New Cornell High-Tech Campus Recalls Former Research Glory of Small New York City Island

Features | Technology

Roosevelt Island was once home to the founders of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), not to mention important studies of malaria, frostbite and saltwater consumption

By Larry Greenemeier ?| January 31, 2012

Scientists at Goldwater Memorial Hospital and elsewhere tested thousands of drugs during World War II. Particularly important were antimalarial drugs. Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod (left) was part of the Goldwater team. Also pictured is Robert Bowman (inventor of the practical spectrophotofluorometer), who joined the Goldwater team following World War II. Image: Courtes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The aging Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island?soon to be the site of Cornell University's new NYC Tech Campus?holds a significant place in 20th-century medicine.

During World War II, Goldwater researchers participated in a government program that recruited conscientious objectors from the Civilian Public Service (CPS)?set up in 1941 for draftees willing to serve their country but unwilling to engage in military service?to take part in various medical experiments. CPS volunteers became human guinea pigs. In a 100-bed Goldwater research unit, Columbia University and New York University physicians studied the effects of malaria, cold weather, starvation, arthritis, liver disease and other conditions on CPS volunteers, according to Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society and an island resident since 1977.

Known as Chronic Disease Hospital when it opened in 1939, Goldwater was renamed a few years later after its founder, then New York City Hospitals Commissioner Sigmund S. Goldwater. The hospital was built on site of the former Blackwell's Island Penitentiary, whose prisoners were relocated to Rikers Island when that prison opened in 1932. (At the time the prison was built, Roosevelt Island was known as Blackwell's Island, after the family that owned the land from 1685 to 1828.)

S. S. Goldwater's mission was to provide rehabilitation services and long-term care as well as to treat patients with chronic diseases, such as hypertension and liver-damaging hepatic cirrhosis. Goldwater, along with Bird S. Coler Hospital (built in 1952), located just to its north, continue to provide extended care for patients with Alzheimer's and AIDS. (The two facilities merged in 1996.)

Several influential scientists emerged from Goldwater's research programs after the start of World War II. James Shannon, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1955 to 1968, led the hospital's antimalarial research group in the 1940s. Shannon gathered a group of researchers who could determine the correct dosage of the synthetic antimalarial Atabrine for U.S. soldiers serving in the Pacific. At the time, Japan occupied territory that was the chief source of supply for quinine, then the best-known treatment for malaria. (pdf)

In 1949 Shannon became director of laboratories and clinics at the newly created NIH's National Heart Institute (NHI) in Bethesda, Md. He took a number of Goldwater researchers with him, including: future Nobel Prize winner, Julius Axelrod; future chief of the NHI's Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Bernard Brodie; future founding director of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology (RIMB), Sidney Udenfriend; and future dean of Yale University School of Medicine, Robert Berliner.

In addition to the work of Shannon and his team, other Goldwater researchers worked with CPS volunteers to study a number of scientific curiosities. Between 1943 and 1946 at least 25 volunteers participated in research that examined the physiological effects of eating meals while subjected to different levels of air pressure?a prelude to the in-flight meal. In another experiment, researchers explored the best types of rations to stock on lifeboats, the effects of drinking saltwater and ways to replace evaporation of body liquids if stranded at sea. A third experiment exposed volunteers to severe cold so doctors could figure out how to prevent gangrene following frostbite.

Research was a way of life then, and it appears that it is about to become so once again.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=194c63e2e89d2eea0b4bce2060b9a3d4

barney frank barney frank tony bennett rob gronkowski amityville horror kim richards kellie pickler

Actress clarifies remark about being gay by choice (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Actress Cynthia Nixon is trying to clarify her earlier remarks that got her in hot water with some fellow gay rights activists.

The "Sex and the City" star's personal life became an exercise in the politics of sexual orientation last week when The New York Times Magazine quoted Nixon saying that for her, being gay was a conscious choice. Nixon has been in a relationship with a woman for eight years. Before that, she spent 15 years and had two children with a man.

After some gay rights activists complained that Nixon's remarks could be used to deny a biological basis for homosexuality, the actress on Monday released a statement to The Advocate magazine explaining she is technically bisexual, and not by choice.

Nixon told the magazine: "What I have `chosen' is to be in a gay relationship."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_en_mo/us_cynthia_nixon_gay_by_choice

nebraska football nebraska football online deals leap pad lauren alaina lowes best buy black friday

Democrats Take Lead in Congressional Ballot (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193457464?client_source=feed&format=rss

gloria cain kandi burruss occupy portland occupy portland the hunger games neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson

Willpower and desires: Turning up the volume on what you want most

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) ? Trying to resist that late-night tweet or checking your work email again? The bad news is that desires for work and entertainment often win out in the daily struggle for self-control, according to a new study that measures various desires and their regulation in daily life.

"Modern life is a welter of assorted desires marked by frequent conflict and resistance, the latter with uneven success," says Wilhelm Hofmann of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Determining how to best resist desires is not as easy as it seems, according to personality and social psychologists who recently presented new research in San Diego about willpower and food psychology.

Resisting desires

In the new study of desire regulation, 205 adults wore devices that recorded a total of 7,827 reports about their daily desires. Desires for sleep and sex were the strongest, while desires for media and work proved the hardest to resist. Even though tobacco and alcohol are thought of as addictive, desires associated with them were the weakest, according to the study. Surprisingly to the researchers, sleep and leisure were the most problematic desires, suggesting "pervasive tension between natural inclinations to rest and relax and the multitude of work and other obligations," says Hofmann, the lead author of the study forthcoming in Psychological Science.

Moreover, the study supported past research that the more frequently and recently people have resisted a desire, the less successful they will be at resisting any subsequent desire. Therefore as a day wears on, willpower becomes lower and self-control efforts are more likely to fail, says Hofmann, who co-authored the paper with Roy Baumeister of Florida State University and Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota.

Scientists who study the complex interplay between desires and self control say that passing up on temptation is made ever more difficult by the idea that there is no single or clear feeling that alerts us to when our willpower is low. "But we find that when willpower is low, everything is felt more intensely," says Baumeister, author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. "Low willpower seems to turn up the volume on life."

In a series of experiments, Baumeister and his colleagues found that people with low willpower reported more distress in response to an upsetting film and rated cold water as more painful during a cold-water immersion test. They also had stronger desires to open a gift and to keep eating cookies.

Postponing a snack

The effects of willpower depletion explain why so many people have trouble resisting unhealthy food -- the more they resist the food, the more they crave it. That's why one group of researchers is looking at ways people can alter their physical cravings. Nicole Mead of Catolica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics and her colleagues tested the notion that postponing consumption of a unhealthy snack to an unspecified future time would reduce the desire for, and therefore consumption of, that snack.

In one experiment, Mead's team gave 105 high school students in the Netherlands a bag of potato chips. Some participants received instructions to either postpone, restrain, or consume the potato chips, while others could choose among the three eating strategies. Over the course of one week, students who initially postponed eating the chips subsequently ate the least amount of the chips, regardless of whether they chose or were given the strategy. They ate even more than those who were instructed to not eat them at all.

"Postponing consumption is an effective strategy that consumers can use for controlling unwanted food-related desires," Mead says. "In modern society, people are absolutely inundated with opportunities to consume, and this strategy may be particularly helpful because it primarily works through desire reduction rather than willpower enhancement." Future research will examine whether the strategy works for other transient impulses, such as spending and sexual desires.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130094353.htm

neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson bears lions bears lions heavy d heavy d taser gun

AP Enterprise: Monkey owners flee La. crackdown (AP)

NEAR THE TEXAS-LOUISIANA LINE ? Even in their Texas hideout, Jim and Donita Clark are terrified that wildlife agents from their home state of Louisiana will descend on their motorhome and seize the four Capuchin monkeys they've reared for 10 years.

Four months ago, the couple fled before authorities showed up at their house for an inspection, and ever since they've been hiding out with their monkeys ? all of them cooped up in the recreational vehicle.

Exotic animal owners like them say wildlife agents have been cracking down in Louisiana and around the country after high-profile cases of exotic animals getting loose or attacking people. At least six states have also banned the ownership of wild animals since 2005, and Congress is also mulling tighter restrictions.

The couple fears the monkeys will be confiscated and sent to a zoo if they return home to DeRidder, La.

"It's not what I fought for ... to be treated like this," said Jim Clark, a 60-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran, as tears streaked his face. "It's not right to think they can come into your house and do this to you with or without a warrant."

As Clark talked on a recent day, the adorable monkeys looked on from their cages. Hands gripping the cage bars, a couple of the hyper, super-inquisitive furry creatures ? capable of lightning-fast vertical leaps ? barely moved and cooed softly. The motorhome is a far cry from the DeRidder house that boasts two monkey playrooms and a large outdoor enclosure.

"To take these guys out of their home and throw them in a zoo? It's like taking a little child out of a mansion and throwing it into the ghetto," Donita Clark said. "It's that devastating. It's destroyed us both emotionally. We'll never be the same."

Crackdowns in Louisiana and elsewhere have gained momentum since a man in Ohio released his personal zoo of lions, tigers, zebras, bears and monkeys before killing himself. The 2009 face-mauling of a Connecticut woman by a chimpanzee also highlighted the dangers of keeping wild animals in residential neighborhoods.

"It was a wakeup call to the nation that we should no longer tolerate the reckless decision-making by a small number of people," said Wayne Pacelle, the head of the Humane Society of the United States.

Veterinarians and primate experts generally agree that monkeys ? like all wild animals ? shouldn't be adopted as pets.

"They are not animated toys. They're so intelligent they're difficult to keep in a stimulated environment long term," said Dr. Patricia V. Turner, the president of the Association of Primate Veterinarians.

She said monkeys kept in homes often end up obese and suffering from emotional stress that takes the form of self-biting. Monkeys are garrulous social creatures and need to be around their own kind, she said.

In Congress, one proposed bill would ban unlicensed professionals from buying, selling or moving primates across state lines. Meanwhile, 24 states now ban the ownership of primates and 11 others require permits, according to the Humane Society. Hundreds of cities and counties also have local bans.

Exotic animal lovers feel like they are under assault.

"So many of us want to disappear, and have our own community where we can safely keep our monkeys," said Ann Newman, the owner of seven monkeys in Arkansas and the president of the Simian Society of America, a membership group for monkey lovers.

Monkey owners say their animals hardly pose a serious danger to the public ? they're unlikely to do the kind of injury a wild big cat or great ape might.

To Dan Stockdale, a celebrity wild animal trainer in Tennessee, the backlash on exotic animals owners goes too far. He said many private owners do a better job than some zoos and sanctuaries.

"Unfortunately, exotic animals and those who own exotic animals are in the spotlight. Society's knee-jerk reaction is eliminate them."

Ohio lawmakers are considering whether to forbid anyone from having a wild animal as a pet after the incident there.

"If they start confiscating, you're going to see a lot of people going underground," said Nancy Nighswander, who leads Uniting A Politically Proactive Exotic Animal League, a group lobbying against bans on private ownership of wild animals. She lives in Tiffin, Ohio, and owns five monkeys and a cougar.

There is no accurate count on how many pet primates there are in the U.S., but estimates range between 3,000 and 15,000.

Louisiana has taken a hard-nosed approach. In 2003, the Legislature passed a law banning exotic animals as pets, but allowed people who already owned monkeys to keep them. Starting in 2006, owners were required to obtain permits, keep their animals away from the public and have yearly veterinary checkups. There were only about 20 households in Louisiana with wild animals, all of them monkeys, according to state officials.

Now the state says it will issue new permits only after a home inspection.

"Louisiana has strict laws and regulations to prevent the kind of situation that happened in Ohio," said Maria Davidson, a former zookeeper and state Wildlife and Fisheries Department biologist who crafted the state's ban on wild pets. "You certainly don't want a monkey loose in your neighborhood."

The Clarks got their first monkey ? Tina Marie ? more than 10 years ago from a woman who was unable to look after the animal.

"We felt sorry for her," Donita Clark said. "I had never thought of having monkeys in my life."

They adopted three other Capuchin monkeys ? Meeko Mae, Sara Jo and Hayley Suzanne ? and became a bit monkey crazy.

They built a large cage and a wire walkway into their modest home in DeRidder. The monkeys slept in the house, going to sleep when the lights were turned off. They took showers in the bathroom, complete with shampoo and soap. They wore diapers.

The Clarks networked with other monkey owners and invited humans and simians to picnics at their home. The self-taught experts helped others learn to care for their monkeys and build cages.

Now, monkey owners in Louisiana accuse the state of bully tactics and unlawfully confiscating monkeys. They point to at least three instances since 2009 when monkeys were seized.

"It's like someone walking into your home and taking your kids," Donita Clark said, paging through binders with photographs, written testimony and documents she'd collected from aggrieved monkey owners.

Davidson said the right action was taken in those cases. In one case, the monkey owner did not have a permit; in another, a snow monkey allegedly bit the hand of a girl and in the third case the owners allegedly had violated their permit requirements.

The Clarks fear they could be next. On Oct. 27 wildlife agents and sheriff's deputies showed up at their home. But the Clarks had already fled after getting a tip.

Davidson said the state didn't intend to seize their monkeys and just wanted to inspect their home. She said the Clarks' flight was suspicious. But she added: "We'll give Donita the benefit of the doubt."

The Clarks, however, say they're not going home until they're assured the monkey's won't be taken.

Their exile is hard on them and the monkeys.

"They're arguing with each other like we're arguing with each other," Donita Clark said, sitting on the couch in the RV and looking at her girls.

"They have not seen daylight since October," Jim Clark said. "These guys are like humans. They need sunlight."

The couple feels stuck. They don't tell friends or family where they are because they're so terrified. And they're running low on money.

"I'm terrified 24 hours a day and there's no light at the end of this tunnel, no way out," Donita Clark said.

"But we're not going to give up," Jim Clark said to encourage his wife. "We're not going to let them go. We promised them forever a home."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/pets/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_us/us_monkeys_on_the_run

generators generators lesean mccoy while you were sleeping while you were sleeping happy halloween happy halloween

Declassified US Spy Satellites from Cold War Land in Ohio (SPACE.com)

A trio of once-secret U.S. spy satellites built to look down on the Soviet Union were unveiled in Ohio on Thursday (Jan. 26) in a rare public display by the United States Air Force.

The vintage reconnaissance satellites joined the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and will eventually be installed in a new wing for space relics and other aircraft. The satellites ? called KH-7 Gambit 1, the KH-8 Gambit 3 and the KH-9 Hexagon ? were officially declassified in September by the National Reconnaissance Office and released for public viewing.

"Last year the NRO celebrated its 50th anniversary, and we announced the declassification of two NRO systems, Gambit and Hexagon, which were America's eyes in space and the most sophisticated satellites of their time," NRO director Air Force Gen. (Ret.) Bruce Carlson said in a statement. "These systems were critical for monitoring key targets in the USSR and around the globe and provided much-needed cartographic information to the DOD to produce accurate, large-scale maps."

The Gambit and Hexagon satellites followed the NRO's iconic Corona spy satellite program, which was declassified in 1995. [Photos of the declassified spy satellites]

The spy satellite Gambit

The Gambit and Hexagon spy satellite systems were among the most prolific U.S. space reconnaissance systems used between the 1960s and 1980s. With a resolution of between 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to nearly 1 meter), the spacecraft used high-resolution cameras to photograph areas of interest, then return the film to Earth in special re-entry capsules.

The capsules plunged through Earth's atmosphere, then deployed a parachute so they could be caught in mid-air by Air Force aircraft, museum officials explained.

The Gambit 1 satellites flew between 1963 and 1967 and served as the first American high-resolution space reconnaissance system. They carried about 3,000 feet (914 meters) of film and were designed for short-term missions of about six and a half days.

Each Gambit 1 satellite was about15 feet (4.5 m) long, 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, and weighed about 1,154 pounds (523 kilograms), according to NRO records. In all, 38 Gambit missions were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, though 10 flights failed.

Gambit 3 satellites were the same width as the Gambit 1 models,? but also slightly longer ? reaching about 29 feet (9 m) in length. They flew on 54 missions between 1966 and 1984, with four recorded failures. The Gambit 3 series satellites carried 12,241 feet (3,731 meters) of film and were designed for longer missions of up to 31 days, according to NRO records.

Hexagon in space

Like the Gambit satellites, the Hexagon system also launched from Vandenberg and were the last U.S. reconnaissance satellites to use photographic film. They were also the largest ? each Hexagon satellite was the size of a school bus and carried 60 miles of film, earning it the nickname "Big Bird."

The U.S. military launched 20 Hexagon spy satellites between 1971 and 1986, with one mission suffering a launch failure. Each Hexagon satellite mission lasted about 124 days, with each satellite carrying four film re-entry canisters, according to NRO documents. Their onboard camera systems could photograph wide swaths of terrain and capture about 370 nautical miles ? the distance from Cincinnati to Washington ? in each 6-inch frame.

According to Air Force museum officials, the Hexagon satellites photographed about 877 million square miles of the Earth's surface during their tenure.

"Gambit 1, Gambit 3 and Hexagon satellites are significant and rare artifacts, which will enable us to better present the story of Air Force operations in space," said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jack Hudson, the Air Force's National Museum director, during the Jan. 26 exhibit dedication. "The Air Force has provided launch, tracking, control and range safety services for reconnaissance satellites throughout the entire Cold War, and it continues these activities today."

The Gambit and Hexagon satellites are currently on display in the museum's Cold War Gallery, but will eventually be moved to a new building that will house a Space Gallery, Presidential Aircraft Gallery and Global Reach Gallery, museum officials said.

You can follow Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120130/sc_space/declassifiedusspysatellitesfromcoldwarlandinohio

nfl week 12 picks nfl week 12 picks jason witten ucla vs usc rich rodriguez rich rodriguez the muppet movie

RBS CEO turns down bonus amid criticism of payout (AP)

LONDON ? Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will not be accepting a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) bonus that drew criticism from British public and politicians, the bank said Sunday.

Spokesman David Gaffney said Hester would not receive the bonus of 3.6 million shares he was awarded last week by the board of the largely state-owned bank.

The British government spent 45 billion pounds bailing out RBS three years ago. It still owns an 82 percent stake, and politicians had criticized the reward at a time when Britons face painful spending cuts and tax hikes.

The government ? which has insisted it has no control over the bank's bonuses ? welcomed the announcement.

"This is a sensible and welcome decision that enables Stephen Hester to focus on the very important job he has got to do, namely to get back billions of pounds of taxpayers' money that was put into RBS," Treasury chief George Osborne said.

The decision follows Saturday's announcement that RBS chairman Philip Hampton was waiving his own bonus of 1.4 million pounds in shares.

Hester and Hampton were brought in after Fred Goodwin, who led RBS's ill-fated takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro, stepped down in October 2008 as the government was spending billions to prop up the bank.

The board of directors decided last week to award Hester a bonus of 3.6 million shares ? worth just under 1 million pounds at Friday's closing share price of 27.74 pence. That came on top of his annual salary of 1.2 million pounds.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday that Hester's bonus was "a matter for him," but pointed out it was much less than last year's.

The government claimed it had no control over bonuses awarded by the bank, and said replacing Hester if he resigned would be more costly than paying the reward.

But many politicians were critical. London Mayor Boris Johnson, a Conservative like Cameron, said he found the bonus "absolutely bewildering."

Rachel Reeves, Treasury spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, said Sunday the sum was inappropriate "when families are feeling the pinch."

"It's time the government explained why they have allowed these bonuses to go through unchallenged," she said.

Before the bank's announcement, the Labour Party said it would force a vote in the House of Commons next month calling for Hester to be stripped of his bonus.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_rbs

national defense authorization act national defense authorization act seven days in utopia seven days in utopia big 10 championship game big 10 championship game state of play

St. Louis hosting 1st big parade on Iraq War's end

Stephanie King holds a picture of her uncle, Col. Stephen Scott who was killed in Iraq in 2008, as she prepares to participate in a parade to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Stephanie King holds a picture of her uncle, Col. Stephen Scott who was killed in Iraq in 2008, as she prepares to participate in a parade to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Participants in a parade to honor Iraq War veterans make their way along a downtown street Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Spectators cheer and wave as they watch a parade to honor Iraq War veterans pass Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Maj. Rich Radford, who became a symbol of the parade to honor Iraq War veterans thanks to a photo of his young daughter taking his hand while welcoming him home from his second tour in Iraq in 2010, smiles before the start of the parade Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Army Sgt. 1st Class Randy Jemerson, a veteran of two tours in Iraq, takes a picture of a staging at the start of a parade to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Looking around at the tens of thousands of people waving American flags and cheering, Army Maj. Rich Radford was moved that so many braved a cold January wind Saturday in St. Louis to honor people like him: Iraq War veterans.

The parade, borne out of a simple conversation between two St. Louis friends a month ago, was the nation's first big welcome-home for veterans of the war since the last troops were withdrawn from Iraq in December.

"It's not necessarily overdue, it's just the right thing," said Radford, a 23-year Army veteran who walked in the parade alongside his 8-year-old daughter, Aimee, and 12-year-old son, Warren.

Radford was among about 600 hundred veterans, many dressed in camouflage, who walked along downtown streets lined with rows of people clapping and holding signs with messages including "Welcome Home" and "Thanks to our Service Men and Women." Some of the war-tested troops wiped away tears as they acknowledged the support from a crowd that organizers estimated reached 100,000 people.

Fire trucks with aerial ladders hoisted huge American flags in three different places along the route, with politicians, marching bands ? even the Budweiser Clydesdales ? joining in. But the large crowd was clearly there to salute men and women in the military, and people cheered wildly as groups of veterans walked by.

That was the hope of organizers Craig Schneider and Tom Appelbaum. Neither man has served in the military but came up with the idea after noticing there had been little fanfare for returning Iraq War veterans aside from gatherings at airports and military bases. No ticker-tape parades or large public celebrations.

Appelbaum, an attorney, and Schneider, a school district technical coordinator, decided something needed to be done. So they sought donations, launched a Facebook page, met with the mayor and mapped a route. The grassroots effort resulted in a huge turnout despite raising only about $35,000 and limited marketing.

That marketing included using a photo of Radford being welcomed home from his second tour in Iraq by his then-6-year-old daughter. The girl had reached up, grabbed his hand and said, "I missed you, daddy." Radford's sister caught the moment with her cellphone camera, and the image graced T-shirts and posters for the parade.

Veterans came from around the country, and more than 100 entries ? including marching bands, motorcycle groups and military units ? signed up ahead of the event, Appelbaum said.

Schneider said he was amazed how everyone, from city officials to military organizations to the media, embraced the parade.

"It was an idea that nobody said no to," he said. "America was ready for this."

All that effort by her hometown was especially touching for Gayla Gibson, a 38-year-old Air Force master sergeant who said she spent four months in Iraq ? seeing "amputations, broken bones, severe burns from IEDs" ? as a medical technician in 2003.

"I think it's great when people come out to support those who gave their lives and put their lives on the line for this country," Gibson said.

With 91,000 troops still fighting in Afghanistan, many Iraq veterans could be redeployed ? suggesting to some that it's premature to celebrate their homecoming. In New York, for example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently said there would be no city parade for Iraq War veterans in the foreseeable future because of objections voiced by military officials.

But in St. Louis, there was clearly a mood to thank the troops with something big, even among those opposed to the war.

"Most of us were not in favor of the war in Iraq, but the soldiers who fought did the right thing and we support them," said 72-year-old Susan Cunningham, who attended the parade with the Missouri Progressive Action Group. "I'm glad the war is over and I'm glad they're home."

Don Lange, 60, of nearby Sullivan, held his granddaughter along the parade route. His daughter was a military interrogator in Iraq.

"This is something everyplace should do," Lange said as he watched the parade.

Several veterans of the Vietnam War turned out to show support for the younger troops. Among them was Don Jackson, 63, of Edwardsville, Ill., who said he was thrilled to see the parade honoring Iraq War veterans like his son, Kevin, who joined him at the parade. The 33-year-old Air Force staff sergeant said he'd lost track of how many times he had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a flying mechanic.

"I hope this snowballs," he said of the parade. "I hope it goes all across the country. I only wish my friends who I served with were here to see this."

Looking at all the people around him in camouflage, 29-year-old veteran Matt Wood said he felt honored. He served a year in Iraq with the Illinois National Guard.

"It's extremely humbling, it's amazing, to be part of something like this with all of these people who served their country with such honor," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-28-Iraq%20War-Parade/id-dca49b7ca53849f881861c267cc87c9c

bill gates michael lewis palin occupy wall street second time around bill gates steve jobs bill gates steve jobs

Study Finds Growing Up WIth Gadgets Has a Downside: Social Skill Impairment

PolygamousRanchKid writes with this excerpt from a CNN story:"Tween girls who spend much of their waking hours switching frantically between YouTube, Facebook, television and text messaging are more likely to develop social problems, says a Stanford University study published in a scientific journal on Wednesday. Young girls who spend the most time multitasking between various digital devices, communicating online or watching video are the least likely to develop normal social tendencies, according to the survey of 3,461 American girls aged 8 to 12 who volunteered responses. The study only included girls who responded to a survey in Discovery Girls magazine, but results should apply to boys, too, Clifford Nass, a Stanford professor of communications who worked on the study, said in a phone interview. Boys' emotional development is more difficult to analyze because male social development varies widely and over a longer time period, he said."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/gJUbR84Yj8g/study-finds-growing-up-with-gadgets-has-a-downside-social-skill-impairment

ground hog day sag awards 2012 kyra sedgwick luck trisomy sag awards 2012 nominees brandon marshall

The Chicagoan's Valentine's Day gift guide (ContributorNetwork)

We survived Christmas, so now it's on to the next gift-giving holiday, Valentine's Day! With so little time in between holidays, it can be overwhelming to find gifts, cards, and chocolates. So, if you want to have the most romantic day without worrying whether he or she will love every moment, then use this guide and you'll be on your way to celebrating instead of resenting the day of love. Here you go, Chicagoans, the secret to the best Valentine's Day yet:

Unique local cards

Custom cards are possibly one of the sweetest gifts. The recipient can instantly see you put the time in to think about what it says and means and also how important he or she is to you. It makes your significant other feel special, and it also helps your local community and designers. Greer is a specialty paper shop that has a great collection of Valentine's cards. They are unique, funny, and romantically touching. Some of my favorites are by designers Dude & Chick and Ghost Academy. Check out their full selection here.

Location: 1657 N. Wells St., Chicago, IL

Specialty chocolates

Skip the cherry cordials at Jewel-Osco and Target and get some chocolates that say "I love you" with every bite. Your significant other will see your passion for him or her with chocolates from Belgium Chocolatier Piron. It is a mom and pop shop in Evanston that makes its chocolates from scratch. They are fabulous! Don't just take my word for it; go pick some up for your valentine! In case you get overwhelmed by the selection, my favorites are the Grand Marnier Butter Cream, Mokka Manon, Chipotle Chili Pepper, and the Fruit De Mer. For a detailed list of their scrumptious chocolates, check out their website.

Location: 509-A W. Main St., Evanston, IL

Romantic restaurant

Keep the love alive or spark one with the romantic Hot Chocolate. No, it's not a shop filled with mugs of hot chocolate, although they do serve many flavors, but rather a lovely restaurant with elegant dishes and plenty of dessert. Their dessert even comes with bacon fat baked into the pie crust. The best part about this Chicago gem is that Hot Chocolate supports local farms by using their products. So, not only are their products fresh, they also help our community thrive.

Location: 1747 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL

Best florist

Local florists give you the freshest bouquet of flowers, quality, and design. One of the best in Chicago is Flor del Monte. Their style is very clean, symmetrical, and bold. Their use of bright colors is beautiful, but even their arrangements with softer colors stand out in a crowd. You can view some of their creations on their Facebook page.

Location: 1900 W. Cermak Rd., Chicago, IL

Romance with Broadway in Chicago

Lucky for us Chicagoans, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" is coming to the Cadillac Theatre beginning February 14 and running until February 26. It is a musical that will make you fall in love with your partner all over again. "South Pacific" will keep you both entertained with romance, drama, and action.

Location: 151 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL

Janoa Taylor is a freelance writer with a background in business and finance. She offers a unique local perspective gained from years as a Chicago resident.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120127/us_ac/10887449_the_chicagoans_valentines_day_gift_guide

state college pa wilson ramos kidnapped mcqueary mike mcqueary joe paterno fired joe paterno fired glen campbell

Video: Who is Saul Alinksy?

Djokovic wins longest Slam final ever

??Novak Djokovic wore down Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of professional tennis Sunday, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 after 5 hours, 53 minutes to claim his third Australian Open title.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46169200#46169200

phoebe prince marlins marlins wormwood bcs bowl games jose reyes college football bowl schedule

U.S. has "no desire" for new military bases in Asia: admiral (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The United States is placing renewed priority on Asia as it winds down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no desire for new bases in the region, the head of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific said on Friday.

Admiral Robert Willard, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said the military's goal is to have a network of places close to the sea lanes of Southeast Asia where American forces can visit on rotation, avoiding the costly maintenance of bases.

"There is no desire nor view right now that the U.S. is seeking basing options anywhere in the Asia-Pacific theater," he told reporters in Washington.

Willard spoke as U.S. and Philippine officials were wrapping up two days of strategic talks in Washington that prompted speculation that Washington aimed to reopen bases in the Philippines. The Pentagon flatly denied having new basing plans.

He said his Hawaii-based Pacific Command preferred a model along the lines of plans to set up a Marine training facility in northern Australia and to rotate warships through Singapore.

"As I look at where the forces are and where they need to be present day-to-day, we are biased in Northeast Asia, and when we look at Southeast Asia and South Asia, the pressure is on Pacific Command to deploy and sustain forces there day to day," said Willard.

The Pacific Command has 50,000 U.S. forces stationed in Japan and 28,000 in South Korea.

Willard noted that media and public discussion of the U.S. strategy in Asia portrayed the policy as being aimed at China, with its fast-growing military budget and assertiveness over maritime territory claims in contested waters of the South China Sea.

But the admiral said the Pacific Command's primary mission was protecting sea lanes in the South China Sea that carry $5 trillion in commerce annually, including $1.2 trillion in trade with the United States.

The U.S. goal with China's military was to build closer military-to-military ties, overcoming differing philosophies on the purpose of such contacts, "trust factor" issues and other disputes, said Willard.

High-level U.S.-China dialogue and leaders' meetings like next month's U.S. visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has resulted in a situation where "the military relationship at that strategic level has been ... sustaining itself," said Willard.

"In other ways, at the operational and tactical level, getting our two militaries more acquainted with one another through operations or through counterpart visits have not advanced," he added.

"I'm not satisfied that the military relationship is where it needs to be," said Willard.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/pl_nm/us_usa_asia_bases

kit homes boxing day radio shack bethany hamilton bethany hamilton after christmas sales macys

Too Few Americans Getting Screened for Common Cancers: CDC (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans being screened for colon, breast and cervical cancers still fall below national targets, federal health officials said Thursday.

In 2010, 72.4 percent of women were being screened for breast cancer, below the target of 81 percent, for cervical cancer it was 83 percent of women, while the target is 93 percent, and for colon cancer 58.6 percent of Americans were screened, missing the target of 70.5 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Not all Americans are getting the recommended screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer," said report co-author Mary C. White, branch chief of the CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. "There continue to be disparities for certain populations."

The screening rates are particularly low among Asians and Hispanics, according to the report in the Jan. 27 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Among Asians, the screening rate for breast cancer was 64.1 percent, for cervical cancer it was 75.4 percent, and for colon cancer it was 46.9 percent.

Hispanics were less likely than non-Hispanics to have screening for cervical and colon cancer (78.7 percent and 46.5 percent, respectively), the researchers found.

Screening is important, said Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

"Screening saves lives," she said. "When you catch a cancer at a smaller size it does affect outcome."

Some people may be confused about screening, because different medical groups have different screening protocols, Bernik said.

"It's hard to get people to do screening in general. People look for any excuse not to get screened. When they see there is a controversy about when to start screening, they look at it as an opportunity to not do the test," she said.

Bernik also admits that screening can result in some over-treatment.

"With screening comes that risk," she said. "Unfortunately, we are not at a point where we can select the patients that are not going to have a problem, so we treat everyone equally. So, there is a little bit of over-treatment but, overall, you are improving survival for many people."

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women aged 50 to 74 get a mammogram every two years to screen for breast cancer.

Women aged 21 to 65, or those who have been sexually active for three years, should have a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer at least every three years, the task force recommends.

For colorectal cancer, men and women aged 50 to 75 should be screened with a yearly fecal occult blood test or sigmoidoscopy every five years, or have a colonoscopy every 10 years.

Other highlights of the report include:

• Breast cancer screening rates remained stable from 2000-2010, varying only about 3 percent.
• Colon cancer screening rates increased from 2000-2010, to more than 58 percent for both men and women.
• Cervical cancer screening rates dipped 3.3 percent from 2000-2010.
• Screening rates for all these cancers was much lower among the uninsured or those who didn't have a regular doctor.

The Affordable Care Act is expected to lower these barriers to access by expanding insurance coverage, the authors said.

"Other efforts are needed, such as developing systems that identify persons eligible for cancer screening tests, actively encouraging the use of screening tests, and monitoring participation to improve screening rates," the authors added.

More information

For more on cancer screening, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120127/hl_hsn/toofewamericansgettingscreenedforcommoncancerscdc

jamarcus russell sister wives st louis weather jack the cat frank lucas lego man lego man

Report: 'Teen Mom' Amber may avoid jail

Madison County Sheriffs Dept.

By Anna Chan

When an Indiana judge tossed "Teen Mom" Amber Portwood in jail for allegedly violating probation in her domestic violence case in December, things did not look good for the reality personality. She was accused of two new felonies and was ordered to remain in jail until at least Jan. 27.

The new charges? Battery and possession of a controlled substance.

Today, the troubled young mother has reportedly struck a deal, according to TMZ. Law enforcement told the gossip site that Portwood would plead guilty to violating probation and possession,?and will complete a court-ordered drug rehab program. Assuming she holds up her end of the bargain, her case will be dismissed. If she makes any more legal stumbles or fails to complete the program, she'll be sent to prison immediately to serve a five-year sentence, according to TMZ.

But it's not a done deal yet. The website reports that the judge still has to OK the deal. The hearing is set for Feb. 6.

The legal trouble began for Portwood when MTV aired a season two episode of its popular docuseries "Teen Mom" showing her repeatedly punching and slapping then-fiance Gary Shirley, who is the father of her toddler, Leah. She pled guilty last June to two counts of felony domestic violence in that case, and was given a two-year suspended sentence and placed on two years of probation.

Do you think she'll comply to the terms of her plea deal? Tell us what you think on our Facebook page.

?

Related content:

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10253837-report-teen-mom-amber-portwood-may-avoid-jail-sentence

mona simpson mona simpson grady sizemore grady sizemore samhain great pumpkin charlie brown the strangers

In original Internet shows, hints of coming change

In this image released by Hulu.com, from left, Lindsey Payne, Jordan T. Maxwell and Ben Samuel portray campaign workers in "Battleground," a mock documentary about a third-place political candidate in Wisconsin. After years of drips and drabs of experimentation, the top video destinations on the Web are flush with original projects and teaming with a new wave of niche-oriented content creators. (AP Photo/Hulu.com)

In this image released by Hulu.com, from left, Lindsey Payne, Jordan T. Maxwell and Ben Samuel portray campaign workers in "Battleground," a mock documentary about a third-place political candidate in Wisconsin. After years of drips and drabs of experimentation, the top video destinations on the Web are flush with original projects and teaming with a new wave of niche-oriented content creators. (AP Photo/Hulu.com)

In this image released by Yahoo!, documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock is shown in "The Failure Club," a series about people trying to do the things they've always feared, for Yahoo! After years of drips and drabs of experimentation, the top video destinations on the Web are flush with original projects and teaming with a new wave of niche-oriented content creators. (AP Photo/Yahoo!)

NEW YORK (AP) ? After years of experimenting, the top video destinations on the Web are suddenly flush with original programming: documentaries, reality shows and scripted series.

Over the next few months, YouTube, Netflix and Hulu will roll out their most ambitious original programming yet ? a digital push into a traditional television business that has money, a bevy of stars and a bold attitude of reinvention.

The long-predicted collision between Internet video and broadcast television is finally under way.

No one is suggesting that the quality on the Internet is close to that of broadcast TV, but it's becoming easy to imagine a day when it will be.

And even though critics question whether new media can rival a business that's been around for about 70 years, the video sites have sought partnerships with seasoned professionals. And they benefit from the different economics of global Web-based entertainment.

Either way, what's happening now is just the first wave.

"This convergence is now," says documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who created "The Failure Club," a series about people trying to do the things they've always feared, for Yahoo, and "A Day in the Life," a series documenting 24 hours of someone's life, for Hulu.

He says the quality still varies, but viewers will soon see talent and production values begin to change.

On Feb. 6, Netflix will premiere its first scripted show, "Lilyhammer," in which Steve Van Zandt ("The Sopranos") plays a New York mobster in witness protection in Norway. Later this year, it will release "House of Cards," a highly anticipated adaptation of the British miniseries produced by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey. Next year, it will debut new episodes of the cultish comedy "Arrested Development," which originally aired on Fox.

Hulu plans a Feb. 14 premiere for "Battleground," a mock political documentary. The site will later release "Up to Speed," a six-part documentary by Richard Linklater about "monumentally ignored monuments of American cities."

Hulu, which has some 30 million monthly users and 1.5 million for its monthly subscription service Hulu Plus, is co-owned by the parent companies of NBC, Fox and ABC.

Yahoo has sought to capitalize on its enormous search audience of nearly 180 million unique monthly visitors by drawing viewers to its original programming, including a slate of women-focused shows launched last fall and comedy programming planned for February. Its first scripted entry will be "Electric City," a futuristic animated series produced by Tom Hanks, who will also voice a character.

YouTube recently launched an entire catalog of original programming, spending $100 million on the gradual rollout of more than 100 niche-oriented channels.

The channels don't have the pressures of a 24-hour schedule and instead focus on short-form, on-demand programming. Partners vary from the Wall Street Journal to World Wrestling Entertainment to Madonna.

At the recent consumer electronics trade show CES, YouTube's global head of content predicted that by 2020 about 75 percent of channels will be transmitted by the Internet. And video will soon be 90 percent of all traffic.

"Over time, you will see more and more television properties, television channels distributed over the Internet," Robert Kyncl said. "Everything in its due time."

Internet delivery allows programming that is "much harder to fulfill through traditional distribution means...because we have a global scale," Kyncl added.

And online systems can serve niche audiences that would be difficult to sustain any other way, and do so at lower cost.

YouTube plans to expand to hundreds of Internet channels, just as television went from a few networks to dozens of cable channels. In the next few years, "most of your interests will have channels on YouTube," Kyncl predicts.

Netflix, which streamed 2 billion hours of video in the fourth quarter of 2011, is already operating under the assumption that video networks ? whether streaming or televised ? are converging. Just as Web video is undertaking original programming, TV networks are experimenting with systems such as TV Everywhere, which allows viewers to watch channels on the Web and on mobile devices.

"You can think of us as a cable-TV network, but we like to think we are at the center," says Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix. "We are an Internet TV network, and then they are going to become like us. But it's the same thing, really."

Hastings offers a comparison between Netflix and HBO: "We are becoming more like them in doing some originals, starting that journey, and they are becoming more like us in creating an on-demand interface like HBO Go," which allows viewers to watch channels on the Web and on mobile and tabulate devices.

HBO declined to comment.

Production schedules will vary widely at the sites, but Netflix plans one notable difference: All its episodes will be released at once.

James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, says the fact that Hanks is making a series for the Internet shows how the traditional TV system is "ready to unravel.

McQuivey says the disruption in video will "unfold in front of us like a slow-mo replay of an accident."

"The new content won't be as good as what you watch Thursday nights from 9 to 10 p.m., but it's going to get closer to that quality," he adds. "And it's certainly as good as what you watch on Thursday from 3 to 4 in the afternoon or Saturday morning from 10 to 11."

Hulu and Netflix both want to use original content to entice viewers to their much larger libraries of older content. For Netflix, that's movies and old TV; for Hulu, that's last night's TV and older series. Hulu executives say any new original series has to be match up to traditional content.

"If you're ever going to do anything original, it's got to stand up to that," says Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content at Hulu. "That can't be 'Web video,' it's got to be TV quality."

Original content remains a small percentage of the budget for Hulu, which plans to spend $500 million on content in 2012.

Erin McPherson, head of original programming at Yahoo, likes to call Yahoo "the fifth network." Its Yahoo Studios production house in Los Angeles produces as many as 30 originals a month, often partnering with production companies such as Reveille (NBC's "The Office"). Its original programming attracted more than 26 million unique visitors in November, according to comScore.

"The time is right," says McPherson. "We're finally here."

___

AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-26-US-Original-Online-Programming/id-64e7934052e148d5a63af03fb471219c

uk basketball iowa state faroe islands faroe islands corso james arthur ray james arthur ray

Calif. poised to vote on new 'clean car' regs (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? California is poised to vote on new rules that would require automakers to build cars and trucks by 2025 that emit about three-quarters less smog producing pollutants and also mandate that one of every seven new cars sold in the state be a zero emission or plug-in hybrid vehicle.

The California Air Resources Board will begin hearing testimony Thursday in Los Angeles on its "Advanced Clean Car" program, and is expected to continue on Friday.

The new emissions standards, which also include big cuts in greenhouse gas pollutants, would begin with new cars sold in 2015, and get increasingly more stringent until 2025. Generally, the regulations would require a 75 percent reduction in smog emissions in new cars by 2025, and a 34 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over roughly the same time.

The new rules will continue the state's first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, which went into effect in 2009. This time, the greenhouse gas reduction element of the program was designed with the federal regulators so that it will match national standards expected to be passed later this year.

"When we did the first greenhouse gas standards, it was war," said Tom Cackette, deputy director of the board, referring to legal challenges from auto dealers and business groups after the state passed the initial greenhouse gas emissions limits.

"They sued us in two federal courts. Fortunately, from our viewpoint, they lost. Over that time, with the increase in gas prices, the shake-up in the auto industry brought new management which looked at the future. Where's our future? It's not profits next quarter but how do we make a sustainable business."

California's smog emissions standards are often more strict than federal ones, which means other states often adopt them as their own.

Fourteen other states, including Washington, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, have adopted California's current emissions goals, which is why the new regulations could have a wide-ranging effect. Of those states, 10 have also adopted the zero-emission vehicle standards as well.

In addition to new smog and greenhouse gas emissions limits, the regulations being voted on also includes a new zero-emissions vehicle mandate. The goal is to have 1.4 million zero-emission and plug-in hybrids on California roads by 2025. But the program also looks ahead to 2050, laying groundwork for a goal of having 87 percent of the state's fleet of new vehicles fueled by electricity, hydrogen fuel cells or other clean technologies.

"This regulation is planned over a 40-year horizon, and that is extremely unusual," said board spokesman David Clegern. "But it gives us time to put the pieces in place with no surprises. The individual companies can plan for changes and develop the technology, and over the long haul, it will shift us away from reliance on petroleum."

The board's meeting comes just three days after federal regulators met in San Francisco to hear public comment on the Obama administration's national fuel economy standards, the most far-reaching in history. If passed later this year, they would require the average passenger car to reach a 54.5-mph standard by 2025.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 automakers, CARB and others worked together so that when the federal government passes its greenhouse gas emissions limits later this year, they will match California's and create one national standard.

Some automakers said the market for clean car technology is already spurring the technology and innovation the regulations seek to influence.

"Yes, the cars will be lighter, compact, far more fuel efficient. That's what the mandate will be. It's not enforced by the government but really by the economics of the future," said Michael Dobrin, a spokesman for Toyota.

Yet some auto dealers have argued that the government's emphasis on strict pollution controls will result in much higher prices for consumers.

Forrest McConnell, director of the National Automobile Dealers Association, testified during the federal hearing Tuesday that tightening fuel efficiency standards will result in unaffordable cars.

"We all want better fuel economy, but it is not free. By adding $3,200, if not more, to the average cost of a car, over seven million Americans will be priced out of the market, fleet turnover will be reduced, and public policy benefits will be delayed," McConnell said.

Other dealers say consumer demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is not what the board hopes it is.

The California New Car Dealers Association says hybrid vehicles, which have been marketed and sold for 13 years, only make up 2.1 percent of the national market, and 4.1 percent of California's market. They say the goal of making one of every seven new cars sold in California a zero-emission vehicle in roughly the same amount of time is unrealistic.

"Rather than setting vehicle manufacturers, new car dealers, and alternative vehicles themselves up for another predictable failure, (the board) should adjust the mandate to reflect a goal that is realistic and attainable," said Jonathan Morrison, the state dealers' association's director of legal and regulatory affairs.

The air board's research and environmental advocates dispute those cost increase estimates, and say increases in hybrid and other sales continue to rise as more cars hit the market. They argue that fuel cost savings will make up for any vehicle price increase.

"Our research shows a $1,400 to $1,900 car price increase, but over the life of the vehicles, the owners save $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance costs," said Clegern.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_us/us_california_clean_car_standards

donovan mcnabb the waltons the waltons weta weta rudolph the red nosed reindeer rudolph the red nosed reindeer

Scientists create star matter in a lab: what could possibly go wrong?! (Yahoo! News)

Experiments bring us closer to understanding our own sun

As scientists work to discover more and more about the?galaxy and our own?solar system, they're doing some pretty amazing things. But U.S. Department of Energy scientists working at the?SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University have accomplished something that really boggles the mind: they have created superhot solid plasma?? the kind of material you would find at the center of a star or a giant planet.

The scientists used a machine called the Linac Coherent Light Source, the most powerful X-ray laser machine ever created, to accomplish this feat. They fired the laser at a tiny cube of aluminum only one-thousandth of a centimeter wide, and as the laser pulses converged on the aluminum, it created a superhot solid plasma burning at a temperature of 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius).

While that might sound pretty darn hot (and it is about the temperature of our sun's corona or outer atmosphere), it's still much cooler than the 14 million Kelvin (13.9 million Celsius) of the matter at the center of our star. But the research goes a long way toward understanding the nuclear fusion process that powers our sun and makes stars work.

[Image credit:?University of Oxford/Sam Vinko]

This article was written by Katherine Gray and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120126/tc_yblog_technews/scientists-create-star-matter-in-a-lab-what-could-possibly-go-wrong

the graduate holly madison tragedy of the commons tragedy of the commons casey jones casey jones debit card fees

User-friendly health plan summaries at risk

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Consumer groups are scrambling to salvage a popular provision of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul that suddenly seems to be in question.

This time it's not Republican opposition they're worried about, but the White House itself.

At issue is a requirement that health plans provide simple, standard summaries of coverage and costs to help consumers pick benefits that are right for them ? a sort of "CliffsNotes" version of cryptic insurance company jargon.

Consumer advocates say they fear the administration may heed industry complaints that the regulation as proposed last summer is too costly, burdensome and intrusive. The rule is due to take effect this year and is undergoing final review by the White House. It would apply to all private and employer health plans, covering an estimated 180 million Americans.

"There is concern that the consumer protections we were hoping to see may not be in the final rule," said Dr. LaShawn McIver, policy director for the American Diabetes Association. "Ultimately, we are looking for a consumer-friendly product that gives people the information they need about what levels of coverage they can expect."

Her organization and four others ? the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, AARP and Consumers Union ? wrote Obama this week urging him not to water down the requirements.

"The information available to Americans today is wholly inadequate for consumers to choose and understand the insurance coverage options available to them," their letter said.

Simple-to-understand health plan summaries are the most popular provision of the health care law, which otherwise continues to divide the public. That's according to a poll last November by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which found the summaries garnered support from 84 percent of Americans compared with 37 percent who viewed the overall law favorably.

Administration officials said they can't comment on the specifics of regulations under review, but they sought to reassure the consumer groups, which were among the major backers of the health care law as it was being debated in Congress.

"Giving consumers the information they need and making the health care system more transparent is a top priority," said Erin Shields, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department. "We're confident the final rules ... will meet that goal."

A proposed template released by the department last summer included such basic details as information on premiums, deductibles and copays for doctor visits and hospitalization. Such information is now generally the norm in health plan summaries that most companies voluntarily provide their employees during annual open enrollment.

But the federal template also included so-called coverage examples of the cost of care for a typical individual for three common health conditions: normal childbirth, treating breast cancer and managing diabetes. Because all health plans would have to follow the same rules in compiling the information, it would allow consumers to directly compare insurance in ways they can't now.

America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group representing the industry, complained that the timeline for introducing the comparisons this year is unrealistic, and the cost would be more than double what the government estimated, or $382 million for the first two years alone. That would drive up costs for employers and health plans, the industry said, at a time when many companies are struggling in a difficult economy.

Lynn Quincy, a senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, said the advocacy groups have learned that the requirement for employer plans to provide the comparisons may be delayed or weakened. Additionally, two of the coverage examples may be omitted at least initially, leaving only a comparison of maternity costs.

"We are very concerned that compared to the proposed rule that was released in August, the final rule we are expecting shortly will be weakened," she said. "That would be very bad for consumers."

___

Online:

Proposed template for health plan comparisons: http://tinyurl.com/6ryq8rl

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-26-Health%20Overhaul-Consumers/id-25be26cd6c784ab5be69a1295e171661

geithner pro bowl gabrielle giffords powerball super bowl juliette lewis nancy pelosi

Scratch 'N Sniff Raspberry Scented Jeans Means You Never Have to Wash Them [Fashion]

These jeans look like any other pair of denim you'd see on a fashionable twentysomething. Dark, slim fit and cut perfectly, heck, I wouldn't mind buying these myself. But unlike other jeans, this pair is made with scratch 'n sniff raspberry scented denim. Yes. Scratch and sniff. On your freaking jeans! This is awesome. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6gdb2tSI-xU/scratch-n-sniff-raspberry-scented-jeans-means-you-never-have-to-wash-them

anna chapman kim kardashian ghost hunters honda generator honda generator cc sabathia ruth madoff

Video: Bodies of more cruise wreck victims ID?d

>> authorities have now identified the bodies of three german passengers recovered from the ill-fated cruise ship off the coast of italy. this as the children of a missing american couple release a new statement online. nbc's michelle kosinski has the latest on the story. michelle, good morning.

>> good morning, ann, searchers are now saying they may not be able to recover everyone trapped inside. and they may be underneath. and all the debris in there has been slowing them down. but the investigation continues with more allegations coming out. and just think, this island with a winter population of around 300 people, will now forever be linked to what they're calling this modern "titanic." he's been vilified by his country, essentially abandoned by his company. but the veteran captain, shettino said his higher-ups had pressured him to buzz the island. we need to be visible, do some publicity. so let's wave at the island. i said, okay. costo cruises insists that his course so close to the rocks was unauthorized. prosecutors say he could have been going too fast. his response, there isn't a speed limit . as for accusations he abandoned the ship, shettino claimed it was an accident while he was helping lower a lifeboat. it isn't as if i had boarded it he said, look, i fell on its roof. a newspaper reports prosecutors are also looking into whether wealthy russians may have tried to pay crew for first access to lifeboats that night. reminiscent of some ungentlemenly behavior by gentlemen aboard the "titanic."

>> your money can't save you.

>> some rescuers said they were surprised by the first people they saw arrive were crew. this person now feeding searchers was one of the first to help survivors. i didn't see any children in the first few boats. the ones i saw were well-dressed. evening wear, high heels , ball gowns. there was a chef in uniform.

>> for divers, the focus is still to navigate the mess inside the ship. family of missing americans, barbara and jerry heil, write on their website, patience.

>> i speak for the united states , we're very grateful for the, all the effort that's being made to try to recover or find our lost ones.

>> difficult here to make sense of it all, nino tarravella made a painting for his church. not the waterfront view anyone could get used to. there is now a transcript of a phone conversation reportedly that shettino had after his arrest in which he allegedly said he left the ship willingly when it started tilting and today, costa cruises is talking to a consumer group about how exactly to compensate all of the people on board. ann?

>> the story to be continued, michelle kosinski , thank you.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46145486/

mario manningham mario manningham holes courageous courageous red tide red tide