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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45108964#45108964
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সোমবার, ৩১ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Barry Manilow gives $300,000 in instruments to Joplin (Reuters)
KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) ? Students and staff Friday were unpacking three truckloads of new musical instruments that singer Barry Manilow donated to tornado-ravaged schools in Joplin, Missouri.
Manilow presented the instruments, valued at $300,000, to a gathering of Joplin music students on Thursday. The instruments will help replenish ones lost on May 22 when an EF-5 tornado swept through Joplin, destroying the high school and several other school buildings.
"We are just thrilled, he is such a nice person," Rick Castor, director of the Joplin High School band, said Friday. "It was just like Christmas. We opened a few of the things last night and today."
The donation includes a concert grand piano that will be placed on the stage of the temporary, and then the new auditorium, Castor said. The schools also got six new upright pianos, along with brass, string and other instruments, to replace ones that were destroyed, he said.
The instruments come from the Manilow Music Project, which for six years has helped schools that suffered cuts to music programs. Manilow is also helping with a local drive to get used instruments donated to the Joplin schools and to raise money to replace sheet music lost in the tornado.
The tornado killed 162 people.
"I know first-hand how invaluable music can be to get you through life's tough times," Manilow said in a statement. "It is an honor and a privilege to help these kids after such a disaster."
Manilow, 68, had his biggest success in the 1970s but has remained a popular touring artist for years. Castor said his students had not heard of Manilow and were surprised when he told them he is among the top-selling singer-songwriters of all time.
In speaking to the students Thursday, Manilow quipped that "back in the 1970s, I was Justin Bieber," according to The Joplin Globe.
(Writing and reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Greg McCune)
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GOP rivals focus on flat taxes, smaller government (AP)
WASHINGTON ? On jobs and taxes, the top Republican presidential rivals are locked in a fierce game of one-upmanship. They're all trying to outdo each other in offering the boldest economic plan for the campaign to unseat President Barack Obama next November.
Despite some notable differences in the blueprints, they all are built around the central theme that Obama's stimulus programs haven't worked and his job creation record is dismal. Example No. 1: Unemployment is holding at a painfully high 9.1 percent.
"We knew ultimately that the 2012 election was going to be a big referendum on the president," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office who was the chief economic adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. "But Republicans also have to say what they would do. It's not enough to say we don't like what's going on."
Texas Gov. Rick Perry teased rival Herman Cain ? "I'll bump plans with you, brother" ? when both rolled out ambitious proposals for a single-rate flat tax. That's a concept hailed by numerous Republicans and some Democrats for its simplicity, yet it never has managed to attract much congressional support. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the lone major GOP contender not calling for a flat or flatter tax.
The 2012 contenders also are serving up a platter of familiar conservative fare: calls for deep spending cuts, reduced government regulation and an emphasis on private enterprise as the true engine of job growth and prosperity.
The plans underscore the party's attempt to respond to the biggest voter concerns of the day and capitalize on what they see it as Obama's chief vulnerability, the still shaky recovery. The candidates claim their various plans would help create millions of private sector jobs; just how is not always clear.
With polls showing that most people support increasing taxes on the wealthiest households, as Obama and Democrats are proposing, the GOP flat-tax plans would largely end up as a boon to the wealthiest, independent analyses suggest.
The tax debate coincides with spreading protests, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, against economic inequality. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently reported the top 1 percent of American earners doubled their share of national income over the past 30 years, to 20 percent.
Some of the GOP plans show depth, complexity and sophistication, Holtz-Eakin said. Not every economist is as charitable or sees the GOP offerings as workable.
"I don't think any of the plans can be taken too seriously as actual policy," said Bruce Bartlett, who held top economic posts in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations but now considers himself a political independent.
"The Republican goal is to nominate the person who is the most committed, most articulate in terms of the Republican philosophy. What they're competing for is who best represents that core philosophy and articulate it in a way that the base finds satisfying," Bartlett said.
No matter that some GOP dogma, such as an insistence that cuts in business taxes and government regulation will spur private-sector job growth, "is economic nonsense," Bartlett said.
All the GOP rivals would pare federal regulations.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., would kill the Environmental Protection Agency and repeal the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial industry regulation law. Romney is proposing a 10 percent cut in the federal workforce. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum wants to repeal all regulations put in place by Obama. "The federal government kills jobs. We don't need more programs and bureaucrats telling business how to operate," he says.
Economists generally agree the shortage of jobs isn't caused by government overregulation but by a lack of consumer demand. A recent Labor Department survey showed that less than 1 percent of all layoffs in the past four years have been attributed by employers to government regulation.
With consumer spending driving two-thirds of the U.S. economy, those without jobs have little money to spend. Many with jobs fear losing them, or their houses are worth less than their mortgages, so they have little spare cash or borrowing ability.
Killing off Obama's health care overhaul is a common feature of the GOP plans. So, too, is a proposal to offer American companies a chance to bring money generated overseas back into the U.S. without being taxed. But studies have shown that a similar repatriation "holiday" in 2004-2005 had little effect on job growth.
Some Republicans go further than others. For instance, Bachmann says she would consider allowing oil and gas exploration in the Florida Everglades. None of her rivals has been that bold, perhaps given Florida's importance in presidential calculus.
Hoping to coax more U.S. export jobs, Romney threatens to trade penalties against China if it does not boost the value of its currency. "If you're not willing to stand up to China, you'll get rolled over by China," he says. But former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who recently served as U.S. ambassador to China, argues that such penalties probably would lead to a trade war that would hurt both economies.
On taxes, Romney would make incremental changes and move later to a simpler system. For now, he would extend Bush-era tax cuts, lower the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 25 percent and exempt investment income for those earning less than $200,000. He would extract more U.S. oil, coal and natural gas, expand trade pacts and cut federal spending.
Rep. Ron Paul's plan is the most radical. The Texas Republican, a libertarian, would scrap the income tax entirely. He contends the government didn't have the authority to impose it in the first place. He would make ends meet through excise taxes, tariffs, and a smaller government. In the process, he would abolish the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve.
Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza CEO who has replaced Romney as the GOP front-runner in some recent polls, repeatedly pushes his "9-9-9" tax plan that would cut personal and corporate tax rates to 9 percent each and impose a new 9 percent federal sales tax.
Perry's plan would give taxpayers the choice of paying at a flat rate of 20 percent or adhering to the current tax structure. He would preserve deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local tax taxes for households earning less than $500,000 a year and offer a $12,500 exemption for individuals and dependents.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has proposed a 15 percent optional flat tax. Huntsman would set up a three-tiered system with a top rate of 23 percent. Bachmann would replace the tax code with a yet-to-be specified flat tax. Santorum proposes a "simpler, flatter and fairer" tax without offering specifics. He would cut the corporate tax in half and eliminate it for manufacturers who keep jobs in the U.S.
In the past, flat tax schemes ? pushed by Democrat Jerry Brown in 1992 and Republican publisher Steve Forbes in 1990 and 2000 ? failed to generate much political traction, in part because most plans would put a disproportionate burden on lower-income families.
Quick studies of the current major GOP proposals by independent research groups have made similar findings.
____
Follow Tom Raum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomraum
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Freakonomics ? Aspirin and Cancer: A Seriously Cost-Effective ...
(Creatas)
At Freakonomics, we?re all about finding cheap, easy solutions to life?s big problems. And judging by the results of a new study published in The Lancet, a rather large one just came down the pike. Turns out that aspirin may be one of the most effective measures to combat colon cancer. The study found that taking two aspirin pills a day for two years reduced the risk of colorectal cancer by 63 percent in a group of 861 people who have Lynch syndrome, and are therefore at a high risk for the disease.
Though there have been previous studies that suggest aspirin may effectively reduce the risk of cancer (like this one from 2010), according to the BBC, this most recent study was the first randomized control trial specifically for aspirin and cancer to prove it. So, while we?ve spent what probably amounts to tens of billions of dollars in pharmaceutical R&D trying to come up with an effective cancer drug, one of the best methods may have been already sitting in our medicine cabinet, at just a few bucks a bottle.?
Source: http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/10/28/aspirin-and-cancer-a-seriously-cost-effective-measure/
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রবিবার, ৩০ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Colo. Army post honors soldier, dog killed in Iraq (AP)
DENVER ? A dog park at a Colorado Army post is being named in honor of an Oregon soldier and his military working dog who were killed together in Iraq.
Cpl. Kory Wiens (WEENS) and the Labrador retriever named Cooper will be remembered at a ceremony Friday at Fort Carson just outside Colorado Springs.
Wiens and Cooper were killed by an improvised bomb while on patrol in Iraq in 2007. Their ashes are buried together in Dallas, Ore., Wiens' hometown.
Wiens was 20. He and Cooper were assigned to a mine dog detachment based at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. A Fort Carson spokesman says Wiens had no formal tie to the post but officials there wanted to honor his memory.
Pat McAlister, Wiens' grandmother, says the family is touched by the gesture.
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In Pakistan, a militant deal sours
ISLAM NAGAR, Pakistan (AP) ? The deal saw one of Pakistan's most feared militants walk from jail apparently in exchange for his commitment to nonviolence, help in reining in other fighters and possibly delivering the votes of his followers.
Supporters showered Malik Ishaq with rose petals when he left the prison in the eastern city of Lahore in July. Days later, he was preaching murderous hatred toward minority Shiites to crowds of cheering Sunnis, energizing a network whose members have joined al-Qaida for terror strikes. That was too much for Pakistani authorities, who arrested him again last month.
Pakistan has a well-documented history of trying to coopt or strike deals with militants of various causes, and a close examination of the Ishaq case shows how that can play out.
It's a cautionary tale, perhaps, for U.S. officials who are urging Pakistan to bring to the negotiating table Afghan militants who enjoy safe havens in the country's lawless border regions.
Fifteen years ago, Ishaq founded Laskhar-e-Jangvi, or LeJ, which allies itself with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The LeJ is blamed for scores of attacks on Shiites, regarded as infidels, and on Pakistani and U.S. interests.
Ishaq was arrested in 1997 and accused in more than 200 criminal cases including the killings of 70 Shiites.
But the state could never make the charges stick ? in large part because witnesses, judges and prosecutors were too scared to convict.
Frightened judges treated him honorably in court and gave him tea and cookies, according to Anis Haider Naqvi, a prosecution witness in two cases against Ishaq. One judge attempted to hide his face with his hands, but Ishaq made clear he knew his identity in a chilling way: He read out the names of his children, and the judge abandoned the trial, he said.
Despite the lack of convictions, Ishaq remained in prison for 14 years as prosecutors slowly moved from one case to the next.
Ishaq proved his usefulness to the army in 2009, when he was flown from jail to negotiate with militants who had stormed part of the military headquarters in Rawalpindi and were holding hostages there, said Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, who used to advise the Punjab provincial government on religious matters.
A behind-the-scenes effort by the government to co-opt the leaders of militant outfits and bring them into mainstream political life, or at least draw them away from attacking the state, helped Ishaq secure his July 15 release, according to Ashrafi.
"I met Ishaq several times in prison," Ashrafi said, emphasizing that Ishaq assured him that he wanted to contribute to peace. "If someone wants to get back to normal life, yes, why not, we do help him," said Ashrafi. "These are our own men." He said he was disappointed to see him back in jail.
Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan denied there was any deal behind Ishaq's release, but said extremist leaders were free to join politics if they eschewed violence. "We are in touch with those who have become, or want to become, useful citizens," he said.
The Punjab is the key battleground between the ruling party of President Asif Ali Zardari and the party of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, currently in power in that province.
Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, the head of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, or SSP, LeJ's parent sectarian group, told a rally last year that Nawaz's brother, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, had promised that Ishaq's release "would be settled in meetings" with him.
"After that meeting, the time is not far when the prison door would break open and Malik Ishaq would be released," he said.
LeJ and other militant groups can muster significant support in Punjab and parts of Sindh province through their schools and mosques, making them an important political force. Mainstream politicians have shown no hesitation in courting them despite their links to violence.
Local SSP leader Mohammad Tayyab said a recent SSP-backed candidate for a regional assembly seat in southern Punjab got 17,000 votes.
"That is what Zardari's party and Sharif's know very well," he said.
Khaled Ahmad, an expert on Pakistani militant groups in Punjab, said there is "no doubt" that the SSP and Sharif's party would cut deals as they have done in the past. "It is dangerous now because the group and its offshoots are in alliance with al-Qaida."
Government intelligence reports obtained by The Associated Press show Ishaq made threats in his public appearances after his release from prison.
He urged his supporters not to be afraid of Pakistani laws or prisons, and told them to "get on the streets and crush publicly the Shiites who abuse the Prophet Muhammad's companions."
"We know how to kill and how to die," he told a gathering near Rahim Yar Khan on Sept. 4, according to one report.
Ishaq's aides denied he made such remarks.
The government suspected Ishaq of coordinating meetings in recent months of 50 or so alleged terrorists, said Khan, the law minister. Some of the men Ishaq visited directly after his release had allegedly been involved in terrorism and were being watched by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, said the government reports.
LeJ's stronghold is south and central Punjab, a neglected, blisteringly hot part of the country that has long been the recruiting ground for state-sanctioned jihadi groups. Wealthy families, disproportionately Shiite, own large swaths of land where tenant farmers grow cotton, sugarcane and wheat and work at mango orchids.
Visitors to Ishaq's house in Islam Nagar in the southern Punjabi city of Rahim Yar Khan are greeted by an SSP member with an automatic rifle, against a backdrop of flags and banners glorifying the group.
"My father's mission is a true one," said his son, Malik Usman. "We will seek our reward from Allah."
___
Associated Press Writers Aqeel Ahmad in Mansehra, Pakistan, Khalid Tanveer in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan contributed to this report.
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Defense witness: Michael Jackson caused own death (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? With dramatic courtroom testimony, attorneys for Michael Jackson's doctor have dropped the bombshell they've been hinting at for months ? an expert opinion accusing the singer of causing his own death.
Dr. Paul White said Jackson injected himself with a dose of propofol after an initial dose by Dr. Conrad Murray wore off. He also calculated that Jackson gave himself another sedative, lorazepam, by taking pills after an infusion of that drug and others by Murray failed to put him to sleep.
That combination of drugs could have had "lethal consequences," the defense team's star scientific witness said Friday.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
White showed jurors a series of charts and simulations he created in the past two days to support the defense theory. He also did a courtroom demonstration of how the milky white anesthetic propofol could have entered Jackson's veins in the small dose that Murray claimed he gave the insomniac star.
White said he accepted Murray's statement to police that he administered only 25 milligrams of propofol after a night-long struggle to get Jackson to sleep with infusions of other sedatives.
"How long would that (propofol) have had an effect on Mr. Jackson?" asked defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan.
"If you're talking effect on the central nervous system, 10 to 15 minutes max," White said.
He then said Jackson could have injected himself with another 25 milligrams during the time Murray has said he left the singer's room.
"So you think it was self-injected propofol between 11:30 and 12?" asked Flanagan.
"In my opinion, yes," White said.
The witness, one of the early researchers of the anesthetic, contradicted testimony by Dr. Steven Shafer, his longtime colleague and collaborator. Shafer earlier testified Jackson would have been groggy from all the medications he was administered during the night and could not have given himself the drug in the two minutes Murray said he was gone.
"He can't give himself an injection if he's asleep," Shafer told jurors last week. He called the defense theory of self-administration "crazy."
White's testimony belied no animosity between the two experts, who have worked together for 30 years. Although White was called out by the judge one day for making derogatory comments to a TV reporter about the prosecution case, White was respectful and soft spoken on the witness stand.
When Flanagan made a mistake and called him "Dr. Shafer" a few times, White said, "I'm honored."
The prosecution asked for more time to study the computer program White used before cross-examining him. Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor granted the request, saying he too was baffled by the complicated simulations of Jackson's fatal dose. He recessed court early and gave prosecutors the weekend to catch up before questioning White on Monday.
The surprise disclosure of White's new theory caused a disruption of the court schedule, and the judge had worried aloud that jurors, who expected the trial to be over this week, were being inconvenienced. But the seven men and five women appeared engaged in the testimony and offered no complaints when the judge apologized for the delay.
Prosecutors could call Shafer back during their rebuttal case to answer White's assertions.
Among the key issues is how White calculated that a large residue of propofol in Jackson's body could have come from the small dose that Murray says he administered. Shafer assumed Murray had lied, and he estimated Jackson actually was given 1,000 milligrams of the drug by Murray, who he said left the bottle running into an IV tube under the pull of gravity. White disputed that, saying an extra 25 milligrams self-administered by Jackson would be enough to reach the levels found in his blood and urine.
White also said a minuscule residue of the sedative lorazepam in Jackson's stomach convinced him the singer took some pills from a prescription bottle found in his room. He suggested the combination of lorazepam, another sedative, midazolam, plus the propofol could have killed Jackson.
"It potentially could have lethal consequences," said White. "... I think the combination effect would be very, very profound."
White's testimony was expected to end Murray's defense case after 16 witnesses. It likely will be vigorously challenged by prosecutors, who spent four weeks laying out their case that Murray is a greedy, inept and reckless doctor who was giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid in the singer's bedroom. Experts including Shafer have said propofol is not intended to treat insomnia and should not be given in a home.
White's theory was based on urine and blood levels in Jackson's autopsy, evidence found in Jackson's bedroom and Murray's long interview with police detectives two days after Jackson died while in his care.
While accepting Murray's account of drugs he gave Jackson, the expert's calculations hinged on the invisible quotient: Jackson's possible movements while his doctor was out of the room. With no witnesses and contradictory physical evidence, that has become the key question hanging over the case.
Those who knew the entertainer in his final days offered a portrait of a man gripped by fear that he would not live up to big plans for his comeback concert and worried about his ability to perform if he didn't get sleep. He was plagued by insomnia, and other medical professionals told of his quest for the one drug he believed could help him. He called it his "milk," and it was propofol.
Jurors have now seen it up close as both Shafer and White demonstrated its potential use as an IV infusion.
With White's testimony, the defense sought to answer strong scientific evidence by the prosecution. But they did not address other questions such as allegations that Murray was negligent and acting below the standard of care for a physician.
Flanagan, the defense attorney, produced a certificate from Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas showing Murray was certified to administer moderate anesthesia, referred to as "conscious sedation." However, the document showed several requirements including that the physician "monitor the patient carefully" and "provide adequate oxygenation and ventilation for a patient that stops breathing."
Medical witnesses noted that Murray left his patient alone under anesthesia and did not have adequate equipment to revive him when he found him not breathing.
The coroner attributed Jackson's June 25, 2009, death to "acute propofol intoxication" complicated by other sedatives.
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Australia's Qantas, unions face off over fleet grounding (Reuters)
MELBOURNE (Reuters) ? Qantas Airways and its unions appeared before a labour tribunal on Sunday with Australia's prime minister urging an end to the industrial dispute that grounded the airline's entire fleet, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.
Qantas said it had cancelled 447 flights affecting more than 68,000 passengers since grounding over 100 aircraft around the world on Saturday.
The airline is seeking to bring to a head a prolonged and increasingly bitter battle with its unions over pay, working conditions and plans to set up two new airlines in Asia.
Qantas plans to cut 1,000 jobs and order $9 billion of new Airbus aircraft as part of a makeover to salvage its loss-making international business.
The abrupt escalation in the dispute angered the government and came as an embarrassment for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who was hosting a summit of Commonwealth leaders in the western city of Perth, 17 of them booked to fly out on Sunday with Qantas.
"There is no case for this radical overreaction," Assistant Treasurer and former senior union official Bill Shorten told the Australia Broadcasting Corp.
"Sixty-eight thousand Australians and the tourism industry has been grossly inconvenienced by this high-handed ambush of the passenger."
Gillard, criticised for not intervening earlier in the dispute, said the tribunal hearing in Melbourne was needed to quickly resolve the impasse.
"We took this action because we were concerned about the damage to the economy," she told reporters in Perth.
"The government is arguing for an end to the industrial action," she said, adding that most leaders had made alternate flight plans.
BOLD, UNBELIEVABLE DECISION
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce estimated the "bold decision, an unbelievable decision" to lock out workers and ground the fleet would cost the company A$20 million ($21.4 million) a day.
He said the special labour tribunal, which reconvened after a late-night meeting on Saturday, would have to terminate all industrial action before the airline could resume flying.
"We're hoping a determination is made today and that will give us certainty about what we can do and start planning to get the airline back in the air," Joyce told Australia's Sky News.
He indicated Qantas could be flying again on Monday if the Fair Work Australia tribunal ordered the termination of industrial action on Sunday.
Qantas and the unions would then have 21 days to negotiate a settlement before binding arbitration would be imposed.
The lockout is the latest in a rising tide of industrial unrest in Australia as unions increase pressure for a greater share of profits amid tight labour markets and a boom in resource prices.
It threatens to become the most significant disruption to Australian aviation since a dispute in 1989 that lasted for six months and had a significant impact on tourism and other business. Industrial action by engineers cost Qantas around A$130 million in 2008.
Qantas faced angry shareholders and workers at a shareholders' meeting on Friday when the company said the labour dispute since September had caused a dive in forward bookings and was costing it A$15 million a week.
The shareholders backed hefty pay rises to senior Qantas executives, including a A$5 million package for Joyce.
The action sparked an angry response from Australia's Transport Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday.
"I'm extremely disappointed. What's more, I indicated very clearly to Mr Joyce that I was disturbed by the fact that we've had a number of discussions and at no stage has Mr Joyce indicated to me that this was an action under consideration," he said.
Tony Sheldon of the Transport Workers Union said the lockout was cynical and pre-planned.
"It's a company strategy that shareholders should have been told about, that the Australian community should have been told about, not ambushed in the dead of night," he said.
The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) was flabbergasted at the move to ground the fleet, describing it as "brinkmanship in the extreme".
"Alan Joyce is holding a knife to the nation's throat," said Richard Woodward, vice-president of AIPA.
MASSIVE DISRUPTIONS
Qantas check-in desks across Australia were empty on Sunday morning as customers scrambled for alternative travel arrangements. The airline usually flies more than 60,000 people a day.
Australian rival Virgin Blue said it was adding an extra 3,000 seats on its domestic network on Sunday to assist Qantas passengers.
Qantas's decision left many passengers venting their anger after they were stranded in 22 cities around the globe.
"To resolve this at the expense of paying customers on one of the biggest flying days in Australia is quite frankly ... bizarre, unwarranted and unfair to the loyal customers that Australia has," a businessman, who gave his name only as Barry, told Sky TV at Melbourne airport.
This weekend is one of Australia's busiest for travel, with tens of thousands travelling to the hugely popular Melbourne Cup horse race on Tuesday, dubbed "the race that stops the nation".
Shares in the airline have fallen almost 40 percent this year, underperforming the 8 percent fall in the benchmark index.
($1 = 0.933 Australian Dollars)
(Additional reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram and Ed Davies in SYDNEY, Rebekah Kebede and Michael Perry in PERTH, James Grubel in CANBERRA; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
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Likes or Yikes? Maya Rudolph on Babies, 'Bridesmaids 2' and 'Up All Night'
Chime in on the week's hottest entertainment stories!
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শনিবার, ২৯ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Life Inc.: Miserable? You don't know history
Scott Grannis/Calafia Beach Pundit
By Allison Linn
The misery index ? a measure of inflation plus unemployment rates?? hit the highest level in nearly three decades last week.
That?s definitely bad news for our pocketbooks, but many of us have experienced much deeper misery.
It turns out we?re still quite a ways from the misery Americans suffered in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, when the index topped out at or near 20, with unemployment of nearly 8 percent and inflation of 12 percent. Last week?s reading was nearly 13, including the 9.1 percent unemployment rate and 3.9 percent year-over-year inflation.
Scott Grannis, a blogger and former chief economist for Western Asset Management, notes that our misery this time around is mostly due to high unemployment ?which is hovering around 9 percent ? although inflation has also recently been on the rise.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, we were bedeviled by both high unemployment and extremely high inflation, which anyone who tried to buy a house in those years probably remembers well (if not fondly).
Scott Grannis/Calafia Beach Pundit
Of course, that particular trip down memory lane is probably little comfort to the many of us grappling with the current weak economic conditions, and especially to the 14 million people who are unemployed.
?
Related:
Feeling pinched by higher bills, less money? You?re not alone
Older Americans? challenge: Not time to recover from recession
Do you feel more miserable than you did in the 1970s and 1980s?
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Too Much Drinking May Raise Lung Cancer Risk: Study (HealthDay)
THURSDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- While smoking has long been linked to cancer, its frequent companion, drinking, may be as well, a new study suggests.
Three new studies presented at a medical meeting this week find a link between heavy boozing and a rise in risk for the number one cancer killer.
On the other hand, studies also suggest that heavier people are less likely to develop lung cancer than smaller folk, and black tea might help ward of the disease, as well.
The findings were to be presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, Oct. 22-26, in Honolulu.
More Americans die from lung cancer than any other form, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, more than 203,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with lung cancer, and nearly 159,000 died.
In one study presented at the meeting, Dr. Stanton Siu and colleagues at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., looked at the diets and lifestyles of more than 126,000 people first surveyed between 1978 and 1985. They then tracked their incidence of lung cancer through 2008.
The team found that having more than three alcoholic drinks per day upped lung cancer risk, with a slightly higher risk ascribed to beer consumption versus wine or liquor. Specifically, compared to teetotalers, people who had three or more drinks daily were 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer, with a 70 percent rise in risk if the drink of preference was beer.
One expert stressed, however, that it's tough to tease out drinking from another, even more carcinogenic habit, smoking, since the two often go together.
"Smoking remains an overwhelming factor, but . . . heavy drinking, whether it's the alcohol itself, or that heavy drinking is a surrogate for hanging out in smoky bars and getting more smoke, I don't know," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, who was not involved in any of the studies.
In another intriguing finding from the study, a higher body mass index (BMI), which indicates overweight or obesity, was linked to a reduction in the odds for lung malignancies.
The finding may not mean that packing on extra pounds insulates one against lung cancer, however. Edelman noted that being overweight or obese is typically associated with poorer health, while "people who are sick weigh little," he said. So, the results may just mean that the heavier study participants haven't suffered the ill effects of their lifestyle -- yet.
In a separate study also slated for presentation at the meeting, researchers from the Czech Republic found that among non-smoking women, regular black tea consumption appeared to lower lung cancer risk by about 31 percent, and higher amounts of fruit in the diet was also linked to lowered lung cancer risk for both genders.
Edelman and Dr. Mark Rosen, chief of the division of pulmonary/critical care and sleep medicine at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in New Hyde Park, N.Y., cautioned that all of the study results need to be replicated before being taken seriously.
"They show some interesting associations, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily factual," Rosen said. "If you put a lot of data into a computer, you're going to find some things come out [linked] just by chance. Associations are interesting, but they all require further studies."
Experts also note that research presented at scientific meetings is considered preliminary and has not been peer-reviewed.
More information
For more on alcohol and health, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Sony HomeShare review: A wireless music system for more than just your iPod (Digital Trends)
Read on for an overview of the Sony HomeShare system, then check out our full reviews of Sony HomeShare components:
At CES 2011, Sony announced it was moving away from its Altus line of wireless speakers in favor of a suite of products centered around what it called HomeShare. In a rather surprising move, Sony?s HomeShare bucks the company?s trend of going the proprietary route in hopes that others will eventually toe its line. Instead, HomeShare is a non-proprietary, DLNA-based system that can access and wirelessly share most music file types stored on a networked PC or NAS drive.
While the technology is also coming available through select Sony Blu-Ray disc players, micro systems and TVs, HomeShare made its debut through five currently available network music products (and now a sixth, forthcoming speaker which was just recently announced at CEDIA 2011). You?ve got the NAC-SV10i iPod/iPhone dock, the NAS-SV20i iPod/iPhone speaker dock, the CMT-MX700Ni micro system, the SA-NS300 wireless network speaker and SA-NS400 wireless network speaker. Sony also recently introduced the RMN-U1 universal touch-screen remote control which, as it happens, integrates nicely with HomeShare to control any compatible devices in the home.Though any of these devices can be used on their own, the real fun seems to be centered around integration. Perhaps that?s why Sony sent us a trio of HomeShare devices to evaluate together. But,to keep things simple, we decided to evaluate each of the components individually and publish separate reviews for the NAC-SV10i iPod/iPhone dock, SA-NS300 wireless network speaker and RMN-U1 universal touch-screen remote.
It comes down to this: Each of the products had their positive and not-so-positive points. Our biggest challenge was consistent network connectivity. Of the three devices we tested, the RMN-U1 was the most consistently easy to use. Unlike the network speaker and iPod/iPhone dock, it never seemed to have trouble communicating through our network (which was not occupied with any other tasks or accessed by any other machines during our tests, by the way). Also, the remote is definitely the ideal control interface for the HomeShare product family. The only real problem we see is that the RMN-U1?s $300 asking price makes attaining an easy to use wireless music system from Sony a pricier proposition. Of course, considering how much more the system can do than some similarly priced AirPlay speaker systems, maybe this product family is more competitively priced than we first thought.
Used individually, each of the three HomeShare devices we tested were able to provide some useful functions, albeit with some quirks here and there. Yet, it was when the three individuals were brought together as a team that a useful, comprehensive wireless system was born. We like most things modular, but in this case we?re going to say that the whole was definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Though individually rated in each review, we?d give the entire HomeShare system a respectable 8.0 rating.
This article was originally posted on Digital TrendsMore from Digital Trends
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Once-exonerated convict dies during Conn. appeal (AP)
HARTFORD, Conn. ? A Connecticut man whose murder conviction was overturned but later reinstated has died of colon cancer while awaiting a new appeal trial.
Ronald Taylor's lawyer issued a statement Wednesday saying Taylor died Tuesday in Cheshire after a two-year cancer fight.
Taylor and co-defendant George Gould were convicted of killing a New Haven grocery shop owner in 1993 and sentenced to 80 years in prison. Both were freed in April 2010 after a state judge ruled they were victims of "manifest injustice" and declared them "actually innocent." The judge's ruling came after a key witness recanted her trial testimony.
In July, the state Supreme Court reinstated the murder convictions, saying the judge was wrong to overturn them. Gould was sent back to prison; Taylor was allowed to remain out on bail.
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Fertility chip measures concentration and motility of semen
ScienceDaily (Oct. 28, 2011) ? Loes Segerink, a researcher at the University of Twente has developed a "fertility chip" that can accurately count sperm and measure their motility. The chip can be inserted into a compact device for one-off use. A home test kit will soon make it possible for men to test their sperm in a familiar environment. As a result, there is a greater chance of obtaining a correct diagnosis, also the method is simple and inexpensive. Segerink's doctoral defence will take place on 4 November 2011.
The lab-on-a-chip developed by Segerink measures sperm concentration. The importance of the sperm concentration is that the fertility standard states that a millilitre of ejaculate should contain at least 20 million sperm. A second important aspect of fertility is motility. This too can be measured using the lab-on-a-chip. Simple home test kits are already commercially available. These indicate whether the concentration is "above or below the standard value." These tests are too limited, however, as they do not give accurate concentration readings.
How does it work?
On the chip, sperm flow through a liquid-filled channel, beneath electrode "bridges." When a cell passes beneath one of these electrodes, there is a brief fluctuation in the electrical resistance. These events are counted. To test the reliability of her concentration measurements, Segerink added microspheres (tiny balls) to the liquid. Would the system only count sperm, or would it also register other particles? She found that the method was selective enough to distinguish sperm from microspheres. The system was also able to reliably distinguish white blood cells from other bodies. In addition to being an indicator of sperm quality, the white cell count provides important additional information to gynaecologists.
To swim or not to swim
Finally, sperm movement (motility) is another important measure of quality. A small adjustment of the lab-on-a-chip is all that is needed to sort motile sperm from non-motile sperm, after which both can be counted separately. By measuring sperm motility in this way, the chip offers a truly complete test.
Segerink developed the "fertility chip" in the BIOS Lab-on-a-Chip research group of Prof. Albert van den Berg, in collaboration with the Twente Medical Spectrum. The research group is part of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente. Various companies (PigGenetics, Blue4Green, R&R Mechatronics, Menzis, and Lionix) also participated in this project, funded by the STW Technology Foundation in The Netherlands.
In 2011, Segerink received a Valorisation Grant, as a first step towards establishing a company. This will provide her with a platform for refining the fertility chip and its accompanying read-out device into a market-ready product.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111028103306.htm
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Zoning boundaries can make good neighbors in conservation
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Public release date: 28-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Sue Nichols
nichols@msu.edu
517-432-0206
Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. As the world's biodiversity hotspots are increasingly stressed by their human neighbors, zoning is becoming a common strategy to balance environmental protection and human needs. But a recent study shows zoning for conservation demands reality checks.
"Zoning ordinances are rarely evaluated for their ability to make positive changes using empirical data on both human and biodiversity characteristics." says Jianguo (Jack) Liu, an internationally recognized expert at Michigan State University in a study of coupled human and natural systems. "It's critical to examine both human and natural systems to see if ordinances are working and understand what changes might be needed."
A unique case study that does of one of the world's renowned nature reserves in southwestern China shows that zoning is helping protect endangered giant pandas. The analysis from Michigan State University's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) also reveals critical weaknesses.
According to the paper, zoning ordinances can be useful to balance human activities and wildlife habitat as long as a few limitations are remembered: Lines on a map don't show up in a forest, laws mean little without enforcement and animals can't read zoning ordinances.
"Zoning everywhere, in China and in the United States, is about drawing lines on a piece of paper. But the big challenge is always how do you bring those lines to life?" said Vanessa Hull, the lead author of a paper published in the Oct. 28 online edition of Biological Conservation. "The people who live in that landscape can't see it and there are no fences. We're showing that zoning is an effective tool for controlling some human impacts but not others."
Hull is a fisheries and wildlife doctoral candidate in CSIS who has spent years periodically living in the Wolong Nature Reserve to understand the delicate balance between pandas and the people who live amongst them.
Wolong, like many nature reserves across the globe, is home to both animals and people. Increasingly, governments are turning to zoning ordinances to protect habitat while still allowing people access to a livelihood. People in Wolong historically have farmed, chopped down trees for fuel and construction, kept livestock and accommodated the tourists who stream in to see the beloved pandas in breeding centers.
Pandas are picky about their habitat needing gentle slops, moderate elevation and plenty of bamboo to munch. While other species that contribute to Wolong's rich biodiversity benefit from conservation efforts, the charismatic pandas drive much of the policy there.
Wolong has been zoned into three areas: The "core" area strictly limits human activity to limit human impact on pandas. The "experimental" area thrives with homes, businesses and roads. In between is a "buffer zone" of limited human access intended to acknowledge that it's hard to declare a forest pristine if a hotel is right next door.
To understand how the zoning is working out, Hull and Liu, her mentor, CSIS director and Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, joined with colleagues to compile a broad range of data. Liu's previous work on panda habitat classification, a national giant panda census, geographic data on locations of roads and human establishments, and new data on movements of individual pandas and livestock are combined to create an unusually robust look at the effectiveness of zoning.
Two female pandas Mei-Mei and Pan-Pan fitted by Hull and collaborators with GPS collars, provided new insight on how pandas move about.
The result is a way to breathe life into policy and provide a novel look that goes beyond theory. Hull said that zoning in Wolong is protecting some, but not all prime panda real estate. The study also is helping show where improvements are needed. Including:
- Much of the buffer zone is important for pandas. Some 54 percent of land that is highly suitable for pandas in Wolong lies outside the protected core zone. Data showing Pan-Pan and Mei-Mei wandering frequently out of the core zone left no doubt pandas don't read zoning ordinances.
- The rules of the buffer zone are ambiguous, making it susceptible for a buffer area to become a place of commerce and development. Without clear rules, land use manager can't rely on clear guidelines when fielding requests for variances.
- Even small instances of disregard for zoning ordinances especially in the case of roaming livestock can have significant effects on panda habitat. Hull said it's becoming clear a few small herds of cattle or horses can decimate large swaths of a panda's feeding ground. Communicating zoning rules is a challenge, and a lack of enforcement compounds problems.
"There are people who have no idea what the zoning rules are," Hull said. "Zoning is meaningful and helpful when a large hotel complex is being proposed, but less real to a farmer living in a rural area who has no idea he's likely wandering in and out of a core zone."
She noted that enormous conservation efforts in China that pay people in nature reserves not to farm and to monitor to prevent timber removal have been crucial.
"We're showing that you should have zoning in your toolbox to conserve habitat, but it shouldn't be the only tool you have," she said. "It needs to be paired with other policies when it comes to human behavior. We know that it is crucial to work directly with people and provide benefits to people to preserve habitat."
###
The paper, Evaluating the Efficacy of Zoning Designations for Protected Area Management, was authored by Hull, Liu, academic specialist Andrs Via, and doctoral candidates Wei Liu and Mao-Ning Tuanmu from CSIS; CSIS alumni Marc Linderman, now assistant professor of geography at the University of Iowa, and Xiaodong Chen, an assistant professor of geography at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Zhiyun Ouyang, Weihua Xu and Jindong Zhang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Shiqiang Zhou, Jinyan Huang and Yan Huang from the China Center for Research and Conservation of the Giant Panda; and Hemin Zhang, the director of the Wolong Nature Reserve.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Michigan State University Distinguished Fellowship Program, the William and Evelyn Taylor International Engagement Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40901289), and the State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Liu's work also is supported by MSU AgBioResearch.
[ | 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.
Public release date: 28-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Sue Nichols
nichols@msu.edu
517-432-0206
Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. As the world's biodiversity hotspots are increasingly stressed by their human neighbors, zoning is becoming a common strategy to balance environmental protection and human needs. But a recent study shows zoning for conservation demands reality checks.
"Zoning ordinances are rarely evaluated for their ability to make positive changes using empirical data on both human and biodiversity characteristics." says Jianguo (Jack) Liu, an internationally recognized expert at Michigan State University in a study of coupled human and natural systems. "It's critical to examine both human and natural systems to see if ordinances are working and understand what changes might be needed."
A unique case study that does of one of the world's renowned nature reserves in southwestern China shows that zoning is helping protect endangered giant pandas. The analysis from Michigan State University's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) also reveals critical weaknesses.
According to the paper, zoning ordinances can be useful to balance human activities and wildlife habitat as long as a few limitations are remembered: Lines on a map don't show up in a forest, laws mean little without enforcement and animals can't read zoning ordinances.
"Zoning everywhere, in China and in the United States, is about drawing lines on a piece of paper. But the big challenge is always how do you bring those lines to life?" said Vanessa Hull, the lead author of a paper published in the Oct. 28 online edition of Biological Conservation. "The people who live in that landscape can't see it and there are no fences. We're showing that zoning is an effective tool for controlling some human impacts but not others."
Hull is a fisheries and wildlife doctoral candidate in CSIS who has spent years periodically living in the Wolong Nature Reserve to understand the delicate balance between pandas and the people who live amongst them.
Wolong, like many nature reserves across the globe, is home to both animals and people. Increasingly, governments are turning to zoning ordinances to protect habitat while still allowing people access to a livelihood. People in Wolong historically have farmed, chopped down trees for fuel and construction, kept livestock and accommodated the tourists who stream in to see the beloved pandas in breeding centers.
Pandas are picky about their habitat needing gentle slops, moderate elevation and plenty of bamboo to munch. While other species that contribute to Wolong's rich biodiversity benefit from conservation efforts, the charismatic pandas drive much of the policy there.
Wolong has been zoned into three areas: The "core" area strictly limits human activity to limit human impact on pandas. The "experimental" area thrives with homes, businesses and roads. In between is a "buffer zone" of limited human access intended to acknowledge that it's hard to declare a forest pristine if a hotel is right next door.
To understand how the zoning is working out, Hull and Liu, her mentor, CSIS director and Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, joined with colleagues to compile a broad range of data. Liu's previous work on panda habitat classification, a national giant panda census, geographic data on locations of roads and human establishments, and new data on movements of individual pandas and livestock are combined to create an unusually robust look at the effectiveness of zoning.
Two female pandas Mei-Mei and Pan-Pan fitted by Hull and collaborators with GPS collars, provided new insight on how pandas move about.
The result is a way to breathe life into policy and provide a novel look that goes beyond theory. Hull said that zoning in Wolong is protecting some, but not all prime panda real estate. The study also is helping show where improvements are needed. Including:
- Much of the buffer zone is important for pandas. Some 54 percent of land that is highly suitable for pandas in Wolong lies outside the protected core zone. Data showing Pan-Pan and Mei-Mei wandering frequently out of the core zone left no doubt pandas don't read zoning ordinances.
- The rules of the buffer zone are ambiguous, making it susceptible for a buffer area to become a place of commerce and development. Without clear rules, land use manager can't rely on clear guidelines when fielding requests for variances.
- Even small instances of disregard for zoning ordinances especially in the case of roaming livestock can have significant effects on panda habitat. Hull said it's becoming clear a few small herds of cattle or horses can decimate large swaths of a panda's feeding ground. Communicating zoning rules is a challenge, and a lack of enforcement compounds problems.
"There are people who have no idea what the zoning rules are," Hull said. "Zoning is meaningful and helpful when a large hotel complex is being proposed, but less real to a farmer living in a rural area who has no idea he's likely wandering in and out of a core zone."
She noted that enormous conservation efforts in China that pay people in nature reserves not to farm and to monitor to prevent timber removal have been crucial.
"We're showing that you should have zoning in your toolbox to conserve habitat, but it shouldn't be the only tool you have," she said. "It needs to be paired with other policies when it comes to human behavior. We know that it is crucial to work directly with people and provide benefits to people to preserve habitat."
###
The paper, Evaluating the Efficacy of Zoning Designations for Protected Area Management, was authored by Hull, Liu, academic specialist Andrs Via, and doctoral candidates Wei Liu and Mao-Ning Tuanmu from CSIS; CSIS alumni Marc Linderman, now assistant professor of geography at the University of Iowa, and Xiaodong Chen, an assistant professor of geography at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Zhiyun Ouyang, Weihua Xu and Jindong Zhang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Shiqiang Zhou, Jinyan Huang and Yan Huang from the China Center for Research and Conservation of the Giant Panda; and Hemin Zhang, the director of the Wolong Nature Reserve.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Michigan State University Distinguished Fellowship Program, the William and Evelyn Taylor International Engagement Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40901289), and the State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Liu's work also is supported by MSU AgBioResearch.
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/msu-zbc102511.php
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12 agents get life for Argentina dirty war crimes (AP)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina ? A court sentenced a former navy spy known as "the Angel of Death" and 11 other former Argentine military and police officers to life in prison Wednesday for crimes against humanity committed during the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
Alfredo Astiz, a 59-year-old ex-navy captain, became notorious for his infiltration and betrayal of activists and was viewed by many Argentines as the symbol of the junta's crimes. He was accused of participating in the kidnapping, torture and murder of two French nuns, a journalist and three founders of a human rights group.
The crimes alleged against all the defendants included 86 cases of kidnapping, torture and murder of leftist dissidents committed at the Navy Mechanics School, one of the military junta's principal torture centers used to crush the threat of armed revolution. About 5,000 detainees passed through the school. Fewer than half survived.
Closing out a trial that began in December 2009, four other defendants were sentenced to between 18 and 25 years in prison, while two others were absolved. Former Adm. Emilio Masserta, who commanded the torture center, was not included among the defendants because of poor health and died last November.
The verdicts were applauded by human rights activists and families of the victims who watched the verdict on a big screen television.
"Ole, ole, they will meet the fate of the Nazis. Wherever they go, we will find them," family members chanted.
The Navy Mechanics School, a leafy former military campus, is now home to a museum dedicated to preserving evidence of crimes against humanity.
The grounds also used to house a maternity ward where pregnant detainees were held until they gave birth and then were made to "disappear." A separate trial alleging that systematic baby thefts were part of the junta's anti-subversion strategy is under way in another courtroom.
Survivors and relatives of victims from the nation's "dirty war" against leftist guerrillas and political opponents called it a "historic day."
Astiz was charged in the disappearances of French nuns Alice Domon and Leonie Duquet as well Azucena Villaflor, a founder of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a group that campaigned to find people "disappeared" by the junta. The three were among detainees who were tortured at the mechanics school and then thrown into the sea from navy aircraft.
The former spy also was convicted in the kidnapping and disappearing of writer Rodolfo Walsh, who along with Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Maquez founded the Prensa Latina news agency after the Cuban revolution. Walsh also created the Clandestine News Agency during Argentina's dictatorship to get around official censors.
Astiz has accused President Cristina Fernandez of promoting unjust and illegitimate prosecutions for her own political gain. Her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner, encouraged the trials after Argentina's Congress and Supreme Court removed amnesties that had protected junta veterans.
"This government doesn't hesitate in its revenge against we people who combatted terrorism," Astiz said. "It seeks revenge through martyrdom and death in prison."
In neighboring Uruguay, lawmakers planned to vote Wednesday to revoke an amnesty law that protected dozens of former officials who served in that country's 1973-1985 dictatorship from human rights prosecutions.
The two countries are among several Latin American nations still struggling to come to terms with Cold War dictatorships in which regimes routinely tortured, killed or "disappeared" suspected opponents. Most of those dictatorships ended nearly three decades ago.
Uruguay's Chamber of Deputies was debating the measure late Wednesday, a day after it was narrowly approved by the Senate in a 16-15 vote. Deputies were expected to pass the measure.
The Inter-American Human Rights court has demanded that Uruguay lift impediments to prosecuting dictatorship-era crimes, but the proposal has divided the politically moderate country, where memories of the military government remain fresh.
Congressional allies of President Jose Mujica, who was a leftist Tupamaro guerrilla leader during the junta era, tried but failed to revoke the amnesty law in May.
The opposition has said the measure violates the constitution and notes the amnesty was approved by Uruguayans in two national referendums, first in 1989 and then in 2009.
Nationalist Sen. Jorge Saravia called Tuesday's senate vote "a coup d'etat" that ignored the decision of citizens in the two plebiscites.
Uruguay's Congress approved the military amnesty in 1986, after leftist guerrillas who had fought the government received amnesties.
Members of Uruguay's armed forces have threatened to seek prosecution of former Tupamaro guerrillas if legislators strike down the military amnesty.
___
Associated Press writer Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.
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Merck 3Q profit soars, beats analysts' views
FILE - In this file photo made April 15, 2009, the Merck logo is seen in the lobby of Merck & Company, Inc.'s world headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. Drugmaker Merck & Co. quadrupled its third-quarter profit Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, compared with a year-ago quarter weighed down by huge acquisition and legal charges. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)
FILE - In this file photo made April 15, 2009, the Merck logo is seen in the lobby of Merck & Company, Inc.'s world headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. Drugmaker Merck & Co. quadrupled its third-quarter profit Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, compared with a year-ago quarter weighed down by huge acquisition and legal charges. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)
Drugmaker Merck & Co. said Friday that its third-quarter profit soared from results a year ago that were weighed down by huge acquisition and legal charges.
The latest results beat Wall Street estimates, and Merck shares rose 2.5 percent to $35.15 in premarket trading.
"Three consecutive quarters of top and bottom line growth demonstrate out ability to consistently perform while at the same time making the strategic investments necessary for the future," CEO Kenneth Frazier said in a statement.
The maker of diabetes drug Januvia and Singulair for asthma and allergies said net income climbed to $1.69 billion, or 55 cents per share, the July-September period. That's up from $342 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding acquisition and restructuring charges in the latest quarter, adjusted income 94 cents per share. The charges were mostly related to its November 2009 purchase of fellow drugmaker Schering-Plough Corp. for $49 billion.
The adjusted earnings were 3 cents per share higher than the 91 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. The analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.
Revenue rose 8 percent to $12.02 billion from $11.12 billion. The analysts expected revenue of $11.62 billion. Merck said revenue was boosted about 5 percent by favorable currency exchange rates.
The company raised the lower end of its 2011 forecast, to a new range of $3.72 to $3.76 per share, or $2.03 to $2.20 per share excluding one-time items. Analysts expect $3.73 per share for the year.
Prescription drug sales totaled $10.35 billion, led by strong sales of Singulair, Januvia and combination diabetes drug Janumet, the HIV drug Isentress and the Gardasil and Zostavax vaccines.
Singulair, Merck's top drug, saw sales rise 10 percent to $1.34 billion. Its U.S. patent expires next August, when generic competition will quickly reduce sales ? the key reason for Merck's latest round of job cuts.
Januvia and Janumet sales both jumped more than 40 percent, to $846 million and $350 million, respectively. They have quickly risen to be among the most popular and fastest-growing diabetes pills.
Sales of biologic immune disorder drug Remicade fell 15 percent to $561 million, because of revised terms of Merck's revenue-sharing deal on the drug with Johnson & Johnson. The new terms took effect in the third quarter, following settlement of a dispute in arbitration.
Sales of animal health products jumped 20 percent to $826 million. Consumer health sales edged up 3 percent to $421 million.
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New home sales jumped in September
WASHINGTON?? Sales of new U.S. homes rose in September after four straight monthly declines, largely because builders cut their prices.
The Commerce Department says sales rose 5.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000 homes. Still, that's less than half the 700,000 economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.
The median sales price of a new home fell 3.1 percent to $204,400 ? the lowest since October 2010. The number of new homes on the market was unchanged at 163,000, a record low.
Sales of new homes fell for four straight months before September and hit a six-month low in August. This year could be the worst year for sales since the government began keeping records a half century ago.
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45046184/ns/business-real_estate/
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Britney Spears Recruits A Backstreet Boy For Tour
Howie Dorough says he's 'so excited' to open for South American leg of Britney's Femme Fatale Tour.
By Jocelyn Vena
Britney Spears
Photo: David Tonnessen/ PacificCoastNews/ Newscom
Nineties pop fans rejoice! Britney Spears has recruited the Backstreet Boys' Howie Dorough to open for a string of South American dates on her Femme Fatale Tour. The gigs will coincide with the release of his first-ever solo album, Back to Me, out November 15.
"I'm so excited that I'm going [to be] joining @britneyspears on several dates of the Femme Fatale tour!" Dorough tweeted on Monday."Can't wait to see all my lovelies in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela!! VIP info will be coming next week."
According to Dorough's site (and as he also tweeted), the Backstreet Boy's initial stint on Britney's tour will kick off on November 20 in La Plata, Argentina, with stops in Santiago, Lima and Bogota before it wraps up in Caracas, Venezuela, on November 28. He's just the latest supporting act to join the worldwide Femme Fatale trek, stepping in the spot once occupied by artists like Joe Jonas, Nicki Minaj and DJ Pauly D.
And when Dorough spoke to MTV News over the summer about his first solo recording, he said it felt good to finally get the chance to show fans a new side of himself as an artist. "I finally have been able to put [my album] together and I'm excited and very, very proud to be able to make this body of work," he told us. "I feel [it's] a total representation of where I'm at right now in my life and [it represents] things that are going on, positive-ness and energy. I think it's really a chance for people to hear me and know my voice."
That's not all, Howie D fans. Next year, Dorough will hit the road again with NKOTBSB — yes, New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys — for a European tour that kicks off in April.
"It's awesome," Dorough told MTV News of touring with NKOTBSB. "It all kind of spun from that show at Radio City [Music Hall]. I think we did something that was a shock factor for people. I don't think a lot of people would have thought the two of us being onstage together would have been fathomable."
What do you think of Howie D opening for Britney Spears? Tell us in the comments!
Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1673154/britney-spears-femme-fatale-tour-backstreet-boys.jhtml
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