I single out DOTA 2?
Well, because while the gaming communities are often their own worst enemies when it comes to being respected as a mature hobby and something that can be grown into a truly representative sport, it has always been inclusive of other members of the gaming community.
Yes it?s hard to get into and you need some seriously thick skin to stay here but generally gamers like gamers and things are pretty happy all round. That is until DOTA arrived.?I?m generally an average gamer; I can hold my own in most games and while any game has a learning curve I?ve never before been massively abused for being a noob? that is until I tried DOTA.
But let?s take a step back here. The first I heard about DOTA was from a friend in the industry who has a hopeless addiction to the game. He went on about how incredible the game was and how deep the strategy and gameplay was and that I should really give it a go.
So I agreed and installed DOTA 2 and then asked if I can join his game his response surprised me
?er, no I think maybe you should just play with bots for a couple of days and then maybe?
I?ve never been invited to play a game before and then get told that they don?t want to play with me. I just thought he was being a bit of an ass so I asked some other regular DOTA players and I got the exact same response from all of them. It was amazing.
So I went online and played some DOTA 2 against the bots ? and it was painfully boring. I had no idea what I was meant to do (besides the obvious) and after about 3 games I just gave up.
I then entered the South Africa DOTA 2 group on Steam. I mean South Africans are awesome people and so I?d surely find someone on there to have a casual game with me.?How wrong I was. I got invited to 3 games and then when I said I was a noob I got instantly kicked. No explanation given just a pure kick.
When I asked the main chat group why no one would play with a noob I was subjected to a torrent of abuse. It was amazing. I?ve received a crap load of abuse while running this site and I have to say that the abuse I came under on the DOTA group for simply saying I?m a noob was mind-blowing.
But what?s more depressing really are posts like this that people publically post on forums like neogaf
The headline reads, Region Lock Multiplayer Games Good, which besides its horrendous English is a very strange thing to see on a gaming forum. The actual post is worse though.
?Lost 4/5 games in dota 2 today because brazil and peru player wont fucking stay in their own region.
Goes into us east/west and ruins the game.
Someone disconnects? *checks steam profile* GUESS WHAT, south american
entire game, their little group talks in their own language, when they die, they start blaming it on other people, all i see is ? ?report _____?, ?jajaja?, ?nob?, other broken english being spammed using mic and speaking entire time, other teammates have no clue what?s going on and is really annoying (i had a game once where 4 of us were english speakers and the 5th guy was probably spanish, he kept talking into the mic, the rest of us told him NONE of us spoke his language but he continued to speak the entire game) of course i?ve had good games with them before, but holy shit, when it?s 1 game out of 20, just fuck it, ip ban them from our region please?
So this game has become so divisive that it is now seen as acceptable to post on public forums that you don?t want people of other races and languages to play with you in your game??The game itself may be good but the vast majority of the community is an acerbic, ?absolute disgrace and they really should be ashamed of themselves.
To any DOTA player who wants to say this isn?t true of them and their friends then tell me; have you complained about the Russians joining your Western servers and ruining the game?
Source: http://www.lazygamer.net/pc-gaming/dota-2-is-a-blight-on-the-gaming-community/
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FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) ? U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was negligent in releasing classified secrets to WikiLeaks, but the former intelligence analyst did not know al-Qaida would see the material, a defense attorney said Friday.
During closing arguments, attorney David Coombs said the soldier did not have "evil intent," a key point prosecutors must prove to convict Manning of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge he faces and one that could land him in prison for the rest of his life. Coombs disputed what prosecutors said a day earlier, that Manning was a traitor whose only mission in Iraq was to give classified information to the anti-secrecy website and bask in the attention.
"He's not seeking attention. He's saying he's willing to accept the price" for what he has done, Coombs said.
After Coombs finished his three-hour argument, there was a smattering of applause from Manning supporters, who were quickly hushed by the judge hearing the case.
"All right, that's enough," said judge Col. Denise Lind. "This is a court of law. I would ask, please, that you keep your reactions muted."
Meanwhile, one of Manning's most visible supporters was banned from the trial after the judge said someone posted threats online. Clark Stoeckley, a college art instructor from New Jersey, confirmed he was the one booted.
Stoeckley attended often as a sketch artist, arriving each day in a white box truck with bold words painted on the sides: "WikiLeaks TOP SECRET Mobile Information Collection Unit."
A tweet Thursday night from an account Stoeckley used said: "I don't know how they sleep at night but I do know where." It was removed Friday and Stoeckley told The Associated Press on Twitter he couldn't comment.
Inside the courtroom, a few spectators smiled ? as did Manning ? when Coombs mocked a former Army supervisor who testified last week that Manning told her the American flag meant nothing to him and that she suspected before they deployed to Iraq that Manning was a spy. Coombs noted she had not written up a report on Manning's alleged disloyalty, though had written ones on him taking too many smoke breaks and drinking too much coffee.
Manning, 25, is charged with 21 offenses, including federal espionage, theft and computer fraud charges.
A native of Crescent, Okla., Manning has acknowledged giving WikiLeaks some 700,000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and videos. But he says he didn't believe the information would harm troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or threaten national security.
"The amount of the documents in this case, actually is the best evidence that he was discreet in what he chose because if he was indiscriminate, if he was systematically harvesting, we wouldn't be talking about a few hundred thousand documents ? we'd be talking about millions of documents," Coombs said.
Coombs said giving the material to WikiLeaks was no different than giving it to a newspaper.
"That's giving information to a legitimate news organization in order to hold the government accountable," Coombs said.
The government disagreed and said Manning would also be charged if he had leaked the classified material to the media.
Coombs also showed three snippets of video from a 2007 U.S. Apache helicopter attack Manning leaked, showing troops firing on a small crowd of men on a Baghdad sidewalk, killing at least nine men, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver. Coombs said the loss of civilian lives shocked and horrified the young soldier.
"You have to look at that from the point of view of a guy who cared about human life," Coombs said.
Lind will deliberate after closing arguments, but it's not clear when she will rule.
Speaking for more than five hours Thursday, Maj. Ashden Fein told the judge Manning gave secrets to a group of anarchists, knowing the material would be seen by the terrorist group al-Qaida.
"WikiLeaks was merely the platform which Pfc. Manning used to ensure all the information was available for the world, including enemies of the United States," Fein said.
Coombs has said Manning was troubled by what he saw in the war ? and at the same time was struggling as a gay man in the era of "don't ask don't tell." Those struggles made him want to do something to make a difference and he hoped revealing what was going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. diplomacy would inspire debate and reform in American foreign and military policy.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday in a telephone press conference the prosecution engaged in "name calling" in its final arguments.
"A prosecution only engages in name calling when it has no evidence," he said.
He said if the aiding the enemy charge is allowed to stand it will be "the end of national security journalism in the United States."
He accused the Obama administration of a "war on whistleblowers" and a "war on journalism."
The verdict and any sentence will be reviewed, and could be reduced, by the commander of the Military District of Washington, currently Maj. Gen. Jeffery S. Buchanan.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/attorney-manning-did-not-evil-intent-203738781.html
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HOUSTON (AP) ? The former nonprofit operating out of the purple-trimmed, one-story brick home in north Houston apparently started with the best of intentions: to feed and shelter homeless individuals.
But Regina's Faith Ministries soon ran afoul of its philanthropic goals as it lost its nonprofit status, violated state licensing regulations and, according to authorities, ended up turning its shelter into a dungeon-like prison where three men say they were held against their will so their captor could cash public assistance checks.
Police said the men, who lived in the home's garage at least a year, were lured by promises of food and cigarettes. Police had initially indicated four men were held captive but later revised the number to three.
Walter Renard Jones, 31, has been charged with two counts of injury to an elderly individual and is being held in the Harris County Jail on bonds totaling $400,000. The three men, as well as another man and four women ? three with mental disabilities ? were discovered in the house last Friday. Authorities say the investigation isn't over.
Jones is the son of Regina Jones, who is listed in state records as one of the former nonprofit's directors. Walter Jones' attorney, Jerome Godinich Jr., did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Another of the ministries' directors, Henry Bolden, said he was shocked by last week's discovery.
"I thought they were doing good," said Bolden, who is the pastor of New Rock of Salvation Holiness Church in Houston.
The three men ?ages 80, 74 and 65 ? told authorities they were forced to live in the home's garage, which had locks on its doors, one chair, no bed or bathroom and a possibly malfunctioning air conditioner. Police say the men were given scraps to eat. They were hospitalized for malnutrition but have since been released and placed at an assisted living facility, police said.
Property records show the home is owned by Essie Mae Scranton, Regina Jones' mother. The brother of Regina Jones said their 81-year-old mother had nothing to do with the nonprofit or with the men found there.
"That's not no shelter," Karey Scranton said. "I don't know what my sister did or what she conjured up or whatever."
Various attempts to reach Regina Jones, 57, this week were unsuccessful. Court records show Jones, also known as Regina Nelson, was previously convicted of several theft charges.
Karey Scranton defended Walter Jones, his nephew.
"The boy would give the shirt off his back to help somebody. He's not no bad person," Scranton said. Court records show Walter Jones previously had been convicted of theft and marijuana possession charges.
Regina's Faith Ministries registered with the state as a nonprofit in December 2008. Bolden said Regina Jones, who was a member of his church, was already running the shelter when she approached him for help. The pastor said he bought 10 mattresses for the facility and sometimes would supply it with food, but had little else to do with it.
"I thought they were feeding them pretty good. Maybe I should have checked in there more," he said.
In 2010, Texas revoked the group's nonprofit status because of tax reporting issues.
The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, a nonprofit which coordinates various local efforts, had not heard of Regina's Faith Ministries before last week, said Marilyn Brown, the group's president and CEO.
Brown said some facilities call themselves group homes, though she said, "Some of them are more legitimate than others."
Regulation of such facilities, which provide personal care services such as feeding and dressing, falls to the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. They are required to be state-licensed only if they provide services to four or more individuals, agency spokeswoman Cecilia Cavuto said.
The agency did investigate the Houston home in November 2011 and spoke with four residents. Cavuto said the four "expressed satisfaction" about how the home was run.
"So our staff did not see any conditions which concerned them related to the health and safety of the residents," she said.
However, the home was found to be in violation of licensure requirements. In a December 2011 letter, Regina Jones told the agency she would drop to three residents, thus no longer requiring a license.
Brown said the extreme conditions these men lived in are rare for such facilities.
She said the hope is that this case re-opens a conversation about gathering more detailed data on what happens to individuals after they use services by the Coalition's members. One of the men found in the home had stayed four nights at a Coalition shelter in August 2010, a review showed, but there was no other record of him.
"People fall into homelessness for many different reasons. ... It's often coupled with mental incapacities, physical disabilities. And so that person may not have the mental capability to recognize when something is questionable and so they do become vulnerable to those who would take advantage (or provide) unacceptable care such as these men found themselves in," Brown said.
___
Follow Juan A. Lozano at http://www.twitter.com/juanlozano70
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ministry-center-texas-captives-case-205252355.html
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