Friday, June 21, 2013

SoftBank CEO: Sprint to save average $2 billion a year after acquisition

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investigators have found what they believe are human remains in a search of the former home of late New York mobster Jimmy Burke, suspected mastermind of the 1978 Lufthansa cargo heist, New York City Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove told Reuters on Thursday. She said the medical examiner's Office is checking material FBI agents scouring the Queens home found a day earlier, and it appears they are human remains. "I think they are," Borakove said, declining to comment further. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/softbank-ceo-sprint-save-average-2-billion-acquisition-025225250.html

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Birth control shots could alter life in poor areas

This April 25,2013 photo provided by SpayFirst shows wild dogs near Valentine, Neb. Veterinarians are going to inject 300 wild female dogs with a birth control vaccine that has worked on white-tailed deer, feral horses, wallabies and ferrets. The two-year study on the vaccine GonaCon will be conducted on two poor, isolated Indian reservations in the Pacific Northwest. The dogs are community-owned and get scraps from people who don't want to see them die, even though the litters keep coming. (AP Photo/SpayFirst/Ruth Steinberger)

This April 25,2013 photo provided by SpayFirst shows wild dogs near Valentine, Neb. Veterinarians are going to inject 300 wild female dogs with a birth control vaccine that has worked on white-tailed deer, feral horses, wallabies and ferrets. The two-year study on the vaccine GonaCon will be conducted on two poor, isolated Indian reservations in the Pacific Northwest. The dogs are community-owned and get scraps from people who don't want to see them die, even though the litters keep coming. (AP Photo/SpayFirst/Ruth Steinberger)

(AP) ? A decade ago, the Rosebud Sioux Indians in South Dakota were paying people to catch and shoot wild dogs. Dogs that weren't caught were covered in mange and parasites. Some froze. Some starved. In packs, they survived be eating each other. And dog bites were 20 times worse than the national average.

Because animals are such an important part of Indian history and culture, tribal leaders called spay and neuter expert Ruth Steinberger. In the next eight years, they worked together to sterilize 7,000 dogs, moving 1,500 of them to other parts of the country for adoption.

Many U.S. tribes still rely on roundups to manage dog overpopulation, but two tribes in the West are going to take part in an experiment this fall using shots of a different kind.

Veterinarians plan to catch and inject 300 wild female dogs with a birth control vaccine that has worked on white-tailed deer, wild horses, wallabies and ferrets.

The two-year test using the government vaccine GonaCon is scheduled to begin in September on two isolated Indian reservations in the West, said Steinberger, the project manager. Reservation officials asked not to be identified until the study is further along.

The $60,000 contraceptive study will be conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center and Spay First, Steinberger's Oklahoma-based organization working to reduce dog overpopulation in chronically poor places around the world.

Right now, the dogs are getting scraps from people who don't want to see them die ? but the litters keep coming.

Steinberger, 56, said she learned a long time ago she could do more to help animals by preventing litters rather than rescuing them. Her work at Rosebud is generally considered a textbook example for ending overpopulation.

"The reservation is a better place. ... This is easier to explain in Lakota than in English, but dogs are a part of our lives. They have been in the past and they will be in the future. To be able to take care of them is so important," explained Belva Black Lance, a Rosebud Sioux community advocate who helps with the dog program.

In the GonaCon test, dogs will be caught, microchipped, tattooed, collared, injected and released, she said.

After a year, researchers will round up as many as they can and do blood tests to measure reaction to the vaccine, Steinberger said.

The hardest part of the study might be that roundup, said Dr. Jeffrey Young, founder of Planned Pethood Plus, another group working globally to end animal overpopulation. He is not involved in the study, but has worked with Steinberger on other projects and is familiar with government-made GonaCon.

"A lot of the animals will die, disappear, get shot, poisoned or hit by a car," he explained.

"Dogs on reservations have a higher death rate than normal dogs in society," he said, noting that wild dogs in poor areas live an average 3.2 years. The average American dog lives 10 to 12 years, varying by breed and size.

Depending on who's counting, there are more than half a billion feral dogs around the world, Steinberger and Young said.

There are an estimated 6 million feral dogs in the United States, Steinberger added.

Tens of thousands of people die of rabies in developing nations each year ? and 95 percent of the cases are caused by dog bites, she said.

Spay and neuter surgeries are out of the question in such regions so researchers have been looking for a fast, effective and humane vaccine. The perfect blend would be a combination of sterilization and rabies vaccines, Young said.

"It would be a major game changer," Young said. Rabies kills up to 40,000 people a year in India alone.

If he had his way, Young would forego the tests. "It's been tested. They need to get it out there. It should be spread around like candy in India and Mexico," he said.

GonaCon has worked as long as six years in some of the wild animals tested. Booster shots were given to others to extend sterilization, Steinberger said.

It was never tested on a large number of dogs because no one stepped up to foot the bill.

Petco Foundation donated about half the money for the study.

"Animals are the reason Petco is in business. We are always looking for ways to make their lives better and help with the tragedy of overpopulation," said foundation executive director Paul Jolly.

Steinberger brought together the tribes, researchers, donors and volunteers.

GonaCon can't be used on domestic pets, Steinberger emphasized. The Food and Drug Administration would require about a decade of testing and that would cost between $16 million and $20 million, Young said.

Young, who operates a low-cost clinic in Denver, has performed over 165,000 (mostly spay and neuter) surgeries, more than anyone else on the planet, he said.

"I would love for something to put me out of that business," he said.

___

Online:

? www.spayfirst.org

? http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/about/about.shtml

? www.plannedpethoodplus.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-20-Pets-Feral%20Birth%20Control/id-e4c5e5cb79be4f3ab3f2f77af1dd9e01

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The place to start With Affiliate Marketing - Just Articles Site Directory

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Source: http://justarticlessite.com/the-place-to-start-with-affiliate-marketing.html

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Sports media notes: TV ratings up for Indians' games

Cleveland Indians' Michael Brantley watches his sacrifice fly off Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Tim Collins to drive in Mike Aviles with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in Cleveland. The Indians won 4-3. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

The Indians' attendance is still among the worst in Major League Baseball.

Only Miami's 17,337 per game is worse than the Tribe's 17,895.

Even though there might be a lack of bodies in the seats, don't confuse that with lack of interest.

The Indians' average rating so far this season on Fox Sports' SportsTime Ohio is up 34 percent compared to last season's average rating, according to a spokesperson.

Browns' opening

Browns vice president of media relations, Neal Gulkis, has been relieved of his duties. It's been a tumultuous season for the Browns with the ownership change and the Pilot Flying J scandal, and Gulkis was caught in the wringer.

Ravens director of public relations Chad Steele is said to have interviewed for the position.

Browns expand network

Five stations in three Ohio markets will be joining the Browns' radio network. The affiliates are from the Rubber City Radio Group in Akron 1590-AM WAKR and WONE-FM 97.5, the Cumulus Broadcasting Network in Youngstown (WYFM-FM 103) and WBBW-AM 1240, as well as in Canton (WHBC-AM 1480).

"It is important that Browns fans in Akron, Canton and Youngstown are able to follow our team with the extensive programming that we will be offering," Browns president Alec Scheiner said in a prepared statement. "Both the Rubber City Radio Group and the Cumulus Broadcasting Network are the radio leaders in their respective regions. WHBC has a long and dedicated following in Canton and many people in that area have relied on them as their source of news for decades." Continued...

Looking for co-host

WKNR-AM 850 is looking for a co-host with Vic Carucci on "Cleveland Browns Daily." The show will soon be moved to 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Three possibilities to join Carucci are Will Burge, Michael Reghi and Je'Rod Cherry, according to a source.

Jim Rome's show will either go away altogether on WKNR or be shifted to KNR2-AM 1540.

Emmy winners

The Cavaliers won an Emmy at the 44th annual Lower Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recently at Windows on the River.

The Cavs' in-house QTV production team won in the category for Best Promotion of Program Sports for the Cavs 2012-13 in-game video open.

The Cavs in-game video open was produced by QTV in conjunction with local video production company Think Media Studios. The video featured Cavs players in an open gym alongside Cleveland hip-hop and rap artist Machine Gun Kelly performing his single, "Invincible." Game highlights, cheering fans and classic shots of Cleveland spiced up the video. Watch it at: on.nba.com/117c3J3

"If there were no fans, there wouldn't be an arena to even play that intro in, so thank you to the city of Cleveland," Machine Gun Kelly said after hearing the news. "Underdogs win again!"

The Cavs were also nominated for the category of Best Sports Program for "Access Cavaliers," which airs on Fox Sports Ohio. Continued...

In addition to the latest hardware, the Cavs also hold the following Emmys:

2006: Best Sports Program Feature/Segment for the Cavs in-game video open

2010: Best Promotion of Program Sports for Cavs in-game video open

2011: Best Promotion of Program Sports for Cavs in-game video open

Quick shots

-- Fox Sports Ohio media relations director Kate Zelasko has returned from maternity leave. She gave birth to a baby girl ? Meg Elizabeth ? on March 9.

-- NBA Finals Game 6 on WEWS ? the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs to even the series in an overtime thriller ? scored a 14.7 overnight rating, according to Nielsen. It's the second highest-rated NBA Finals Game 6 ever on ABC and the fourth-highest rated game ever on the network.

Browns radio network

City Station

Akron WONE-FM 97.5 Continued...

Akron WAKR-AM 1590

Canton WHBC-AM 1480

Columbus WZOH-FM 95.5

Cleveland WKNR-AM 850 AM*

Cleveland WKRK-FM 92.3 FM*

Cleveland WNCX-FM 98.5 FM*

Toledo WPFX-FM 107.7 FM

Youngstown WYFM-FM 103 FM

Youngstown WBBW-AM 1240 AM

* ? flagship stations

Source: http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/06/20/sports/nh7138555.txt

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Talking with the enemy: Obama, Taliban negotiate Afghanistan's future

The key to ending America?s war in Afghanistan has long been a negotiated deal with the Taliban. Finally, such talks will begin Thursday in Qatar.

If they go well, the talks will serve primarily as a test of how much the Taliban have accepted the new realities of progress in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Much has changed since 2001 when the militant group?s ruthless rule ended with an American-led invasion to oust Al Qaeda.

The talks, however, will also be a test of President Obama?s idea of keeping an ?open door? to negotiating with even the most repressive, violent groups and countries. He laid out this strategy in a 2009 speech, saying jihadist groups like the Taliban should be willing to accept that the purposeful killing of innocents goes against every major religion.

Peace, he said, relies on the golden rule of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. ?Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature,? he said. With the Taliban?s move to open talks, Mr. Obama said this is ?an important first step towards reconciliation? among Afghans.

RELATED: 4 steps to success in Afghanistan

The Taliban has shown a few signs that they may have altered their ways. To meet a US condition for the talks, they committed to a peaceful end to the war. And they agreed that they never want ?to pose harm to other countries from [their] soil,? although that falls short of cutting ties to a much-weakened Al Qaeda. They also dropped their demand that US troops leave Afghanistan before talks start.

In addition, the group?s fighting capability is down from a few years ago, while the capability of Afghan forces has improved. They have lost some support from Pakistan, where civilian rule, democracy, and a desire for economic growth have strengthened, weakening the military?s ability to use the Taliban as a strategic tool against India.

In fact, no major country in the region ? China, Iran, Russia, and India ? wants the Taliban to return to power. The world has grown more weary of jihadism, especially since the killing of Osama bin Laden and the promise of the Arab Spring among Muslim youth.

The Taliban also face a very different Afghanistan. During their rule, few girls were allowed in school; today there are 2.6 million of them in classrooms. Women run businesses and work in government. Most Afghans use cellphones and watch TV. Instead of having 37 miles of paved roads as during Taliban rule, the country has nearly 8,000 miles today. Most of all, such advances have helped to create a stronger Afghan identity and a better understanding of universal values, lessening the tribal and ethnic differences.

Yet despite all this, much doubt remains that the Taliban will give up their arms and operate as a political group under the current Constitution ? especially the part that protects women from discrimination. Without that concession, Obama will find it difficult to withdraw all US military presence after 2014, when he plans to end the American combat role.

RELATED: Pakistan election as a marker of global progress

Another potential stumbling block is the Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai fears his bargaining ability has been undercut by the way the United States started the talks with the Taliban with only the hope of bringing him into negotiations later. The US will need to better deal with his concerns. The newly elected government of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan also needs to be courted in order to bolster its support of the talks.

Obama warned the talks may be bumpy. Yet even if they fail, they may have the effect of weakening the morale of lower-level Taliban fighters, further splintering the militants. A militant group that is stuck in the past and unaware of what brings peace can?t last for long.

Related stories

Read this story at csmonitor.com

Become a part of the Monitor community

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/talking-enemy-obama-taliban-negotiate-afghanistans-future-213014473.html

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Friday, June 14, 2013

First Fluorescent Protein Identified in a Vertebrate Animal

An eel popular in sushi has muscle fibers that could offer an opportunity for advances in bioimaging


eel

When blue light is shone on it, this eel glows green ? and the molecule that lets it do the trick is unlike any other found in living organisms. Image: AKIKO KUMAGAI & ATSUSHI MIYAWAKI

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The Japanese freshwater eel (Anguilla japonica) has more to offer biologists than a tasty sushi snack. Its muscle fibers produce the first fluorescent protein identified in a vertebrate, researchers report in Cell.

Fluorescent proteins are as standard a tool for cell biologists as wrenches are for mechanics. They do not produce light themselves, but glow when illuminated. The?2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?was awarded for the discovery and development of such molecules, which are used to tag proteins or to track how genes are expressed. The molecules have been engineered to produce light in a variety of hues and brightnesses, but those discovered until now in nature all came from non-vertebrates, mainly microbes, jellyfish, and corals.

The first clues to the eel protein?s existence came in 2009 when Seiichi Hayashi and Yoshifumi Toda, food chemists studying nutrients in eel at Kagoshima University in Japan, were tracking lipid transport into oily eel tissue and reported that eel muscle fluoresced naturally?glowing green when a blue light is shone on it. They then isolated a few fragments of the protein responsible. This intrigued Atsushi Miyawaki, a molecular biologist at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako, Japan, who has identified and engineered new properties into fluorescent proteins from jellyfish and corals.

In the latest work, he and his colleagues have identified the gene that codes for the molecule, and have named the new protein UnaG, after the Japanese unagi, the Japanese word for freshwater eel that is familiar to sushi lovers worldwide.

?I don't think anyone would have thought that eels would have such a bright fluorescent protein,? says Robert Campbell, a protein engineer at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. And UnaG is in a class of its own, he says. ?It's totally different? from other fluorescent proteins. ?There's not anything you can point to that's the same.?

For example, instead of producing light with a 'chromophore' that is part of the protein sequence, as the classical Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) does, UnaG fluoresces when it binds a naturally occurring small molecule called bilirubin, a breakdown product of hemoglobin used in hospital tests for decades to assess liver function and diagnose diseases such as jaundice.

UnaG is also unusual because, unlike GFP, it fluoresces brightly even when oxygen levels in cells are low. This could be useful for visualizing anaerobic areas inside cancerous tumors, says Campbell.

Aglow under the sea
In 2007, a different group of researchers found a fluorescent protein in the lancelet, a tiny somewhat eel-like marine creature closely related to vertebrates. But that protein is in the same class as those found in corals and jellyfish.

Japanese freshwater eels mature in rivers and travel far out to sea to spawn, and UnaG may help them with long-distance migrations by playing a role in muscle function. European and American freshwater eels (Anguilla anguilla?and?Anguilla rostrata) also migrate long distances, and the Miyawaki and his colleagues found that these eels, too, make UnaG. Young Japanese eels, which migrate from sea to rivers, produce the protein in abundance, so that they glow beautifully when illuminated with a blue light, says Miyawaki.?

The team showed that UnaG could be used to measure bilirubin in human serum and they suggest that this approach could lead to simpler, more sensitive tests requiring smaller blood samples, says Miyawaki.

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-fluorescent-protein-identified-in-a-vertebrate-animal

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A long day and the lead for Lefty at US Open

Phil Mickelson tips his hat on the 12th green during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Phil Mickelson tips his hat on the 12th green during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tiger Woods walks down the second fairway after hitting out of a bunker during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Phil Mickelson reacts to a missed birdie putt on the 17th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Tiger Woods reacts after a shot on the second hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Tiger Woods reacts after missing a putt on the eighth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

(AP) ? Even for Phil Mickelson, his path to the top of the leaderboard Thursday in the U.S. Open was unconventional.

He traveled about 2,400 miles in the air and 7,000 yards on the ground. He took a short nap on his private jet from San Diego and another one during a rain delay when he found a secluded corner of the library room in the Merion clubhouse. He carried five wedges but no driver.

Some 17 hours later, Mickelson had a 3-under 67 to match his best opening round in the U.S. Open.

Mickelson returned from his daughter's eighth-grade graduation about 3? hours before his tee time. He three-putted his first hole for a bogey and didn't give back a shot the rest of the day at Merion, which proved plenty tough by yielding only one other round under par to the 78 players who completed the first round.

Because of two rain delays, the first round won't be completed until Friday morning. Mickelson won't have to tee it up again for another 24 hours.

Enough time to fly back to San Diego?

"I don't want to push it, no," Mickelson said with a tired smile.

Tiger Woods faced a tougher road. He appeared to hurt his left hand after trying to gouge out of the deep rough on the opening hole. He grimaced and shook his left wrist again after hitting a 5-wood out of the rough on the fifth hole. He already had three bogeys though five holes before starting to make up ground with a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4 sixth hole.

Woods, however, failed to take advantage on the short stretch of holes in the middle of the round, and he was shaking his hand again after shots out of the rough on the 10th and twice on the 11th. He was 2-over for his round and had a 4-foot par putt on the 11th when play was stopped for the day.

"I've got a lot of holes to play tomorrow," Woods said. "And, hopefully, I can play a little better than I did today."

Luke Donald was 4-under through 13 holes, making one last birdie before leaving the course. The first round was to resume at 7:15 a.m. Friday, and the forecast called for drier weather for the rest of the week.

Masters champion Adam Scott, playing with Woods and Rory McIlroy, was 3-under through 11 holes, while defending U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson was 2-under through eight holes. McIlroy was even par.

Lee Westwood got the full Merion experience. He was 3-under when his approach on the 12th hit the wicker basket ? the signature at Merion, replacing traditional flags ? and bounced off the green, leading to a double bogey.

For Mickelson, this could be the start of yet another chance to win the major championship he wants so dearly. Or maybe he's setting himself up for more heartache. He already has been a runner-up a record five times in the U.S. Open.

"If I'm able ? and I believe I will ? if I'm able to ultimately win a U.S. Open, I would say that it's great," Mickelson said. "Because I will have had ... a win and five seconds. But if I never get that win, then it would be a bit heart-breaking."

Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, the only other player from the morning wave to break par, picked up birdies on the short seventh and eighth holes for a 69.

Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, Tim Clark, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Jerry Kelly were the only others who at least matched par at 70. Clark and Kelly were at 2 under deep in their rounds until running into trouble, which isn't hard to do in the U.S. Open, especially at Merion. Clark took a double bogey-bogey stretch in the middle of his back nine. Kelly was one shot behind Mickelson until a double bogey on the 18th hole.

"It's a lot tougher than they say it is," Schwartzel said.

It doesn't take much ? just two holes for Sergio Garcia, who found Merion far more daunting than the few wisecracks from the gallery. Garcia received mostly warm applause, with some barely audible boos from the grandstand when he started his round on No. 11. It was his first time competing in America since his public spat with Woods took a bad turn when he jokingly said he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open and serve fried chicken.

"There were a couple here and there," Garcia said about some jeers. "But I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that almost all of them were behind me and that was nice to see."

They saw him hit his tee shot out of bounds on No. 14 right before the first rain delay, leading to double bogey. Then, he hooked his next shot out of bounds and hit a bunker shot over the green on his way to a quadruple-bogey 8 at No. 15. Despite being 6-over on those two holes, he rallied for a 73.

Mickelson, meanwhile, looked as though he could play this golf course in his sleep. And he nearly did.

With two holes remaining, he hit 5-iron into 30 feet on the 237-yard ninth hole and told caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay that he was starting to hit the ball. Despite the constant smiling, Mickelson is intense inside the ropes, and Mackay told him to stop thinking about his swing, his next shot, the course or anything else related to golf during the walk to the green. Lefty rolled in the right-to-left breaking putt for another birdie.

"Being able to tune in and tune out was kind of nice the last hole or two," Mickelson said. "It's been a long day."

The only other time Mickelson opened with a 67 in the U.S. Open was in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2, and his oldest daughter was part of that story, too. Mickelson carried a pager with him that week because his wife was due with their first child. He finished one shot behind when the late Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot par putt on the last hole, and Amanda was born the next day.

Mickelson was always going to be home before the U.S. Open because Amanda, who turns 14 next week, was chosen to be a featured speaker at her graduation. He left Merion on Monday, a day earlier than planned, when more heavy rain washed out most of the practice round. Besides, Mickelson felt like he knew the course well enough from his scouting trip last week.

"She told me that it's fine. 'Stay, it's the U.S. Open. I know how much you care about it.' And I told her that I want to be there," Mickelson said. "I don't want to miss her speech. I don't want to miss her graduation. She spent nine years at that school. And she's worked very hard and I'm very proud of her."

The ceremony was at 6 p.m. PDT. Mickelson was on the plane two hours later, landing in Philadelphia about 3:30 a.m. He had a few hours of sleep on the plane, and then played five holes before the rain delay. He found a few cushions for a makeshift bed in the clubhouse library.

Despite his four birdies, including a 25-foot putt that fell on its last turn at No. 1, Mickelson saved his round with some crucial pars.

He missed the par-3 third green to the right, in fluffy grass down the hill, and hit a flop shot that landed on the collar and stopped 5 feet from the cup. He caught a break when his tee shot went into the hazard left of the fifth fairway, about a foot away from dropping into the small stream. He got that out, hit wedge to 8 feet and made a difficult right-to-left putt. And on the next hole, he swung hard to generate height and spin out of the bunker, the only way to get the ball close. He made an 8-footer for par.

Mickelson hit 9-iron to 2 feet on the seventh hole for birdie, and holed that 30-foot putt on the ninth.

And then, it was time to rest.

"He had a crazy 24 hours," said Keegan Bradley, playing alongside Mickelson and Steve Stricker. "Sometimes that helps, not thinking about it."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-13-US%20Open/id-7815fa78334343449e579b71e6ca8f32

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