Notes: ORU broke a two-game losing streak with Thursday's 66-53 win at South Dakota. Kevi Luper scored 25 points and Jordan Pyle had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
UMKC drilled Southrn Utah 81-61 as Kim Nezianya scored 16 points to pace five players in double figures.
The Kangaroos gave ORU one of its two league losses last season 81-77 in Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 12 and many of the same faces return.
Senior guard Dayon Hall-Jones scored 16 in the win over ORU and is UMKC's current scoring leader.
The Kangaroos and Eagles are 1-2 in Summit League scoring offense averaging 75.2 and 74.8 points respectively.
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Westside Conservative Club breakfast,Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Urbandale, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Westside Conservative Club breakfast,Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Urbandale, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks to reporters during a campaign stop at the Southbridge Mall in Mason City, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? The "Great Recession" barely touched Iowa City.
The University of Iowa and its hospital are in the middle of a construction boom. A manufacturer is touting plans to hire 175 people for a new iron foundry. Farmers working the land outside the city are flush with cash from record-setting crop prices.
Yet, after Rick Perry entered the Republican presidential race, he rolled into town on a bus emblazoned with "Get America Working Again" and offered prescriptions for fixing the economy. Newt Gingrich stopped by to bash what he calls job-killing environmental and labor regulations. Ron Paul said during a recent visit that an overreaching federal government is hurting "the productivity of all of us and means we will be poorer."
Throughout the campaign for Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, it hasn't seemed to matter much that the state economy is in far stronger shape than the rest of the country, with unemployment at 5.7 percent, agricultural real estate selling near all-time highs and some manufacturers reporting a shortage of skilled workers to fill all their openings.
Republican voters who in past election years focused on pocketbook issues specific to Iowa, such as corn subsidies or ethanol policy, say they're taking a wide-angle view of the economy this year. They blame President Barack Obama for its sputters and fear giving him a second term will slide it back toward the abyss.
"The economy is still suffering, even though the numbers don't say it. People are hurting and things have gone downhill since Barack Obama became president," said Pam Swick, a Council Bluffs retiree and Perry supporter.
"Yes, things are better here. But they're still not good," she said. "And don't credit President Obama for it. He's made it worse. Things here are going fine despite him, not because of him."
Iowa's economy fell into recession later than the nation's and didn't drop as far as some other states, said Iowa State University economist David Swenson. There wasn't much of a housing bubble, partly because the state is slow-growing but economically stable.
Yet a recent New York Times/CBS News poll found the economy was by far the most important issue to likely Republican caucus-goers. Leading the polls off and on in recent weeks have been the candidates most associated with the pro-business, small-government, economic freedom slices of the GOP: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. Those with stronger ties to the party's social conservative base ? Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann and Perry ? make time for a healthy dose of economics during their stump speeches.
Jim Knapp, a 71-year-old home builder who lives in Iowa City and plans to support Bachmann, is one of many taking the wide view. Knapp said he is collecting Social Security and works on home remodeling projects while his wife works at the University of Iowa. They're doing fine financially.
But he said he's worried about the long-struggling economy in Detroit, where his son is a preacher. His son-in-law, meanwhile, is being laid off in a downsizing at a financial company in Minnesota.
"Iowa's economy has held up because of the agricultural base," Knapp said as he left a Bachmann event at a diner. "But we need to get the whole economy back on track. As long as the nation is suffering, everybody is, to some extent."
To be sure, not all of Iowa is as economically healthy as Iowa City. Swenson said that while Des Moines and the corridor between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids are doing well, cities such as Waterloo and Mason City that rely heavily on manufacturing are struggling with long-term unemployment and a slow recovery.
"We're just kind of stuck in neutral," Swenson said. "On average, we don't look so bad, but a large swath of the state also doesn't look so hot."
Still, Swenson said he wasn't surprised that Iowa's Republican voters are focused on the economy outside of the state. Many are businesspeople and farmers who equate a recovering national economy to renewed demand for their products.
That's the view of Norman Olson, a 77-year-old retired farmer from Northwood, near the border with Minnesota. "It still hurts that other people don't have work other places," he said. "We are not isolated from the rest of the country."
Then, there's Obama. A recent University of Iowa Hawkeye poll found that Iowa Democrats have a brighter view of the economy than those in the GOP, suggesting some of the gloomy Republican outlook could be tinged by anti-Obama partisanship.
That's the case for Carol Ann Christiansen, 55, president of the Johnson County Republican Women and the retired owner of a floral business. She said she wants a candidate who will be frugal in Washington and "create the jobs this country so desperately needs." She dismissed the economic success in the state college town of Iowa City as being largely funded by taxpayers.
"We need a president who is going to give business people some economic certainty," Christiansen said. "Every other day there seems to be some new regulation that makes it hard for them."
___
Associated Press writers Philip Elliott and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report from Dubuque, Council Bluffs and Mason City.
Japan's Nikkei at lowest year-end level since 1982
Most of Japan's losses this year occurred on two days in March
Continue reading the main story
Global Economy
Japan's main share index has closed at its lowest end-of-year level since 1982. The Nikkei 225 index finished Friday up 0.7% to 8,455.35 Stocks have been hit by a weak global economy, as well as a devastating earthquake and tsunami on 16 March that left 20,000 people dead or missing and sparked a nuclear crisis. Shares have lost a fifth of their value this year, with the majority of losses in the two days following the disaster. The disaster severely disrupted manufacturing at carmakers such as Toyota and electronics firms such as Sony. Shares in Tepco, the owner of the Fukushima nuclear power plant that became the focus of an effort to prevent a meltdown, dropped 91% this year. But housebuilder SXL, which has participated in reconstruction work, has seen its shares jump more than 260% this year. The Nikkei is still more than 10% above the low of 7,621.92 it set in October 2008, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. But Japanese shares rallied back strongly in the last two months of that year to finish above this year's level.
OK, people, we haven't got much time until New Year's Eve, so we better get down to business and... explore some of the best iPhone apps that can make celebrating this New Year that much more entertaining. We've picked five applications, each for an entirely different purpose. Want to keep track of your New Year resolutions - you're covered. Want to decorate your iDevice accordingly - you're covered. Anyways, you got the point. Here we go!Developer 2Morrow Mobile is bringing you quite a robust solution for managing your New Year resolutions. Did you felt low because you failed to meet your resolutions in 2011? Don't worry, that's why Resolutions 2012 is here to help! With this $0.99 app, you'll be able to identify your resolutions, assign helpful habits to those, set custom motivations or rewards, get reminders, read inspiring quotes and a whole lot more. Ready for an amazing and successful 2012?
New Year Countdown!! - Free
What a New Year app selection this would be if we don't have a countdown application?! This year's pick is called New Year Countdown!! and it does exactly what you'd expect a New Year countdown app to do. However, it also offers some nice customization options to make the experience a bit more involving and cool. For example, you can set the app to count in years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds or heartbeats.
NewYear Wallpapers - Winter & New Year's Eve Skins - Free
What better way to get in the mood for New Year's Eve than to personalize your iPhone's homescreen! What's that? The iPhone doesn't offer much personalization? Well, we guess personalization will have to come to the iPhone then! With these witty New Year wallpapers, you'll be able to give your iPhone a nice holiday look, even if it doesn't really want one.
Social Interlock for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter - $0.99
So, it was very uncool of you to post those embarrassing pics to your social accounts on last New Year's Eve. And you know that you'd have never done such a horrible mistakes if it wasn't for all the tasty drinks that you gulped down that night... But never fear - Social Interlock is here! What this tricky app does is to let you post to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. OK, it's not really that simple. Before you're free to post, you'll first have to perform a simple test of your motor skills. Once you do that, the app will judge if you're too drunk to post, depending on your score. Note: The developer recommends that you uninstall the official apps of the services for maximum effect. :)
Nike Training Club - Free
Hey, not everyone's New Year resolutions list has "Get promotion" standing prominently at the top. Some of us have "Lose weight" instead! For those of us who need a bit of motivation to kick off 2012 with a clear plan of how to lose some pounds, there's Nike Training Club! It is a great free solution, with over 85 workouts designed for both men and women. This great app also lets you unlock exclusive extra workouts from celebrities like Lea Michele, professional athletes like Shawn Johnson, and Rihanna?s personal trainer, Ary Nu?ez.
Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
Passer cette ?tape
Connexion
Connexion
Rejoignez Twitter !
Google, Apple, & Samsung are new comScore winners, Microsoft & RIM not so much - phonearena.com/news/Google-Ap?Il y a environ 7 heuresvia PhoneArenaRetweeted by 2 people
PITTSBURGH ? When Jaromir Jagr chose to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers over the summer after a three-year sabbatical, the 39-year-old Russian knew it wouldn't go over well in Pittsburgh.
And to be honest, he doesn't care.
Jagr will make his first appearance in Pittsburgh since his return to the league following a three-year absence on Thursday when the Penguins host the Flyers. He understands there will be some animosity. He also doesn't care.
"To me, it doesn't matter," Jagr said. "I just play every game the same -- Pittsburgh, Rangers, Tampa Bay. It doesn't matter."
Yet he knows he'll hear it from the Consol Energy Center crowd. It's to be expected considering the way he toyed with the Penguins in the offseason. Jagr hinted over the summer that he'd be interested in returning to the city where he won a pair of Stanley Cups alongside Mario Lemieux two decades ago. Yet he joined the hated Flyers instead, in part because the Flyers offered more money.
Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma was intrigued about the possibility of pairing Jagr and star Sidney Crosby. Instead Crosby remains sidelined with concussion-like symptoms while Jagr is playing as if he never left the NHL. Jagr enters the game with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 31 games for Philadelphia.
Bylsma is curious to see how Jagr is received, but isn't exactly expecting Jagr to be rattled.
"It's not the first time that Jaromir Jagr has come into a building and not been liked," Bylsma said. "I'm sure he's going to expect it and hear it. You hear players who hear the crowd and feed off it as well."
Jagr isn't the only former Penguin to trade black-and-yellow for the Flyers' orange-and-white. Winger Max Talbot, a popular figure who helped the Penguins win the 2009 Stanley Cup, left as a free agent over the summer to join Philadelphia.
The venom for Talbot, however, will likely be muted compared to the welcome awaiting Jagr.
Don't expect Jagr to try do something extra to quiet things down.
"That would be the worst thing ... to show somebody you still have it," Jagr said. "I don't to prove anything to anybody; I don't think I'd be playing my game if I wanted to show somebody."
The Penguins have certainly seen enough.
"We see a lot of highlights," Bylsma said. "You what he's been able to do for their (power play). What he's been able to do for (Claude) Giroux has been very good. Those are a lot of things they've saw him doing with our team with a (Evgeni) Malkin and a Crosby."
Instead the Penguins will face their two old friends without Crosby, who hasn't played since Dec. 5 after having a recurrence of concussion-like symptoms. Bylsma said Wednesday that his 24-year-old captain is going through "light exercise" but remains sidelined indefinitely.
MEXICO CITY ? Medical officials say five recovering drug addicts died and dozens of others were sickened by soy sausage served for Christmas dinner at a rehabilitation center in western Mexico.
Authorities were investigating whether the poisoning at the center in the city of Guadalajara was accidental or intentional. Drug cartels have taken over rehabilitation centers in parts of Mexico, forcibly recruiting addicts as hit men and smugglers. The invasions have led to mass shootings at the centers that have left dozens dead.
Alhy Daniel Nunez is a spokesman for the Red Cross in the western state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located. He said Monday that 37 people remained hospitalized, three of them in serious condition.
The Kardashian household size just increased by two bodies and eight legs.
Mom and dad Kris and Bruce Jenner made it a Christmas-to-remember by giving their teen daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner two chocolate lab puppies.
PHOTOS: The Kardashians' sexy beach vacation
"OMG OMG OMG!!!! Best Xmas present ever!!!!!!! 2 beautiful puppies!!!!! Ahhhh thanks mom and dad!!!!" Kendall, 16, tweeted on Saturday with a pic.
"One of my babies!" sister Kylie, 14, added with another pic.
PHOTO: See the Kardashian Christmas card
And although the matching pups are now part of the famous household, their names surprisingly don't begin with a 'K."
"Kendall & Kylie got 2 chocolate lab puppies for Christmas...A boy & a girl! Check out little Louis & Vuitton sleeping shhh," big sis Kim Kardashian tweeted Monday.
PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian's terrible year
Tell Us: What do you think of the puppies' names?
Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly
Got some Kindle hardware burning a hole in your pile of festive gifts? Well, British bookworms have been given some extra yuletide joy courtesy of Amazon UK which has also started a 12-day sale, focusing on its e-book wares. The site vows to add more digital reads each day and it looks like all the additions will stick with their shrunken price tags for the extent of the sale. Head to the source below for some one-click literary gratification.
Union Mills Road saw its second fatality in a little over a month on Thursday evening when a car traveled off the road and into a ditch near Union Mills Feed, killing a prominent Oregon City man.
?
Charles ?Chuck? A. Clemans, 77, was pronounced dead at the accident scene around 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Clemans?had served on the Clackamas Community College Board of Education since 2001?and was a former superintendent of Oregon City School District.
?
Clackamas County Sheriff?s Office and Molalla Fire District were called to the accident scene after neighbors discovered a car in the ditch along S. Union Mills Road near S. Ringo Road., said CCSO Deputy Marcus Mendoza.
?
?It appears on that curve the driver was traveling westbound and he just went straight off the road,? Mendoza said. ?So far, we don?t have any witnesses.?
?
Emergency responders checked the area to make sure no one had been ejected from the vehicle, which landed in a ditch covered in heavy brush with a seasonal creek flowing through. Clemans was the vehicle?s sole occupant, Mendoza said.
?
CCSO deputies and a deputy medical examiner investigated at the crash scene and do not believe that poor road conditions or alcohol were factors in the accident.
?
?We have some information that the driver had some medical problems, so we?re thinking based on everything we?ve seen that that?s more than likely going to be a major role in the crash,? Mendoza said.
?
The medical examiner is expected to conduct an autopsy.
?
Another fatal accident occurred about a mile away on S. Union Mills Road on Nov. 13, taking the life of Geri Burbank, 54, of Molalla.
?
Union Mills Road remained open throughout the duration of?Thursday evening's?investigation, since adequate parking for police and fire vehicles was available at the feed store, Mendoza said.
?
Clemans was named Citizen of the Year in Oregon City in 2009 for his heavy involvement in volunteer efforts and the community. He previously served as president of the Oregon City Chamber of Commerce and Regional Arts and Culture Council and also served on the Portland Center for the Performing Arts Board and the Clackamas County Arts Alliance, among others, according to Oregon City?s municipal website.
?
Clemans was a teacher and administrator for Portland Public Schools from 1956 to 1980, before serving 10 years as Oregon City School District?s superintendent until his retirement in 1990, according to the CCC website.
?
Clackamas Community College recently named an endowment in his honor. The Charles A. Clemans Campus Art Endowment will help the campus acquire artwork. They also named the college?s design lab in the Art Center after him.
Mr. James L. Westbrook, age 78, of Shalimar, Florida passed away Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at his home. Born and raised in Baskett, Kentucky on April 24, 1933 to the late Mattie and John Westbrook.
A retired Staff Sergeant in the U.S.A.F. with 20 years of service; he was a veteran of the Korean Conflict. He was a coal miner for many years and worked with the N.W.F. Daily News until his retirement. James was an avid hunter and fisherman.
James was preceded in death by his brothers, John and Tommy Westbrook, survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Judy Westbrook of Shalimar, Florida, son, James Westbrook, Jr. (Wendy), of Virginia Beach, VA, daughters, Janet Maricich of Houston, TX, Jeanna Wood (Gary), of St. Charles, MO, Sheila Tuck (Randall), Evansville, IN, 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 2:00 P.M. at Emerald Coast Funeral Home, 113 Racetrack Road, N.E., Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Inurnment will be at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at www.emeraldcoastfuneralhome.com
'No one should be surprised that Angelina Jolie is as capable behind the camera as in front of it,' one critic says of globetrotting Oscar winner. By Kara Warner
Zana Marjanovic in "In the Land of Blood and Honey" Photo: GK Films
For her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Angelina Jolie chose to helm a harrowing, unrelenting drama set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that highlights the horrors of the ethnic conflict that ravaged the region in the 1990s. To say that it is not a feel-good film is an understatement.
The critics are almost completely divided on whether Jolie's effort, which scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film, is a success. Read on as we sift through the reviews of "In the Land of Blood and Honey."
The Story "Eight years ago Jolie starred in a film, 'Beyond Borders,' in which she sashayed around global hot spots in elegant outfits like a fashion model on a shoot. Almost as if in atonement, 'Blood and Honey' is nothing like that, quite the contrary, in fact, as it centers on the queasy relationship between a captor, a Serbian army officer responsible for rounding up Muslims or otherwise making them disappear in Bosnia, and a female prisoner, a woman he was interested in prior to the war and is now able to exploit, but also protect, as his 'personal property.' " — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
The Direction "Because Jolie is known for her very public passions, which have progressed from the relative simplicity of the carnal to a globally-oriented expression of the maternal, the relatively sedate tone of 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' is unexpected. The systematic use of rape as a weapon of war is depicted with discretion (the brutality was far more vivid in 'The Whistleblower,' another 2011 Bosnian war-themed release). Jolie might show a shrieking woman being carried away by a soldier in the background, but she keeps much of the horror offscreen, at a remove from Ajla. Meanwhile, her scenes with Danijel read as lovers taking pleasure in each other's company, legs and limbs tangled languidly in the sheets. ... No one should be surprised that Angelina Jolie is as capable behind the camera as in front of it; why wouldn't she be? Here's an Oscar winner who travels the world on behalf of the United Nations listening to horror stories from refugees; processing pain is a regular sideline for her." — Mary Pols, Time
The Performances "Jolie's actors [Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Vanesa Glodjo], all from the former Yugoslavia and unknown in the West except for the superb veteran character actor Rade Serbedzija, give magnetic, raw performances. Their commitment helps us through a movie that is often harrowing, never less than intense but important, one unafraid of moments too many have chosen to forget." — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
The Final Word "Considering the historical, ethical and technical challenges in the mix — a first-time director recreating a war of ethnic cleansing on a bombs-and-bullets level, with charged issues or power and abuse, along with the challenge of shooting in a second language in a foreign land — it is not patronizing to suggest that Ms. Jolie's first film is an ambitious step forward that promises more, and better, in the future. The film may have more in ambition than it does in execution, but it deserves to be taken seriously as a debut by someone who may yet be as natural and assured behind the camera as she seems to be in front of it." — James Rocchi, MSN.com
(Reuters) ? Soletron, a start-up backed by former Adobe Systems Inc Chief Executive Bruce Chizen, is building an online marketplace for streetwear and sneakers, a market that is worth almost $60 billion by one estimate.
Soletron, run by Shane Robinson and Allen Steigman, raised $265,000 from John Friedman of venture capital firm Easton Capital and New York angel investors in early 2011 and launched its market in November.
"Urban wear is a huge niche that no one really pays attention to," said Chizen, who is on Soletron's advisory board with Superbowl MVP Santonio Holmes. "To become the Etsy of the streetwear market -- that's the whole idea."
Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage products launched in 2005, has over 12 million members and saw sales of almost $500 million this year, through November.
Soletron is raising more money in a series A round of venture capital financing early next year and Chizen plans to invest in the business then.
Other advisers include Tom Austin, co-founder of basketball apparel and shoe company AND1, and Bob Rice of investment firm Tangent Capital.
Soletron has about 50 streetwear and sneaker designers selling more than 1,200 products so far. Brands include Dunkelvolk, Nooka and Kanvas Kings.
The company collects transaction fees from linking designers and buyers and generates other revenue from advertising and member subscriptions.
Robinson and Steigman have big plans because their target market is potentially huge. There is little official data on this part of the apparel market, but accounting firm Grant Thorton pegged urban apparel sales at $58 billion in 2006.
U.S. teenagers aged 15 to 19 spend $22 billion a year on fashion products, according to estimates by Piper Jaffray. Action sports brands, Wall Street's term for streetwear brands like Volcom, Quiksilver and Hurley, have been the most popular among wealthier teens since late 2008, according surveys conducted by the investment bank.
Volcom was acquired by French luxury giant PPR this year, and Nike owns Hurley.
"This industry is the proverbial sleeping giant of the retail and e-commerce worlds," Robinson said.
Soletron is competing against Karmaloop, an online streetwear retailer that is on course to generate about $130 million in revenue this year. The company, run by Greg Selkoe, has an online marketplace called Kazba, which accounts for about 10 percent of sales.
"There's room for more people doing it," Selkoe said.
"18 to 24 year-olds have spending power of $90 billion in the U.S. and a good 20 percent of that money goes into buying into this type of clothing and sneakers," he added. "Extrapolate globally and that's a massive market."
(Reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)
Source: www.japantoday.com --- Friday, December 23, 2011 Heavy snow, strong winds and high waves hit the northern Sea of Japan coast between Hokuriku and Hokkaido on Friday. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that blizzards dumped up to 60 cm of snow in Hokkaido and 50 cms in Tohoku and warned that the winter freeze is likely to? ...
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? The season finale of "The X Factor" enjoyed a sizable boost over last week to hand Fox an easy win Thursday night, according to preliminary numbers.
On a night that was marked by repeats from the competing networks, "The X Factor" from 8 to 10 p.m. jumped 31 percent over last week's performance, taking a 3.8 rating/11 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, and grew 25 percent in total viewership with 12.4 million total viewers. The strong showing gave Fox a win for the night in both the demographic and total viewership.
NBC ran "Who's Still Standing?" at 8, which received a 1.5/5 and 5.2 million total viewers, followed by repeats until "Prime Suspect" at 10, which drew a 1.0/3 and 4.4 million total viewers.
At ABC, the night began with the holiday special "Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice" at 8, which posted a 1.1/3 and 3.8 million total viewers, followed by an episode of "Prep & Landing" at 8:30, which also received a 1.1/3 and 3.6 million total viewers. "Charlie Brown: I Want a Dog for Christmas" at 9 also posted a 1.1/3 and 3.6 million total viewers. The network's evening closed with a "Grey's Anatomy" repeat.
Hope you weren't expecting anything groundbreaking from the latest leaks of Windows 8, because so far as we can tell, build 8172 looks just about like the build we toyed with back at... BUILD. That said, these do look a wee bit more polished than earlier betas, and there are a few appreciated shots of the store and a new look for settings. If that kind of nerd-speak gets you all hot and bothered, head on down to the source link with your eyes peeled.
WASHINGTON ? The House has defeated a resolution to criticize a Florida Republican who compared Democrats' political messaging to the work of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels (GUR'-buhls).
Maryland Democrat Donna Edwards introduced the resolution to disapprove the remarks of Rep. Allen West. A Republican motion to kill the resolution was approved Tuesday on a nearly party-line, 231-188, vote.
West made the reference earlier this month when asked about Congress' low approval ratings and blame that has been directed toward Republicans.
The freshman Republican was quoted as saying, "If Joseph Goebbels was around, he'd be very proud of the Democrat Party because they have an incredible propaganda machine."
Edwards said West later made similar comments in a letter to Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan.
According to the Associated Press, a survey shows new federal air pollution regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency will have a profound effect on coal-fired electricity and the communities where coal-fired power plants exist. Here is a look at the numbers:
* 3: Limits regulated by the new EPA rules: mercury, acid gases and particulate matter, according to a Bloomberg.
* 32: Or more coal-fired plants in 12 states will be forced to shut down, according to the Associated Press survey. Another 36 might have to close to the regulations.
* 51: Years the average age of coal-fired plants that will be retired.
* 14.7: Gigawatts, enough power for more than 11 million households, will be retired from the grid in 2014-15, when new rules take effect.
* 204: People employed by three Kentucky coal-fired plants that are being taken offline.
* 600: Jobs that will be eliminated in Ohio due to the closure of 11 American Electric power plants, Bloomberg reported.
* 11 billion: Dollars the EPA estimates will be the cost of upgrades to power plants the industry must pay to comply with the rules.
* 500: Or more units that will be idled temporarily in the next few years to install pollution controls.
* 3: Years being granted to plant operators to install pollution scrubbers. According to Bloomberg, the EPA has said it will grant additional time on a case-by-case basis.
* 90: Percent of toxic mercury emissions from power plants that will be cut due to the rules. Smog-forming nitrogen oxide will be halved and sulfur dioxide will be reduced by 70 percent, the Associated Press reported.
* 17,000: Premature deaths that might be prevented by the reduction of toxic emissions, according to EPA estimates.
I hate posting advertisements, because it makes me feel like an idiot, but when a company debases itself with a flute made out of feces—how can I resist? Enjoy, if you dare. More »
Exclusive -Fab.com, the ridiculously fast growing e-commerce startup, is launching a new social shopping feature today that lets members view and interact with any activity on the design flash sales site in real-time. Dubbed the 'live feed' and reminiscent of Facebook's early iterations of what is now the News Feed, it captures what users are purchasing, sharing, commenting on etc.
British journalist and author Christopher Hitchens died Thursday at 62 from complications of esophageal cancer. The well-known contributing editor of Vanity Fair magazine had been diagnosed in June 2010. Here are some key facts and figures about esophageal cancer.
* Men develop esophageal cancer four times more frequently than women and also have a higher mortality than women.
* Esophageal cancer ranks seventh as the cause of cancer deaths among men.
* This year in the United States, approximately 17,000 adults will receive a new diagnosis of esophageal cancer.
* Approximately 15,000 deaths will be attributed to esophageal cancer this year.
* The lifetime risk of esophageal cancer in the United States is estimated to be 1 in 125 for men and 1 in 400 for women.
* Symptoms include difficulty swallowing, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, choking while eating, indigestion, vomiting, persistent hiccups and hoarseness. Symptoms frequently do not appear in the early stages of esophageal cancer.
* The most common age for esophageal cancer to occur is between 45 and 70.
* Risk factors include drinking alcohol, chewing tobacco, obesity, drinking extremely hot liquids, bile reflux, GERD, smoking, Barrett's esophagus, radiation to the upper abdomen or chest, eating foods preserved in lye and eating too few fruits and vegetables.
* Endoscopy and barium swallow are usually done to make a diagnosis of esophageal cancer.
* Since symptoms do not usually occur until the later stages, treatment options carry a poor survival rate.
* Treatment may involve surgery and almost always involves chemotherapy and radiation combined.
* In the U.S., the five-year survival rate is 17 percent, excluding patients who die from other causes. For anyone with early stage esophageal cancer, the survival rates are higher.
* Esophageal cancer is much more prevalent in countries other than the U.S. For example in places such as northern China, India, Iran and southern Africa the rates are 10 to 100 times higher,
* Two types of esophageal cancer are the most common and are named after the cells at their point of origin. These include adenocarcinoma, which begins in the lower part of the esophagus and is the most common in western societies, and is caused most often by reflux and Barrett's esophagus. The second type is squamous cell carcinoma, which begins in the lining of the middle and upper esophagus. This type is most often caused by smoking and alcohol use and is the most common worldwide.
* Squamous cell carcinoma occurs three times more often in blacks than whites, while adenocarcinoma is most prevalent in white males.
Margie Miklas is a critical-care nurse with more than 30 years' experience. She currently works in South Florida in a cardiovascular ICU with a specialty certification in cardiac surgery.
Insect warfare: A timely holiday gift for citrus growersPublic release date: 15-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala iqbal@ucr.edu 951-827-6050 University of California - Riverside
UC Riverside entomologists to release natural enemy of Asian citrus psyllid, Dec. 20
WHAT: UCR entomologists will release Tamarixia radiata, a tiny parasitic wasp that lays eggs in Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) nymphs. The larvae eat the ACP nymphs, killing them, and emerge as adults about 12 days later. Adult female Tamarixia also eat other ACP nymphs, thus killing them.
Reporters will have the opportunity to speak with the entomologists about the ACP, its economic impact, and how the release of Tamarixia the first time in California can help shrink the ACP population.
The adult ACP is 1/8th of an inch long; Tamarixia is about 1/16th of an inch long. Photographers and videographers are advised, therefore, to bring appropriate camera lenses.
UCR's Center for Invasive Species Research (CISR) has high resolution photographs of ACP and Tamarixia for print and web publication.
WHEN: 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20. Media representatives may arrive as early as 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: In a 7.5-acre biocontrol grove of citrus trees near the UCR Botanic Gardens. Proceed toward the Botanic Gardens and follow signs to the biocontrol grove and the location of the Tamarixia release. Parking is available near the entrance to the grove.
WHO: UCR Executive Vice Chancellor Dallas Rabenstein and Mark Hoddle, the director of the CISR, will release the parasitic wasps (a total of 100-200 males and females). Representatives from the Citrus Research Board and the California Department of Food and Agriculture also will be present.
BACKGROUND: Hoddle, a biological control specialist in the Department of Entomology, collected colonies of Tamarixia during four recent trips to Pakistan. Twelve colonies of the biocontrol agent were quarantined at UCR. Safety testing showed that the parasites are disease-free and pose no environmental risk. The parasitic wasps do not bite or sting people or animals.
The ACP is found in parts of the Middle East, South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. In the United States, the ACP was first detected in Florida in 1998; it is now found in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Arizona. In California, the pest was first detected in San Diego and Imperial county backyard trees. ACP is now well established in urban areas of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
When the ACP feeds on citrus leaves and stems, it damages the tree by injecting a toxin that causes leaves to twist and die. The ACP spreads citrus greening, or Huanglongbing disease, a deadly citrus disease. Leaves on infected trees turn yellow, the fruit turns bitter and eventually the tree dies. To date there is no known cure.
So far, Huanglongbing has not been detected in California (it has been detected in Mexico and Florida).
OTHER:Tamarixia will not eradicate ACP, but provide control by reducing the ACP population. It will perform an important role in backyard gardens and organic citrus groves where pesticide use is either difficult or unwanted. It is anticipated that commercial citrus producers in California will still need to apply insecticides for ACP control; the frequencies of these applications, however, are likely to be reduced because Tamarixia will be killing ACP nymphs that would have otherwise grown into adults in the absence of this natural enemy.
###
The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Insect warfare: A timely holiday gift for citrus growersPublic release date: 15-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala iqbal@ucr.edu 951-827-6050 University of California - Riverside
UC Riverside entomologists to release natural enemy of Asian citrus psyllid, Dec. 20
WHAT: UCR entomologists will release Tamarixia radiata, a tiny parasitic wasp that lays eggs in Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) nymphs. The larvae eat the ACP nymphs, killing them, and emerge as adults about 12 days later. Adult female Tamarixia also eat other ACP nymphs, thus killing them.
Reporters will have the opportunity to speak with the entomologists about the ACP, its economic impact, and how the release of Tamarixia the first time in California can help shrink the ACP population.
The adult ACP is 1/8th of an inch long; Tamarixia is about 1/16th of an inch long. Photographers and videographers are advised, therefore, to bring appropriate camera lenses.
UCR's Center for Invasive Species Research (CISR) has high resolution photographs of ACP and Tamarixia for print and web publication.
WHEN: 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20. Media representatives may arrive as early as 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: In a 7.5-acre biocontrol grove of citrus trees near the UCR Botanic Gardens. Proceed toward the Botanic Gardens and follow signs to the biocontrol grove and the location of the Tamarixia release. Parking is available near the entrance to the grove.
WHO: UCR Executive Vice Chancellor Dallas Rabenstein and Mark Hoddle, the director of the CISR, will release the parasitic wasps (a total of 100-200 males and females). Representatives from the Citrus Research Board and the California Department of Food and Agriculture also will be present.
BACKGROUND: Hoddle, a biological control specialist in the Department of Entomology, collected colonies of Tamarixia during four recent trips to Pakistan. Twelve colonies of the biocontrol agent were quarantined at UCR. Safety testing showed that the parasites are disease-free and pose no environmental risk. The parasitic wasps do not bite or sting people or animals.
The ACP is found in parts of the Middle East, South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. In the United States, the ACP was first detected in Florida in 1998; it is now found in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Arizona. In California, the pest was first detected in San Diego and Imperial county backyard trees. ACP is now well established in urban areas of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
When the ACP feeds on citrus leaves and stems, it damages the tree by injecting a toxin that causes leaves to twist and die. The ACP spreads citrus greening, or Huanglongbing disease, a deadly citrus disease. Leaves on infected trees turn yellow, the fruit turns bitter and eventually the tree dies. To date there is no known cure.
So far, Huanglongbing has not been detected in California (it has been detected in Mexico and Florida).
OTHER:Tamarixia will not eradicate ACP, but provide control by reducing the ACP population. It will perform an important role in backyard gardens and organic citrus groves where pesticide use is either difficult or unwanted. It is anticipated that commercial citrus producers in California will still need to apply insecticides for ACP control; the frequencies of these applications, however, are likely to be reduced because Tamarixia will be killing ACP nymphs that would have otherwise grown into adults in the absence of this natural enemy.
###
The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
Passer cette ?tape
Connexion
Connexion
Rejoignez Twitter !
EMA's California #6! :: Check out: @Spinner's Best Songs of 2011: 20 to 1 spinner.com/2011/12/14/bes? @EMAthorstar @souterraintrans @fawnoverIl y a environ 8 heuresvia Tweet ButtonRetweeted by 1 person
WASHINGTON ? The number of young adults lacking medical coverage has shrunk by 2.5 million since the new health care overhaul law took effect, according to a new analysis the Obama administration is to release Wednesday.
That drop is 2 1/2 times as large as the drop indicated by previous government and private estimates from earlier this year, which showed about 1 million Americans ages 19-25 had gained coverage.
Administration officials said they now have more data. They say they're also slicing the numbers more precisely than the government usually does, trying to pinpoint the impact of a popular provision in an otherwise politically divisive law.
Under the health overhaul, children can remain on their parents' health insurance plans until they turn 26, and families have flocked to sign up young adults making the transition to work in a challenging economic environment. But the fate of President Barack Obama's signature domestic accomplishment remains uncertain, with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear a constitutional challenge next year, and Republican presidential candidates vowing to repeal it.
"The increase in coverage among 19- to 25-year-olds can be directly attributed to the Affordable Care Act's new dependent coverage provision," said a draft report from the Health and Human Services Department. "Initial gains from this policy have continued to grow as ... students graduate from high school and college." A copy of the report was obtained by The Associated Press.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled to release the findings Wednesday.
The health care law's main push to cover the uninsured doesn't come until 2014. But the young adults' provision took effect last fall. Most workplace health plans started carrying it out Jan. 1.
Using unpublished quarterly statistics from the government's ongoing National Health Interview Survey, analysts in Sebelius' policy office determined that nearly 36 percent of those age 19-25 were uninsured in the third calendar quarter of 2010, before the law's provision took effect.
That translates to more than 10.5 million people.
By the second calendar quarter of 2011, the proportion of uninsured young adults had dropped to a little over 27 percent, or about 8 million people.
The difference ? nearly 2.5 million getting coverage ? can only be the result of the health care law, administration officials said, because the number covered by public programs like Medicaid went down slightly.
Overall, nearly 30 million Americans are between the ages of 19 to 25. For those who are little older, ages 26-35, the uninsured rate went up during the same period.
"From September 2010 to June 2011, coverage rose only among those adults affect by the policy," said the HHS report.
The National Center for Health Statistics has documented a broadly similar trend in its official publications, only it's not nearly as dramatic.
Administration officials said those statistics do not focus on the change from calendar quarter to calendar quarter, as does the report by Sebelius' staff. Instead, they pool data over longer time periods. That has the effect of diluting the perceived impact of the law, administration officials said.
Traditionally, young adults were more likely to be uninsured than any other age group.
Some are making the switch from school to work. Others are holding down low-wage jobs that don't usually come with health care. And some ? termed the "invincibles" ? pass up job-based health insurance because they don't think they'll use it and would rather get extra money in their paychecks.
Other early coverage expansions in the health care law have not worked as well, including a special program for people with health problems who got turned away by private insurers. Many applicants found the premiums unaffordable.
Young adults are a less expensive group to cover than people who are middle-aged, and many companies have spread the extra premiums among their workers. Benefits consultant Delloite LLP has projected additional health plan costs in the range of 1 percent to 2 percent for covering young adults.
phonearena 
GodDiscussion 
Exclusive - 
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
Share ] 
cobracamanda