'I'm very alive': Army veteran declared dead 4 times

By WESH.com

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PALM BAY, Fla.????Despite rumors to the contrary, Army veteran Jerry Miller is still very much alive.

"I'm alive. I?m very alive," Miller told WESH 2 News.

The U.S. Veterans Administration has declared him dead four times, but Miller, a Brevard County resident, refuted the claims.

For more, visit WESH.com

"To me, it?s stupid. I can?t die but one time. They have killed me four times," he said.

Miller, a former drill sergeant, served 10 years in the Army. He said he lives on a government pension and Social Security.

The confusion started in July 2010 when he received a letter addressed to his estate that expressed sympathy for his death and politely explained that, as a dead man, he was not eligible for the veterans benefits he was paid.

Miller said he informed the VA that he was still alive, and his benefits were restarted. But the letters kept coming, each one stopping his benefits

"I'm alive, you see. This can?t keep going on and on," Miller said.

He said a letter came this month requested a repayment of more than $94,000 and included polite instructions on how to do so.

Miller said he has no idea why he was declared declared dead.

A VA spokesman told WESH 2 News that the organization was looking into the case.

Miller said he asked his congressman to do the same, but so far, being alive has not been sufficient proof that he is not dead.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/31/10279295-im-very-alive-army-veteran-declared-dead-4-times

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Drug Addiction May Make Users More Vulnerable to Stress

Head Lines | Mind & Brain See Inside

ECK: Depression and substance abuse modify the same brain circuitt

By Andrea Anderson ?| January 30, 2012

Image: Malcolm Case-Green Alamy

Mood disorders such as depression are known to increase drug abuse risk. Yet mounting evidence suggests that substance abuse also makes people more vulnerable to depression and the negative effects of stress, according to Eric J. Nestler, chair of neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He and his team reported new details about the link between depression and drug abuse in Neuron in August.

The team found that mice given cocaine daily for a week?a simulation of chronic drug abuse in humans?were more likely than their drug-free counter?parts to display behaviors reminiscent of depression after being subjected to socially stressful situations involving an aggressive and intimidating mouse. The drug-treated mice became lethar?gic and reluctant to interact with other mice following a shorter-than-usual bout of this ?social defeat? stress, which is commonly used to study depression in mice.

Most striking, the researchers found that the cocaine use led to the same molecular changes in the nucleus accumbens, a reward region, as are found in mice prone to stress and depression. The mice had lower levels of a molecule that polices the activity of certain genes and keeps at least one signaling circuit in check.

When the researchers artificially dialed down or up the levels of this regulatory molecule in the nucleus accumbens, they were able to produce or protect against depression in mice. This effect suggests that shifts in that brain region can cause?and are not just a side effect of?depression.

Testing for such changes in the human brain is trickier, of course.The team did find low levels of some of the same gene-regulating com?ponents in postmortem tissue sam?ples from the nucleus accumbens of people diagnosed with depression, hinting that humans with the disorder might experience altered signaling in this brain region, too.

If so, the findings may provide clues about why cases of drug abuse and depression sometimes spiral out of control, given that drug-induced de?pression is believed to ratchet up the chances of subsequent abuse in the same way that naturally occurring depression can.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=7464f8c7e8f038fbf19eaf636eff5e69

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Iran says oil could reach $120 to $150 per barrel

An Iranian demonstrator holds a poster to support Iran's nuclear activities as he waits for arrival of delegates of International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, who were not appeared in public, at Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A U.N. nuclear team arrived in Tehran early Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons. The delegation includes two senior weapons experts, Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa, suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

An Iranian demonstrator holds a poster to support Iran's nuclear activities as he waits for arrival of delegates of International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, who were not appeared in public, at Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A U.N. nuclear team arrived in Tehran early Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons. The delegation includes two senior weapons experts, Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa, suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

An Iranian protester holds an anti-Israel poster for condemning activities of International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, at the Imam Khomeini airport, waiting for arrival of the agency's delegates, who were not appeared in public, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A U.N. nuclear team arrived in Tehran early Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons. The U.N. nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts, Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa, suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? The head of Iran's state oil company said Sunday that the price of crude will reach $120 to $150 per barrel, as officials in Tehran prepare to discuss a ban on crude sales to European Union countries in retaliation for an EU embargo.

Head of the National Iranian Oil Company Ahmad Qalehbani also said that Tehran would expand its capacity to refine crude domestically, instead of selling it on international markets.

The EU announced an embargo on Iranian oil last week to pressure Tehran on its controversial nuclear program.

The embargo is set to go into effect in the summer, but Iran says that it may cut the flow of crude to Europe early.

Iran says the EU accounts for only 18 percent of its output and that it can find new customers. It says the embargo will hurt the West more than Iran, in part by causing a spike in prices.

"It seems we will witness prices from $120 to $150 in the future," Qalehbani was quoted as saying by IRNA. He did not give a time frame for the prediction, nor any other details.

The price of benchmark U.S. crude on Friday was around $99.56 per barrel.

Qalehbani also said that Iran could find other customers for its crude in the short term, while in the longer term expanding its refining capacity to turn the crude into other petroleum products.

"The sale of some 18 percent of Iranian oil, to a market other than the EU, is quite possible. But our long term idea is to increase refining capacities to produce valuable products," he said.

Qalehbani's statement came as Iranian oil officials prepare to debate a ban on crude sales to European Union countries.

Many Iranian lawmakers and officials have called for an immediate ban on oil exports to the European bloc before the EU's ban fully goes into effect in July. They say this will hurt Europe before it can find alternative suppliers.

It also coincided with a visit by a U.N. nuclear team expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

The United States and its allies argue that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons technology, while Tehran says the program is for purely peaceful purposes.

With some 3.5 million barrels of crude production, Iran is the second largest OPEC producer.

Some 80 percent of the country's foreign revenue comes from exporting around 2.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Iran-Oil/id-c0486e57c2fc4254b9e60a985a3660b4

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Myanmar's Suu Kyi makes political tour in south

DAWEI, Myanmar (AP) ? Thousands of supporters in Myanmar's countryside cheered opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday as she made a political tour ahead of by-elections, highlighting how quickly and dramatically politics is changing in the long-repressed Southeast Asian nation.

Throngs of people lined the roads of several towns in the southern district of Dawei shouting, "Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!" ''Daw" is a title of respect in Myanmar.

Many waved bouquets of flowers, and some hoisted babies on their shoulders to glimpse the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former political prisoner on her first political trip since announcing a bid for parliament.

"We will bring democracy to the country," Suu Kyi told an exuberant crowd of thousands. "We will work for development. We will bring rule of law to the country, and we will see to it that repressive laws are repealed."

"We can overcome any obstacle with unity and perseverance," she said from the second-story balcony of a provincial office for her National League for Democracy party.

Suu Kyi, 66, has devoted much of her life to a struggle against authoritarian rule, but spent 15 of the past 23 years under house arrest and has never held elected office. If she wins, she is likely to have limited power in the legislature, which remains dominated by the military and the ruling party, but victory would be highly symbolic and give her a voice in government for the first time.

The one-day trip to Dawei follows a series of unprecedented reforms enacted by the nominally civilian government that took over when a military junta ceded power last year. The government has released hundreds of political prisoners, reached cease-fire deals with ethnic rebels, increased media freedoms and eased censorship laws.

The April 1 by-election is being held to fill 48 seats in the lower house of parliament that were vacated after lawmakers were appointed to the Cabinet and other posts.

Suu Kyi's party boycotted the last vote in 2010, but registered earlier this month for the by-election after authorities amended electoral laws, enabling her party to legally participate.

The Election Commission must still accept Suu Kyi's candidacy. A ruling is expected in February.

Suu Kyi is hoping to run as a representative of the constituency of Kawhmu, a poor district just south of Yangon where villagers' livelihoods were devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

The vote is being closely watched because it is seen as a crucial test of the government's commitment to change.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy, has rarely traveled outside Yangon, the country's main city, over the last two decades.

Although she conducted one successful day of rallies in two small towns north of Yangon last August, a previous political tour to greet supporters in 2003 sparked a bloody ambush of her convoy that saw her forcibly confined at her lakeside home.

Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest in late 2010, just days after the country's military rulers held elections widely viewed as neither free nor fair.

In Dawei, a coastal district south of Yangon, Suu Kyi was garnering support for another candidate running for a parliament seat, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

She will make similar campaign trips to other areas, including the country's second-largest city, Mandalay, in early February before campaigning for her own seat, Nyan Win said.

Dawei is home to activists who recently helped persuade the government to ditch construction of a 4,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant over environmental concerns.

A 400-megawatt coal plant is still planned, however, because it will be needed to power a massive industrial complex project that includes construction of a deep sea port, a steel mill and a petrochemical plant. The project also includes railroads and highways that will connect Myanmar's coast directly to Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Banners with Suu Kyi's pictures decorated the area.

"People had been afraid to discuss politics for so long," said Aung Zaw Hein, an environmental activist whose Dawei Development Association helped stop the huge power plant. "Now that she's visiting the political spirit of people has been awakened."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-AS-Myanmar-Suu-Kyi/id-3980bac93acf4944ad04ea12675d2640

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Screen Actors Guild votes to approve merger plan (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? The Screen Actors Guild national board of directors has voted to approve a plan to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

In a statement, SAG says the board voted 87 percent to 13 percent Friday for the proposed merger at its meeting in Los Angeles.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' board is scheduled to meet Saturday for a vote on the package. If approved, a referendum will be sent out for a vote by members of both unions in the coming weeks.

The merger plan comes after two years of negotiations between the groups to join forces in a bid to gain more leverage in contract negotiations.

The TV and radio artists' group supported a merger with SAG in 1998 and 2003 only to see those efforts fail.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_mo/us_hollywood_labor

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Mutations in 2 Genes Linked to Rare Autism-Related Disorder (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Newly discovered mutations in two adjacent genes cause a rare genetic brain condition called Joubert syndrome, according to a new study.

People with Joubert syndrome have malformation or underdevelopment of the cerebellum and brainstem, resulting in a range of physical and mental disabilities such as poor muscle control and mental retardation.

As many as four in 10 people with Joubert syndrome meet the criteria for an autism diagnosis and other neurocognitive disorders, according to background information in a news release about the research.

In the study, a team led by University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that mutations in two adjacent genes -- TMEM216 and TMEM138 -- cause Joubert syndrome.

"It is extraordinarily rare for two adjacent genes to cause the same human disease," team leader Dr. Joseph Gleeson, a professor of neurosciences and pediatrics, said in the university news release. "The mystery that emerged from this was whether these two adjacent, non-duplicated genes causing indistinguishable disease have functional connections at the gene or protein level."

The researchers conducted evolutionary analysis and concluded that the two genes became joined end-to-end about 260 million years ago. The connected genes then evolved simultaneously and became regulated by the same transcription factors, the authors reported in the study published online Jan. 26 in Science Express.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about Joubert syndrome.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120126/hl_hsn/mutationsin2geneslinkedtorareautismrelateddisorder

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Israel says Iran 'drifting' toward nuke goal line (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a "surgical" military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Amid fears that Israel is nearing a decision to attack Iran's nuclear program, Barak said tougher international sanctions are needed against Tehran's oil and banks so that "we all will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons program."

Iran insists its atomic program is aimed only at producing energy and research, but it has refused to consider giving up its ability to enrich uranium.

The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran, but veto-wielding Russia and China say they see no need for additional punitive measures. That has left the U.S. and the European Union to try to pressure other countries to follow their lead and impose even tougher sanctions.

"We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear. And even the American president and opinion leaders have said that no option should be removed from the table and Iran should be blocked from turning nuclear," Barak told reporters during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

"It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them," he said.

But while Barak called it "a challenge for the whole world" to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, he stopped short of confirming any action that could further stoke Washington's concern about a possible Israeli military strike.

Iran has accused Israel of masterminding the killing of Iranian scientists involved in the nuclear program, but Barak declined to comment on that.

Earlier, he told a panel discussion that "a stable world order" is incompatible with a nuclear-armed Iran because countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will all want the bomb.

"This will be the end of any nonproliferation regime," Barak said. "The major powers in the region will all feel compelled to turn nuclear."

Separately, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged a resumption of dialogue between Western powers and Iran on the nuclear issue.

He said Friday that Tehran must comply with Security Council resolutions and prove conclusively that its nuclear program is not directed at making arms.

"The onus is on Iran," Ban said at a press conference. "They have to prove themselves that their nuclear development program is genuinely for peaceful purposes, which they have not done yet."

Ban expressed concern about the most recent report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which strongly suggested Iran's nuclear program has a military purpose.

On Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is ready to revive talks with the U.S. and other world powers but suggested that Tehran's foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate.

Iran says it won't give up its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel, but it has offered to allow IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear sites to ensure that the program won't be weaponized.

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said at a Davos session that "we do not have that much confidence if Iran has declared everything" and its best information "indicates that Iran has engaged in activities relevant to nuclear explosive devices."

"For now they do not have the capacity to manufacture the fuel," he said. "But in the future, we don't know."

Amano added that an IAEA mission would be sent Saturday to address this issue.

"If the enrichment to higher levels is in a declared facility, we can find it very quickly," he said. "The problem is we do not know if these are all the declared facilities."

Richard Haass, a former top U.S. diplomat who heads the Council on Foreign Relations, said international law justifies a pre-emptive strike only to stave off an "imminent" attack.

"The real question is can Iran assure us what it is not doing?" he said.

Israeli defense officials said Friday that new European sanctions on Iran could constrain Israel. They said any Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities may lack international legitimacy while the world waits to see the effects of the new measures.

The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss sensitive military matters.

Much of the West agrees with Israel that Iran, despite its denials, is developing nuclear weapons technology. But the United States clearly worries that a military attack could backfire, by dividing international opposition to Iran ? and send oil prices skyrocketing.

Israel has attacked nuclear sites in foreign countries before. In 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. In 2007, Israeli aircraft destroyed a site in Syria that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed to be a secretly built nuclear reactor.

But Israel is unlikely to strike without coordinating with the Americans, who maintain forces on aircraft carriers and military bases in the Gulf.

In spite of his tough words to Iran, Ban said that dialogue among the "three-plus-three" ? Germany, France and Britain plus Russia, China and the United States ? is the path forward.

"There is no other alternative for addressing this crisis than peaceful ... resolution through dialogue," said Ban.

Ban noted that there have been a total of five Security Council resolutions so far on the Iranian nuclear program, four calling for sanctions.

It's not just the West that is concerned.

"We take it for granted Iran would want nuclear weapons," Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of Modern International Studies at Tsinghua University, said of China. "Certainly, China is working very hard with the international community to prevent this."

___

John Daniszewski in Davos and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_davos_forum_iran

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8 Crazy Things IBM Scientists Have Learned ... - Business Insider

A team of IBM researchers spends their days sifting through Twitter. They use live streams of tweets to develop machines that are smarter than the typical computer, an area of study known as "machine learning."?

Using these tweets, they've developed technology that allows a machine to understand that some tweets are just background noise and others are newsworthy and important.

Click here to see what they've learned?

For instance, a tweet that says "I urgently need my cup of Starbucks and a scone and before I head over to Staples" is distinctly different than a Tweet that says: "URGENT: I just bit into a scone from @starbucks to find over 10 staples baked into it. Please RT and be careful."

IBM scientists have also come up with ways to measure "sentiment" ? to identify which tweets are saying something good about something important and which are saying something negative.

After two years of studying Twitter, their work wound up in an IBM social media monitoring product, Cognos Consumer Insight.
?
But it also led to lots of funny stories and interesting facts about Twitter. Rick Lawrence, who leads IBM's Machine Learning Group at IBM Research at Yorktown Heights NY, shared some of these stories with Business Insider.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/8-crazy-things-ibm-scientists-have-learned-studying-twitter-2012-1

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Turkish state TV airs Holocaust film

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? An epic French documentary about the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime has appeared on Turkish television to mark international Holocaust Remembrance Day ? the first time the film has been aired on public television in a majority-Muslim country.

State television TRT's documentary channel showed the first episode of filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's "Shoah" late Thursday ? the eve of the day of remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.

The film has been subtitled into Arabic, Farsi and Turkish by the Paris-based Aladdin Project as part of its campaign to promote understanding between Jews and Muslims and to fight Holocaust denial.

"Shoah," the Hebrew word for Holocaust, includes testimony from concentration camp survivors and employees about the slaughter of millions of Jews in Europe by the Nazis during World War II. Lanzmann worked for 11 years on the film, which was released in 1985.

Last year, a Los Angeles-based Farsi satellite channel broadcast the 9-plus-hour documentary in Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned historical accounts of the Holocaust and called for Israel's destruction.

The film is not the first Holocaust film to be shown on television in Turkey, a secular country that is seeking membership in the European Union. Turkey also has its own Holocaust film: "The Turkish Passport," which was released last year and tells the true story of Turkish diplomats who saved thousands of Jews by issuing them Turkish passports.

"Shoah" has also been shown to a limited audience at a Turkish film festival.

Nevertheless, it was the first showing of "Shoah" on a public television channel in a Muslim country. The director said he hoped more Muslim countries would follow suit.

"It is a historical event," Lanzmann, 87, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his home in Paris. "It is extremely important that it is being shown in a Muslim country."

"The Turks are engaged in a pioneering work and I am sure it (the showing) will be followed by other Muslim countries," he said.

Extremists in some Muslim countries deny that the Holocaust ever happened, accusing Jews of inventing it in an attempt to gain sympathy and advance interests. In Iran, Ahmadinejad has frequently questioned whether the Holocaust was a true historical fact, arguing that it was used by Jews to trick the West into backing the creation of Israel.

The documentary's airing comes at a time when some Jewish groups have warned of growing anti-Semitism in Turkey, following the country's frayed relations with Israel.

Turkey was outraged by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians during Israel's war in the Gaza Strip three years ago aimed at stopping daily rocket barrages from the coastal territory.

Ties worsened in 2010 after Israeli naval commandos killed nine Turks in a botched raid on a flotilla that was trying to breach Israel's Gaza blockade. Israel's refusal to apologize for the flotilla killings sent relations deteriorating even further. Both sides claimed they acted in self-defense.

The documentary was also aired amid an escalating dispute between Turkey and France over French legislation that would make it a crime to deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks amounted to genocide.

Most historians contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians as the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century's first genocide, and several European countries recognize the massacres as such.

But Turkey rejects the term genocide, saying there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of the empire. It also says that death toll is inflated.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-27-EU-Turkey-Holocaust-Film/id-e6fb67af7bea470ca09606c6ba91f95e

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State of the Union Replay (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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

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Study: Kids' Sunburn, Tanning Increase Skin Cancer Risk (ContributorNetwork)

A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found children's sunburn and tanning behavior increased the risk of skin cancer. Here are facts about skin cancer, sunburn, tanning and sunscreen use for children.

* The American Cancer Society says one of every two cancer cases is some form of skin cancer. According to WebMD last year, 2 million people reported an estimated 3.7 million cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer in 2009.

* ACS says exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun and past history of sunburn are the most common ways to get skin cancer. People with fair skin are also more sensitive to sun exposure and cancers.

* Kids' Health says while children don't commonly develop skin cancer, some cases appear in people as young as 20. Parents are warned that early exposure to sunburns and excessive unprotected sun exposure has been linked to skin cancer in adulthood.

* According to Kids' Health by the time they are 18 kids will have gotten 50 percent to 80 percent of their sun time in. Pediatrics reports that by age 11, more than 50 percent of kids had gotten at least one serious sunburn. 53 percent got sunburned at least once in the previous summer.

* The Pediatrics study tracked kids' sun habits at age 11 and followed up at age 14. The study found kids spent the same amount of time in the sun at both ages, but use of sunscreen had dropped off; only 25 percent of teens reported using sunblock, even with low sun protection factor of 4 to 15.

* In 2010, the American Academy of Dermatology reported that tanning beds were problematic for teens. Indoor tanning with UV light increased the risk of melanoma by as much as 75 percent. Of the 28 million people who frequent tanning salons, 75 percent are girls and women ages 16 to 29. In 2010, the Food and Drug Administration warned parents about tanning beds. Several states considering making it illegal for parents to let kids under 18 use tanning booths.

* The key, WebMD says, is moderation. The sun is an important source of vitamin D; parents should limit their kids' sun time to 30-minute periods, avoid direct sun from noon to 2 p.m. and insist on sunscreen.

Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about parenting from 25 years raising four children and 25 years teaching K-8, special needs, adult education and home-school.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120124/hl_ac/10878581_study_kids_sunburn_tanning_increase_skin_cancer_risk

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Slot Machines ? Basic Online Gaming Strategy | Online Gaming Tips

Posted by Admin on January 25th, 2012

Considering that luck plays a main role in these games, a concerted effort has been taken to devise winning techniques that undermine the ?luck factor?. In spite of this, a positive-to-win strategy for slot games is virtually impossible to formulate. 1 of the factors is that slot machines, with out an exception, are pre-programmed. Moreover, the random nature of payouts makes it increasingly difficult to work out a winning formula.

Click here to pay a visit to The Finest On-line Casino

However, there are some strategies that online gamers can adopt to increase their chances of winning. These methods can support you hit a big jackpot or at the least, guarantee returns most of the time.

The ?bankroll? is one of the most efficient strategies in slot games. For online gamers, the rule of the thumb is ? play a machine based on your bankroll. Start off with low denomination machines. In doing so, the possibility of winning is greater since the number of spins you have is greater.
It is crucial that 1 gets acquainted with the payout schedule before playing. The payouts will vary based on the specified quantity of coins you require to play. Normally, jackpots call for gamers to play the highest number of coins. So, the a lot more number of coins you play, larger will your prize income be, in case you win.

A easy way to boost your chances of winning is by selecting a machine that delivers high payback rates. Higher the payback percentage, greater are your chances of realizing returns. There are machines that supply rates in the range of 95%-98%, so it is worthwhile to identify the highest paying machine just before you play your coins.
The next technique is closely connected to bankroll management. It is recommended that you set a limit for yourself just before playing slot machines. With a set amount, you can make certain that you don?t go bankrupt. And by sticking to the very same amount even when you win massive, the experience of playing is enhanced.

The final technique is based on an unethical practice observed among slot machine operators. Numerous instances in the past, gamers discovered that the machines run out of funds. Regardless of winning, they had to return empty-handed. Much more usually than not, this was a ploy adopted by operators, wherein the machines were programmed to provide no cash to the winners. Nonetheless, this is not the case any more. Stringent rules and regulations have ensured that slot machine loopholes are not leveraged by operators. A Random Number Generator ? RNG ? program is utilised to guarantee that each and every spin is not preprogrammed. However, it is important that you play in portals with a excellent reputation to rule out any possibility of becoming conned. And whenever you win, do not forget to collect your payout.

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PFT: Jones praises Eli, slams Romo

Getty Images

In a lengthy interview containing plenty of content, context, and clues about the future of the Colts current franchise quarterback, Peyton Manning makes it abundantly clear to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star that now isn?t the best time to be an employee of the team.

?I?m not in a very good place for healing, let?s say that,?? Manning said, regarding the team?s facility.? ?It?s not a real good environment down there right now, to say the least.? Everybody?s walking around on eggshells.? I don?t recognize our building right now.? There?s such complete and total change.??

That explanation implies that Manning is still healing.? Which means he isn?t healthy.? And it also means he?s necessarily frustrated by the fact that he has to try to get healthy in the midst of revolutionary change.

?I mean, it?s 20 degrees, it?s snowing, the building is absolutely empty except when you see coaches cleaning out their offices,?? Manning told Kravitz.? ?I guess it?s the reality of the football world, just not something I?ve had to deal with very often.? But I?m in there every day, so I have to sit there and see it.? Everybody?s being evaluated and I?m no different.? It?s not the best environment.?

Peyton adroitly has positioned the decision on his future as a decision that not he but owner Jim Irsay will make.

?One thing [new G.M. Ryan Grigson] kind-of, sort-of told me, without really wanting to tell me, was that Irsay will be the guy I?m going to sit down and talk with,?? Manning said.? ?That?s going to happen at some point, but we haven?t had that conversation yet because we really don?t need to have that conversation yet.??

Did you catch that one?? It?s subtle, but significant.? Not ?Jim? or ?Jimmy? or ?Mr. Irsay.?? Just ?Irsay.?? Peyton refers to ?Irsay? as ?Jim? on at least two other occasions in the interview, but to call the owner only ?Irsay? in that specific moment is telling.

Folks, Peyton isn?t happy.

?One of the things about football is, it?s a relationship business,?? Manning said.? ?Sometimes guys get fired, it goes across the ticker, ?Jim Caldwell got fired? and that?s that.? But when it?s every day in a relationship business . . . with Bill [Polian], with Marvin [Harrison], Edge [James], guys who retire, get cut, traded or fired, it?s just really hard.? I don?t think I have an emotion for it.?

Did you catch that one?? Peyton puts Bill Polian in the same category as Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James.

Folks, Peyton isn?t happy.

?I just want to pay tribute to all those guys,? Manning said.? ?It?s unfortunate because so many of them have been such a big part of so many big wins here, and this is so . . . sudden.? Their keys didn?t work the next day.? There?s no other way to do it?? I don?t know.? That?s hard to see, all these people leaving.?

Folks, Peyton really isn?t happy.

But he?s setting it up so that if (when) he ends up playing for another team, it?ll happen because the Colts left him with no options.

?I don?t want to get into some kind of fan campaign with the owner, but I think it?s well documented that I want to play in the same place my whole career,?? Manning said, which could be just enough to launch a fan campaign with the owner.? ?It?s been a privilege to play here.? I love the fans, the city, the transformation of the fans, how our place has become the toughest stadium to play in, the fact our fans wear more jerseys to games than anybody else.? It?s been fun to be a part of that.

?But I understand how it works.? I understand tough decisions have to be made.? There?s personal and there?s business and that?s where we?ve got to separate the two. I?ve seen other guys leave places and it was personal.? I?ve invested too much into this city for that to happen.? We live here, we?ve given lots of time and money to the community and our church, and that?s never going to change.? Nothing changes that.?

Manning says nothing about whether he?ll agree to delay the $28 million option bonus that comes due on March 8 in order to give the team more time to determine whether he?s healthy before paying him that money.? But given his current mindset, it?d be surprising to see him do anything he doesn?t have to do in order to make things any easier for an organization that has made things harder than necessary on Manning?s former coworkers.

?There?s no other way to do it??

Yep, Peyton won?t be doing ?Irsay? any favors.

At the heart of the matter is, I firmly believe, the team?s apparent intention to use the first overall pick in the draft on Peyton?s successor instead of dangling that pick for the kind of modern-day Herschel Walker package that could propel the Colts to more Super Bowl wins.? I?d previously believed that Peyton already had made that known to ?Irsay.?? I now believe that Peyton has come to that conclusion without articulating it to the team.? Yet.

Manning may never have to.? If, due to the current environment in the building, he?s not healed by March 8 and not willing to throw ?Irsay? a bone by backing up the due date, the decision that Manning may secretly want will be made by someone else.

The only thing we know for sure is that, contrary to the ?report? last week from Rob Lowe, Peyton isn?t retiring.? Yet.

?I never thought ?Sodapop Curtis? would announce my retirement,? Manning said.

The full interview merits a complete read.? And none of this should be regarded as criticism of Peyton Manning.? I?m simply trying to analyze and interpret the facts, the statements, and the possible motivations.? He?s a smart guy, and he?s hardly a passive participant in his life.

Peyton surely knows what he wants to do, and his comments to Kravitz surely are aimed at making it happen that way, with minimal damage to the Peyton Manning brand, in Indy or elsewhere.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/23/jerry-jones-eli-is-the-biggest-difference-between-giants-and-cowboys/related/

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PSP games get ESRB rating for PlayStation certified devices, coming soon to Sony phones and tablets?

It looks like Sony's been reading our daily email missives, bemoaning the state of its PlayStation certified gaming selection. The message appears to be getting through, with several PSP titles getting spotted over at the Entertainment Software Rating Board with PlayStation certification. Ahead of any official fanfare, there's no big hitters here just yet, but titles like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Daxter are likely to be more resonant with gamers than the pitiful offering we've seen so far from its PS Store app. Alongside Syphon Filter and Daxter, PS3 port Fl0w and Pinball Heroes were also spotted getting their contents okayed by the ESRB. Unsurprisingly, there's no detail here on release dates or technical requirements -- something that we reckon could be important, given the technical gap between the Xperia Play and the dual-cored innards of Sony's tablets. It's also worth noting that Pinball Heroes is already available on the Tablet P. Sorry Sony, but we'd still trade all of what's been leaked here for a portable version of the original Metal Gear Solid -- without hesitation.

PSP games get ESRB rating for PlayStation certified devices, coming soon to Sony phones and tablets? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/TfUmjnZ_qVo/

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DLD 2012 ? Brian Chesky: ?Average Airbnb Host In NYC Pockets $21,000 A Year?

Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, took the stage this afternoon at the DLD Conference in Germany for a keynote covering his views about the 'sharing economy'. In terms of news, there isn't much to report based on his talk, but Chesky talked about the fact that sharing used to be an integral part of human life and 'hardwired' into our DNA, that it disappeared after the second World War because of increased consumer spending and individualism, and that we're now at the beginning of the return to sharing. Access, Chesky purports, will eventually become more powerful than ownership again.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/IrfdNjULyZw/

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Senator Kirk suffers stroke, undergoes surgery (reuters)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190584770?client_source=feed&format=rss

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China's New Year: there be dragons, but not enough train tickets

This weekend, hundreds of millions of Chinese will return to hometowns to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon. But the annual pilgrimage is marked by the annual struggle at the train station.

Is this any way to run a railroad? Some 235 million Chinese travelers have their doubts.

Skip to next paragraph

Every year at the Chinese New Year the Ministry of Railways has the same problem: carrying the hundreds of millions of people who want to go home to celebrate the new year, China?s biggest holiday with their families. And every year it is a nightmare.

Passengers have long complained about endless lines at ticket offices or about paying high prices to scalpers who corner the market; and that?s before they even get on the train to brave agonizingly long and cramped journeys. Being with family at new year is like Thanksgiving and Christmas wrapped into one for Chinese.?

So this year, as China prepares to usher in the Year of the Dragon on Sunday, the Ministry offered holidaymakers the chance to buy their tickets online.

That would have been a good idea, except that its server collapsed under the strain.

On Jan. 9, the ticket booking website took 1.4 billion hits, the Ministry said.

The ensuing crash left a lot of disgruntled customers.?

?I tried on the Internet for a whole day but I never managed to log on,? says Fan Zhixin, who works in a website?s finance department, as she lined up for a ticket outside Beijing?s central station on Thursday.

Eventually, she recounted, she had reached the sales office on the phone, ?but by the time I got through all the seats had been sold, so I had to buy a standing only ticket.?

Since her journey to Ulanhot, in Inner Mongolia, was going to take 20 hours and the idea of standing in a crowded corridor for that long was too appalling, Ms. Fan was making one last bid for a seat.

As she dreaded, there were none. ?This will be very terrible,? she says, wheeling her imitation Louis Vuitton suitcase through the crowd toward the platform.

Ma Anjia, a migrant construction worker heading for his hometown in Shanxi, 16 hours West of Beijing, had secured a seat, but no thanks to the new Internet booking system. In fact, that had made it harder for him.

?I don?t know how to use the Internet,? Mr. Ma laughs. ?I queued up.?

But because tickets became available online two days before they were sold at railroad ticket offices, he kept finding the agencies had sold out. ?I went to five or six different places and waited hours at each one before I managed to buy the tickets I needed,? Ma says.

Still, at least he should be home before the weekend.

Travelers leaving things until the last minute have something else to worry about: Weather forecasters are warning that a wave of snow and rain over the coming days could make travel even more tricky.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/buJoeKDkNlM/China-s-New-Year-there-be-dragons-but-not-enough-train-tickets

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On primary eve, Romney says SC race neck-and-neck (AP)

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Mitt Romney sized up the 2012 presidential race in South Carolina as a neck-and-neck contest on the eve of the state's pivotal primary and insisted Friday that he's the one candidate Republicans can trust to "post up well" against President Barack Obama. He trained his criticism on Newt Gingrich, a sure sign of the momentum behind the former speaker's rise-and-fall-and-rise candidacy.

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul argued they were still in the mix as South Carolina's Sen. Jim DeMint declared the state a "two-man race." Santorum said he's finally drawing enough campaign contributions to compete aggressively in next-up Florida and beyond, even if he finishes poorly in South Carolina.

Romney, campaigning in Gilbert, acknowledged Gingrich's recent rise in the polls by singling him out as his chief competitor in the state Romney lost four years ago. In 2008, Romney abandoned South Carolina when it became clear he would lose big.

He called on Gingrich to release a more detailed accounting of the investigation into his ethical problems as House speaker, saying, "You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election." It was a sharp rejoinder to Gingrich's calls for Romney to quickly release his tax records.

Romney tried to frame a tight race as progress in the state he'd lost soundly before, although he's lost ground in recent polls.

"Frankly to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting," he said

Romney called Gingrich "a feisty competitor" but argued the former House speaker was not the best man to put up against Obama. Surrogates to the former Massachusetts governor used a morning conference call with reporters to run down Gingrich's record on controlling government spending.

Rick Perry's departure from the race, a raucous Charleston debate on Thursday and fresh reminders of Gingrich's tumultuous personal life promised to make the dash to Saturday's voting frenetic and the intra-party attacks increasingly sharp.

Republican Party Chairman Reince Preibus, in an appearance on CNN, said "a little bit of drama" was good for the GOP as it sorts out the strongest challenger to Obama, and that the tone wasn't all that negative.

Santorum, who turned up on C-SPAN, said the GOP presidential race "has just transformed itself in the last 24 hours" and that he's still very much part of the mix.

At an appearance in Lexington, he offered himself as a just-right "Goldilocks" candidate, positioned between Gingrich and Romney.

"One candidate is too radioactive, a little too hot," Santorum said, referring to Gingrich. "There's too much about that candidate that we don't want to have" in a race that must focus on Obama's record, he said. "And we have another candidate who is just too darn cold, who doesn't have bold plans," Santorum said, alluding to Romney.

Romney supporters, in the call with reporters, said Gingrich oversaw rampant spending on lawmakers' special projects when he was House speaker. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., called Gingrich "the granddaddy of earmarks." Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., said Gingrich was "the guy who began the process which led to the debts and deficits that we have."

Romney, whose lead has shrunk in the race's closing days, opened Friday with fresh endorsements from Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and three House members from Texas who lined up with him now that Perry is out of the race.

Gingrich, buoyed by Perry's endorsement, concentrated his efforts on the heavily pro-military Charleston area.

A day after questions about Gingrich's second marriage arose, Gingrich's third wife, Callista, was front and center when the couple appeared at The Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital. Mrs. Gingrich read her book, "Sweet Land of Liberty," to six children in a hospital play area as her husband watched from the sidelines and chatted with pediatricians.

Earlier, Gingrich scrapped an appearance at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference due to what campaign aides said was poor attendance. Conference organizers blamed a scheduling conflict.

The libertarian-leaning Ron Paul, whose support has slipped with his light campaign effort here, went ahead with his address to the Southern Republican group and said Saturday's primary could be a "significant event" that will help propel his insurgent campaign forward. He also warned voters not to back candidates who support the status quo and who won't make deep cuts to federal spending.

DeMint, appearing on CBS' "This Morning," predicted that Saturday's victor "is likely to be the next president of the United States."

Romney seemed to agree. His campaign released a new web ad with the tagline: "On Saturday South Carolina Picks a President." The ad included words of praise for him from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the party's 2008 nominee.

Gingrich is trying to move beyond new allegations from an ex-wife that he had sought an open marriage before their divorce.

Santorum played aggressor during a Thursday night debate, trying to inject himself into what seemed increasingly like a Romney-Gingrich race.

Gingrich angrily denounced the news media for putting his ex-wife front and center in the final days of the race and spreading her accusations. "Let me be clear, the story is false," he said when asked at the opening of the debate about her interview.

Santorum, Romney and Paul steered clear of the controversy.

"Let's get onto the real issues, that's all I've got to say," said Romney. Later, he noted his 42-year marriage to wife, Ann.

Gingrich and Santorum challenged Romney over his opposition to abortion, a well-documented shift but a potent one in evangelical-heavy South Carolina.

Recent polls, coupled with Perry's endorsement, suggested Gingrich was the candidate with the momentum and Romney the one struggling to validate his standing as front-runner.

Gingrich released his income tax records during the course of the debate, paving the way to discussing Romney's. The wealthy former venture capitalist has said he will release them in April, prompting Gingrich to suggest that would be too late for voters to decide if they presented evidence Obama could exploit.

"If there's anything that's in there that's going to help us lose the election, we should know before the election. If there's not, why not release it?" Gingrich said. His effective tax rate, roughly 31.6 percent of his adjusted income, was about double what Romney told reporters earlier this week he had paid.

Romney, asked about the issue Friday on Fox News Channel, said he didn't want to give Obama and the Democrats a "nice little present of having multiple releases." He said past GOP nominees McCain and George W. Bush before him released their taxes at tax deadline time, and said he'd do likewise. He didn't say how many years of returns he would release.

Gingrich grappled with problems of a different, possibly even more crippling sort in a state where more than half the Republican electorate is evangelical.

Marianne Gingrich told ABC's "Nightline" that her ex-husband had wanted an "open marriage" so he could have both a wife and a mistress. She said Gingrich conducted an affair with Callista Bistek, now his wife, "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington" while she was elsewhere.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Tale of the NFL Playoff Tape: Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots

We're down to the final four in the NFL.

On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens do battle with the New England Patriots, while the New York Giants head to San Francisco to face the 49ers. Which teams will be featured in a Super Bowl that also includes a mostly naked David Beckham?

We break down the key categories of the first match up below...

CONNECTION TO GOD:
Ravens: Middle linebacker Ray Lewis is an ordained minster.
Patriots: Blew away Tim Tebow and the Broncos last week, 45-10.
Edge: Patriots

UNIVERSITY STARTING QUARTERBACK ATTENDED:
Ravens: Delaware
Patriots: Michigan
Edge: Ravens

RECORDS BROKEN BY STARTING QUARTERBACKS:
Ravens: Worst facial hair
Patriots: Most touchdown passes in a single season
Edge: Patriots

MASCOT REPRESENTS:
Ravens: The most widely distributed of all corvids
Patriots: A patriotic freedom fighter
Edge: Patriots

TYPICAL FAN:
Ravens: Unclear
Patriots: Drunk Masshole
Edge: Ravens

THE VERDICT: The Patriots pull it out, three categories to two. Blame Joe Flacco's Fu Manchu, as well as his poor passing ability, for the inevitable loss by the Ravens.

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/tale-of-the-nfl-playoff-tape-baltimore-ravens-vs-new-england-pat/

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AP source: All 6 killed in crash were Marines

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A senior U.S. defense official says all six reported killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were U.S. Marines.

The helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

The defense official who said all six were Marines spoke on condition of anonymity because the U.S. command in Afghanistan had not yet publicly released details, including the nationalities of the dead.

The official says there is no indication that the helicopter was hit by enemy fire.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-US-Afghanistan-Helicopter%20Crash/id-62858d54cdc3440896591f30229de43c

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CA has largest pre-existing condition insurance plan ?few 1000?not ...

We were told by the professional Jerry (Brown) and the corrupt Barack that tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Californians could not get health care coverage due to pre-existing conditions.? So, the Feds, with your tax dollars set up a massive bureaucracy to administration the possibly few million Americans to get the new tax funded coverage.? How is this working out?

?California?s Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan is the largest program of its kind in the nation, new federal figures show.

The state had 4,907 people enrolled on Nov. 30, the last federal figures available. Pennsylvania was second, with 4,379. Texas was third, with 3,644; Florida was fourth, with 3,285.

California enrollment was up to 6,307 by Jan. 12. Another 467 new enrollees will begin coverage Feb. 1. About 280 residents in the four-county Sacramento region were enrolled in the program in December.?

Nationally less than 50,000 WANTED this coverage.? Is it possible that Brown, Barack and the Democrats made up their statistics to scare us into approving this program?? That is what it looks like?fraud by politicians to grow government and take away your money and freedom?every dollar of taxes is a dollar less of freedom.

Another example of government lies.

Sacramento Business Journal by Kathy Robertson, 1/18/12

California?s Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan is the largest program of its kind in the nation, new federal figures show.

The state had 4,907 people enrolled on Nov. 30, the last federal figures available. Pennsylvania was second, with 4,379. Texas was third, with 3,644; Florida was fourth, with 3,285.

California enrollment was up to 6,307 by Jan. 12. Another 467 new enrollees will begin coverage Feb. 1. About 280 residents in the four-county Sacramento region were enrolled in the program in December.

?We are very pleased that more Californians are learning about this program and are enrolling to meet their health care needs,? Cliff Allenby, chairman of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board that operates the California program, said in a news release.

Coverage for people living with conditions like cancer, diabetes, asthma or HIV/AIDS often is priced out of reach of Americans who buy their own insurance. The temporary program is designed as a bridge to coverage under federal health reform.

In 2014, all Americans ? regardless of their health status ? will have access to coverage through their employer or new competitive marketplaces called exchanges.

The Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan is open to legal residents with a documented pre-existing medical condition who have not had health coverage for at least six months.

Faced with an enrollment cap without new funding, the California plan will get $118 million in additional money from the federal government this year. That will bring the total to $347 million in 2012.

Source: http://capoliticalnews.com/2012/01/18/ca-has-largest-pre-existing-condition-insurance-plan-few-1000-not-hundreds-of-thousands/

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AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato out 3-4 weeks

Associated Press Sports

updated 7:39 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2012

MILAN (AP) -AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato will be out for three to four weeks after the latest in a series of muscle injuries.

Pato scored in extra time to give Milan a 2-1 win over Novara and put his team into the Italian Cup quarterfinals Wednesday but then exited four minutes from time grasping his left thigh.

Milan announced late Thursday that Pato has a mild left thigh muscle tear, saying he will be out "three to four weeks, barring complications."

Pato already missed the start of this season due to a muscle problem, and his entire career with Milan has been marked by similar injuries.

Meanwhile, Milan announced it has signed Djamel Mesbah from Lecce and given the Algerian midfielder a contract through 2016.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Mourinho's 'woeful Barca loss

Another loss to Barcelona has piled pressure on Jose Mourinho, with support for the Real Madrid coach ebbing after another ill-tempered and ineffective display against its biggest rival.

Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

Loyalty

David Beckham considered other offers but decided nothing was better than his adopted home with the L.A. Galaxy.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45998541/ns/sports-soccer/

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Pakistan PM defends president at Supreme Court (AP)

ISLAMABAD ? Pakistan's prime minister has struck a conciliatory tone in an appearance before the Supreme Court, trying to cool down a political and legal crisis destabilizing the nuclear-armed country.

The unusual appearance by a head of government before a high court on Thursday was the latest move in a high-stakes struggle between the civilian regime, the judges and Pakistan's powerful army generals, who have seized power three times since 1947.

At stake is the future of Pakistan's leadership and its ties to the U.S. Relations between the two countries have been strained since last May's unilateral U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan's elected government is locked in bitter conflict with the army over a secret memo asking for Washington's help in curtailing the power of the generals after the bin Laden raid. The army was outraged by the memo, allegedly sent by the government, and pushed the Supreme Court to set up a commission to investigate. The government insists it did not send the memo.

On Thursday the Supreme Court stepped into another part of the struggle, a decade-old Swiss corruption case involving President Asif Ali Zardari. Some believe the military is maneuvering the court to depose Zardari and his government, while others point to bad blood between the president and the court's chief justice.

Against that complicated and tense background, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani agreed to honor a summons to appear before the court to answer charges he was ignoring the judiciary.

The court wants government prosecutors to formally ask Swiss authorities to reopen a shelved graft probe against Zardari, who was found guilty in absentia in a Swiss court in 2003 of laundering millions of dollars in kickbacks from Swiss companies. Zardari appealed, but in 2009 Swiss prosecutors dropped the case after a request from the Pakistani government.

Gilani insisted that Zardari is immune from prosecution. Judges didn't immediately accept that, but they adjourned for two weeks to hear more arguments in the case.

For two years, the government has been refusing orders to reopen the decade-old corruption case against Zardari, infuriating the judiciary. Zardari loyalists have long claimed that the court wants to get the president out of office, regardless of the law.

"It is my conviction that he (Zardari) has complete immunity inside and outside (the) country," Gilani said in a 10-minute speech that was laced with humility. "I have no intention of ridiculing the court. We have the highest regard for the court."

Later, Gilani's lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, offered a concession to the court, agreeing to argue the issue of the president's immunity when the hearing resumes on Feb. 1. The government previously insisted presidential immunity was a right, and therefore didn't need to be debated in court.

"I will bow to the court order and will also speak on immunity to satisfy the court that the president has complete immunity," Ahsan told reporters.

Security was especially tight during the court session, which was also attended by several of Gilani's ministers and coalition partners. Police lined the roads in front of the Supreme Court, and two helicopters hovered over the building during the hearing.

Supporters and opponents of the government competed for attention outside the court. A group of about a dozen women chanted, "Long live Zardari!" while several dozen lawyers shouted slogans in favor of the court chief justice and against the president.

Political analysts said events at the court Thursday indicated something of a thaw.

"This will definitely contribute to reduce the tension, but it is not the end of the problems for the president," said political science professor Hasan-Askari Rizvi.

The crisis is distracting Pakistan's leaders from the severe economic and security challenges it faces, not least the threat posed by Islamist militants with links to al-Qaida who are waging war on the state.

On Thursday, gunmen seized two foreign aid workers, an Italian and a German, from just outside their office in the central Pakistan town of Multan, police and intelligence officials said.

The men were bundled into a car in a supposedly secure part of Multan, said the officials, who didn't give their names because of the sensitivities surroundings crimes involving foreigners.

The Italian government confirmed one its citizens had been kidnapped in Multan.

The men were working for a development agency helping victims of the 2010 floods, the officials said. They declined to say who they believed abducted the men.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in Pakistan. Islamist militants also abduct people and are currently holding at least three foreigners.

Last year, gunmen kidnapped an American from the Punjabi city of Lahore, and al-Qaida now claims to be holding him.

___

Associated Press writer Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad and Khalid Tanveer contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

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