Obituaries 05-09-2013 | Chelsea Record ? Chelsea Massachusetts ...

Richard Clayman, Esq.

Attorney

Richard I. Clayman of Revere, formerly of Chelsea, died on May 1.

The founder of the Law Firm of Clayman and Dodge in Chelsea, he was the beloved husband of Deborah A. (Bradley) Clayman; devoted and loving father of Katie Clayman Huggard and her husband, Josh of Swampscott and Erica Colombo of Boston; loving son of the late Arthur Clayman and Anne Novack Clayman; dear brother of Steven G. Clayman and his wife, Nancy of Boston.? He is also survived by many extended family, friends, nieces, nephews and colleagues. Services were held at the Temple Emmanuel, Chelsea. Burial followed at Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett. In lieu of flowers, remembrances in Richard?s memory may be made to the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home 17 Lafayette Ave Chelsea, MA 02150 and/or the Jack Satter House 420 Revere Beach Blvd, Revere, MA 02151. Visit www.torffuneralservice.com for guest book.

-

Deborah ?Debby? Racki

Bar Manager and Member of the French Club

Deborah ?Debby? (Vannelli) Racki, a longtime Chelsea resident, she passed away suddenly on May 5 at the Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett following a long and courageous battle with overwhelming illness. She was 65 years old. Born in Boston, she was the daughter of the late Anthony and Dorothea (Foss) Vannelli. She attended local schools and was a graduate of St. Rose High School. She worked for many years tending bar at the Chelsea Walk Pub and most recently worked as the bar manager at the French Club. Debby also worked at the Boston Garden until her illness.

Devoted to her friends and family, she was affectionately known as ?Ma? to many who knew her and she was an active member of the French Club.

She was the former wife of Richard Racki; devoted mother of Roberta and Brian Racki, Nicole and Anthony Pasco, Mindy Curry and Shelly Pasco; dear sister of Leonora Cataldo and Vivian Cash; cherished grandmother of Ottavia, Stephanie, Mario, Linda, Yassmina and Sophia and adored great grandmother of Giovanni.

Her Funeral Services will be conducted in the Frank A. Welsh & Sons Funeral Home, 718 Broadway, Chelsea today, Thursday, May 9 at 10:30 a.m. Services will conclude with Interment at New Calvary Cemetery, Roslindale. Relatives and friends are most kindly invited to attend.? Funeral Home fully handicap accessible, ample parking opposite Funeral Home. For directions or to send expressions of sympathy, please visit www.WelshFuneralHome.com. Funeral Arrangements entrusted to the care and direction of the Frank A. Welsh and Sons Funeral Home.

-

Dr. Gerald Sowsy

Retired Dentist

Dr. Gerald Sowsy of Revere, formerly of Chestnut Hill and Sunapee, NH, passed away on April 29. He was 84 years old.

Dr. Sowsy was born in Boston and raised in Chelsea. He graduated from the New Preparatory School, Cambridge in 1946, from Harvard University, Class of 1950 and the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry, Class of 1955. Dr. Sowsy, who had his own dental practice in Newton Center for many years, was a Captain in the United States Air Force following the Korean War. He was also a member of the Alpha and Omega Dental Society and the Massachusetts Dental Society.

The beloved husband of Shirley (Hoffman) Sowsy for 62 years, he was the devoted father of Gail Katz and her husband, Dr. Steven Katz, Craig Sowsy and his wife, Amy and Marjorie Boyle and her husband, Terence; the loving son of the late Henry and Lena Sowsy;? the dear brother of Dr. Paul Sowsy and his wife, Sabina and the loving grandfather of Tracey, Michael, Allison, Bradley, Colin and Caitlin. He is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

Services were held. Donations in Dr. Sowsy?s memory may be made to the Autism Society of America, 47 Walnut St., Wellesley Hills, MA 02481 or to the Kaplan Family Hospice House, 78 Liberty St. Danvers, MA 01923

-

Marie ?Tina? Pegnato

Retired Medical Transcriber Who Also Worked at Chelsea City Hall

Marie ?Tina? (Tabbi) Pegnato, a retired Medical Transcriber, passed away peacefully with her family at her bedside on May 1 at the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home where she had been receiving supportive care for the last several years.? She was 93 years old.

Born in Boston?s North End, the beloved daughter of the late Francesco and Carmella Tabbi, she was raised in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood and received her formal education in Boston Public Schools.? In 1944, she married Dominic J. Pegnato and settled in Chelsea where together they raised their family of two sons, two daughters and her younger sister.?? She was predeceased by her husband in 1981.

Tina worked outside of her home at Chelsea City Hall, initially in the Mayor?s Office under then Mayor Alfred Voke and later for other departments at City Hall.? She continued working for a short time at the Chelsea Welfare Office and TJ Walsh Woodworking in Chelsea.? She completed her career as a Medical Transcriber in the Records Dept. at the Chelsea Soldiers Home before taking her full retirement.

She was a past member of Our Lady of Grace Socialites, The Catholic Ladies Auxiliary at St Rose Church and the Sons of Italy in Chelsea.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her younger sister, Rosemarie Palladino, her brothers Philip, Tony and Frank Tabbi and Tony?s wife, Helen. She is survived by her beloved children and their spouses; Dominic J. Pegnato Jr. and his wife, Pat, Camille Pegnato-Junk and her husband, Jerry, all of Chelsea, Marie Bruno and her husband, Michael of Melrose and Frank Pegnato and his wife, Drusella of Salem.? She was the cherished grandmother of Michael Pegnato and his wife, Stephanie, Dominic Pegnato, III and his wife, Sheri, Kim Pegnato-Marecki and her husband, Andrew, Michael Bruno, Christina Bruno, Peter Bruno, John and Danielle Pegnato; adored great-grandmother of Max Pegnato and Mia Marecki; dear sister of Josephine Sargent and her husband, Fred, and Phyllis Tabbi, all of Stoughton, Joseph Tabbi and his wife, Pat of New Hampshire; dear sister in law of Albert Palladino of Chelsea,? Sherri Tabbi of Canton and Connie Tabbi of California and is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

Funeral arrangements were by the Frank A. Welsh & Sons Funeral Home, Chelsea.? Burial was at Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett.? Should friends desire, contributions in her memory may be made to the St. Jude?s Children?s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 www.StJude.org For directions or to send expressions of sympathy, please visit www.WelshFuneralHome.com

-

Estelle Andrews

Retired Telephone Operator

Estelle P. (Boc) Andrews, a retired telephone operator, passed away on April 6 at Kindred Harborlights Nursing and Rehabilitation in South Boston. She was 83 years old.

Born in Chelsea, she was the daughter of the late Walter and Josephine (Pawleczyk) Boc. She was raised in Chelsea, attended local schools and was a Chelsea resident for the early part of her life. She relocated with her family to Dorchester where she has lived for more than 40 years.

She worked as a telephone operator for New England Telephone and Telegraph until her retirement. In her retirement years, she spent winters with her husband in Port Charlotte, Florida where she was a member of the South West Polka Boosters in Cape Coral, Florida.

She was the beloved wife of the late Stanley Andrews who died in 2003; devoted mother of Jeffrey Andrews of Revere; dear sister of Stanley Boc of North Weymouth and the late Ben and William Boc, Sophie Lehan, Wanda Dykas and Josephine Gorman.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Stanislaus Church, Chelsea and services concluded with interment at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden. Funeral Arrangements were entrusted to the care and direction of the Anthony Memorial Funeral Home.

Source: http://www.chelsearecord.com/2013/05/09/obituaries-05-09-2013/

national inquirer knicks vs heat kate walsh cnn debate equatorial guinea marine helicopter crash chicago weather

NASA's Spitzer puts planets in a petri dish

May 6, 2013 ? Our galaxy is teeming with a wild variety of planets. In addition to our solar system's eight near-and-dear planets, there are more than 800 so-called exoplanets known to circle stars beyond our sun. One of the first "species" of exoplanets to be discovered is the hot Jupiters, also known as roasters. These are gas giants like Jupiters, but they orbit closely to their stars, blistering under the heat.

Thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers are beginning to dissect this exotic class of planets, revealing raging winds and other aspects of their turbulent nature. A twist to come out of the recent research is the planets' wide range of climates. Some are covered with a haze, while others are clear. Their temperature profiles, chemistries and densities differ as well.

"The hot Jupiters are beasts to handle. They are not fitting neatly into our models and are more diverse than we thought," said Nikole Lewis of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, lead author of a new Spitzer paper in the Astrophysical Journal examining one such hot Jupiter called HAT-P-2b. "We are just starting to put together the puzzle pieces of what's happening with these planets, and we still don't know what the final picture will be."

The very first exoplanet discovered around a sun-like star was, in fact, a hot Jupiter, called 51 Pegasi b. It was detected in 1995 by Swiss astronomers using the radial velocity technique, which measures the wobble of a star caused by the tug of a planet. Because hot Jupiters are heavy and whip around their stars quickly, they are the easiest to find using this strategy. Dozens of hot Jupiter discoveries soon followed. At first, researchers thought they might represent a more common configuration for other planetary systems in our galaxy beyond our own solar system. But new research, including that from NASA's Kepler space telescope, has shown that they are relatively rare.

In 2005, scientists were thrilled when Spitzer became the first telescope to detect light emitted by an exoplanet. Spitzer monitored the infrared light coming from a star and its planet -- a hot Jupiter -- as the planet disappeared behind the star in an event known as a secondary eclipse. Once again, this technique works best for hot Jupiters, because they are the biggest and hottest planets.

In addition to watching hot Jupiters slip behind their stars, researchers also use Spitzer to monitor the planets as they orbit all the way around a star. This allows them to create global climate maps, revealing how the planets' atmospheres vary from their hot, sun-facing sides to their cooler, night sides, due in part to fierce winds. (Hot Jupiters are frequently tidally locked, with one side always facing the star, just as our moon is locked to Earth.)

Since that first observation, Spitzer has probed the atmospheres of dozens of hot Jupiters, and some even smaller planets, uncovering clues about their composition and climate.

"When Spitzer launched in 2003, we had no idea it would prove to be a giant in the field of exoplanet science," said Michael Werner, the Spitzer project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Now, we're moving farther into the field of comparative planetary science, where we can look at these objects as a class, and not just as individuals."

In the new study, Lewis and colleagues made the longest Spitzer observation yet of a hot Jupiter. The infrared telescope stared at the HAT-P-2 system continuously for six days, watching it cross in front of its star, slip behind, and then reappear on the other side, making a full orbit. What makes the observation even more exciting to scientists is that the planet has a comet-like eccentric orbit, carrying it as close as 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometers) to the star and out to as far as 9.3 million miles (15 million kilometers). For reference, Mercury is about 28.5 million miles from our sun.

"It's as if nature has given us a perfect lab experiment with this system," said Heather Knutson, a co-author of the new paper at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. "Because the planet's distance to the sun changes, we can watch how fast it takes to heat up and cool down. It's as though we're turning the heat knob up on our planet and watching what happens." Knutson led the first team to create a global "weather" map of a hot Jupiter, called HD 189733 b, in 2007.

The new HAT-P-2b study is also one of the first to use multiple wavelengths of infrared light, instead of just one, while watching a full orbit of a hot Jupiter. This enables the scientists to peer down into different layers of the planet.

The results reveal that HAT-P-2b takes about a day to heat up as it approaches the hottest part of its orbit, and four to five days to cool down as it swings away. It also exhibits a temperature inversion -- a hotter, upper layer of gas -- when it is closest to its star. What's more, the carbon chemistry of the planet seems to be behaving in unexpected ways, which the astronomers are still trying to understand.

"These planets are much hotter and more dynamic than our own Jupiter, which is sluggish by comparison. Strong winds are churning material up from below, and the chemistry is always changing," said Lewis.

Another challenge in understanding hot Jupiters lies in parsing through the data. Lewis said her team's six-day Spitzer observation left them with 2 million data points to map out while carefully removing instrument noise.

"Theories are being shot down right and left," said Nick Cowan of Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., a co-author of the HAT-P-2b study. "Right now, it's like the wild, wild west."

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit http://spitzer.caltech.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/xc2vc-C-lV8/130506161049.htm

SEC Championship Game 2012 kansas city chiefs Javon Belcher express kindle fire Jenny Johnson olivier martinez

Principal fires security guards to hire art teachers ? and transforms elementary school

Orchard Gardens, a school in Roxbury, Mass., had been plagued by bad test scores and violence -- but one principal’s idea to fire the security guards and hire art teachers is helping turn it around. NBC’s Katy Tur reports.

By Katy Tur, Correspondent, NBC News

ROXBURY, Mass. ? The community of Roxbury had high hopes for its newest public school back in 2003. There were art studios, a dance room, even a theater equipped with cushy seating.

A pilot school for grades K-8, Orchard Gardens was built on grand expectations.

But the dream of a school founded in the arts, a school that would give back to the community as it bettered its children, never materialized.

Instead, the dance studio was used for storage and the orchestra's instruments were locked up and barely touched.?

The school was plagued by violence and disorder from the start, and by 2010 it was rank in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts.

That was when Andrew Bott ? the sixth principal in seven years ? showed up, and everything started to change.

?We got rid of the security guards,? said Bott, who reinvested all the money used for security infrastructure into the arts.

---

Orchard Gardens a one-time 'career killer'

In a school notorious for its lack of discipline, where backpacks were prohibited for fear the students would use them to carry weapons, Bott?s bold decision to replace the security guards with art teachers was met with skepticism by those who also questioned why he would choose to lead the troubled school. ?

?A lot of my colleagues really questioned the decision,? he said. ??A lot of people actually would say to me, ?You realize that Orchard Gardens is a career killer? You know, you don't want to go to Orchard Gardens.??

Share your Big Idea with NBC Nightly News!?Your ideas may be featured online -- or on our broadcast.

But now, three years later, the school is almost unrecognizable. Brightly colored paintings, essays of achievement, and motivational posters line the halls. The dance studio has been resurrected, along with the band room, and an artists? studio.

The end result? Orchard Gardens has one of the fastest student improvement rates statewide. And the students ? once described as loud and unruly, have found their focus.

?We have our occasional, typical adolescent ... problems,? Bott said. ??But nothing that is out of the normal for any school.?

The school is far from perfect. Test scores are better, but still below average in many areas. Bott says they?re ?far from done, but definitely on the right path.?

The students, he says, are evidence of that.

?I can really have a future in this?

Eighth grader Keyvaughn Little said he?s come out of his shell since the school?s turnaround.

?I've been more open, and I've expressed myself more than I would have before the arts have came.?

His grades have improved, too. Keyvaughn says it?s because of the teachers ? and new confidence stemming from art class. ?

?There's no one particular way of doing something,? he said. ?And art helps you like see that. So if you take that with you, and bring it on, it will actually help you see that in academics or anything else, there's not one specific way you have to do something.?

Keyvaughn has now been accepted to the competitive Boston Arts Academy, the city?s only public high school specializing in visual and performing arts. ?

?All of the extra classes and the extra focus on it and the extra attention make you think that, ?Hey, oh my gosh, I can really have a future in this, I don't have to go to a regular high school ? I can go to art school,'? he said.

Chris Plunkett, a visual arts teacher at Orchard Gardens school in Roxbury, Mass., spoke with NBC's Katy Tur about the success of the arts program that led to an inspiring turnaround for students.??

Chris Plunkett, who has taught visual arts at Orchard Gardens for the past three years, said the classes help develop trust between the faculty and students. During one particularly memorable project, he asked his eighth graders to write a memoir about a life experience and what they learned from it and then create a self-portrait.

?I couldn't believe how honest and candid they were, and how much I learned about them,? Plunkett said. ??I mean it was really, it was one of the most incredible things I've seen in eighth graders.?

Noting that kids need more than test prep, he added, it may have seemed ?a little crazy? to get rid of the security guards to hire art teachers but ?I definitely feel it was the right move in the end.?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b69ce7a/l/0Ldailynightly0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C0A10C180A0A51920Eprincipal0Efires0Esecurity0Eguards0Eto0Ehire0Eart0Eteachers0Eand0Etransforms0Eelementary0Eschool0Dlite/story01.htm

Danell Leyva Ye Shiwen OJ Murdock Olympics Live Mens Gymnastics Allison Schmitt Olympic Schedule

Reese Witherspoon Arrest Video Goes Viral!

Reese Witherspoon’s arrest video is nothing short of a hot mess. The normally composed, experienced actress is definitely out of sorts in the clip, and proves that she probably deserved a little trip downtown. Ever wish you had a magic wand so you could simply erase a night from history? I think Reese might give just about anything to take back the night she tried to pull the “do you know who I am” card. Simply embarrassing. Her husband was cuffed and basically patiently being arrested. All of a sudden Reese comes into the frame and starts to give the cop a piece of her mind. She keeps repeating hilarious lines. One of her favorite is “I’m an American citizen,” and she even mutter something about being on “American soil.” What makes it great is that the officer is obviously Southern, and probably gets a real kick out of getting to arrest someone who is so full of themselves — even if it was only in a drunken blur. Reese starts off WAY on the wrong foot, by basically telling the officer that she can “ask any question (she) wants to ask.” Let’s just say that’s the wrong attitude to [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/ifjs2ZVshY4/

p zynga Tropical Storm Sandy W S B H

Thanks to rare alpine bacteria, researchers identify one of alcohol's key gateways to the brain

Thanks to rare alpine bacteria, researchers identify one of alcohol's key gateways to the brain

Friday, April 26, 2013

Thanks to a rare bacteria that grows only on rocks in the Swiss Alps, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the Pasteur Institute in France have been the first to identify how alcohol might affect key brain proteins.

It's a major step on the road to eventually developing drugs that could disrupt the interaction between alcohol and the brain.

"Now that we've identified this key brain protein and understand its structure, it's possible to imagine developing a drug that could block the binding site," said Adron Harris, professor of biology and director of the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction at The University of Texas at Austin.

Harris and his former postdoctoral fellow Rebecca Howard, now an assistant professor at Skidmore College, are co-authors on the paper that was recently published in Nature Communications. It describes the structure of the brain protein, called a ligand-gated ion channel, that is a key enabler of many of the primary physiological and behavioral effects of alcohol.

Harris said that for some time there has been suggestive evidence that these ion channels are important binding sites for alcohol. Researchers couldn't prove it, however, because they couldn't crystallize the brain protein well enough, and therefore couldn't use X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of the protein with and without alcohol present.

The advance came when Marc Delarue and his colleagues at the Pasteur Institute sequenced the genome of cyanobacteria Gloeobacter violaceus. They noted a protein sequence on the bacteria that is remarkably similar to the sequence of a group of ligand-gated ion channels in the human brain. They were able to crystallize this protein. Harris saw the results and immediately got in touch.

"This is something you never would have found with any sort of logical approach," he said. "You never would have guessed that this obscure bacterium would have something that looks like a brain protein in it. But the institute, because of Pasteur's fascination with bacteria, has this huge collection of obscure bacteria, and over the last few years they've been sequencing the genomes, keeping an eye out for interesting properties."

Harris and Howard asked their French colleagues to collaborate, got the cyanobacteria, changed one amino acid to make it sensitive to alcohol, and then crystallized both the original bacteria and the mutated one. They compared the two to see whether they could identify where the alcohol bound to the mutant. With further tests they confirmed that it was a meaningful site.

"Everything validated that the cavity in which the alcohol bound is important," said Harris. "It doesn't account for all the things that alcohol does, but it appears to be important for a lot of them, including some of the 'rewarding' effects and some of the negative, aversive effects."

Going forward, Harris and his lab plan to use mice to observe how changes to the key protein affect behavior when the mice consume alcohol.

They're also hoping to identify other important proteins from this family of ligand-gated ion channels. In the long term, he hopes to be involved in developing drugs that act on these proteins in ways that help people diminish or cease their drinking.

"So why do some people drink moderately and some excessively?" he said. "One reason lies in that the balance between the rewarding and the aversive effects, and that balance is different for different people, and it can change within an individual depending on their drinking patterns. Some of those effects are determined by the interactions of alcohol and these channels, so the hope is that we can alter the balance. Maybe we can diminish the reward or increase the aversive effects."

###

University of Texas at Austin: http://www.utexas.edu

Thanks to University of Texas at Austin for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 72 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127966/Thanks_to_rare_alpine_bacteria__researchers_identify_one_of_alcohol_s_key_gateways_to_the_brain

sherry arnold snooty fox el debarge portland weather clintonville battlestar galactica blood and chrome my morning jacket

Apple in talks with Nuance to bring Swype to iOS

* Lewandowski scored four goals against Real Madrid * Poland international refuses contract extension (adds details, background) BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski have not signed a deal, the newly-crowned champions said on Friday, shooting down widespread speculation of another imminent surprise transfer. "Bayern, as opposed to some reports, has no contract with Robert Lewandowski," the Bavarian Champions League semi-finalists said in a brief statement. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-talks-nuance-bring-swype-ios-151032725.html

NRA Golden Globes 2013 Anna Kendrick Sandy Hook conspiracy Stuart Scott Holly Rowe Chief Keef

Cuba ends half-century ban on pro boxing

HAVANA (AP) ? Cuba is breaking a five-decade ban on professional boxing and joining an international semipro league. Fighters will compete for sponsored teams, box without protective headgear and earn $1,000 to $3,000 a month.

The country has a long and storied boxing tradition and is usually a force at international amateur tournaments. This move represents a big step for the island's Communist authorities, who long ago decided pro sports were not in keeping with Marxist social ideals.

The new format, the World Series of Boxing, consists of 12 squads from across the globe that square off in a series of five fights using a point system similar to the pros.

The World Series of Boxing is organized by the international boxing association known as AIBA. The competition begins in November.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Cuba to World Series of Boxing," AIBA President C.K. Wu said in a statement. "With a total of 116 World medals and 67 Olympic ones, Cuban boxers have always lived at the pinnacle of our sport. ... We are convinced that this new franchise will bring WSB to an even higher level."

In addition to the salaries, boxers in the series can make $500 to $2,000 bonuses, although it's not immediately clear how, or how much, the Cubans will be paid.

They still stand to receive a big raise from their current salaries, which are close to the $20 a month that most Cuban workers earn. The best boxers, those who win medals at major tournaments, are granted lifetime stipends of up to $300 a month.

Wu visited the island in January for talks with local sports officials about adding Cuba to the series. The nation's fighters have expressed great excitement about the prospect. Boxers in the World Series will compete for 30 automatic bids to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"It is our duty to help our athletes develop their careers as far as possible," Cuban Boxing Federation President Alberto Puig de la Barca was quoted as saying by AIBA. "Our best boxers will compete in WSB over seven months against the world's cream of the crop. This will offer them the chance to get a taste of the styles of other world-class athletes and thus be better prepared to face them in the Olympic Games, Pan American, Central American and world championships."

"We are pleased to join," he added.

Fidel Castro banned professional sports in 1961, two years after the Cuban Revolution.

"Sport is not just another instrument of the market ... nor of profit for promoters, agents and all manner of parasites that feed off the athlete's hard work," Castro said in 2005.

He left office in 2006 because of a near-fatal intestinal ailment, and brother Raul has been in charge since. The younger Castro has since instituted a number of social and economic reforms that have brought significant change to the country's socialist model.

___

Follow Anne-Marie Garcia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AnneMarie279

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cuba-ends-half-century-ban-pro-boxing-181755092.html

peeps nhl playoffs 2012 masters shroud of turin the borgias the masters warren sapp