The Stars Hollow Gazette – Page 2315 – Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left

Oct 17 2010

The Week In Review 10/10 – 16

By rustymancuso581

316 Stories served. 45 per day.

This is actually the hardest diary to execute, and yet perhaps the most valuable because it lets you track story trends over time. It should be a Sunday morning feature.

Economy- 70

Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran- 19

19 Pakistan says it’s willing to assist Afghan talks

Saturday 10/16 1

20 Pakistan says willing to assist Afghan talks

International- 91

National- 91

Gulf Oil Blowout Disaster- 8

Science- 22

23 Factory involved in Hungary sludge flood restarts

Saturday 10/16 2

Sports- 15

Sunday 10/10 3

Monday 10/11 1

6 World champ Hooker on top, India win historic gold

8 India ‘orders probe’ into Delhi Games corruption

Oct 17 2010

Punting the Pundits: Sunday Preview Edition

By arlethamaselli0

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour: Christiane Amanpour is “on the trail” reporting from Delaware on “This Week” featuring exclusive interviews with Republican Christine O’Donnell and Democrat Chris Coons.

“This Week” kicks off an extraordinary ABC network wide series, “Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s.” Amanpour has an exclusive interview with Maria Shriver, who will be releasing a groundbreaking report Sunday morning examining Alzheimer’s impact on women, who are at the center of this crisis.

Meghan McCain joins ABC’s George Will, Terry Moran and Matthew Dowd on our roundtable. With a little more than two weeks before Election Day they’ll analyze the midterm political landscape, where races are opening up and where they are tightening.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: The question for discussion is: How Divided Are We? Mr Schieffer’s guests will be Howard Dean, Former Chairman, Democratic National Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Liz Cheney, Republican Strategist and Chairwoman, Keep America Safe and William Galston, Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy, Clinton administration and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution.

The Chris Matthews Show: Mr. Matthews will be joined by Andrea Mitchell, NBC News

Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Bob Woodward, The Washington Post Associate Editor, David Brookes, The New York Times Columnist and Helene Cooper, The New York Times White House Correspondent. They will be discussing these questions:

Is Obama’s National Security Team at War?

What’s the Evidence Hillary Clinton Might Bump Joe Biden?

Are Voters Set to Elect Some Extremists to the Senate?

Meet the Press with David Gregory: An exclusive with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for an inside look at the Obama administration’s game plan to keep Democrats in power on the Hill. Plus, a look at the president’s agenda when it comes to all the big issues post-election: the economy, taxes, foreign policy and more.

Also the Senate Debate 2010 series continues with the showdown in Colorado. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet squares off with Republican Ken Buck on all the issues that matter most to the nation and to Colorado: the economy, taxes, health care, immigration and more.

State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Just two weeks until the midterm elections and the political ad wars are flooding the airwaves at historic levels. The White House accuses the US Chamber of Commerce and other special interest groups of spending millions of dollars from “unknown donors” and foreign entities. Joining us to discuss this and more is Senior Adviser to the President David Axelrod.

We get the GOP response from former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, chair of the Campaign for Working Families. That PAC is launching a $1 million ad blitz in 10 midterm election races.

Then, a closer look at the November midterms and the impact all this money will have on Election Day; that with Evan Tracey of the Campaign Media Analysis Group and Michael Duffy, Assistant Managing Editor of Time.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS: An exclusive interview with the newest Nobel laureate. MIT professor Peter Diamond was part of a trio that won the award in economics for their work on unemployment — certainly a hot topic these days. And just recently, Diamond was nominated by President Obama to the Federal Reserve. But the nomination was blocked. Diamond on HIS job problem…and the nation’s.

Also, North Korea’s “Dear Leader” is at it again. Kim Jong Il has just announced his succession plan and while it sounds like a farce, the implications could be deadly serious. What is in store for the Korean Peninsula’s future? And could a North Korean collapse lead to a confrontation between the U.S. and China?

While the world was watching the Chilean mine, much else was going on in the world. We’ll span the globe with a terrific GPS foreign policy panel.

And Iraq is going on nine months without a government and violence continues to wreck havoc there. Fareed sits down with Ayad Allawi, the former Prime Minister of Iraq, to get his thoughts on the stalemate and on Thursday’s deadly roadside bombing that killed members of Allawi’s party.

Also, a look at Al Qaeda’s new magazine. Is it the jihadist’s Cosmo?

And finally, was the rescue of the Chilean miners the solution to breaking a century-old dispute between two neighboring nations?

Frank Rich: The Rage Won’t End on Election Day

Don’t expect the extremism and violence in our politics to subside magically after Election Day – no matter what the results. If Tea Party candidates triumph, they’ll be emboldened. If they lose, the anger and bitterness will grow. The only development that can change this equation is a decisive rescue from our prolonged economic crisis. Not for the first time in history – and not just American history – fear itself is at the root of a rabid outbreak of populist rage against government, minorities and conspiratorial “elites.”

So far neither party has offered a comprehensive antidote to our economic pain. The Democrats have fallen short, and the cynics leading the G.O.P. haven’t so much as tried. We shouldn’t be surprised that this year even a state as seemingly well-mannered as Connecticut has produced a senatorial candidate best known for marching into a wrestling ring to gratuitously kick a man in the groin.

Dana Milbank: Without cap-and-trade, here’s what’s needed

There is a hole in the Democrats’ plan to fight global warming. A .270-caliber hole, to be specific.

“I’ll take dead aim at the cap-and-trade bill, because it’s bad for West Virginia,” Gov. Joe Manchin, the Democratic candidate for Senate, says in an ad put out last week. To demonstrate, he pops what appears to be a .270 cartridge in his Remington 700, then shoots a bull’s-eye through a piece of paper reading “Senate of the United States” and “Cap and Trade Bill.”

If you look closely, you can see that the bullet tears through the word “jobs” in the sentence “to create clean energy jobs.”

Robert Reich: The Fed’s New Bubble (Masquerading as a Jobs Program)

The latest jobs bill coming out of Washington isn’t really a bill at all. It’s the Fed’s attempt to keep long-term interest rates low by pumping even more money into the economy (“quantitative easing” in Fed-speak).

The idea is to buy up lots of Treasury bills and other long-term debt to reduce long-term interest rates. It’s assumed that low long-term rates will push more businesses to expand capacity and hire workers; push the dollar downward and make American exports more competitive and therefore generate more jobs; and allow more Americans to refinance their homes at low rates, thereby giving them more cash to spend and thereby stimulate more jobs.

Bob Herbert: The Mississippi Pardons

Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi has to decide whether to show mercy to two sisters, Jamie and Gladys Scott, who are each serving double consecutive life sentences in state prison for a robbery in which no one was injured and only $11 was taken.

This should be an easy call for a law-and-order governor who has, nevertheless, displayed a willingness to set free individuals convicted of far more serious crimes. Mr. Barbour has already pardoned four killers and suspended the life sentence of a fifth.

The Scott sisters have been in prison for 16 years. Jamie, now 38, is seriously ill. Both of her kidneys have failed. Keeping the two of them locked up any longer is unconscionable, grotesquely inhumane.

Kathleen Parker: Neither political party has kept touch with ordinary Americans

Witches vs. bearded Marxists. Actors vs. hicks. Toon Town vs. Parodyville.

The world isn’t too much with us. We have left the planet.

As we race toward the midterm elections, our political conversation has devolved beyond the silly to the absurd — and the sharks are jumping sharks. Is it even possible to have a serious conversation anymore? . . . .

The political divide between Elites and Ordinary Americans has never been starker or more comical, or more resplendent with self-loathing. When even Republicans view their base as ignorant rednecks — and Democrats no longer try to conceal their reliance on artifice and propaganda — farce has become the new reality.

Oct 17 2010

Morning Shinbun Sunday October 17

By masum4049

Sunday’s Headlines:

USA

US shaken by sudden surge of violence against gays

Republican funding surge provides crucial advantage

Europe

Battle for Trafalgar as developers eye Spain’s last unspoilt shores

German, French rail companies on collision course over Chunnel rights

Middle East

Cracks widen in Netanyahu’s coalition

Seven years of war and still no power to the people

Asia

Japan, Once Dynamic, Is Disheartened by Decline

A foreigner’s battle to preserve South Korea’s hanok houses

Africa

Africa’s children get the ‘Slumdog’ treatment

MDC demands Mugabe reverse appointments

Latin America

‘This was the most compellingly upbeat story since the lunar landings. It was a rare privilege to be there to watch it unfold’

Key U.S. allies in Iraq said to be rejoining rebels

Many have quit Sunni Awakening or are covertly helping al-Qaida group

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and DURAID ADNAN

BAQUBA, Iraq – Members of United States-allied Awakening Councils have quit or been dismissed from their positions in significant numbers in recent months, prey to an intensive recruitment campaign by the Sunni insurgency, according to government officials, current and former members of the Awakening and insurgents.

Although there are no firm figures, security and political officials say hundreds of the well-disciplined fighters – many of whom have gained extensive knowledge about the American military – appear to have rejoined Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

Resurrection! The debt we all owe Chile’s inspirational miners

One billion of us watched Los 33’s incredible, uplifting return from the dead – and our faith in humankind was reborn. This weekend at least, the world feels a better place.

By Peter Stanford Sunday, 17 October 2010

Few events have the power to unite evangelists of religion and science nowadays. But the rescue of the 33 miners after 69 days trapped 2,000ft underground in the San Jose Mine in Chile’s remote Atacama desert has touched in equal measure preachers and physicists – and, indeed, everyone in between. The global TV audience that watched live and – like me – blubbed as, one by one, these men miraculously emerged from a living hell, has been estimated at somewhere over one billion.

USA

US shaken by sudden surge of violence against gays

Carl Paladino, a Republican politician running for governor, is calling for gay people to be barred from teaching in New York, where homophobic attacks are on the rise

Paul Harris

The Observer, Sunday 17 October 2010

For Alan Bounville it has felt like a lonely protest. For 16 days he has held a vigil outside the campaign office of Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York senator, holding a sign calling for equal civil rights for gay people.

The 33-year-old New Yorker has suffered the stares of strangers, been ignored by the political target of his demonstration, and endured the harsh cold of sleeping overnight outside on a hard Manhattan pavement. But a series of brutal attacks on young gay men, a number of tragic suicides and alarming anti-gay public statements by Republican politicians have led Bounville to feel he has no choice. “Our people are dying. So I am just going to sit and protest. That is my job,” Bounville said..

Republican funding surge provides crucial advantage

Some Democrats now fear a historic rout in next month’s midterm election as GOP advocacy groups funnel $50 million into campaigns.

By James Oliphant, Tribune Washington Bureau

October 17, 2010

Reporting from Washington – Fueled by a surge of outside money, Republicans have begun gunning for Democratic House seats once considered safe and beyond GOP reach – a drive that threatens to reshape the electoral map and raises the specter of a historic rout in the midterm election two weeks away.

Advocacy groups such as American Crossroads and the American Action Network said last week that they were funneling more than $50 million into House races to back Republican candidates, on top of the more than $50 million already spent by the GOP’s House campaign arm.

Europe

Battle for Trafalgar as developers eye Spain’s last unspoilt shores

A storm is brewing in the south of Spain as developers move in on one of the last unspoilt stretches of coastline.

By Harriet Alexander, El Palmar, Cadiz

Published: 7:00AM BST 17 Oct 2010

The sun is setting over the Atlantic waves on El Palmar beach, casting long shadows of two wetsuit-clad teenagers leaning against their surfboards. But as the light fades on another peaceful day in this remote corner of southern Spain, the Andalucian government and the property developers it backs are hard at work finalising their plans to shake up the region, and build a hotel for 1,300 people.

The decision has sparked a fierce debate over the past errors of unfettered construction, pitting those worried about the financial torpor against environmentalists who see the forest of skyscrapers and thick crust of costal developments as a warning about the perils ofconstruction fever..

German, French rail companies on collision course over Chunnel rights

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn successfully ran evacuation tests with 300 volunteers on a high-speed Siemens-built train in the Channel Tunnel. The tests are a headache for the French government.

TRANSPORTATION | 17.10.2010

A German-built train filled almost to capacity was rolled into the 50-kilometer (31-mile) tunnel beneath the English Channel on Saturday night, where around 300 volunteers were evacuated following an alarm signal.

The tests ran smoothly, a spokeswoman for the tunnel’s operator Eurotunnel said Sunday morning.

The tests pose a problem for the French government and French firm Alstom. Eurostar, the company with the monopoly on the cross-Channel rail link between Britain and France want to buy high-speed trains from Deutsche Bahn in order to increase the tunnel’s traffic capacity.

Middle East

Cracks widen in Netanyahu’s coalition

Labour leaders talk of government collapse as housing plans announced in East Jerusalem

Peter Beaumont

The Observer, Sunday 17 October 2010

Israel’s coalition government, led by Binyamin Netanyahu, appears to be in danger of fracturing over the gridlocked peace process and a controversial “loyalty law”.

As Israel announced the building of 238 more housing units in annexed East Jerusalem, further complicating US efforts to revive stalled peace negotiations, it emerged that Ehud Barak, the Labour leader, is predicting that the government will collapse.

Seven years of war and still no power to the people

Iraq is sitting on a wealth of oil and gas yet its citizens continue to suffer hardship with fuel shortages and blackouts a way of life, writes Paul McGeough.

Paul McGeough

October 17, 2010

In the searing heat of the Iraqi summer, the difficulty of life with virtually no electricity is hard to comprehend.

But overlay it with the physical and spiritual challenges of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and the big cities become time bombs ticking at the feet of government.

Or they would, if there was a government. For seven months the country has been paralysed by the failure of the political parties to agree on the make-up of a new government after national elections in mid-March.

Asia

Japan, Once Dynamic, Is Disheartened by Decline

By MARTIN FACKLER

Published: October 16, 2010

OSAKA, Japan – Like many members of Japan’s middle class, Masato Y. enjoyed a level of affluence two decades ago that was the envy of the world. Masato, a small-business owner, bought a $500,000 condominium, vacationed in Hawaii and drove a late-model Mercedes.

But his living standards slowly crumbled along with Japan’s overall economy. First, he was forced to reduce trips abroad and then eliminate them. Then he traded the Mercedes for a cheaper domestic model.

A foreigner’s battle to preserve South Korea’s hanok houses

British-born David Kilburn is battling the systematic destruction of the traditional dwellings, which are disappearing despite the creation of a preservation zone.

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times

October 17, 2010

He’s known as the feisty foreigner, the outsider waging a one-man fight for “the district where beauty gathers.”

David Kilburn remembers the first time he wandered Kahoi Dong, a hilly enclave in the heart of the Seoul where clusters of traditional buildings known as hanok houses dot winding, narrow streets.

It was 22 years ago, but the British-born Kilburn can’t forget the serenity he felt when he set foot inside one of the historic one-story homes. It was like stepping back in time, to a quainter Seoul of a century ago.

Africa

Africa’s children get the ‘Slumdog’ treatment

A new feature film set in Rwanda hopes to show the continent in a positive and uplifting light.

By Rachel Shields Sunday, 17 October 2010

A film that its makers claim will do the same for Africa’s children as Slumdog Millionaire did for India’s – but rather more sympathetically – premieres at London’s Leicester Square tonight.

Africa United tells the story of three Rwandan children who travel across Africa in the hope of taking part in the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, but board the wrong bus and end up in a children’s refugee camp in Congo. It tackles serious issues such as HIV, child prostitution and genocide, yet its makers claim it’s an uplifting tale that will correct the “perceived stereotype that Africa is just about safaris orpestilence or death”.

Mugabe crosses the line

MDC demands Mugabe reverse appointments

Oct 17, 2010 12:00 AM | By ZOLI MANGENA

Alarmed by the bitter fallout between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai which threatened the survival of the inclusive government, Zuma dispatched his envoys, Charles Nqakula, Mac Maharaj and Lindiwe Zulu, on Wednesday on a firefighting mission to prevent a possible disintegration of the government.

However, officials said Mugabe furiously resisted Zuma’s pressure, insisting he had not acted “unconstitutionally and unlawfully” in making key government appointments which have triggered the latest crisis.

Latin America

‘This was the most compellingly upbeat story since the lunar landings. It was a rare privilege to be there to watch it unfold’

Miners and politicians alike deserve all the plaudits coming their way, says Guy Adams, the IoS correspondent at Camp Hope

Sunday, 17 October 2010

It was the little boy who did it for me. Bairon Avalos, seven years old, crying buckets as it finally dawned on him that, yes, Daddy really was coming home. When he ran up to greet his father, Florencio, the first of the 33 miners to step out of the metal cage, it really did feel like the whole of Chile was weeping with him.

We watched on a big screen, rigged up against the side of the canteen tent in Camp Hope, maybe 500 yards from the rocky patch of desert where this human drama was playing out. The atmosphere was electric. Flags were waved, bells rang, grown men embraced each other. Florencio, exhausted, just wanted to hug his wife.

Ignoring Asia A Blog

Morning Shinbun

Oct 17 2010

June Cleaver (Beaver’s Mom) Has Died – w/Fav TV Sitcom Poll

By tlsmith43830

( – promoted by TheMomCat)

Crossposted at Daily Kos and Docudharma

Barbara Billingsley, whose portrayal of June Cleaver on the sitcom “Leave It to Beaver” helped define the suburban TV mother of the 1950s and who lampooned her wholesome image in the movie “Airplane!” as a prim older lady who is fluent in “jive,” died Oct. 16 at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 94.

Mrs. Billingsley was a fashion model and supporting player on film and television before she won her best-known role, gowned in her signature skirts, high heels and pearls as the Cleaver family matriarch on “Leave It to Beaver.”

June Cleaver was presented as the flawless housewife, lovingly going through the motions of running a home: stuffing celery with peanut butter, vacuuming in high heels, greeting her husband when he came home at night and tucking in her two adorable sons.

link

Actress Barbara Billingsley played June Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver from 1957-1963 on CBS and ABC. She died early this morning at her home in Santa Monica, Calif., after a long illness.

The Washington Post has this photo gallery of Billingsley’s life and of the show itself

The original nuclear family on “Leave It to Beaver”: Jerry Mathers, left, Barbara Billingsley and Tony Dow.

LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

:: ::

Billingsley starred in a program that represented a much-different era than the one we live in today

They were the Modern Family of their time, back when cars sported tailfins, Americans raced the Russians to the moon and everybody liked Ike.

They were the Cleavers, delivering a bit of sanitized Americana every week on the TV sitcom Leave It to Beaver: stalwart dad Ward, hormonal older brother Wally, trouble-prone kid brother Theodore (better known as “the Beaver,” for his oversized front teeth), and the always perfectly coiffed, calm and collected mother, June, played by actress Barbara Billingsley.

:: ::

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Billingsley defined the classic suburban sitcom mother. A full-time mom invariably attired in a dress, pearls, and heels, June Cleaver was at once an accurate snapshot of a certain kind of American mother, a role model, and a fantasy of the sort of maternal figure millions of people enjoyed watching for Beaver’s six seasons.

Billingsley played June without a trace of irony and a firm confidence. While June knew her place and deferred to her husband, Ward, in most matters of child-rearing, Billingsley’s portrayal allowed you to understand that June knew how to guide both her husband and her sons to do the correct thing through suggestion and by example.

link

:: ::

Here’s a CNN Report from earlier today in which Don Lemon interviews Tony Dow, who recounts his experiences working with Billingsley on the show

:: ::

Leave it to Beaver had all-white, middle class characters which were reflective of the era in which it was introduced. The series has its admirers as well as many critics, even though at the time it was televised it was not considered one of the top programs of the day

Leave It To Beaver, a series both praised for its family-bolstering innocence and panned for its homogenized sappiness, served as a bridge between the waning radio comedy and the blossoming of the television “sitcom.”

Despite its six-year-run as a prime-time network offering, Beaver never made the coveted top-twenty-five list. Nevertheless, its down-to-earth writing, low-key acting and uncontrived storylines served as a memorable and well-crafted icon for the positive if unremarkable joys of middle class family life in general and suburban kid-dom in particular. If Beaver’s ignoring of significant social issues was a common flaw of the programs of its time, its unpretentious advocacy of personal responsibility and self-respect was an uncommon virtue. Admittedly, as critic Robert Lewis Shayon observed, Ward and June Cleaver were “Mr. and Mrs. Average-American living in their typical Good Housekeeping home.” But what happened in and around that home was a consistent and continuous celebration of all those minor but precious family victories that could be won even when the children themselves were required to be the decision-makers.

(Pictured above: Ward Cleaver (played by Hugh Beaumont), Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow), June Cleaver (Barabara Billingsley), and Beaver Cleaver (Jerry Mathers))

:: ::

Actor Jerry Mathers — who played “Beaver” on the show — issued this statement in remembrance of his television mom

I am deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend and lifetime mentor Barbara Billingsley. She will live in the hearts of her fans as a wonderful actress and be remembered by her friends as a gracious lady. Barbara was a patient advisor and teacher. She helped me along this challenging journey through life by showing me the importance of manners and respect for others. She will be deeply missed by all of her family, friends, fans and most especially by me.

Rest in peace, Barbara Billingsley.

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Oct 17 2010

Prime Time

By rustymancuso581

So today Rangers fans and Yankee haters are getting their revenge (though 5 runs is not enough) but the point is that you only have to split away and that’s already done. Tonight on Faux we have a pitchers’ duel which means a boring game barring a breakdown. I’ve already picked the Phillies, I say they do it in 6. Does this hurt the eventual Yankees matchup? Did you see CC last night? Vincible.

There is also Turn Left Racing.

AMC– Predator & 2 (if you like that sort of thing, were it not a double feature I wouldn’t bother listing it)
Animal Planet– Pit Boss (premier)
Bravo– House marathon
Comedy– Wedding Crashers
Disney– A relatively large amount of Phineas and Ferb
E!– Bounce
ESPN– College Throwball, Ohio State @ Wisconsin and Oregon State @ Washington
ESPN2– College Throwball, South Carolina @ Kentucky and Mississippi @ Alabama
Food– A new Throwdown (ugh, the most unjustifiably arrogant chef on Food TV)
FX– Baby Mama (again?), Two and a Half Men marathon
History– The Universe marathon
Lifetime– The Pregnancy Pact, Reviving Ophelia
Nick– New True Jackson
Oxygen– Juno, Legally Blonde
Sci Fi– The Final, Kill Theory
TBS– The Longest Yard x 2 (not the good one)
Turner Classic– A Foreign Affair, Knight Without Armour
TNT– Fool’s Gold, Failure to Launch
Toon– Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (World Premier), Tower Prep (Series Premier)
TV Guide– Useless. Home Fries x 2 (again and again and again)
USA– NCIS marathon
Vs.– College Throwball, Arizona @ Washington State

Later-

ABC Family– Stepmom
Comedy– Waiting…
Sci Fi– The Graves (again), House of the Dead 2
TBS– Terminator 2 (No Fate. Best of the series.)
Turner Classic– Morocco (a very young Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich)
TNT– Spanglish
USA– Burn Notice
Vs.– Wildcats (again)
VH1– 8 Mile (again)

SNL Repeat from 9/25. GitS: SAC Re-View, Eraser (episodes 20 and 21).

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Oct 17 2010

Evening Edition

By rustymancuso581

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Rescuers work to reach four trapped in Ecuador mine

AFP

1 hr 52 mins ago

PORTOVELO, Ecuador (AFP) – Ecuadoran rescuers on Saturday succeeded in creating openings large enough to pump fresh air to four men trapped in a caved-in gold mine, the government said.

But despite the progress, emergency workers had not yet made contact with the men and relatives faced continued uncertainty about whether their loved ones were still alive.

The Ecuadoran miners became trapped in the early hours of Friday morning, after the collapse blocked their exit from the mine, leaving the four men stuck some 150 meters (492 feet) below ground in the Casa Negra mine.

2 French workers take to the streets as airport fears ease

by Dave Clark, AFP

16 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – French trade unions staged another massive day of protests Saturday to defend their right to retire at 60, but fears of fuel shortages crippling Paris airports eased as supplies resumed.

Although government estimates of the turnout at the rallies suggested the movement might be losing steam, unions warned that strikes are spreading to more businesses and that a new nationwide protest would be held Tuesday.

Tension has been building since record demonstrations earlier this week with strikes in refineries cutting off fuel supplies to Paris airports and with high school students joining older workers to condemn pension reform moves.

3 Sarkozy sends in riot police to break fuel blockade

AFP

Fri Oct 15, 3:44 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – President Nicolas Sarkozy dispatched riot police Friday to reopen fuel depots blocked by strikes against pension reform, as the fuel pipeline to Paris airports was cut and all France’s refineries shut down.

But even as officers forced open the barricades at some depots, strikers threw up new pickets at other fuel distribution centres across the country to fight against moves to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Riot police made 16 arrests and used tear gas as they fought running battles with youths who pelted them with stones and overturned cars during street protests by high-school students in the central city of Lyon.

4 French workers take to the streets as fuel blockade bites

by Dave Clark, AFP

2 hrs 19 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – French trade unions staged another massive day of protest Saturday to defend their right to retire at 60, as strikes in the key refining sector threatened to cut off fuel supplies.

5 China ‘concerned’ over Japan island row protest

by Dan Martin, AFP

2 hrs 24 mins ago

BEIJING (AFP) – Beijing expressed “deep concern” Saturday at anti-China protests by Japanese nationalists at its embassy in Tokyo over a diplomatic spat centred on a group of disputed islands.

The comment followed tit-for-tat demonstrations in China and Japan on Saturday over the row that broke out last month when Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain near the islands in the East China Sea.

“China has expressed its deep concern to Japan over this,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement on the ministry website.

6 Finally, US Army makes progress for women in uniform

by Virginie Montet, AFP

1 hr 48 mins ago

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia (AFP) – The US Army is testing its first-ever combat uniform expressly designed to fit the female figure, a move seen as an overdue effort to make 160,000 US women soldiers more comfortable.

Don’t expect a camouflage haute couture revolution for America’s military women; the changes will be visibly slight, although they are important, said the first person to try on the women’s army combat uniform, or ACU.

“The unisex uniform was a little bit baggy,” Major Sequana Robinson told AFP, undoubtedly summing up the attitudes of thousands of female soldiers who for decades have had to make do with ill-fitting fatigues.

7 World’s longest cable car line opens to Armenia

by Mariam Harutunian, AFP

Sat Oct 16, 9:12 am ET

TATEV, Armenia (AFP) – Armenia on Saturday launched the world’s longest cable car line, a 5.7-kilometre (3.5-mile) engineering feat that spans a spectacular gorge to the country’s ancient Tatev monastery.

Gathered in Armenia’s southern mountains near the border with Iran, guests including President Serzh Sarkisian and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, took part as the cable car link launched its first official voyage over the Vorotan River Gorge.

The link will allow year-round access to Armenia’s ninth-century Tatev monastery complex, one of the country’s most important religious centres and a major tourist attraction.

8 India ‘orders probe’ into Delhi Games corruption

by Pratap Chakravarty, AFP

Sat Oct 16, 5:15 am ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The Indian government has launched an official investigation into allegations of corruption and mismanagement during the preparations for the Delhi Commonwealth Games, reports said Saturday.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) national watchdog ordered the probe into various Games-related projects a day after Thursday’s closing ceremony, the Press Trust of India said.

“The audit work for the Commonwealth Games is related to work payments, contracts and leasing of sports equipment among others,” the official news agency said.

9 France, Germany to welcome Russia to seaside summit

by Philippe Alfroy, AFP

Sat Oct 16, 4:48 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel will host Russia’s President Dimitry Medvedev next week at a seafront summit designed to bind Moscow more closely into a partnership with the West.

The trio will meet on Monday and Tuesday in the Channel resort of Deauville, two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the Cold War and a month before the NATO allies meet to agree their new security vision.

No decisions are expected, but observers will look for signs that Moscow and the West are ready to put decades of hostility behind them and commit to what optimists see as a common security vision “from Vancouver to Vladivostok.”

10 Chile’s rescued miners tight-lipped about ordeal

By Terry Wade and Juana Casas, Reuters

1 hr 1 min ago

COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) – Chile’s 33 freed miners kept largely silent on Saturday about the 69 days they spent trapped deep inside a copper and gold mine, as speculation grew they planned to save their stories for a book.

“We are not going to talk about that,” said 63-year-old Mario Gomez, the oldest of the workers stuck for more than two months in a remote mine in northern Chile, when asked about the hellish ordeal.

“That’s reserved,” was the answer to the same question from Ariel Ticona, 29, as he left the hospital where the miners were cared for after their stunning Wednesday rescue. Most were discharged on Friday.

11 French protesters rally over pension reform

By Gerard Bon, Reuters

22 mins ago

PARIS (Reuters) – A million or more people marched in cities across France on Saturday in the latest protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s flagship pension reform, and refinery strikes squeezed fuel at airports.

The government said turnout was down significantly on a rally last weekend against the push to raise the retirement age, but unions said the numbers were stable and vowed to maintain pressure to drop the plans ahead of a Senate vote on Tuesday.

Only minor scuffles were reported during Saturday’s marches, which came on top of five-day old rail and refinery strikes which have piled pressure on the center-right government.

12 U.S. soldier to face court-martial in Afghan slayings

By Laura Myers, Reuters

Sat Oct 16, 3:11 am ET

SEATTLE (Reuters) – The first of 12 U.S. soldiers accused of terrorizing unarmed civilians as part of a rogue infantry platoon in Afghanistan will face a court-martial on murder charges and other offenses, the military said on Friday.

U.S. Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, from Wasilla, Alaska, is charged with three counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of Afghan civilians he is accused of killing for sport.

Although a charge of premeditated murder carries the possibility of the death sentence, it was decided in this case that Morlock would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on all charges, Army spokeswoman Major Kathleen Turner said.

13 Fiscal 2010 deficit thins to $1.29 trillion

By Donna Smith, Reuters

Sat Oct 16, 12:59 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The budget deficit for fiscal 2010 narrowed to $1.294 trillion from last year’s record $1.416 trillion as tax collections started to recover and bailout spending fell sharply.

The Treasury Department said on Friday the deficit came to 8.94 percent of gross domestic product for the year ended September 30, versus 10 percent in fiscal 2009.

The government called the deficit-to-GDP improvement the biggest since fiscal 1987.

14 Mozilo settles Countrywide fraud case at $67.5 million

By Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Levine, Reuters

Fri Oct 15, 9:02 pm ET

LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Former Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo agreed to a settlement of $67.5 million to resolve charges of duping the home lender’s investors while lining his own pockets, but Bank of America Corp will pick up two-thirds of the tab.

The flamboyant poster boy of the subprime mortgage market’s boom and bust struck a last-minute deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before his trial on civil fraud charges was to start next week.

The most prominent executive charged by regulators with wrongdoing linked to the housing market collapse, Mozilo on Friday became the recipient of the highest fine ever dished out to an executive of a public corporation.

15 U.S. backs off in currency dispute with China

By Doug Palmer, Reuters

Fri Oct 15, 4:29 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration backed away on Friday from a showdown with Beijing over the value of China’s currency that would have caused new frictions between the world’s only superpower and its largest creditor.

The Treasury Department delayed a much-anticipated decision on whether to label China as a currency manipulator until after the U.S. congressional elections on November 2 and a Group of 20 leaders summit in South Korea on November 11.

Washington and the European Union accuse China — set to become the world’s second-largest economy after the United States this year — of keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, undermining jobs and competitiveness in Western economies.

16 Bernanke sees case for more Federal Reserve easing

By Kristina Cooke, Reuters

Fri Oct 15, 3:27 pm ET

BOSTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday offered his most explicit signal yet that the U.S. central bank was set to ease monetary policy further, but provided no details on how aggressively it might act.

Bernanke warned a prolonged period of high unemployment could choke off the U.S. recovery and that the low level of inflation presented an uncomfortable risk of deflation, a dangerous downward slide in prices.

“There would appear — all else being equal — to be a case for further action,” Bernanke said at a conference sponsored by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank.

17 Democrats cling to narrow lead in California: Reuters/Ipsos

By Steve Holland, Reuters

Fri Oct 15, 5:33 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic candidates are clinging to narrow leads over their Republican rivals in two key California races with less than three weeks to go until November 2 elections, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Friday.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer’s lead over Republican Carly Fiorina among likely voters in California is only one point, 46 percent to 45 percent, down from a four-point advantage early this month.

Boxer is a key ally of President Barack Obama, who is to campaign for her and other Democrats next week in California. Fiorina is a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

18 U.S. inflation slows, keeping pressure on Fed

By Corbett B. Daly and Emily Kaiser, Reuters

Fri Oct 15, 3:32 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. inflation slowed more than expected in September even as retail sales picked up, keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve to act soon to lessen the risk of a downward price spiral.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled on Friday the central bank would likely pump more dollars into the economy to bolster the recovery and keep deflation at bay.

The prospect of more easy money threatened to exacerbate global tensions about currency policies, although Washington delayed a much-anticipated decision on whether to label China a currency manipulator.

19 Bernanke sets up for easing amid currency worries

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

Fri Oct 15, 5:44 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Reserve on Friday cemented expectations of more U.S. stimulus and emerging economies moved to curb the currency turmoil they blame on super-low interest rates in rich countries.

Brazil will unveil measures next week to try to rein in its rising currency which is close to a two-year high against the dollar, and Colombia took new steps to contain the rise of its peso.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said countries must work together to strengthen the global currency order, trying to soothe tensions ahead of meetings of top finance officials in South Korea next week.

20 Pakistan says willing to assist Afghan talks

By David Brunnstrom, Reuters

Fri Oct 15, 5:21 pm ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Pakistan said on Friday it was willing to assist talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and NATO confirmed its forces had helped ensure a senior Taliban commander reached Kabul.

NATO and U.S. officials have said they are ready to do more to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, but Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the talks must be led by Afghanistan itself.

“We are there to facilitate. Because we want to see a stable, peaceful Afghanistan. It’s in Pakistan’s interest to have stability and peace in Afghanistan,” Qureshi said in Brussels before talks on Pakistan’s economic development.

21 Obama steps into Mass. governor’s race to aid ally

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer

15 mins ago

BOSTON – President Barack Obama stepped into the Massachusetts gubernatorial race Saturday to rally for friend and political ally Deval Patrick, who is struggling to overcome the anti-incumbent mood that has swept across the country during this election season.

Speaking before a crowd of several thousand at a rally at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center, Obama said Patrick’s opponent is banking on the same strategy as national Republicans.

“They figured they could ride people’s anger and frustration all the way to the ballot box,” said Obama, dressed more casually for the weekend rally, in a sport coat but no tie.

22 As Democrats’ message lags, GOP awaits huge wins

By CHARLES BABINGTON and LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers

Sat Oct 16, 1:35 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Two weeks before Election Day, Democrats fear their grip on the House may be gone, and Republicans are poised to celebrate big gains in the Senate and governors’ mansions as well.

Analysts in both parties say all major indicators tilt toward the Republicans. President Barack Obama’s policies are widely unpopular. Congress, run by the Democrats, rates even lower. Fear and anger over unemployment and deep deficits are energizing conservative voters; liberals are demoralized.

Private groups are pouring huge sums of money into GOP campaigns. An almost dizzying series of Democratic messages has failed to gain traction, forcing Obama to zigzag in search of a winning formula.

23 Fuel supplies low as French protest pension reform

By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 13 mins ago

PARIS – Officials have taken the extraordinary step of warning some flights landing at France’s main airport to come with enough fuel to get back home, bracing for a possible fuel shortage after a new round of protests Saturday against plans to raise the retirement age to 62.

Police estimated some 825,000 people marched in cities across France to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to extend the retirement age to keep pension coffers full. That is fewer than during an Oct. 12 march – and far lower than the union estimate of 3 million. But unions are not relenting in fighting for what the French see as a near-sacred right to retire at 60.

A sixth round of nationwide protests is scheduled for Tuesday, a day before the Senate votes on the retirement reform, which must still return to both houses due to amendments tacked on during debates.

24 US terror war in Yemen frustrated by politics

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 1:14 pm ET

SAN’A, Yemen – For nearly a year, the United States has waged a war against al-Qaida in Yemen, largely in deep secrecy. But the militants appear unfazed, and the fragile government of this poor Arab nation is pushing back against American pressure to escalate the fight.

The regime of Yemen’s longtime leader, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, is weak, dependent for its survival on the loyalty of unruly tribes and alliances with Muslim extremists. Yemeni authorities also fear too harsh a fight against al-Qaida will alienate a deeply conservative Muslim population where anti-American sentiment is widespread. As a result, the main Yemeni tactic is often to negotiate with tribes to try to persuade them to hand over fugitive militants.

Yemeni officials say Washington is pressing them to be more aggressive.

25 Oil change reignites debate over GPS trackers

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 44 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Yasir Afifi, a 20-year-old computer salesman and community college student, took his car in for an oil change earlier this month and his mechanic spotted an odd wire hanging from the undercarriage.

The wire was attached to a strange magnetic device that puzzled Afifi and the mechanic. They freed it from the car and posted images of it online, asking for help in identifying it.

Two days later, FBI agents arrived at Afifi’s Santa Clara apartment and demanded the return of their property – a global positioning system tracking device now at the center of a raging legal debate over privacy rights.

26 Fox, Cablevision returning to table in dispute

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer

7 mins ago

NEW YORK – Cablevision subscribers in the New York metropolitan area found blacked out Fox channels on their television screens Saturday, while the cable company and Fox parent News Corp. tried to resolve a dispute that threatened broadcasts of baseball playoffs and a football game.

The stalemate that led to Fox pulling its channels and online content after midnight was the latest in a series of programming fee disputes that have led to blackouts of programs such as the Oscars. But the impasse amounted to more than corporate wrangling for Bronx resident Clifford Taylor.

“We live for sports,” Taylor said. “Die-hard New Yorker fans, we love to see the Yankees and Giants play.”

27 Hard-hit British heartland braces for cuts

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 12:55 pm ET

SHEFFIELD, England – Sheffield knows all about cuts – and no one knows better than Philip Wright.

A scissors manufacturer, he remembers this city at the height of its steel-making glory, when Sheffield’s furnaces and factories produced ships and tools and cutlery for the dinner tables of the world.

The huge steelworks are mostly gone now, like so much British industry over the past few decades, the victim of international competition, changing technology and governments with other priorities.

28 For GOP, tea party candidates help – and hurt

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

Sat Oct 16, 9:20 am ET

AURORA, Colo. – Colorado Republicans are hosting a campaign tea party this fall, for better or worse.

Or maybe for better and worse, in a jarring demonstration of the potential and peril generated by a political movement responsible for reshaping the 2010 election season.

One statewide nominee, Ken Buck, won the primary with the support of tea party activists and is a modest favorite to defeat appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. He enjoys the full backing of the Republican Party, and the groups aligned with it are pouring millions into television ads to help him.

29 US studying Australian Internet security program

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 1:51 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The government is reviewing an Australian program that will allow Internet service providers to alert customers if their computers are taken over by hackers and could limit online access if people don’t fix the problem.

Obama administration officials have met with industry leaders and experts to find ways to increase online safety while trying to balance securing the Internet and guarding people’s privacy and civil liberties.

Experts and U.S. officials are interested in portions of the plan, set to go into effect in Australia in December. But any move toward Internet regulation or monitoring by the U.S. government or industry could trigger fierce opposition from the public.

30 China media mostly quiet as mine blast traps 16

By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 1:46 pm ET

BEIJING – China joined the world in breathless coverage of the Chilean mine rescue, but when a gas blast killed 21 Chinese miners and trapped 16 Saturday, the national TV evening news didn’t say a word. Rescuers said they were fighting tons of coal dust to reach the miners, who have been located but whose condition was unknown.

The rescuers also faced dangerous gas levels and the risk of falling rocks as they worked their way into the mine pit.

The early-morning explosion in central China happened as the world still was celebrating Chile’s successful rescue of 33 miners trapped more than two months. Chinese media had detailed coverage as the men emerged to cheers.

31 Clinton rallies Calif Dems in crucial turnout vote

By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 7:05 am ET

LOS ANGELES – Former President Bill Clinton urged Democrats to push past apathy and turn out the vote for Democrats this November, despite economic woes and a political climate that he said is encouraging discord and division.

Before a crowd that included thousands of University of California, Los Angeles students, Clinton on Friday called the November election a clash of ideas. He sought to portray gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown as a candidate from the future – saying the 72-year-old was an innovator as governor from 1975 to 1983.

“He was the first governor in America to have green building standards, green appliance standards,” Clinton said. “He knew it was good economics when most people thought it was a fool’s errand.”

32 Feds oppose Calif. Prop 19 to legalize marijuana

By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 5:04 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. government will “vigorously enforce” federal laws against marijuana even if voters next month make California the first state to legalize pot, Attorney General Eric Holder says.

Holder’s warning, contained in a letter to ex-federal drug enforcement chiefs, was his most direct statement yet against Proposition 19, and it sets up another showdown with California over marijuana if the measure passes.

With Prop 19 leading in the polls, the letter also raised questions about the extent to which federal drug agents would go into communities across the state to catch small-time users and dealers, or whether they even had the resources to do it.

33 Senate GOP, Democrats fight for financial edge

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 1:14 am ET

WASHINGTON – The Democrats’ national fundraising organizations have become a silver lining for a beleaguered party that has its hands full with Republican-allied outside groups and well-financed GOP candidates.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Friday reported raising a record $27 million during the three months ending Sept. 30, and entered the crucial final weeks of the election campaign with $25.6 million in the bank, $6.4 million more than its Republican counterpart. The Democrats’ House equivalent, looking to stave off a Republican takeover, reported $41.6 million in the bank, more than twice the cash on hand reported by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The money offers a sharp counterpoint to Republican advantages elsewhere in the political landscape. Republican Senate candidates have maintained a slight fundraising edge over Democrats. But the biggest GOP boost has come from outside groups that have spent millions on advertising, much of it in money raised from undisclosed donors in unlimited amounts.

34 Court ruling or no, gay troops know not to tell

By ALLEN G. BREED and BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press Writers

Sat Oct 16, 1:17 am ET

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – When word came down of a judge’s ruling that gays could serve openly in the military, an Air Force officer received joyous congratulations from a comrade. Realizing there was someone in the room who didn’t know his sexual orientation, the officer pretended it was a joke and laughed it off.

He figured it was too soon – and too risky – to celebrate.

On Friday, the Pentagon agreed, warning gay troops that in this “legally uncertain environment,” coming out now could have “adverse consequences for themselves or others.” The warning came a day after the Obama administration asked a federal judge in California to stay her ruling overturning the Clinton-era “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while the government prepares an appeal.

35 For House Democrats, politics trumps loyalty

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 3:32 am ET

WASHINGTON – Grasping to keep control of Congress, Democratic leaders are turning their backs on some of their staunchest supporters in the House and propping up stronger candidates who have routinely defied them on health care, climate change and other major issues.

Raw politics – the drive to win a House-majority 218 seats, no matter how – is increasingly trumping policy and loyalty in these decisions, as Democrats shift money and attention in the closing days of the campaign toward races they can win and pull back from those seemingly lost.

The Democrats are shelling out $40 million in 59 congressional districts in the last three weeks of the campaign for TV advertising. Republicans, boosted by well-funded outside groups, are working to expand the political battleground by pouring money into 82 races next week alone.

36 Factory involved in Hungary sludge flood restarts

By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 15, 7:07 pm ET

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Production restarted Friday at the metals plant whose broken reservoir unleashed a massive flood of caustic red sludge, even as villagers began returning to one of the affected towns in western Hungary despite warnings from environmentalists that it was too early and too dangerous to return.

Some 800 Kolontar residents were evacuated last Saturday after authorities said a wall of the factory reservoir could collapse further, releasing a second wave of red sludge after a calamitous break Oct. 4 created a deadly torrent.

Nine people died in the toxic flood and around 50 are still hospitalized, several in serious condition.

37 More intellectually disabled youths go to college

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 15 mins ago

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Zach Neff is all high-fives as he walks through his college campus in western Missouri. The 27-year-old with Down syndrome hugs most everybody, repeatedly. He tells teachers he loves them.

“I told Zach we are putting him on a hug diet – one to say hello and one to say goodbye,” said Joyce Downing, who helped start a new program at the University of Central Missouri that serves students with disabilities.

The hope is that polishing up on social skills, like cutting back on the hugs, living in residence halls and going to classes with non-disabled classmates will help students like Neff be more independent and get better jobs.

38 Cancer activist’s approach: Real, a bit irreverent

By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer

Sat Oct 16, 12:42 pm ET

CHICAGO – Lindsay Avner is no shrinking violet. She’s a bright pink whirlwind, with a closet full of dresses cut from that very color and a cancer-fighting organization she named for it.

Bold yet calculating, she is the nice girl who knows how to get what she wants, and how to get away with saying things others couldn’t, or wouldn’t.

“Mind your melons,” Avner, who’s 28, tells any young woman who’ll listen. “Touch your ta-tas.”

39 Armenian organized crime grows more complex

By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 16, 11:30 am ET

GLENDALE, Calif. – Endeavor Diagnostics billed itself as a thriving medical laboratory that performed more than $1 million of work for Medicare patients.

When two FBI agents went to inspect it, they found an empty San Fernando Valley office with only a desk and a fax machine. There were no workers, no patients and no biological samples.

Behind the door of the facade were signs tying the operation to a sprawling network of phantom enterprises allegedly set up by Armenian mobsters to try to defraud Medicare of $163 million for services never provided.

40 Tribal leaders tell feds road funding needs a fix

By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 15, 11:25 pm ET

POLSON, Mont. – Road fatalities on Indian reservations are three times the national average because road projects in Indian Country are inadequately funded, tribal leaders told federal officials Friday.

In a field hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in Polson, committee representative Sen. Jon Tester heard from government officials and tribal representatives from as far as California and Arizona who said more money was needed for reservation roads and the system needed to be better administered.

Some 73 percent of the 28,000 miles of roadways under the Bureau of Indian Affairs are unpaved and considered inadequate, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk said.

41 Report: Killer whales preying on Alaska sea otters

By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 15, 8:42 pm ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A report by government scientists identifies killer whales as the No. 1 reason there are so few sea otters in southwest Alaska.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed five-year, $15 million recovery plan for sea otters in the Aleutian Islands considered a slew of possible reasons for the perilously low numbers found in some areas.

The draft recovery plan released this week said there is only one threat considered to have high importance: predation by killer whales, with sharks perhaps being a factor.

42 UN envoy says over 15,000 raped in eastern Congo

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 15, 7:39 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS – More than 15,000 people were raped in the volatile eastern region of Congo last year, according to the best data available, the top U.N. envoy in the African nation said Friday.

Roger Meece, who heads the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, said the scale of the security problems in the east, including sexual attacks, is “enormous.”

Meece told the U.N. Security Council that the “horrific” mass rapes in late July and early August by rebel militias in eastern Congo’s mineral-rich Walikale region underscored the importance of protecting civilians.

43 APNewsBreak: NY officers face stat-fudging charges

By TOM HAYS and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writers

Fri Oct 15, 6:31 pm ET

NEW YORK – Four New York Police Department officers are facing internal charges based on the highly publicized accusations by a fellow officer that they manipulated crime statistics, an NYPD official said Friday.

The officers include the former commanding officer of the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn, Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello.

Mauriello, a sergeant and two patrol officers were served with the charges this week. A second sergeant was expected to be served next week, said the official, who only named Mauriello.

44 Army won’t seek death in Afghan killings case

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 15, 6:31 pm ET

SEATTLE – A U.S. soldier who told investigators in horrifying detail that he and other members of his unit executed three civilians in Afghanistan for sport will not face the death penalty if convicted, the Army said Friday.

Spc. Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, is one of five defendants charged with murder and conspiracy in the deaths this year. Much of the Army’s case is based on extensive statements Morlock gave describing the killings.

Last month, an investigating officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle held a preliminary hearing in Morlock’s case and recommended it proceed to a court martial.

45 Texas prosecutor denies showing bias in arson case

By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 15, 4:37 pm ET

AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas prosecutor accused of bias for describing an executed man as a “guilty monster” defended his comments Friday, while his colleagues on a commission investigating the case said he might have jeopardized the integrity of their inquiry.

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said lawyers trying to clear Cameron Todd Willingham’s name are using the case to further their effort to abolish the death penalty. He also argued that he has a First Amendment right to state his opinion.

“We are being used, and we should recognize that,” Bradley said. “When do we get to respond to those lies? Who is going to correct the record?”

Oct 16 2010

Random Japan

By masum4049

THE NAKED AND THE CRISP

Participants in Chiba’s Ohara Hadaka Matsuri (“Ohara naked man festival”) got a jolt when lightning struck, injuring 34 people carrying shrines, two of them seriously.

In a bid to crash Apple’s iPad party, Sharp is rolling out its new portable e-reader called Galapagos. The company says the tablet will be “adopting a unique evolutionary path of using Japanese technology and design to match the needs of the Japanese user.” (Does that mean we will now be spared grown men reading pornographic manga on the train?)

After paying ¥17 million a year for the naming rights to Miyashita Park in Shibuya-ku, Nike came up with the catchy “Miyashita Nike Park” moniker.

STATS

6,800

Estimated number of deaths caused by passive smoking each year in Japan, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry

3,600

Estimated number of these deaths caused by secondhand smoke in the workplace

167,000

Number of medical doctors practicing in Japan

24,000

Additional number of doctors needed nationwide to address critical shortages in care, according to the health ministry

FOREIGN INTRIGUE

Hanshin Tigers’ carrot-topped outfielder Matt Murton has become so popular in the Kansai area that conbini chain Family Mart has named both a rice ball and a lunch box after him.

DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada didn’t exactly help Japan’s strained relations with China when he called the country “undemocratic.”

In Kagoshima, a 58-year-old man fell to his death when he climbed into his ex-wife’s apartment through an eighth-floor balcony with a can of gas to set fire to the place. His ex was unharmed.

Line of the Week:”You now have more reason to visit Japan: Paris Hilton isn’t allowed into the country.” (via the Calgary Herald)

Give Flowers

Get Arrested

May I Steal Your Identity?

Thank You

Protect The World

Land In Jail

Group angered by politician’s remarks that women like being at home

TOKYO

Remarks by a senior Japanese politician that Japanese women ”find pleasure” in staying at home, made during an international conference earlier this month to foster female entrepreneurship, have sparked controversy and led to the creation of a protest group.

Yoshikatsu Nakayama, vice minister of economy, trade and industry, made the remarks during the Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit on Oct 1 in the central Japanese city of Gifu, which was jointly hosted by Japan and the United States.

”Japanese women find pleasure in working at home and that has been part of Japanese culture,” Nakayama said during the conference attended by around 300 businesswomen and other participants from the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Mr. Square’ Okada of DPJ turns leaf on Ozawa past

BY AKIHIRO YAMADA THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

In the month since he took over as secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Japan, Katsuya Okada has made it abundantly clear that he intends to make a clean break with the past and, in particular, the style of politics of a past secretary-general, Ichiro Ozawa.

With nationwide local elections due next spring, the question being asked in Japan’s corridors of power is whether the new broom being taken to the ruling party’s No. 2 post will be effective in shoring up its wobbling support base.

Oct 16 2010

Health and Fitness News

By arlethamaselli0

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, IMany Health Care Workers Won’t Get Flu Shots

Poll Shows 28% of Health Care Workers Aren’t Planning to Get Vaccinated This Year cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

Beyond Pesto: New Ideas for Basil

Basil contains flavonoids that are believed to have some antioxidant properties; it’s an excellent source of vitamin K, and a very good source of iron, calcium and vitamin A.

Pots of Basil will also keep away flies although it is unclear why, possibly the fragrant oils. The oils have also shown to inhibit the growth of some pathogenic bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics.

Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed With Pesto

Ellen’s Lemon Basil Salad Dressing

Spaghetti Squash Gratin With Basil

Risotto With Green Beans

Provençal Tomato and Basil Soup

General Medicine/Family Medical

Traffic pollution tied to increased emphysema risk

(Reuters Health) – People who spend years living near high-traffic roadways may be more likely to develop emphysema and related lung problems than those who live in less-traveled areas, a new study suggests.

Research has shown that air pollution can exacerbate symptoms in people with lung diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of serious lung conditions that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Metabolic syndrome continues to climb in the U.S.

(Reuters Health) – There is no end in sight for the increasing rate of metabolic syndrome among Americans, with the prevalence growing among young adults as well, a new study finds.

Metabolic syndrome refers to a collection of risk factors for type 2 diabetes and heart disease that includes abdominal obesity (belly fat), high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and high triglycerides (another type of blood fat).

The main concern with this continuing rise is that it forecasts a similar increase in the rate of type 2 diabetes, according to researcher Dr. Gary Liguori, an assistant professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences at North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Germs Right at Home in American Houses

Americans Rank High for Hygiene Habits Despite Germy Kitchens, Bathrooms

Oct. 14, 2010 — Many U.S. homes have disease-causing germs, but Americans rank among the highest in practicing good hygiene, a new study shows.

The 2010 study called Hygiene Home Truths conducted by the Hygiene Council says that even though the U.S. ranks high in hygiene practices, there is plenty of room for improvement, especially in bathrooms and kitchens.

The council sent germ- and mold-spore hunters armed with swabs into homes in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Australia, and India, looking for microscopic evidence of germs.

Homes of people who agreed to participate were swabbed for bacteria and mold.

Carotid stent has higher stroke risk than surgery

Reuters) – Implanting a device called a stent in neck arteries is more likely to cause a stroke or death than surgically removing life-threatening blockages, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

But patients who get surgery known as carotid endarterectomy to clear blockages in their neck arteries are more likely to have nerve damage and heart attacks, they said.

The findings culled from an analysis of 13 clinical trials comparing the two approaches to preventing strokes add to the debate over which approach to stroke prevention is best.

Hispanics Have Highest Life Expectancy in U.S.

Study Shows Life Expectancy for Hispanics in U.S. is 80.6

Oct. 14, 2010 — Hispanics in the U.S. tend to live longer than non-Hispanics, a study shows.

The study shows that life expectancy for Hispanics is 80.6. Life expectancy is 78.1 for Non-Hispanic whites and 72.9 for non-Hispanic blacks. Overall, the life expectancy at birth for all Americans is 77.7.

The study, which appears in the October issue of Vital and Health Statistics, marks the first time that this longevity information has included reliable statistics for Hispanics living in the U.S. Researchers analyzed 2006 data from death certificates in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories.

Virus Behind Oral Cancer Epidemic

Study Shows ‘Startling Increase’ in Oral Cancer Is Linked to Sexually Transmitted HPV

Oct. 13, 2010 — Researchers warn of an ongoing epidemic of oral cancer caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV).

A study in Stockholm, Sweden, finds that cases of oral cancer — primarily cancer of the tonsils — increased sevenfold from 1970 to 2007.

They find that while HPV caused only 54% of oral cancers from 1998-1999, it caused 84% of these cancers in 2006-2007.

“It looks like HPV-positive oral cancers are rising quite sharply in the past 10 years, while HPV-negative oral cancers went down. That is why we say it is an epidemic,” study leader Tina Dalianis, MD, PhD, professor of tumor biology at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, tells WebMD.

Sleep problems common in arthritis patients

(Reuters Health) – Arthritis can substantially worsen the quality of a person’s sleep, particularly when pain isn’t well controlled or patients are depressed and anxious, a new study shows.

“Among people with arthritis, the prevalence of sleep disturbances was very high – about 23 percent, or more than 10 million Americans,” said Dr. Grant Louie, now at Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland.

In people without arthritis, by comparison, the rate of sleep disturbances was only about 16 percent.

Louie headed up the study when he was still at the National Institutes of Health. He and his colleagues wanted a better understanding of the association between arthritis and sleep problems than previous small studies provided.

Lack of sleep linked to risky colon polyps

(Reuters Health) – People who slept less than six hours a night were more likely to have dangerous polyps in their colon or rectum compared to better-rested patients, in one recent study.

The polyps, called colorectal adenomas, progress to become cancerous tumors in about 10% of cases. As a result, they are considered to be “precancerous” polyps and a strong predictor of the disease.

The findings don’t prove that lack of sleep causes these polyps to occur. The scientists note in the journal Cancer that this is the first time anyone has ever found a link between sleep duration and risk of colorectal adenomas, and the findings need to be confirmed in other studies.

Warnings/Alerts/Guidelines

FDA: Osteoporosis Drugs May Raise Thigh Fracture Risk

Actonel, Atelvia, Boniva, Fosamax, Reclast Carry Possible Fracture Risk

Oct. 13, 2010 — The bisphosphonate class of osteoporosis drugs — including Actonel, Atelvia, Boniva, Fosamax, Reclast, and generics — may raise the risk of thigh bone fracture, the FDA warns.

There’s no proof that the drugs cause the rare, serious thigh fractures called atypical femur fractures. But these events are more common in patients taking bisphosphonates than in patients taking other osteoporosis drugs.

For that reason, the FDA today issued a warning to patients. That warning will appear on the drugs’ labels.

No OTC Chelation

FDA Warns All Over-the-Counter Chelation Treatments Illegal, FDA Says

Oct. 14, 2010 — All over-the-counter sales of “chelation” treatments are illegal, the FDA says.

The federal agency sent warning letters to eight companies that sell chelation treatments online. The companies were told to immediately stop selling the products.

“These are in fact unapproved drugs,” Michael Levy, director of the FDA’s division of new drugs and labeling compliance, said at a news conference. “These companies falsely claimed that these drugs treat a variety of ailments, including autism and heart disease.”

FDA OKs Drug to Treat Opioid Addiction

Vivitrol Can Help Treat Addiction to Heroin and OxyContin

Oct. 14, 2010 — The FDA has approved a drug already used to treat alcohol dependence to help treat patients with addiction to heroin, morphine, and other opioids, including prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin.

Vivitrol, a long-acting formulation of naltrexone given by injection once a month, was approved by the FDA to treat alcohol dependence in 2006. The FDA has now approved Vivitrol to treat and prevent relapse after patients with opioid addiction have undergone detoxification.

New Hepatitis C Drugs in the Works

Study Show 2 Experimental Drugs Are Able to Reduce Virus Levels in Blood

Oct. 14, 2010 — The long wait for new drugs that cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) may soon be over.

In early research, a combination of two experimental, oral, direct-acting antiviral drugs dramatically reduced levels of the virus in the blood of infected patients over two weeks of treatment.

And studies of other experimental drugs that also directly target HCV are under way.

‘Poppers’ May Cause Vision Loss

Researchers Warn of Risks of Inhaled Drug Also Known as Alkyl Nitrite

Oct. 13, 2010 — “Poppers,” the street name for inhaled alkyl nitrite, may produce more than just a “rush.” They can also cause vision loss, according to researchers in Paris, who report on four such cases in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Within a few seconds of inhaling the vapors from an open bottle of poppers, the muscles around your blood vessels relax, and your heart speeds up to pump more blood. The blood reaches your brain resulting in a “rush.” Alkyl nitrites can often be found in products such as leather cleaner or video head cleaner on the Internet, and are often used to enhance sexual pleasure.

Canada declares BPA toxic, sets stage for more bans

(Reuters) – Canada has declared bisphenol A a toxic chemical, prompting calls for far-reaching curbs on the industrial chemical that is used in everything from the linings of aluminum cans to coatings on electronic till receipts.

Canada added the compound, known as BPA, to a list of substances deemed potentially harmful to health or the environment in a notice published in the Canada Gazette on Wednesday.

That makes it easier for Ottawa to regulate the use of the chemical, perhaps by limiting how much BPA can be released into air or water or perhaps with outright bans on its use in specific food containers.

Seasonal Flu/Other Epidemics/Disasters

Analysis: Polio nearly wiped out but risk of failure high

(Reuters) – The world is tantalizingly close to wiping out polio, but experts are starting to worry about the high risk of failure and say it could have consequences for confidence in health battles far beyond this crippling disease.

Global health and vaccines experts say they have polio “on the ropes,” but are frustrated that the goal of eradicating it continues to elude them more than 20 years after they set their sights on it. They fear failure could crush trust in other major disease projects such as fighting malaria, HIV or measles.

“The failure to eradicate polio so far means there is a smell of a suspicion about all vaccine initiatives,” said Professor David Salisbury, former chair of the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization. “That’s why we must achieve polio eradication. We need to demonstrate that it can be done.”

WHO takes aim at tuberculosis with new 5-year plan

(Reuters) – The World Health Organization laid out a new plan on Wednesday to combat tuberculosis and the nearly 2 million deaths it causes each year through a combination of better testing, diagnosis and drugs.

“The Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015” will cost about $47 billion, with money going to fund more testing labs and research projects to develop and deliver medicine to treat the disease, it said in its plan.

“The stakes are high: without rapid scale-up of TB prevention and treatment, some 10 million people will die of a curable disease by 2015,” said Marcos Espinal, the partnership’s executive secretary.

TB is an ancient illness, with most cases curable if detected early and treated with antimicrobial drugs, the WHO said.

Newer flu vaccine as effective as traditional one

(Reuters Health) – A flu vaccine made through a speedier production method appears to be as safe and effective as one produced in the traditional way, a study suggests.

The conventional flu vaccine is produced using chicken eggs to grow the virus, a slow process that makes it hard to quickly boost production in response to a pandemic, such as the swine flu outbreak of 2009.

The new study looked at the effectiveness of a newer flu vaccine that is produced using dog kidney cells, rather than eggs. It is already approved in Europe under the name of Optaflu.

Flu Shots OK for People With Egg Allergy

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Says Few People Get Reactions to Vaccine

Oct 14, 2010 — For years, people with egg allergy were told to avoid the flu vaccine because it contains egg protein and could trigger a reaction, but this advice no longer stands. People with egg allergies can — and should — get the flu shot this year, according to a new report by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

About 1.5% of young children have an egg allergy, but most will outgrow it over time, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network in Fairfax, Va.

Many Health Care Workers Won’t Get Flu Shots

Poll Shows 28% of Health Care Workers Aren’t Planning to Get Vaccinated This Year

Oct. 14, 2010 — Many people who are at high risk for the flu — including health care workers — say they won’t be getting a flu shot this year, a Consumer Reports survey shows.

This year’s vaccine protects against the seasonal and H1N1 swine flu. The CDC now recommends flu vaccines for everyone older than 6 months. But the survey of 1,500 adults aged 18 or older shows that many don’t plan on heeding this advice.

The findings echo those of a series of surveys by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, which showed that 43% of Americans won’t get the flu shot this year, and that one-third of moms won’t vaccinate their kids.

Tropical diseases plague poor but treatment cheap: WHO

(Reuters) – Tropical diseases that affect mainly poor people cost billions of dollars in lost productivity annually and companies must be encouraged to make medicines to eliminate them, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The United Nations agency, in its first report on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), urged governments and donors to invest more in tackling 17 diverse infections often shunned by researchers, which can cause blindness, heart damage and death.

It said the diseases often cost only pennies to treat. They include Chagas disease, which affects about 10 million people in Latin America, and dengue fever, another virus transmitted by infected mosquitoes which the WHO said was rapidly spreading worldwide and now poses a risk to developed countries.

Women’s Health

Infertility more common in women with epilepsy

(Reuters Health) – Women with epilepsy may have a higher-than-average risk of fertility problems, particularly those on multiple anti-seizure drugs, a study published Monday suggests.

Researchers in India found that among 375 women with epilepsy who were trying to become pregnant, 62 percent successfully conceived, usually within two years. The rest, 38 percent, remained infertile over an average of three years of follow-up.

That compared with an infertility rate of 15 percent among married women in the surrounding Indian state of Kerala, according to the researchers.

The findings, reported in the journal Neurology, strengthen the evidence that women with epilepsy have a higher-than-average risk of fertility problems. They also indicate that women taking multiple anti-epilepsy drugs may be particularly at risk.

Hormone replacement increases kidney stone risk

(Reuters Health) – Women who take hormone replacement after menopause are at increased risk of developing kidney stones, new research shows.

“It doesn’t mean that women should stop taking hormone therapy based on this fact, but it does need to be taken into account when deciding to take the hormones or not,” Dr. Naim M. Maalouf of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, one of the study’s authors, told Reuters Health.

From 5 to 7 percent of postmenopausal women in the U.S. suffer from kidney stones, Maalouf and his colleagues note in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Kidney stones aren’t just extremely painful when they are passed out of the bladder; “people who have kidney stones over time tend to have more kidney damage,” Maalouf said.

Yoga Eases Fibromyalgia Pain

Gentle Stretching, Breathing Exercises, Meditation May Lessen Pain, Improve Function, Researchers Say

Oct. 14, 2010 — Women with fibromyalgia can reduce symptoms of the disease and improve their function by practicing the mind-body techniques of yoga, a new study says.

Researchers in Oregon who enrolled 53 women aged 21 or older for the study say that women who participated in a “Yoga of Awareness” health program showed significantly greater improvement in fibromyalgia symptoms.

Their findings are published in the November issue of Pain, the journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

Men’s Health

Drug Extends Prostate Cancer Survival

Hormone Treatment Offers 4 Extra Months in Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Oct. 12, 2010 — Even when medical or surgical castration fails, a potent drug extends survival by four months in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

The drug is Johnson & Johnson’s abiraterone acetate. It blocks an enzyme crucial to the production of male hormones, which spur the growth and spread of advanced prostate cancers.

The treatment gave patients with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer only an extra four months of life. But there’s more hope than that from the study of some 1,200 men with late-stage cancer at 147 medical centers in 13 nations. The study was funded by Johnson & Johnson, which is developing the drug.

Protein urine test may signal prostate cancer

(Reuters) – A protein in urine could be a strong indicator of prostate cancer risk, according to British scientists who say their findings could one day be developed into a quick and simple test for the disease.

Scientists from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) said the protein, called microseminoprotein-beta or MSMB, is found at reduced levels in men diagnosed with the disease and are also lower in men with more aggressive forms of the cancer.

“The protein is easy to detect because it is found in urine and would potentially be a very simple test to carry out on men to identify those most at risk of developing the disease,” said Hayley Whitaker of the Cambridge institute, who led the study.

Masculine Faces Keep Women Sexually Attracted

When Women Are in Fertile Period They Prefer Men With Masculine Facial Features, Study Shows

Oct. 14, 2010 — A man with a masculine face is much more likely than a guy with less masculine features to keep his partner’s sexual attraction during her fertile period, known to be the time when a woman’s eye can wander, according to a new study.

For guys not born with George Clooney’s face, there’s more bad news. Even being super smart won’t help him compensate, it seems. “Even if women are with an intelligent man, they are just as likely to look around during their fertile phase,” says Steven Gangestad, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

His study, adding to growing information about how a woman’s preferences for mates change across the menstrual cycle, is published in Evolution and Human Behavior.

Pediatric Health

High Blood Pressure May Be Problem for Kids, Too

Study Shows 20% of West Virginia Children May Have Hypertension

Oct. 13, 2010 — If new figures are to be believed, as many as one in five West Virginia fifth-graders have high blood pressure, putting them at risk for heart attack and stroke as adults.

School-based testing of more than 62,000 mostly 10- and 11-year-olds revealed that almost 20% had blood pressure readings that were high for their age, sex, and height.

It is not known how many children nationwide have high blood pressure, or even if the 20% figure is accurate for West Virginia because of the many challenges associated with school-based blood pressure testing, researchers say.

But the findings make it clear the obesity epidemic has brought with it risk factors for heart disease rarely seen in children just a few decades ago, according to University of Ottawa professor of medicine Rhian M. Touyz, MD, PhD.

Accidental Swallowing of Drugs Sends Kids to ER

New Government Report Highlights Importance of Locking Up Medications

Oct. 14, 2010 — Tens of thousands of children age 5 and under are treated in emergency rooms annually for accidental ingestion of drugs, including common pain relievers found in medicine cabinets, a new study shows.

The report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows that 68.9% of 100,340 emergency department visits for accidental ingestion of drugs in 2008 were made by kids 5 or younger.

Kids of mentally ill parents at higher murder risk

(Reuters Health) – Children of severely mentally ill parents are nearly nine times more likely to be victims of homicide than children of healthy parents, suggests a new study.

However, as the Danish researchers note, the tragic event is still extremely rare, and the overwhelming majority of psychiatric patients don’t murder their children.

About one out of every 17 adults in the U.S. has a serious psychiatric illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And parents with psychiatric problems affect children’s health in many ways, lead researcher Thomas M. Laursen of the National Center for Register-Based Research at Aarhus University, Denmark, told Reuters Health in an email.

Aging

New Alzheimer’s guidelines aim for early diagnosis

(Reuters) – Experts on Alzheimer’s disease are proposing new criteria for diagnosing the dementia which would pick it up at an earlier stage and should get more patients onto treatment or into trials of new drugs.

An international expert group said the new guidelines would revise the definition of Alzheimer’s to take into account recent scientific developments – including the use of so-called biomarkers, or biological signals, which can show if a person is at risk of the disease before they have any symptoms.

This pre-clinical stage, which can be about 10 years before dementia sets in, is widely seen as the best time to intervene in Alzheimer’s. Recent studies have shown that brain scans, spinal fluid analyses and other tests can help predict who will develop Alzheimer’s and they are becoming crucial to researchers and drug firms trying to develop new treatments.

“It’s very important for us to move from the old way of seeing Alzheimer’s disease to a new one that incorporates the importance of biomarkers,” said Bruno Dubois from France’s Salpetriere Hospital.

End-of-life care costs continue to climb upward

(Reuters Health) – Health care costs at the end of life show no signs of leveling off, according to new research from the United States and Canada published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

But other trends over the past decade, including a sharp increase in use of hospice services, could point the way toward bringing these costs down while improving patient care, Dr. Jonathan Bergman of the University of California in Los Angeles, author of one of the studies, told Reuters Health.

“We end up spending about a third of our overall health care resources in the last year of life,” Bergman said. “It represents a huge avenue for improvement.”

Mental Health

Romantic Love Affects Your Brain Like a Drug

Study Shows a Link Between Intense Feelings of Love and Reward Areas of the Brain

Oct. 13, 2010 — The euphoric “high” that accompanies the passion-filled, early days of romantic love is a common pop music theme, but is it just a metaphor or is love really like a drug?

When researchers examined the question, they found that intense feelings of romantic love affect the brain in the same way drugs like cocaine or powerful pain relievers do.

“The reason people are so attracted to cocaine is that it activates the area of the brain that makes you feel good,” researcher Arthur Aron, PhD, tells WebMD. “The same reward area is activated when people are experiencing the intense desire of romantic love.”

Nutrition/Diet/Fitness

Mediterranean diet may trim diabetes risk

(Reuters Health) – Older adults who stick with a traditional Mediterranean diet rich in plant-based fats may help lower their risk of type 2 diabetes — even without counting calories or shedding weight, new research hints.

In a study of 418 older Spanish adults, researchers found that those instructed to follow a Mediterranean diet were less likely to develop diabetes over four years than those instructed to follow a low-fat diet — about 10 percent developed the disease, versus 18 percent in the low-fat group. And weight loss did not appear necessary to gain the benefit.

The findings, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, may sound too good to be true.

But they back up previous work by the same researchers showing that the Mediterranean diet, even without weight loss, appeared to curb the risk of metabolic syndrome — a collection of risk factors for diabetes that includes abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar and triglycerides.

Folic acid supplements no help for the heart

(Reuters Health) – Supplements containing folic acid are known to cut levels of a protein in the blood implicated in heart disease, but a large new analysis suggests that does not translate into a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer or death.

One in every three U.S. adults reports taking multivitamins containing folic acid. The B-vitamin has long been known to help prevent anemia and to reduce the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida.

Walking May Ward Off Memory Loss

Study Suggests Regular Walking May Prevent Shrinkage of the Brain

Oct. 13, 2010 — Walking 6 miles or so every week is not only good for the heart, but for the brain, preventing shrinkage and possibly dementia down the road, new research indicates.

“Brain size shrinks in late adulthood, which can cause memory problems,” study researcher Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, says in a news release.

Football Players Hurt Brain Without Concussions

Researchers Identify Players With Brain Injuries Who Were Not Diagnosed With Concussions

Oct. 12, 2010 — A small study of high school football players suggests that players who endure multiple impacts to the head may experience brain impairment, even in the absence of a diagnosed concussion.

Researchers led by Thomas Talavage, PhD, of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and colleagues identified 11 male high school football players, ages 15 to 19, who were either diagnosed by a doctor as having a concussion, withstood a high number of hits to the head during practice or games, or withstood an unusually hard impact. Among those 11 players, three were diagnosed with concussions during football season, and eight had no documented concussions

Oct 16 2010

Punting the Pundits

By arlethamaselli0

Eugene Robinson: Looney, and That’s No Debate

OK, I want to make sure I understand. Two years ago, with the nation facing a host of complex and difficult problems, voters put a bunch of thoughtful, well-educated people in charge of the government. Now many of those same voters, unhappy and impatient, have decided that things will get better if some crazy, ignorant people are running the show? Seriously?

I thought I had come to terms with the whole tea party thing, I really did. I convinced myself that it could be analyzed as a political phenomenon, an expression of disaffection, a reaction to economic, social and demographic change that leaves some Americans anxious and unsettled, blah blah blah. But then came Wednesday’s debate in Delaware-featuring Christine O’Donnell, uncut and uncensored-and all my rationalizations crumbled. This isn’t politics, it’s insanity.

I know that O’Donnell is likely to lose to Democrat Chris Coons. But until Election Day-at least-we’re supposed to take her seriously as the Republican candidate for the United States Senate. Sorry, but I just can’t do it anymore.

Nor can I pretend that Carl Paladino, the raging bull from Buffalo, is qualified by experience or temperament to be governor of New York. Or that Sharron Angle, whose small-government philosophy is so extreme as to be incoherent, could possibly make a worthwhile contribution as a senator. Or that Rich Iott, whose idea of weekend fun is putting on a Nazi SS uniform and gamboling through the woods, is remotely acceptable as a candidate for the House.

Steven G. Bradbury and John P. Elwood: Call the Senate’s bluff on recess appointments

. . . the Senate cannot constitutionally thwart the president’s recess appointment power through pro forma sessions.

The Senate, of course, does not meet as a body during a pro forma session. By the terms of the recess order, no business can be conducted, and the Senate is not capable of acting on the president’s nominations. That means the Senate remains in “recess” for purposes of the recess appointment power, despite the empty formalities of the individual senators who wield the gavel in pro forma sessions.

The president should consider calling the Senate’s bluff by exercising his recess appointment power to challenge the use of pro forma sessions. If the Senate persists, then the federal courts may need to resolve the validity of the Senate’s gambit.

The alternative will likely be greater gridlock in Washington. This practice will inevitably become the standard operating procedure, and the recess appointment power could become a virtual dead letter — undermining what the Founders viewed as an essential tool for the effective functioning of our government.

Come on, President Obama, call them on this Game of Chicken.

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Working Families Party: Still Fighting for Working People

Since its founding in 1998, the Working Families Party (WFP) has emerged as New York State’s liveliest progressive political force. It has helped Democrats take back both the US Congress and the State Senate by bringing disaffected Democrats, union members and independents into a coalition with insurgent Democratic candidates.

In 2009, a WFP-backed slate of unusually good progressive candidates for New York City Council, Comptroller and Public Advocate (Nation contributor Bill De Blasio) all won in a landslide. And this September, the party helped defeat notorious state senator Pedro Espada, who had held Albany hostage by threatening to become a Republican and almost single-handedly blocked tenants’ rights legislation from coming to the floor.

That means New Yorkers voting the WFP line on November 2. If you vote for Cuomo, for example, do so on the WFP line rather than the Democratic line. If you select both bubbles only the majority party will receive your vote, and the WFP needs to reach that 50,000-vote threshold to continue receiving its own line on the state ballot.

The WFP is also on the ballot in five other states-Connecticut, Vermont, Oregon, Delaware and South Carolina. In Connecticut, votes on the WFP line could be the margin in some high-profile races like Attorney General Richard Blumenthal versus Linda McMahon for US Senate, and Democrat Dan Malloy versus Tom Foley for Governor.

So if you can vote for the WFP this election, do it. And all of us can tell our friends and colleagues about this once-ragtag group of unions, community groups and progressives that has grown into a force, electing progressive candidates and advancing progressive causes.

Jim Naureckas: ‘Saving’ Social Security From Its Previous Rescue

The multi-trillion surplus that must never, ever be used

Way back in 1983, corporate media helped sell the dubious notion that Social Security needed saving by a blue-ribbon commission (Extra!, 1-2/88). The panel-headed by future Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan-raised payroll taxes and the retirement age for the ostensible purpose of accumulating a large surplus to help finance the retirement of the baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964. That this surplus, loaned to the general federal budget in exchange for Treasury bonds, would also help to finance the Reagan-era tax cuts for affluent taxpayers was treated as a complete coincidence.

Twenty-seven years later, the baby boomers are retiring on (delayed) schedule, and Social Security has accumulated the projected surplus-some $2.5 trillion. But now that it’s time for wealthy taxpayers to pay back the money that the Treasury borrowed from the Social Security program, suddenly Social Security needs “saving” once again. The new twist is that the use of the trust fund that had previously been the mechanism by which it was “saved” is now the chief indication that the program is in dire danger.

Bishop Gene Robinson: How Religion Is Killing Our Most Vulnerable Youth

An increasingly popular bumper sticker reads, “Guns Don’t Kill People — RELIGION Kills People!” In light of recent events I would add religion kills young people: gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people.

Perhaps not directly, though. And religion is certainly not the only source of anti-gay sentiment in the culture. But it’s hard to deny that religious voices denouncing LGBT people contribute to the atmosphere in which violence against LGBT people and bullying of LGBT youth can flourish.

The news is filled with the tragedies of teenaged boys who were gay and decided to end their living hell by committing suicide. Maybe they weren’t even gay, but merely perceived to be by their peers, who harassed, taunted, and threatened them unmercifully.

William D. Cohan: How Wall Street Hid Its Mortgage Mess

The conventional wisdom has it that the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission – the bipartisan group of wise men and women charged with uncovering what caused our recent economic meltdown and telling us what should be done to prevent a recurrence – is woefully out-of-touch and out-of-date. A Times article last month suggested that “an exodus of senior employees” from the commission and “internal disagreements” among those remaining could hamper efforts to produce a meaningful and useful report, which is due to be published in December.

But the conventional wisdom is often wrong, and this time will be no exception. I predict that not only will the commission’s report – and accompanying documents – reveal numerous causes of the crisis that others have overlooked, but also that it will have a significant impact on the regulations that still must be written by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Treasury as part of the implementation on the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. In fact, the inquiry commission may have already played an essential role in beginning to bring fraudsters to justice.

Howard Steven Friedman: Obama’s DADT Policy: Smoke, Mirrors and Cowardice

A federal court ruled this week that the enforcement of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) must be halted, a ruling that the Obama administration is preparing to appeal. Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Gates has stated that ending DADT abruptly would have “enormous consequences” and that he believes that the decision should lie in the hands of Congress only after the Pentagon has completed their study of the issue.

As I discussed previously, President Truman ordered the integration of the armed forces by issuing Executive Order 9981 in 1948. Congressional approval was not required in 1948. In fact, if Harry Truman had waited for an assessment of desegregation’s consequences and approval from Congress, does anyone honestly think we would have seen the desegregation of the military until the 60’s?

So why is the Obama Administration pretending that this is an issue for Congress to decide? In 2008, candidate Obama stated that he would repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and put an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation in the military. Now he is trying to have the judge’s ruling against DADT challenged while simultaneously pretending that he doesn’t the authority to end discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Melvin A. Goodman: The Uses and Misuses of Intelligence in Four US Wars

President Harry S. Truman created the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947 to ensure that the policy community would have access to independent intelligence analysis that was free of the policy advocacy of the Department of State and the Department of Defense. The CIA’s most important analytic mission was the production of national intelligence estimates (NIEs) and assessments that tracked significant political and military developments and provided premonitory intelligence on looming threats and confrontations.

One gauge for measuring the success of the CIA’s intelligence analysis is to measure the Agency’s performance before and during four controversial wars: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Three presidents (Truman, Eisenhower, and Johnson) did not interfere with the production of intelligence analysis in these crises; two presidents (Nixon and George W. Bush) tried to slant intelligence analysis; and now President Obama is fighting a war without benefit of the estimative capabilities of the intelligence community.

Drummond Pike: Stop Supporting Fox News or You’ll Have Blood on Your Hands

In a letter released today, Tides CEO and founder Drummond Pike called on advertisers to stop supporting Fox News.

Dear Fox Advertiser,

I am writing to ask your company to take a simple step that may well save lives in the future. And it is not unimportant that taking this action will remove your company and its products from any connection to what could very likely be an unpleasant tragedy, should things remain as they are today. On behalf of my organization, and many others like it, I ask that you cease advertising on the Fox News Channel.

This is neither a hollow request, nor one rhetorically made. There is an urgency to it born of our own direct experience as the target of a would-be assassin inspired by Fox’s Glenn Beck Show.

Amanda Marcotte: America’s Dish Detergent Wars

The fuss over phosphate bans provides an object lesson in the paranoid politics of the Tea Party’s anti-liberal backlash

Political observers trying to understand the conservative backlash movement in America known as the Tea Party certainly have their work cut out for them. It’s a movement primarily composed of Medicare recipients who object to “government-run healthcare”. Its leaders claim they’re more libertarian in orientation, and yet they routinely back some of the most anti-choice politicians ever to run for such major office. One of their key leaders likes to compare himself to Martin Luther King Jr, but the issues that most reliably get Tea Partiers to hit the streets are reliably racialised to exploit their prejudiced paranoia. They are full of contradictions, often making – and then running from – position statements, and seem to be more about just being angry than listing specific grievances.

But as a long-time conservative-watcher, I think the best way to understand where reactionaries are coming from is to look at some of the smaller issues that get them all riled up. Take, for instance, the long-standing fight over phosphates in dish detergent. The parameters of this debate provide an excellent insight into the Tea Partiers, what motivates them, and why they’re so paranoid.

Many dishwashing detergents use phosphates as water-softeners, but the problem with phosphates is that when they run off into the local water supply, they upset the balance of oxygen in the rivers and lakes and have the potential to kill off fish. The simple solution to this problem is simply to ban phosphates in dish soap, something numerous states have done.

Oct 16 2010

US Chamber of Commerce to Unemployed: “Stop Whining”

By arlethamaselli0

(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

The US Chamber of Commerce has told unemployed Americans to “stop whining” about job out sourcing to foreign countries. It is here to stay.

Tom Donahue, President and CEO of the US Cahmaber of Commerce:

There are legitimate values to outsourcing, not only jobs, but work.

Yes, there are “jobs and work”, just not for Americans living in the US. Perhaps we should all immigrate to India or Nigeria.

The Chamber of commerce is now putting out ads attacking Democrats who want to stop the bleeding of jobs oversees and close the tax loop holes that make it profitable for companies that out source. The Chamber is also claiming that they are not using foreign funds to pay for theses ads but refusing to open their books to the FEC thus avoiding campaign finance laws which finance law that bans the involvement of foreign corporations in American elections.

Exclusive: Foreign-Funded ‘U.S.’ Chamber Of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads

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NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament 2024: Second Four Play Ins 03/21/2024
2024 NCAA Men’s Basket Ball Tournament – Round of 64 – 2nd 34 – Evening 03/21/2024
2024 NCAA Men’s Basket Ball Tournament – Round of 64 – 1st 34 – Afternoon 03/21/2024
Six In The Morning Thursday 21 March 2024 03/21/2024
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament 2024: First Four Play Ins – Round 1 03/20/2024
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 2024: Second Four Play Ins 03/20/2024
Six In The Morning Wednesday 20 March 2024 03/20/2024
2024 NCAA Men’s Basket Ball Tournament – Play-Ins – First Four 03/19/2024
Six In The Morning Tuesday 19 March 2024 03/19/2024
Six In The Morning Monday 18 March 2024 03/18/2024
Six In The Morning Sunday 17 March 2024 03/17/2024
Six In The Morning Saturday 16 March 2024 03/16/2024
Six In The Morning Friday 15 March 2024 03/15/2024
Six In The Morning Thursday 14 March 2024 03/14/2024
Six In The Morning Wednesday 13 March 2024 03/13/2024
Six In The Morning Tuesday 12 March 2024 03/12/2024
Six In The Morning Monday 11 March 2024 03/11/2024
Six In The Morning Sunday 10 March 2024 03/10/2024
Six In The Morning Saturday 9 March 2024 03/09/2024
Six In The Morning Friday 8 March 2024 03/08/2024
Six In The Morning Thursday 7 March 2024 03/07/2024
Six In The Morning Wednesday 6 March 2024 03/06/2024
Six In The Morning Tuesday 5 March 2024 03/05/2024
Six In The Morning Monday 4 March 2024 03/04/2024
Six In The Morning Sunday 3 March 2024 03/03/2024
Six In The Morning Saturday 2 March 2024 03/02/2024
Six In The Morning Friday 1 March 2024 03/01/2024
Six In The Morning Thursday 29 February 2024 02/29/2024
Six In The Morning Wednesday 28 February 2024 02/28/2024
Six In The Morning Tuesday 27 February 2024 02/27/2024
Six In The Morning Monday 26 February 2024 02/26/2024
Six In The Morning Sunday 25 February 2024 02/25/2024
Six In The Morning Saturday 24 February 2024 02/24/2024
Six In The Morning Friday 23 February 2024 02/23/2024
Six In The Morning Thursday 22 February 2024 02/22/2024
Six In The Morning Wednesday 21 February 2024 02/21/2024
Six In The Morning Tuesday 20 February 2024 02/20/2024
Six In The Morning Monday 19 February 2024 02/19/2024
Six In The Morning Sunday 18 February 2024 02/18/2024
Six In The Morning Saturday 17 February 2024 02/17/2024
Six In The Morning Friday 16 February 2024 02/16/2024
Six In The Morning Thursday 15 February 2024 02/15/2024
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Six In The Morning Tuesday 13 February 2024 02/13/2024
Six In The Morning Monday 12 February 2024 02/12/2024
Six In The Morning Sunday 11 February 2024 02/11/2024
Six In The Morning Saturday 10 February 2024 02/10/2024
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The Week In Review 10/10 – 16

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