Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/181008390?client_source=feed&format=rss
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শনিবার, ৩১ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
California: new laws on shark fins, gas pipelines
Sacramento --
Hundreds of bills approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor take effect with the start of the new year, including laws banning minors from using tanning beds, raising the age that children must use car booster seats and prohibiting the open carrying of handguns.
The Legislature's work in the last year resulted in 745 new laws, though some already have gone into effect while others will be fully enacted in future years. In 2010, there were 733 laws enacted. Both years saw significantly fewer new laws than in the past few decades.
Former Gov. Ronald Reagan approved the most laws in any year - 1,821 in 1971, according to the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance, which keeps track of those statistics.
Here are some of the major laws that will go into effect Sunday:
Car seats: Children riding in cars will have to remain in a booster seat until they are 8 years old or taller than 4 feet 9 inches. Current law requires that children use the seats until they are 6. Many other states have stricter requirements. The measure is SB929, by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa.
Tanning beds: People younger than 18 will be prohibited from using ultraviolet tanning devices, removing the ability of those between ages 14 and 18 to use the devices with parental consent. Doctors can still prescribe the use of the devices when medically necessary. The first-of-its kind in the nation measure is SB746, by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County).
Pipeline safety: Lawmakers introduced and won passage for several measures to enhance pipeline safety in the wake of the deadly San Bruno gas line explosion. Two bills require shut-off valves on pipelines, SB216 by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and AB56 by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo. Other pipeline-related bills that become law in the new year include requiring that emphasis be placed on safety rather than profit, SB705 by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco; new requirements for safety and emergency planning, SB44 by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro; and increased penalty fines, SB879 by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima (Los Angeles County).
Shark fins: California will ban the importation of shark fins, while fins that already are in the state can be sold and used until July 2013, when a total ban takes effect. The measure is AB376, by Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Cupertino.
Youth sports: Schools will be required to remove student athletes immediately from sporting activities if they appear to have sustained a concussion or head injury, and the students would be barred from returning until they are medically evaluated and given written permission to play by a licensed health care provider. The measure is AB25, by Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley.
Vaccines: Youths 12 or older can consent to medical treatment for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, with the focus being young women for the prevention of the human papillomavirus, which causes cancer and can be prevented with a vaccine. The measure is AB499, by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.
Alcohol sales: Shoppers will be barred from purchasing alcoholic beverages using self-check out registers at supermarkets or other stores. The measure is AB183, by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco.
Cough medicine: People younger than 18 would be banned from over-the-counter purchases of products that contain dextromethorphan, an ingredient used in many cough medicines that when taken in high doses can cause hallucinations, loss of motor skills and dissociative sensations. The measure is SB514, by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto.
Diversity: Requires that public schools include historical contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, as well as people with disabilities, in social science instruction and teaching materials. The measure is SB48, by Leno.
Handguns: The open carrying of unloaded handguns will be prohibited. The ban does not apply to law enforcement, people permitted to carry loaded weapons in public, or to people selling weapons at gun shows. The measure is AB144, by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Ca?ada Flintridge (Los Angeles County).
College scholarships: The first phase of the Dream Act takes effect, allowing public colleges and universities that administer privately funded scholarships to award those to students who are undocumented immigrants. The measure is AB130, by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles. The second phase, which will allow undocumented students to receive publicly funded aid, begins in January 2013.
Transparency: Auxiliary organizations and foundations associated with the University of California, California State University and state community colleges will be subject to the California Public Records Act. The measure is SB8, by Yee.
Foster care: Young adults in the state's foster care system can stay in the system until they are 21 years old instead of the current cutoff at 18, with the federal government providing the funding for the extended services. The measure, AB12 by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 but its start date was delayed until this January.
Epilepsy: School employees will be allowed to volunteer to take a training course to administer the antiseizure drug Diastat, which can prevent brain damage and death, to children who have an epileptic seizure while at school. Parents have to request such assistance in the event their child has a seizure. The measure is SB161, by Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County).
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San?Francisco?Chronicle
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শুক্রবার, ৩০ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
'Forrest Gump' to be preserved in US film registry (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Forrest Gump's oft-imitated line, "My momma always said, `Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get' " will be immortalized among the nation's treasures in the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.
The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994's smash hit "Forrest Gump" starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.
The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. "The Cry of the Children" is about the pre-World War I child labor reform movement and "A Cure for Pokeritis" features the industry's earliest comic superstar John Bunny.
Also from that silent era is Charlie Chaplin's first full-length feature, "The Kid," from 1921.
Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. This year, 2,228 films were nominated.
"These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said in a statement. "Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams."
For each title, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations. That comes either by the Library's massive motion-picture preservation program or through collaborating with other archives, motion-picture studios and independent filmmakers.
The most recent film chosen is "Forrest Gump," which won six Academy Awards including for Best Picture.
Also starring in that movie about an everyman who ended up being part of the most iconic events of the 1960s and 1970s was Sally Field. Her perhaps most famous role playing "Norma Rae" in the movie of the same name from 1979 also made the list. She won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a poorly educated single mother who fought successfully to make her Southern textile mill a union shop.
Making the list is the animated Disney classic, "Bambi," made in 1942 about a deer's life in the forest, "The Big Heat" from 1953, a post-war noir film, and 1991's disturbing, "The Silence of the Lambs," which won Oscars for stars Jody Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the psychological and violent thriller.
The original "War of the Worlds" from 1953 also will be preserved along with "Porgy and Bess," "Stand and Deliver" and John Ford's epic Western, "The Iron Horse," from 1924.
Lesser known films were chosen for their significance to the art.
"A Computer Animated Hand" from 1972 is by Pixar Animation Studios co-founder Ed Catmull. The one-minute film that is one of the earliest examples of 3D computer animation displays the hand turning, opening and closing, pointing at the viewer and flexing its fingers.
Making the list were notable documentaries as well.
"Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment," focuses on Gov. George Wallace's attempt to prevent two African-American students from enrolling in the University of Alabama and the response of President John F. Kennedy. "Growing Up Female" from 1971 was one of the first films to come from the women's liberation movement.
Also included was "The Negro Soldier," produced by Frank Capra. It showed the heroism of blacks in the nation's wars and became mandatory viewing for all soldiers from spring 1944 until World War II's end.
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LMFAO's Redfoo Opens Up About Honduras Concert Fire
DJ set cut short after venue's electrical system caught fire and at least 15 fans suffered smoke inhalation.
By James Montgomery
LMFAO's Redfoo (file)
Photo: Getty Images
LMFAO's Red Foo was forced to cut short a Wednesday night DJ set in Honduras after a fire broke out, filling the venue with smoke and sending fans scrambling for the exits.
According to TMZ, Red Foo was nearing the end of his performance at the Coliseo Nacional de Ingenieros in the capital city of Tegucigalpa when the venue's electrical system reportedly caught fire, filling the venue with smoke. According to reports, no one was seriously injured, though at least 15 fans were treated for smoke inhalation. Local television reports showed fans being escorted from the venue and receiving oxygen. Honduran authorities suggested the fire was intentionally set, though at press time, it was not clear if anyone had been arrested in connection with the blaze.
Immediately following the abrupt end to the show, LMFAO's Redfoo took to his Twitter account, joking, "Epic concert tonight!!!! Everybody in Honduras, we set the place on fire!!!! #sorryforpartyrocking." He then responded to a fan about the fire, writing, "They told us there was a fire when we were on stage. Then we went to the dressing rooms and there was smoke in the halls."
He then changed his tone, writing, "On a serious note, hope everybody is safe from the fire tonight! Love you Honduras!"
Through LMFAO's label, Interscope, Redfoo gave this account to MTV News: "All of a sudden, right in the middle of 'Beatockin,' my manager Ian Fletcher shouted, 'There's a fire under the stage. We have to go!'
"I didn't want to go!" he continued. "I didn't realize how serious it was. The security escorted us out the venue. We were forced to leave a few items behind, nothing irreplaceable.
"I hope everybody is safe," he added. "Honduras fans are true party rockers! This will go down in history as one if craziest Redfoo DJ sets ever."
Less than 24 hours removed from the fire, the hard-partying duo were pressing on, celebrating the ascension of their hit "Sexy and I Know It" to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (knocking off Rihanna's "We Found Love") and prepping for a New Year's Eve gig at the Haze nightclub in Las Vegas, where, hopefully, nothing will catch fire.
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676610/lmfao-concert-fire.jhtml
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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৯ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
Beyonce Fans Weigh In On Baby's Anticipated Arrival
From the birth date to the sex of the baby, fans share their thoughts with MTV News.
By John Mitchell
Beyoncé
Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images
It's almost here, and no, we're not talking about New Year's. Here at MTV News we're waiting patiently for an even bigger event: the birth of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's baby.
And depending on whom you ask, Queen Bey's little prince or princess might be here sooner than any of us thought. According to various media reports, Beyoncé may even be in labor right now.
Rumors that the 4 songstress, who was one of MTV's top Newsmakers of 2011, was set to give birth Wednesday (December 28) first surfaced on Media Takeout, with two nurses at New York's Saint Luke's Roosevelt Hospital allegedly telling the celebrity gossip site that they were informed last night that a "celebrity VIP" who had reserved half of the hospital's luxury labor and delivery floor would be arriving to give birth Wednesday.
There has been no confirmation that the rumored VIP is indeed Beyoncé, and representatives for the star did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Fans of the "Countdown" singer and her hip-hop mogul husband are starting to get very excited about baby Jayoncé. When MTV News took to the streets of New York to ask Bey's fans their thoughts on when they expect the baby to make its debut and whether it will be a boy or a girl, they had plenty to say.
Most of Bey's fans told us they expected the baby to be born in January, with one perhaps astute fan zeroing in on New Year's Day, saying, "I think Beyoncé's baby will be born sometime in January, maybe on the first."
We found only one dissenter on the chilly streets of NYC, and he seemed to have the best knowledge of past public statements from the couple, including an early-September interview with Beyoncé that announced that the baby was actually due in February. "I trust Jay Z, I think he's a good guy," the fan said. "Him and Beyoncé are a good couple, so they wouldn't lie to the public. So Beyoncé's baby is going to be born in February."
And nearly all of the fans we surveyed believe the power couple is expecting a baby girl. Perhaps they caught wind of de facto auntie Kelly Rowland's slip of the lip on a London red carpet in early November, where the former Destiny's Child singer said, "I have no idea what I'm going to buy Beyoncé at the baby shower because Jay is going to buy that little girl every single thing possible. She won't be spoiled, but she will be very well looked-after."
One fan was particularly excited for a baby girl because she hoped the babe picked up Beyoncé's good genes. "Hopefully a girl," she told MTV News. "Probably because I'm a fan of Beyoncé's looks."
One thing all could agree on was that Jay and Bey's bundle of joy would jump right to the top of the celebrity baby power list. "A power baby, obviously," one fan said, while another added, "It's gonna be a pretty cool baby, that's for sure. Probably gonna run New York City by the time he's 13 or 14."
Do you think Beyoncé and Jay-Z's baby will be a boy or a girl? Let us know in the comments!
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676552/beyonce-baby-watch-fans.jhtml
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sculpted eers PCS-200 Custom Molded Earphones Review
Over the past few years, I have had no less than three custom monitors created for me. All of which involved a separate trip to the audiologist to have specially-made molds of my ears created for the monitors to be made from. These visits had to be scheduled and involved a commute to have pink [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/12/26/sculpted-eers-pcs-200-custom-molded-earphones-review/
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Microsoft testing fix for Windows Phone SMS flaw
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Source: www.mobileburn.com --- Wednesday, December 28, 2011
According to Khaled Salameh, the gentleman who discovered a fatal SMS flaw in the Windows Phone platform a few weeks back, Microsoft has confirmed to him that it has found a solution to the problem and is currently testing the fix now. Read the full story here. ...
Source: http://www.mobileburn.com/18047/news/microsoft-testing-fix-for-windows-phone-sms-flaw
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Italy raises $14 billion at much lower cost (AP)
ROME ? Italy saw investors more willing to part with their cash Wednesday as it raised euro10.7 billion ($14 billion) in a pair of auctions, a sign that market jitters may be easing as the country presses ahead with its austerity measures.
The lower rates Italy had to pay are the first post-Christmas test of sentiment in the markets over the debt crisis that has engulfed the 17 countries that use the euro, and may be a signal that some of last week's massive injection of money into the European banking system from the European Central Bank may be filtering through into government bonds.
The scale of the falls in Italy's funding costs were dramatic and helped the country's benchmark ten-year bond yield in the markets ease further below the 7 percent level, widely considered to be unsustainable in the long-run.
The Bank of Italy said the average yield on its euro9 billion ($11.8 billion) six-month bill offering was 3.251 percent, half the 6.504 percent rate it had to pay at the equivalent auction last month. And an auction of two-year bonds, which raised euro1.732 billion ($2.3 billion), also saw the yield fall to 4.853 percent from 7.814 percent last month.
"This is an encouraging development, suggesting that the Italian sovereign debt market has pulled back from the dangerous situation in late November," said Raj Badiani, a senior economist at IHS Global Insight.
"The calmer environment reflects the passing of additional austerity measures and some welcome progress on the structural reform agenda, coupled with the ECB's decision to provide additional cheap financing to Italian banks," Badiani added.
Italy is the eurozone's third-largest economy and is considered too big to save under the eurozone's current bailout funds. Markets have grown fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion). A further test of investors' appetite for Italian debt will come Thursday when the country offers more bonds, that could potentially raise a similar amount to Wednesday's offerings.
Mario Monti, the country's new premier, got parliamentary approval last week for more spending cuts and tax increases intended to save the country from financial disaster. One of the most controversial aspects of the austerity package is reform of Italy's bloated pension system.
Later Wednesday, Monti is to chair a Cabinet meeting on a second wave of measures designed to boost Italy's anemic economy, which is expected to enter into recession in the first quarter of the new year.
As well as a possible consequence of increased confidence that Monti's efforts will keep the country's finances on a sustainable path, Wednesday's auctions could also have been supported as well by a large infusion of credit to eurozone banks last week from the European Central Bank.
There has been speculation that the stronger banks might use the cheap, long-term loans ? on which the current interest rate is 1 percent ? to purchase government bonds that carry higher interest rates and profit from the difference.
That could support both government and bank finances. But it would run contrary to efforts by many banks to lower their exposure to bonds issued by heavily indebted governments.
The markets responded fairly positively to Wednesday's auctions, with the main FTSE MIB index of leading Italian shares up 0.6 percent ? and the yield on the country's 10-year bond back down at 6.75 percent.
On Tuesday, the yield had spiked over 7 percent ? a level that is considered unsustainable in the long run and eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek outside financial help.
___
AP Business Writer David McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.
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Pope condemns Nigeria attacks, prays for them to stop (Reuters)
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) ? Pope Benedict on Monday condemned the Christmas Day bomb attacks by Islamist militants in Nigeria as an "absurd gesture" and prayed that "the hands of the violent be stopped."
The pope, speaking from his window overlooking St Peter's Square in Rome, said such violence brought only pain, destruction and death.
Militants of the Boko Haram sect said they had set off the bombs, raising fears that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war. Three of the five bombs hit churches and one killed at least 27 people at a Catholic church.
"Holy Christmas inspires us in a particularly strong way to pray to God so that the hands of the violent are stopped, (hands) that sow death in the world ..." the pope said.
He said news of the bombings in Nigeria had brought him "profound sadness" and he wanted to assure Nigeria's Christian community, hit by "this absurd gesture," that he was close to them.
"At this moment, I want to repeat once more forcefully: violence is a path that leads only to pain, destruction and death. Respect, reconciliation and love are the only ways to achieve peace," he said.
He appealed to all sectors of Nigerian society to work together to rediscover security and tranquility.
The pope did not say that the attacks had been carried out by the Boko Haram, which aims to impose sharia, Islamic law, across Africa's most populous country.
But he has in the past firmly condemned the concept of violence in God's name.
Conflict between Christians and Muslims in the developing world, mostly in Asia and Africa, is one of the Vatican's greatest worries.
Clashes have also taken place in Egypt between Muslims and minority Coptic Christians, who have their own pope but have mostly good relations with Rome.
Last month the pope chose a visit to the African country of Benin to issue a document on the future of the Catholic Church on the continent because the Vatican considers Benin a model for good relations between Christians and Muslims.
In Nigeria, on the other hand, there is a growing fear that Boko Haram is trying to ignite a sectarian civil war in a country split evenly between Christians and Muslims who for the most part coexist in peace.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Tim Pearce)
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Penn State Football: Fans Did Not Get a Coach for Christmas
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FBI joins search for missing Indiana girl
This undated photo provided by the Allen County Sheriff's Department shows Aliahna Lemmon. Numerous police officers and others are searching in Fort Wayne, Ind., for Lemmon, 9, who was last seen the morning of Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. Allen County Sheriff's Department Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel says investigators have no indication that Lemmon was abducted or what might have happened to her. (AP Photo/Allen County Sheriff's Department)
This undated photo provided by the Allen County Sheriff's Department shows Aliahna Lemmon. Numerous police officers and others are searching in Fort Wayne, Ind., for Lemmon, 9, who was last seen the morning of Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. Allen County Sheriff's Department Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel says investigators have no indication that Lemmon was abducted or what might have happened to her. (AP Photo/Allen County Sheriff's Department)
During an interview Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011 Amber Story, left, Tarah's mom, and Tarah Souders talk about Tarah's daughter Aliahna Lemmon, 9, who is missing since Friday in Fort Wayne, Ind. (AP Photo/The Journal Gazette, Cathie Rowand)
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) ? The FBI has joined the search for a missing 9-year-old Indiana girl and agents are scouring a mobile home park that's also a haven for registered sex offenders.
Agents on Monday descended on the mobile home park where Aliahna Lemmon lived in Fort Wayne.
A sheriff's department spokesman says Fort Wayne authorities plan to meet Monday afternoon to plan their next move after two straight days without a search for the girl. Aliahna went missing from a family friend's home on Friday.
About a half-dozen people in black windbreakers were at the mobile home park Monday. Several identified themselves as FBI agents.
Search dogs were seen at a nearby storage facility.
A state website says 15 registered sex offenders reside at the mobile home park.
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Enbridge's Bakken pipeline gets Canadian approval (Reuters)
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) ? Canadian regulators have approved Enbridge Inc's plans to build a new C$180 million ($176 million) pipeline to move oil out of the underserved but prolific Bakken and Three Forks oilfields.
In a decision released late on Thursday, the National Energy Board said it decided there was enough commercial interest to support construction of the 123-km (76-mile) Bakken pipeline project, which will carry 145,000 barrels of oil a day from Steelman, Saskatchewan, to a link with the company's mainline system at Cromer, Manitoba.
The U.S. portion of Enbridge's Bakken project, which has yet to receive final approvals, will ship oil from North Dakota and Montana north to Steelman.
The new line will boost pipeline access for North Dakota's rapidly expanding oil industry. Output from the Bakken and Three Forks oil shale formations is climbing rapidly, with production in the state rising to 488,000 barrels per day in October, up 42 percent from October 2010.
The rapid growth has overwhelmed the capacity of the state's pipeline systems and forced producers to turn to more-expensive rail shipment to get their crude to market.
Earlier this month, Enbridge said it would spend $145 million to boost the capacity of its Berthold, N.D., crude oil terminal and build a railcar loading facility capable of handling 80,000 bpd of crude.
Enbridge expects the Bakken pipeline will be in service in early 2013.
Enbridge shares were down 30 Canadian cents at C$37.62 by late morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
($1=$1.02 Canadian)
(Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson)
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Nebraska coach clears starting center for bowl game
LINCOLN, Neb. ? Nebraska coach Bo Pelini says center Mike Caputo will play in the Capital One Bowl against South Carolina despite his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.
The senior from Omaha pleaded guilty on Thursday to reckless driving in Lancaster County Court and was fined $100.
Caputo was arrested on Dec. 11 in Lincoln after police found him slumped behind the wheel of a running vehicle in a parking lot. Chief assistant city attorney John McQuinn said Caputo would be charged with reckless driving instead of DUI.
Pelini said Caputo will play when Nebraska faces No. 10 South Carolina on Jan. 2. He says Caputo has been disciplined internally over the past couple weeks following the incident and will face "additional" measures during the bowl trip.
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Seeking to Circumvent Possible U.S. Trade Sanctions, China Buys Hawaiian Solar Company
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Chinese investment in the U.S. economy up to now has been primarily in the form of U.S. Treasury bills.
?
But, reading the U.S. press and conservative calls for punitive trade tariffs against China, Beijing?s investors have taken a leaf out of Tokyo?s 40 year-old playbook, when similar concerns were raised about Japanese imports. Four decades ago Japan cannily began not only to establish factories in the U.S. for its major U.S. exports, primarily automobiles, but began a cautious policy of investing in struggling U.S. companies, so if and when Congress got more xenophobic Japanese manufacturers could point out that trade barriers would harm American workers as well as Japanese ones.
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The net result on punishing Japan with restrictive tariffs quickly became the daunting possibility of throwing U.S. workers into unemployment, then, as now, the third rail of American politics, and what Congressman want to be seen as increasing unemployment?
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The above scenario is behind the recent acquisition by Tianwei New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. (Tianwei) of Hawaii?s troubled Hoku Corporation, a solar energy product company, a leading provider of silicon wafers, photovoltaic (PV) cells, modules and systems.
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Last month Tainwei announced the signing of a definitive reseller agreement establishing Tianwei Solar USA, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of, as the primary distributor of Tianwei New Energy's PV modules to the North American market.
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On 1 December Tianwei started its polysilicon production via Hoku Corp. with an annual capacity of 2,500 tons. Last year China?s National Development and Reform Commission approved Tianwei purchasing 60 percent of Hoku Corp.?s outstanding shares.
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According to Hoku Corp., ?During the three months ended September 30, 2011 Hoku Materials incurred an operating loss of $7.6 million,? as even as of ?September 30, 2011, Hoku Materials has capitalized $575.6 million related to construction costs for the Polysilicon Plant and had received $140 million in customer deposits as prepayments under long-term polysilicon supply agreements.?
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Can you say cash flow problems?
Under the terms of the agreement, Hoku's newly formed subsidiary will market, distribute and sell Tianwei New Energy's full range of UL-listed PV modules in North America. Hoku established offices in Southern California for Tianwei Solar USA, Inc and will initially focus on developing key sales channels within the commercial and residential segments of the distributed generation solar market. Tianwei New Energy already has an established customer base in Europe, in 2010 delivering more than 200 megawatts of PV modules.
Spinning the news, Hoku Corp. CEO Scott Paul said, "We are extremely pleased to continue strengthening our relationship with Tianwei. This new PV products division represents the first of several steps forward in our continued expansion of Hoku's global market presence. It will provide a strong complement to our existing solar projects business, and we look forward to supplying Tianwei New Energy's modules to project developers, PV integrators and utility customers throughout North America."
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Reciprocating the back rub, Tianwei general manager and now Hoku Corp. director Zhengfei Gao purred, "We recognize Hoku Solar's PV integration expertise, brand strength and market presence in the U.S. North America is an important, growing market in the solar industry, and Tianwei is very pleased to have Hoku leadership in our strategic North American expansion."
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So, what has China bought?
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Hoku Corp. consists of three business units: Hoku Materials, Hoku Solar, and Tianwei Solar USA, Inc., manufacturing polysilicon for the solar market from its plant currently under construction in Pocatello, Idaho and now Hoku Solar markets and sells PV modules manufactured by Tianwei New Energy.
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And the future looks sunny. Tianwei chairman Ding Qiang said that Tianwei signed a distribution agreement with Hoku Corp. to be its distributor for its sales of modules not only in the U.S., but Canada and South American regions as well.
?
And Tainwei is already garnering allies. On 21 December, according to Ding, the U.S.-based Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy wrote to Hoku competitor solar-panel maker SolarWorld asking it withdraw its petition asking the American government to impose heavy tariffs on Chinese solar energy products for unfair trading practices, commenting, "By asking government to interfere and artificially increase the price will only hinder the deployment, cost thousands of jobs, reduce our energy security, and further negatively impact an already shaky economy."
?
Two months ago SolarWorld Industries America, an Oregon company, and six other undisclosed partners filed an appeal to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) alleging unfair Chinese business practices and the DOC replied in November that it would conduct an investigation to determine whether Chinese firms have been selling solar panels in the United States at unfair discounts and receiving illegal government subsidies and a ruling earlier this month by the International Trade Commission concluded that U.S. solar companies were being harmed by Chinese solar imports.
?
Interestingly, SolarWorld Industries America, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer, is now owned by a German company
Many energy analysts have commented that acquisitions of American companies provide a way for Chinese solar energy companies to avoid U.S. trade barriers.
?
Well, duh!
?
The question remains ? where were U.S. investors when Hoku Corp. was struggling?
By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com
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I've been sick for 3 days now. Head feels like a baseball must when meeting Cabrera's bat. Source: http://twitter.com/DNR_Rogo/statuses/150300267869515776
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শুক্রবার, ২৩ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
Spanish Christmas lottery dishes out billions (AP)
MADRID ? Days before Christmas, a tiny town of 2,000 in cash-strapped Spain found itself richer by euro720 million ($940 million) Thursday after scooping the top prize in the nation's famed Christmas lottery.
Billed as the world's richest, the lottery dishes out some euro2.52 billion ($3.29 billion) to winners across the nation.
The top prize ? dubbed "El Gordo" (The Fat One) ? was split among the holders of tickets bearing the number 58268. The number appeared on 1,800 tickets, giving winners euro400,000 for their euro20 ticket.
The state lottery agency said all 1,800 tickets with that number were sold in the town of Granen, located in the arid and barren northeastern Los Monegros area.
Spain is struggling to emerge from a near two-year recession that has left it with a eurozone-high 21.5 percent unemployment rate.
The Gordo lottery aims for a share-the-wealth system, rather than a single jackpot, and thousands of numbers yield at least some kind of return. Lots of people chip in together and buy shares of several or many tickets, meaning it is common for multiple prizes to go to the same town.
Other lotteries have larger individual top prizes but El Gordo is ranked as the world's richest for the total sum paid out.
The winning number was picked and announced by pupils of Madrid's Saint Ildefonso School in a nationally televised draw.
Since it began in 1812, the Dec. 22 lottery has become a favorite holiday tradition. This year, it sold an estimated euro2.7 billion in tickets and the state lottery agency estimated per-capita spending of about euro70.
Spain holds another big lottery Jan. 6 to mark the Feast of the Epiphany. It is known as "El Nino" (The Child), in reference to the baby Jesus.
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Russian Rocket Launches Astronauts on Holiday Space Station Trip (SPACE.com)
Three spaceflyers blasted off today (Dec. 21) from snowy Kazakhstan to spend the holidays on the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, part of the European Space Agency (ESA), lifted off atop the Russian Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:16 a.m. EST (1316 GMT).
The trio is bound for the space station, where they are scheduled to dock on Friday (Dec. 23) at 10:22 a.m. EST (1522 GMT). They are set to begin a roughly five-month stay on the orbiting outpost as part of the station's Expedition 30 mission, and will return in May 2012.
Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers will join the three spaceflyers already on the station: commander Daniel Burbank of NASA and flight engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia. Their arrival will beef up the station's crew complement to its full six members.
Holiday celebrations
The new arrivals will find the space laboratory festive for the holidays. The current crew has put up holiday decorations to mark the season, and Burbank sent a holiday greeting video down to the people of Earth. [Space Station Commander Sends Holiday Greetings to Earth]
"We'll celebrate the holidays in great fashion after they get here," Burbank said of the new crewmembers. "We've already put up decorations, and we've gathered together all the cards and gifts that our friends and families have sent to us, and we're planning a couple of big meals. That'll be great."
Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers, each veteran spaceflyers who've been to the space station before, will also have their work cut out for them once they arrive at their new home-away-from-home. In addition to wide-ranging scientific research projects, the crewmembers will spend their time keeping up the station and fixing anything that might break.
"If liquid's squirting out someplace then it's like I'm a plumber for the day; if an electronics box isn't working right then you're an electrical repairman for the day," Pettit said during a press conference a few months before the launch. "You have to remember that the space station is so complicated, no one person could keep all the details in your mind. That's why we need all the folks on the ground."
The presence of six crewmembers onboard the station will allow each spaceflyer to dig deep into research.
"I think I have something like 57 experiments from NASA, from ESA and also from JAXA," the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Kuipers said in a press conference earlier this year. "There's a whole bunch of experiments that I'm looking forward to, experiments in different fields ? fluid physiology, fluid physics."
Milestone event
The Expedition 30 team is also scheduled to be in space for a milestone event coming up.
On Feb. 7, the first commercial spacecraft to visit the International Space Station is set to launch. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will be making its first cargo delivery run as part of a NASA program to encourage the development of private spacecraft to help fill the gap left by the retirement of the space shuttles this summer.
The unmanned Dragon is due to launch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, and make an autonomous rendezvous with the space station. Once within reach, the crew inside the station will grab onto the freighter will the station's robotic arm and berth it on the lab.
"We've been practicing the dynamics of how you do that and we practice that a lot," Pettit said. "Once you get these docked to station, it's pretty much standard operations."
After about three months in space, the Expedition 30 mission will change over to Expedition 31, and Kononenko will take over command of the station. There will be many differences for him between this trip and his previous sojourn to the orbiting lab in 2008, including a potential for two spacewalks (or extravehicular activities, also known as EVAs) in 2012.
"A lot of things changed for me," Kononenko told SPACE.com in a prelaunch interview. "First I'm going to fly to the station as a Soyuz commander and later become comrade of the International Space Station ? that's a really big transition for me. The station itself became more interesting over these couple years, new modules appeared, new systems were installed. Of course the EVA I'm going to perform has new tasks and new objectives and I'm looking forward to them."
Tough year
The launch comes at the end of a tough year for Russia's space agency.
Today's launch was delayed by about a month in the wake of a failed Russian cargo ship launch in August atop a rocket similar to the Soyuz that lifted off today. Russian spacecraft were grounded while officials investigated the problem, which was eventually traced back to a malfunctioning gas generator in the Soyuz?s third stage engine.
At the end of October, Russia successfully launched another cargo vehicle, and on Nov. 14, Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishinlaunched safely to the station atop a Soyuz rocket.
Russia also suffered the loss of its unmanned Phobos-Grunt probe, which lifted off Nov. 8 to collect samples from Mars' moon Phobos. However, the vehicle failed to fire its thrusters toward Mars, and has been stranded, and largely unresponsive, in Earth orbit. Experts expect it to fall back to Earth as a piece of space debris in January.
Phobos-Grunt was the 19th spacecraft Russia has launched toward Mars since 1960. None of them have been fully successful.?
You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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রবিবার, ১৮ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
CSN: Bonds' crimes almost irrelevant now
?
PROGRAMMING
NOTE: Comcast
SportsNet Bay Area will have comprehensive coverage and analysis tonight
on SportsNet
Central at 6, 10:30 and
midnight.
Sam Hurd makes Barry Bonds seems so insignificant, criminally speaking. And Bernie Fine makes him even more so, and Jerry Sandusky even more so than that.
In short, Bonds? sentencing on obstruction of justice -- a relatively lighthearted 30 days? house arrest, two years probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4000 fine -- seems an exceedingly small deal.
It isn?t, clearly. The wheels of justice moved with Molina-esque speed with Bonds, and they?re not done with its grinding, but obstruction of justice is obstruction of justice, and a felony is a felony. Barring a successful appeal by Bonds? lawyers, or a prosecution plan to retry him on the three counts that hung the jury, Bonds has this hung around his neck for as long as anyone wants to view him that way.
[RELATED: Bonds avoids jail -- two years probation, house arrest]
Oh, we forgot. There?s also been a new high-profile positive PED test, with Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. So yeah, time keeps on spinnin?, spinnin?, into the future. And the smaller Bonds gets in the rear view mirror, the less we remember.
Nevertheless, Bonds was the finest baseball player of the last 40 years, and his conviction is a deal. It?s hard to know how much of a deal it is without delving into the mind of the person making the judgment, but it?s a deal.
It provides a new reason for outrage by his defenders, and a new reason to dismiss him as a cheating swine by his detractors. In short, the needle on his legacy hasn?t moved a single neutrino in all these years.
Only the circumstances around him have changed. And in the last couple of months, they?ve literally lurched away from him.
Sandusky is the worst of them, assuming of course that he is indeed guilty of the charges of child sex abuse brought against him. Fine?s story, equally unproven in a court of law, is nearly as horrifying, and has the added shame of having his wife Laurie linked to rumors that she slept with a number of Syracuse basketball players while her husband was a coach there. And there are claims that the former head of the AAU, Bobby Dodd (not the former football coach), also molested children.
Wednesday, though, came the Hurd story, in which he was caught in an FBI sting trying to buy four kilograms of cocaine for distribution, as part of what authorities say was a $2 million PER MONTH coke and marijuana operation in which a number of NFL players were allegedly customers.
Now how exactly does Barry Bonds getting probation and community service match up against that? It doesn?t, of course, and it isn?t meant to do so. There have always been worse crimes than Bonds allegedly lying to a grand jury to keep his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs from the authorities, and nobody has ever said otherwise.
But that?s not really the point. Mostly, what this is about is our general fatigue with the entire Bonds saga, and how much smaller that saga is now that sports has had to absorb greater and more revolting crimes.
The issue of whether his records are tainted was tired and stupid when it was a hot topic, and so is his Hall of Fame candidacy. Moralists on horses from each side have drained the flavor from those discussion points.
And that doesn?t even take into account the fact that isn?t about performance enhancing drugs as much as it is drugs that are illegal to obtain or possess without a legal prescription, or distribute for any reason. It is about the safety of those drugs, and it is about athletes self-medicating themselves with drugs of indifferent quality or safety.
This should have been a public health issue, not a record book issue. So what we really have here is an obstruction of justice charge when in the rational world we would have had charges dealing in and using dangerous and illegal substances. No athlete or athlete?s representative has been charged with that in any case, so far as we know.
But Barry Bonds is done, at least for the moment. And Jerry Sandusky and Bernie Fine and Sam Hurd are far scarier figures. And time rolls inexorably on, and Bonds seems diminished by comparison ? which should scare the hell out of everyone.
Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com.
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Romney picks up SC gov's endorsement in GOP race (AP)
SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney won a coveted endorsement Friday from the governor of early voting South Carolina, a plumb nod from a tea party darling as he works to halt rival Newt Gingrich's momentum before voting in the GOP nomination race begins in less than three weeks.
"Neither South Carolina nor the nation can afford four more years of President Obama, and Mitt Romney is the right person to take him on and get America back on track," Gov. Nikki Haley, a rising GOP star, said in a statement after announcing her endorsement on Fox News. She said Romney is "someone that knows what it's like to make a decision and lead." She promised to work hard to help elect him.
From western Iowa where he was campaigning, Romney, in turn, praised Haley for her efforts to change government. He said the endorsement was "an honor."
The two planned to campaign together later Friday in South Carolina, a state Gingrich is running aggressively in and that seems to be a more natural fit for the former House speaker and one-time Georgia congressman than for Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts who has struggled to win over South Carolina Republicans.
Haley's nod, somewhat rare because sitting governors of important primary states usually remain neutral, came hours after the candidates met in Iowa for their final debate before the lead-off Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. The meeting featured Gingrich on the defensive over his decades in Washington, his post-congressional career as a consultant, and whether he was conservative enough to be the Republican Party standard-bearer.
The fast-paced debate underscored the state of the race, with Gingrich atop the polls nationally and in Iowa and Romney, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Gingrich's other pursuers working in television ads and elsewhere to overtake him.
All were making final pitches to voters on Friday heading into the final weekend before people begin to tune out politics for the holiday season.
Gingrich was returning to Washington, while others looking for late-game surges ? like Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann ? embarked on bus tours that would take them across Iowa. They were setting out to make the case that Gingrich is the wrong fit for a party whose core voters are conservative.
Indeed, the big question in the opening moments of a fast-paced, two-hour debate went to the heart of a dilemma that could eventually settle the race: Do conservative Republican caucus and primary voters pick a candidate with their hearts, or do they look elsewhere if they conclude their favored candidate might not be able to defeat Obama?
Those voters begin making that choice in Iowa on Jan. 3, and if experience is any guide, one or more of the presidential hopefuls will not make it out of that state to compete in the New Hampshire primary a week later, let alone South Carolina on Jan. 21.
Haley's endorsement could help Romney in the state that will be the third to weigh in on the GOP field. How much, however, is unclear. Governors can leverage their statewide political networks to help presidential candidates. But polls show Haley's popularity has waned since she won office in November 2010.
Even so, she remains a favorite of tea party activists, whose energy helped Republicans win across the country last fall and whose enthusiasm will be critical in helping the GOP presidential nominee next year. Romney has struggled to court them.
South Carolina is a difficult state for Romney; he competed aggressively there when he first ran for president in 2008 only to bail shortly before the primary when it became clear that he would get crushed after to failing to ease voter concerns about his Mormon faith and his reversals on social issues.
Haley's ties with Romney run deep.
She endorsed him in 2008 when she was in the state legislature. Romney returned the favor in 2010 when she ran for governor in a year when the tea party wielded big clout in key races across the country, hers included.
Haley has said repeatedly that she would choose "the person who should win, not the person that could win. We will endorse the person that will get the country back on track. ... It's all based on policy."
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শনিবার, ১৭ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
Investors target JPMorgan over $95 billion of RMBS (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A law firm that led mortgage bondholders to extract a $8.5 billion settlement from Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) is turning its sights on JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).
Houston-based Gibbs & Burns LP said on Friday its clients have instructed trustees overseeing $95 billion of securities issued in the housing boom by JPMorgan's affiliates to investigate whether ineligible mortgages were included in collateral behind the bonds.
Gibbs & Burns said its clients represent holders of more than 25 percent of the voting rights on 243 residential mortgage backed securities.
JPMorgan spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau declined to comment.
The development marks an escalation of legal challenges from the housing bust for JPMorgan. The largest U.S. bank by assets, JPMorgan has been setting aside billions of dollars for claims that mortgage bonds sold by Chase bank, and by companies it bought, were backed by fraudulent loans or otherwise flawed.
Mortgage securities typically set a threshold of 25 percent of voting rights above which organized investors gain additional legal power over the pools, said Greg Taxin of Spotlight Advisors LLC, which advises pension funds on mortgage bond investments.
"This is what started the ball rolling that ultimately led to the $8.5 billion settlement with Bank of America," said Taxin. "The best defense for JPMorgan has been that the investors were not coordinated."
Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said, "It was only a matter of time before they went after JPMorgan."
The settlement with Bank of America is pending and being challenged in court as insufficient by other holders of its mortgage bonds.
Kathy Patrick of Gibbs & Bruns LLP said in a statement, "Our clients continue to seek a comprehensive solution to the problems of ineligible mortgages in RMBS pools and deficient servicing of those loans."
The investors represented by the firm own securities issued in 2005, 2006 and 2007. They include bonds from Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, two firms which JPMorgan took over during the financial crisis.
JPMorgan is in a better position than Bank of America to deal with the legal claims, said Miller. It is not clear that the bank is responsible for mortgages made by Washington Mutual, which the government put into JPMorgan's hands after it failed, he said.
Bank of America, in contrast, had bought mortgage-maker Countrywide, the source of most of its problem securities, on its own before the crisis.
Also, JPMorgan has already booked litigation expenses when it added to reserves. "For something like this, they are well-reserved," Miller said.
JPMorgan shares closed up 14 cents to $31.90 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
(Reporting by David Henry; editing by Carol Bishopric)
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Amy Winehouse Family Open To Biopic
Dad Mitch Winehouse reversed course and said he'd consider a movie.
By Gil Kaufman
Amy Winehouse
Photo: Marc Broussely/ Redferns
Singer Amy Winehouse had a brief career full of jubilant highs and crushing lows. From Grammy wins and multi-platinum worldwide sales for her breakthrough, Back to Black album and recording with Tony Bennett to drug arrests, struggles with substance abuse and her untimely death at age 27 as a result of excessive alcohol intake, Winehouse's roller-coaster ride seems primed for the big screen.
After initially rejecting reports that a biopic was in the works and saying that the family would not grant the rights to the "Rehab" singer's music for such a project, a spokesperson for the Winehouse's clarified on Tuesday that "[father] Mitch [Winehouse] and the family would entertain ideas perhaps for a film but only one they were sure would tell the truth," according to Entertainment Weekly.
On Monday, Mitch Winehouse told England's Daily Mail that he would not let Amy's music be used in a rumored biopic that is reportedly being shopped and produced by his daughter's boyfriend, Reg Traviss. "It would hardly be a biopic without the music and we'd never allow the songs to be released," Winehouse told the paper.
He also threw cold water on rumors that Lady Gaga could be up for the role of his late daughter. "I never said Lady Gaga will play Amy in film," he Tweeted on Monday. In the meantime, Mitch is working on a memoir, "Amy, My Daughter," due out in October. Winehouse's posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 charts this week on sales of nearly 114,000.
Related Videos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675953/amy-winehouse-biopic.jhtml
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শুক্রবার, ১৬ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১১
U.S. Stillbirths Still Prevalent, Often Unexplained
News |
Health
A large study is aiming to uncover the common causes of stillbirths throughout the U.S. in hopes of bringing the high rate down
?| December 13, 2011
Still a problem: Although infant deaths are down in the U.S., stillbirths have stayed fairly steady. New research looks for causes--and possible remedies
Image: iStockphoto/balono
Infant mortality has continued to drop in the U.S. during the past several decades. But stillbirths?when a fetus dies after 20 or more weeks of gestation?have remained relatively steady?and account for almost as many deaths as those of babies who die before their first birthday. About one in every 160 pregnancies in the U.S. ends in a stillbirth, which adds up to about 26,000 each year nationwide.
Two new studies, published online Tuesday in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, have analyzed data from large populations of still and healthy births in an effort to search for new causes?and to start to bring the mortality rate down.
Due to their emotional difficulty, stillbirths often go unexamined. Even for the health care provider, "it's really a very emotional event," says Jay Iams, a professor of maternal and fetal medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center and author of an essay published in the same issue of JAMA. Previous studies of stillbirths had limited subject groups and generated smaller datasets. With the larger, population-based studies, the findings "should approximate better what we really expect to see in the U.S. population," remarks George Saade, chief of obstetrics and family medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and co-author of one of the new studies.
What Saade's group and the authors of the second study found, Iams says, is "very powerful evidence" that the assumed risks behind?and the entire definition of?stillbirth should be reexamined.
Early risks
Compared with other developed countries, the U.S. has a relatively high rate of stillbirths. The new study by Robert Silver, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and his colleagues helps to profile the most prevalent known causes of stillbirth. The researchers found that diabetes, smoking, drug addiction, being overweight, and being 40 or older all increased a woman?s chances of having a stillbirth.
Unmarried women who do not live with their partners were also more likely than married, cohabitating women to have a stillbirth, although that might be an indicator of larger socio-economic factors, Saade notes.
The good news is that "many of these factors are modifiable," Saade remarks. So "women planning to get pregnant or women who might get pregnant should plan to be in the best possible condition before getting pregnant?and seek care early so that any of these factors [can] be identified," he says.
Troubling patterns
Not all risk factors can be modified, of course. And the stillbirth rate for black women is more than twice as high as it is for white women. This finding is not new, but with the new data, researchers have been able to dispel some of the previous assumptions about its causes. "The usual answer is it's access to health care, poverty and social risk," Iams says. But the data show that even after black women are in the hospital and are affluent and highly educated, they are still more likely to have a stillbirth. Why? Women of African descent living in the U.S. are nearly twice as likely as white women to give birth early, which increases the risk of complications and fetal death.
Previous research has shown that women who immigrate to the U.S. give birth at full gestation about as frequently as their white peers, but after two generations, their risk has increased. "Being raised in America is somehow associated with these adverse outcomes," Iams says. Whatever the causes, the disparity is "embarrassing," he concludes. But it is also "an opportunity because it explains some proportion of the premature births or stillbirths. It's a clue to figuring out what's happening."
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=413a534219636e73dd07a7c23ac77c44
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Ventre: Suh is a dirty player, but far from the first or worst
NFL history is filled with 'bush league' tactics that come in heat of battle
Getty ImagesFormer NFL defensive lineman Mike Golic says that old-time players chuckle at the publicity given to Ndamukong Suh's recent antics. They've all seen worse.
OPINION
updated 10:28 a.m. ET Dec. 13, 2011
|
Like millions of other football fans, Conrad Dobler saw the Ndamukong Suh stomp of Evan Dietrich-Smith. And he didn?t approve.
?What he did was totally bush league,? noted the former offensive lineman for the Cardinals, Saints and Bills. ?But it was no more bush league than when I played against the Rams and Merlin Olsen grabbed my shoulder pads and Jack Youngblood tried to come and hit my legs from the side. I was kicking Merlin?s ass, and even (Dan) Dierdorf (his Cardinals teammate at the time) shook his head and said, ?I can?t believe they did that.?
?But if you?re man enough to hand it out, you better be man enough to take it.?
Suh, the Lions? star defensive lineman whose two-game suspension for the aforementioned indiscretion ended Monday, and who has had several such moments in his short career thus far, certainly is not a pioneer in the art of dirty deeds. For years, before there were multiple camera angles and myriad platforms from which to display NFL video clips, there were large men in pads performing underhanded stunts on one another.
Jack Lambert of the Steelers had a few disreputable moments in his playing days, including the time he took the Cowboys? Cliff Harris and slammed him to the ground because Harris had taunted Pittsburgh kicker Roy Gerela.
In 2004 and 2006, Rodney Harrison was voted ?dirtiest player? by his NFL peers in a Sports Illustrated poll, and again in 2008 in a poll of coaches conducted by ESPN. Bill Romanowski once was ejected from a game for kicking Cardinals fullback Larry Centers in the head; he also once spit in the face of 49ers wide receiver J.J. Stokes.
The late Johnny Sample, a defensive back who played a key role during the Jets? run up to, and victory in, Super Bowl III, had such a reputation he decided to capitalize on it with a book called, ?Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer.?
In 1986, Charles Martin of the Packers performed one of the filthiest moves in pro football history when he picked up Bears quarterback Jim McMahon from behind well after he had released the ball and slammed him to the turf. And of course, there was Albert Haynesworth, who drew a five-game suspension for stomping on the head of defenseless Cowboys center Andre Gurode.
When it came to handing it out ? the pain, that is, dispensed in methods that challenged the boundaries of the rule book ? there might not have been anyone in NFL history more notorious than Dobler, whose legend often obscures the fact that he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. His menacing, mustachioed mug graced the cover of the July 25, 1977, issue of Sports Illustrated under the headline, ?Pro Football?s Dirtiest Player.?
Although that might have notified the rest of the world about Dobler, it was hardly a secret in NFL circles. He had been making enemies in the trenches since shortly after his arrival as a fifth-round draft pick out of Wyoming in 1972.
?When I played against people, I had a lot of penalties thrown against defensive players who played against me,? said Dobler, who now runs a medical staffing business in Overland Park, Kan. ?What I did was try to make them lose their poise. When they lose their poise, then they can?t concentrate on what they?re doing. If he?s more concerned with beating me up, then my job is half done.
?What irked Merlin Olsen ? right up until he died he kept talking about it ? was that he lost his poise when he played against me, and he always prided himself on not letting that happen.?
Football is a sport in which anger is fuel. The high stakes, brute force and intense competition often create situations that would cause meeker souls to duck for cover.
Toi Cook, a former defensive back who played 11 NFL seasons with the Saints, 49ers and Panthers, remembers some less than diplomatic moments during his playing days when anger bubbled over.
?Usually it?s the linemen who get involved in those things, because they cut block,? he said. ?We had a guy named Tony Elliot, who passed away, who tried to stomp on a player like Ndamukong Suh did. I remember being in the meeting room watching film of it and our defensive coordinator saying, ?This is unacceptable,? because at the time we were a team that couldn?t afford to give up 15-yard penalties.?
Elliott was a defensive lineman who once got into a fistfight with teammate Ricky Jackson on the practice field, Cook remembered. ?Tony left the field, went to his car, got his gun, came back to the field, and we?re all standing there, and then everybody got away from Ricky like he had the plague,? Cook said. ?We were not going to be in the line of fire.?
Elliott, who had a troubled life and was paralyzed in a shooting in 2000, died at age 48 in 2008.
 |
Bob Levey / Getty Images |
?For all the people who were unbelievably appalled and say he should be thrown out of the league, guys who played the game kind of chuckle. Was it smart? No. Was it dirty? Yes. The biggest thing is that he has to learn that it hurt his team.?
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More newsGetty ImagesWhat will sink wild-card hopefuls?
Tanier: Some teams on the edge of the wild card race have flaws that their upcoming opponents will be able to exploit, and maybe cost them their seasons.
Achilles' heels
????What is the vulnerabilities of the contenders heading into the final stretch of the NFL season
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45604992/ns/sports-nfl/
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