GOP governors take a pragmatic turn

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Many Republican governors who worked to thwart much of President Barack Obama's first-term agenda are shifting gears and softening their rhetoric now that his run was extended for four more years and they're facing their own re-election.

These state leaders are offering greater cooperation on health care and skipping the tough talk on immigration, taking a cue from voters who in last November's election expressed their opposition to partisan gridlock in Washington.

For many governors, the new approach reflects not just the specific needs of their states but also the realities of the political calendar: Nearly two dozen GOP governors elected in 2009 and 2010 could face the voters again.

"People may agree or disagree with my position on this social issue or that social issue, but as long as I'm not rubbing it in their face all the time and instead talking about jobs and balancing the budget in a way that's relevant to their lives, that's where the real focal point is," said Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in an interview during the weekend's National Governors Association meeting.

Walker, who survived a high-profile union-led recall challenge last year, said his marching orders are clear: "We've got to be relevant."

The shift is most pronounced on health care, where seven states led by Republican governors are pushing to expand their Medicaid program under Obama's health care law. Such a move once was considered anathema in the party.

Under the terms of the deal, Washington pays the full cost of the expansion for the first three years, gradually phasing down to 90 percent. The changes would cover millions of low-income people, mostly uninsured adults.

Last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a former health care executive who rallied opposition to the law, became the latest Republican to make the move. He said the Supreme Court's decision in the health care case and Obama's re-election had made the president's "health care mandates the law of the land."

Scott's Medicaid decision followed similar pivots by Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Snyder of Michigan. Each leads a state that Obama won last year and each has struggled with approval ratings below 50 percent.

With Obama and Republicans in Congress at loggerheads over $85 billion in mandatory spending cuts set to take place Friday, governors from both parties are encouraging a deal that would delay cuts that could hurt their local economies.

GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has opposed the Medicaid expansion and the health overhaul. On Sunday, he suggested on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Congress could delay that expansion and the establishment of health care exchanges under the law and save billions without "even cutting a program that's started yet ? just delay it."

On CBS's "Face the Nation," Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia joined with Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland to call for Congress to prevent impending defense cuts that would hit their states hard.

Another case study can be found in Arizona, where Gov. Jan Brewer was labeled a conservative firebrand in 2010 for supporting her state's crackdown on illegal immigration. Now, halfway through her first term, she's softened her tone on immigration as Obama and Congress pursue a comprehensive overhaul.

In an interview, Brewer said it was easy to hold fast to ideological convictions as a candidate, but when "you have to govern for the whole state you have to be very pragmatic with your decision-making. You govern. And you have to make the trains run and the lights work and make tough decisions. You can't please everybody all the time, but you have to be much more pragmatic."

Pragmatism hasn't always been found in abundance.

During Obama's first term, Republicans fought the health overhaul in court and outside. Others refused federal money to develop high-speed rail lines or pressed to undermine the power of unions. During his campaign for governor in 2010, Scott frequently called Obama's health care plan a "job-killer" that would hurt Florida.

Walker drew the ire of Democrats when he successfully pushed for restrictions to collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. That led unions and Democrats to push for his recall. Walker survived the recall election, but emerged with a change in tone and a focus on issues such as improving roads and bridges, education and workforce development.

"The big thing I keep pushing is relevance," he said. "Where we connect with voters, and where we connect now that we're in office, is by continuing to talk about and deal with things that are relevant in peoples' lives."

Many Republicans say the approach simply reflects the need to tackle problems that are most relevant to their states.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin noted that most of the 30 GOP governors have decided against expanding Medicaid and rejected calls by the Obama administration to create their own state exchanges under the health law.

"It's not moderation and nothing has changed," said Nick Ayers, the former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. "There's still uniformity in opposition to (Obama's) domestic policy agenda, particularly on health care. What's changed is now they're actually stuck with dealing with making the best decision based on a bad set of options."

Democrats contend it will be more difficult for Republicans to adhere to conservative GOP orthodoxy prevalent in Congress and win re-election next year.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, said Scott's decision "was less about an ideological transformation on Rick Scott's part than it was a 30 percent approval rating that will certainly get your attention as a governor."

___

Follow Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas and Steve Peoples at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-governors-pragmatic-turn-173641069.html

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Economists predicting moderate growth in 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Business economists expect 2013 will be another year of sub-par growth for the U.S. economy, reflecting uncertainty stemming from the budget battles in Washington and Europe's on-going debt problems. But they think the economy will improve as the year progresses and by 2014 will grow at the fastest pace in nine years.

In its latest survey of top forecasters, the National Association for Business Economics said it expected the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, to expand at an annual rate of 2 percent this year, slightly worse than last year's lackluster 2.2 percent growth.

For 2014, however, the NABE forecasters believe the economy will be growing at a rate of 2.8 percent, which would be the best performance since 2005. The GDP, the economy's total output of goods and services, shrank in 2008 and 2009 as the country went through the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Since then economic growth has been modest as the economy has been held back by a variety of factors including prolonged unemployment.

The latest quarterly forecast from NABE is based on responses from 49 forecasters gathered from Jan. 28 through Feb. 5. On growth, it represented a slight downgrade from the survey released in December which forecast the economy would grow 2.1 percent this year.

The NABE panelists were pessimistic about the effects the budget battles in Washington would have on growth. Nearly all felt growth would be reduced this year, given the uncertainty surrounding the budget. One-half of the panelists felt the drag would shave less than one-half percentage point from growth while one-third put the drag at between one-half and a full percentage point knocked off growth this year.

The panelists saw the economy strengthening as the budget uncertainty is resolved. They forecast growth in the second half of this year would average above a rate of 2.5 percent and get stronger next year.

"While the NABE forecasters see fiscal threats, they are optimistic that there will be some resolution toward the second half of this year and that will result in an improvement in many of the numbers is 2014," said Nayantara Hensel, an economics professor at the National Defense University in Washington and a member of the NABE forecasting panel.

The next budget deadline will occur Friday when across-the-board spending cuts totaling $85 billion, known as a sequester, are scheduled to go into effect.

Congress and President Barack Obama averted the so-called fiscal cliff at the end of December with a deal that allowed tax rates to rise on individuals making more than $400,000 and families making more than $450,000 per year. That deal also allowed the temporary 2 percentage point cut in Social Security payroll taxes, which was in effect for two years, to expire.

The tax increases in the fiscal-cliff deal, especially the rise in Social Security payroll taxes, will mean slower growth this year. It will mean that a worker earning $50,000 annually will see his Social Security tax go up by $1,000.

That will slow consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The NABE panel forecast consumer spending will rise at an annual rate of 1.9 percent this year but will accelerate in 2014 to a growth rate of 2.5 percent.

The NABE panelists were also pessimistic about Europe's on-going budget troubles, which have hurt the U.S. economy by cutting into export sales. Over one-third of the panelists said they believe Spain will need a larger bailout package this year and one-fourth think that on-going debt troubles in Italy will force that country to take bailout support as well.

"The problems in Europe and our own domestic fiscal drama will keep the investment outlook subdued," said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America and a member of the NABE panel.

Among other predictions in the latest NABE survey:

?Unemployment, currently at 7.9 percent, will decline slowly to 7.5 percent by the end of this year and to 7 percent by the end of 2014, with average monthly job growth of 170,000 this year and 193,000 in 2014.

?Inflation will remain modest at around 2 percent, giving the Federal Reserve leeway to keep a key short-term interest rate at a record low near zero this year and in 2014.

?New home construction, which is finally rebounding after the housing bust, will jump 25.6 percent this year and another 17.3 percent in 2014, pushing construction next year to 1.15 million homes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/economists-predicting-moderate-growth-2013-105958107--finance.html

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Palestinians call for probe of Israeli prisons

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? Palestinians on Sunday called for an international investigation of Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees after a 30-year-old prisoner died in custody and a hunger strike by four other inmates sparked a week of West Bank protests.

The death of Arafat Jaradat set off more clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers in several areas of the West Bank on Sunday. In one incident, two Palestinians were wounded by army fire, including a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the chest, a Palestinian health official said.

Jaradat's death raised new questions about Israel's Shin Bet security service, which has been accused by rights groups of mistreating Palestinians during interrogation.

Palestinian officials and the detainee's family alleged Jaradat was mistreated by the Shin Bet, saying he was healthy at the time of his arrest last week.

Israeli officials said Jaradat died of an apparent heart attack and denied he was beaten or subjected to any treatment that could have led to his death.

Israel's main forensics institute performed an autopsy Sunday, with a Palestinian physician in attendance.

Issa Karake, an official in the Palestinian Authority, said the Palestinian doctor told him afterward there was no sign of a heart attack and that Jaradat was tortured. Karake said he was told that the detainee had suffered two broken ribs and bruises.

The Israeli health ministry, however, said no external signs of violence were found on the body, aside from those likely caused during efforts to resuscitate him. The statement said the broken ribs likely resulted from intense resuscitation. The initial results of the autopsy could not definitively conclude the cause of death.

Several thousand Palestinian prisoners held by Israel observed a one-day fast to protest Jaradat's death. Jaradat, a father of a 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, worked as a gas station attendant and his wife, Dalal, is pregnant, relatives said.

The fate of prisoners is an emotional issue for Palestinians and Israelis.

Virtually every Palestinian family has seen a member imprisoned since Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967, and the prisoners are generally seen as heroes resisting Israeli occupation. Many Israelis tend to view Palestinians involved in politically motivated violence as terrorists.

In the West Bank's largest city, Hebron, dozens of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets. Stone-throwing protests also erupted near Jaradat's village of Saeer in the West Bank and near a West Bank checkpoint that is close to an Israeli prison.

In all, Israel holds close to 4,600 Palestinians on a range of charges, from throwing stones at Israelis to involvement in deadly shooting and bombing attacks. Of the detainees, 159 are being held without charges or trial in so-called administrative detention.

The Shin Bet said Jaradat was arrested last Monday, after residents of his village said he was involved in a rock-throwing attack that injured an Israeli. Jaradat admitted to the charge, as well as to another West Bank rock-throwing incident last year, the Shin Bet said.

The agency said that during interrogation, he was examined several times by a doctor who detected no health problems. On Saturday, he was in his cell and felt unwell after lunch, the agency said. "Rescue services and a doctor were alerted and treated him, they didn't succeed in saving his life," the statement said.

Jaradat's attorney, Kamil Sabbagh, said his client told an Israeli military judge during a hearing on Thursday that he was being forced to sit for long periods during interrogation. He also complained of back pain and seemed terrified to return to the Shin Bet lockup, but did not have any apparent signs of physical abuse, Sabbagh said.

After the court hearing, the judge ordered Jaradat to be examined by a prison doctor.

Karake, who handles Palestinian prisoner issues, said he holds Israel responsible for Jaradat's death, alleging ill-treatment and medical negligence. Karake called for an independent international investigation of Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem also demanded an investigation, including how Jaradat was questioned.

The agency routinely holds detainees in isolation for extended periods during interrogation, keeping them in cells that are lit around the clock and denying them access to lawyers, said Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for the group.

She said that physical mistreatment of detainees had dropped sharply in recent years, but has not disappeared, according to affidavits by released prisoners. She also said detainees have filed some 700 complaints about mistreatment by Shin Bet agents during the past decade, but that none has led to a criminal investigation.

Jaradat's death comes at a time of daily Palestinian demonstrations in support of prisoners, especially four hunger strikers. The health of one of the hunger strikers has deteriorated.

In recent days, protests often turned into violent clashes with soldiers.

Defense officials said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz convened top military officials Saturday night to discuss escalating tensions in the West Bank.

___

Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Nasser Shiyoukhi in Saeer, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-call-probe-israeli-prisons-111912052.html

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Brown University Students Offered Insurance Coverage for Sex-Change Operation

Brown will become the 36th American college offering medical insurance coverage for what's called "transition-related medical expenses" for men who want to physically become women, or women who want to physically become men.

"There is a growing number of colleges and universities that have recognized the underlying medical condition, which is gender dysphoria, a rare but serious condition that requires treatment up to and including gender reassignment surgery," said Jennifer Levi, a spokeswoman with the Transgender Law and Policy Institute (TLPI), a non-profit advocacy organization for transgender people.

"Many people with gender dysphoria take cross-gender hormones to alter their physical appearance and for some people that's sufficient but for others it's not, and they may require more extensive treatment like genital surgery, facial feminizing surgery, and other treatment options," Levi told RIA Novosti.

Brown's new student insurance policy goes into effect Aug 15.

"Brown is committed to supporting the full range and diverse needs of all our students," Brown University said in a statement.

Other colleges that offer sex-change surgery insurance benefits are among the nation's most elite schools, including Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Harvard, Emory and Stanford Universities. Another 25 schools cover hormone therapy but not surgery.

The trend mirrors a growing level of acceptance for gay and transgender people in America. A 2012 Gallup Poll found 54 percent of American adults consider gay and lesbian relations to be "acceptable", up from 38 percent in 2002.

The greater societal acceptance is driving the movement for change on college campuses, said Levi.

"Colleges and universities that are at the forefront of providing the services their students need, in the past they haven't had students who've come forward and said, 'hey, this isn't fair', or 'hey, this is something I really need', but now those students are coming forward," she said.

Another factor behind the trend can be traced to the medical community.

The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association both now say they consider gender reassignment procedures as medically necessary when prescribed by a physician and support their inclusion in health insurance coverage.

"There is a sense in the medical community that gender dysporia is a serious medical condition, and without these surgeries we can predict that many young people will have serious mental health issues up to and including suicide," Levi said.

"It's debilitating, and it's important that the medical community recognizes that without proper medical treatment, these individuals won't be able to engage in daily activities."

Source-IANS

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LatestGeneralNews/~3/Dxh2OBNr2Ws/brown-university-students-offered-insurance-coverage-for-sex-change-operation-114782-1.htm

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Two-Time Cancer Survivor says Her Dog Helped Her Battle

Play time at the dog park meant just a little bit more for these dogs.

"We're here to bark back. We want to fight cancer," said Bark for Life chair Rebecca Ivey.?

And barking against cancer is exactly what they were doing. Camp Barkeley was filled with canine cancer survivors and caregivers. To give back to man's best friend in a way Relay for Life events never could.

"One major aspect of cancer patient's lives was missed in that," Ivey explained. "And that is the caregivers that are canine. So, we're out here just to get together, bring these puppies together and acknowledge what they do for us."

"I think pets have an unknown sense of understanding just to be there for you," said Megan Clifton.

But for one cancer survivor, Saturday was about honoring her dog, Maggie, who is a big reason to why she survived her second battle against cancer.

"I was on bed rest for about three weeks, and she never left my side. She stayed in bed with me all day," Clifton said.

She is a two-time cancer survivor. Though Maggie was only with her the second time, Megan tells me that having her little best friend fighting alongside her made it easier.

"It's so nice to have her, and it's so comforting.? She just knew when I was sick and knew how to take care of me in a way that people couldn't,"Clifton said.?

Their battle together created a strong bond, proving that Maggie is more than just a pet.

"She is my best friend," Clifton explained. "And I know that might sound crazy to some people, but i do love her. She's great, and we have a very special bond."

And those best friends are proving that barking back really can help eliminate cancer.

Source: http://bigcountryhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=574112

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Will India hike import duty on Gold to 8% in the FY 2013 14 budget?

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): If the words of Chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation are anything to go by, India may hike import duty on gold from the current 6% to 8% to arrest the widening Current Account Deficit.

?There?s a feeling that the government is looking at increasing the duty again, maybe to 8 percent,? said Bachhraj Bamalwa, chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation to Bloomberg.

?The industry fears they may re-impose the excise tax, which was scrapped last year.? he added.

?We?re keeping our fingers crossed as any change will be bad for the industry,? said Bamalwa. ?We?ll be happy if the status quo is maintained.?

India govt is about to present the annual budget on Feb. 28.

Further hike in levy may cut imports by as much as 20% from 860 tons in 2012.

?By increasing the duty you are going to encourage smuggling,? Monal Thakkar, president of Amrapali Group, an importer, said by phone from Ahmedabad to Bloomberg News.

?India will either remain number one or number two importer.? he added.

Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/will-india-hike-import-duty-on-gold-to-8-in-the-fy-2013-14-budget-52988-3-52989.html

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Cool Toys You Never Knew Existed: 'American Werewolf in London,' 'The Thing,' 'Land of the Dead' and More from SOTA Toys!

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When we kicked of this new feature series last week, we showcased an impressive 18? sculpt of the big-screen demon Pumpkinhead by State of the Art Toys (SOTA for short), which is long discontinued, but relatively easy to come by for the time being. This week, we're expanding our scope to browse through the SOTA archives, where we found some beautiful large-scale renderings of classic monsters created for their ?Now Playing? line.?As the title implies, the Now Playing series is dedicated to horror movie icons, and there are some excellent anti-heroes, villains and monsters represented in their production line, many of which were released in 2006. One of the coolest is this 1/6 scale bust of Tim Curry as ?Darkness? from Ridley Scott's Legend:

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Horror heroes in the series include both mini-busts and full figures of Darkman released exclusively for Tower Records stores (the bust includes alternate faces, just like Darkman himself), and an impressive likeness of Troma's Toxic Avenger.

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Zombie fans will appreciate the SOTA's action figure line for George Romero's Land of the Dead, including the Big Daddy, Butcher and Blade zombies (the latter of course being a likeness of Tom Savini - see detail at top), with bloody chunks of their victims adorning the bases.

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The American Werewolf in London sculpts include creepy replicas of the dream-sequence Nazi werewolves, and of course a 1/6 scale bust of the title monster itself.

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Rounding out their prior Now Playing projects is my personal fave: a classic 1/6 scale model of the notorious ?Norris Head? from John Carpenter's The Thing...

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As with the Pumpkinhead figure, many of these are still available through online retailers and can be tracked down pretty easily, plus the prices are still pretty reasonable as of this writing. You can see more images from the Now Playing series in the SOTA archives, as well as news and pics of their latest and upcoming releases here.

Source: http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/cool-toys-you-never-knew-existed-american-werewolf-london-thing-land-dead-and-more

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Pebble E-Paper Smart Watch for iPhone and Android review

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’re probably familiar with the very successfully funded Pebble E-Paper Smart Watch for iPhone and Android?Kickstarter project.? I too got caught up in the hype and paid $115 last May 18th for the privilege of supporting this project.? After multiple missed ship dates, it [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/19/pebble-e-paper-smart-watch-for-iphone-and-android-review/

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Apple iPod Touch 64GB

The iPod continues to improve and the latest generation is also impressive. Sporting wireless connectivity, NIKE+ integration, retina display and more the iPod touch will be music to your ears. Purchase this brand new iPod using our layaway iPod payment plan.

Audio & Battery Stuff

• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Music playback time: Up to 40 hours when fully charged
• Video playback time: Up to 8 hours when fully charged
• Charging times: Fast charge in about 2 hours (80% capacity), full charge in about 4 hours

Display

• 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen display with Multi-Touch IPS technology
• Retina display
• 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 pixels per inch
• 800:1 contrast ratio (typical)
• 500 cd/m2 max brightness (typical)
• Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

More Details
We could go on and list more details but lets face it, the iPod is a MP3 player that has most of the functionality of the iPhone. If you do want more details, we recommend you check out Apple's website at http://www.apple.com/ipod/

In the Box

• iPod Touch (64GB)
• Touch loop
• Earpods
• Lightning to USB Cable

Electrical Requirements

Works worldwide.

Purchasing an iPod via Layaway has never been this easy with GoLayBy!

Source: http://www.golayby.com/products/apple-ipod-touch-64gb.html

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Bisphenol A exposure in humans may be too low to cause problems by mimicking estrogen

Feb. 15, 2013 ? A controversial component of plastic bottles and canned food linings that have helped make the world's food supply safer has recently come under attack: bisphenol A. Widely known as BPA, it has the potential to mimic the sex hormone estrogen if blood and tissue levels are high enough. Now, an analysis of almost 150 BPA exposure studies shows that in the general population, people's exposure may be many times too low for BPA to effectively mimic estrogen in the human body.

The analysis, presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting by toxicologist Justin Teeguarden of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash., shows that BPA in the blood of the general population is many times lower than blood levels that consistently cause toxicity in animals. The result suggests that animal studies might not reflect the human BPA experience appropriately.

"Looking at all the studies together reveals a remarkably consistent picture of human exposure to BPA with implications for how the risk of human exposure is interpreted," said Teeguarden. "At these exposure levels, exposure to BPA can't be compared to giving a baby the massive dose of estrogens found in a birth control pill, a comparison made by others."

In addition to evaluating the likelihood of BPA mimicking estrogen in humans, Teeguarden also analyzed another set of BPA studies that looked at the chemical's toxicity in animals and cells in the lab. These 130 studies are significant as a group because they refer to the exposures as "low dose," implying they are very relevant to human exposures.

According to his analysis, however, the "low doses" actually span an immense range of concentrations, a billion-fold. In addition, only a small fraction of the exposures in these self-described "low dose" studies are in the range of human exposures, from 0.8 percent to 7 percent depending on the study.

"The term low-dose cannot be understood to mean either relevant to human exposures or in the range of human exposures. However, this is in fact what it has come to mean to the public, as well as many in the media," said Teeguarden.

Analysis of 150 Exposure Studies

The first analysis covered 30,000 individuals, including women and infants, in 19 countries. Human blood concentrations were calculated multiple ways using many kinds of exposure data.

Teeguarden looked to see if BPA concentrations were sufficiently high to be a significant source of estrogen-like activity in the blood. Researchers have long known that BPA can bind to the same proteins that estrogen does -- called estrogen receptors -- when estrogen is doing its job in the body. However, in most cases, BPA does so much more weakly than estrogen. To trigger biological effects through receptors, BPA concentrations have to be high enough in the blood to overcome that weakness.

"Systematically testing the estrogenicity, or the bioactivity of BPA at the part per trillion concentrations we expect in human blood would seem the most scientific way to substantiate or refute this conclusion," said Teeguarden.

Teeguarden analyzed the data in these studies using multiple independent approaches applied systematically to the data from thousands of individuals. The results showed that human blood levels of BPA are expected to be too far below levels required for significant binding to four of the five key estrogen receptors to cause biological effects.

Teeguarden's analysis also confirmed the findings of many academic and government scientists that biologically active BPA is at such low concentrations in the blood that it is beneath toxicologists' current ability to detect it, raising questions about the role of sample contamination in studies reporting high levels of BPA.

Analysis of 130 Toxicity Studies

In this analysis, Teeguarden compiled all the BPA studies that included the term "low dose" as it referred to human exposure by using such terms as "low-concentration," "environmentally relevant," or "human exposure." From the 130 studies found, he and PNNL biologist Sesha Hanson-Drury compiled all the doses that were actually used in the studies.

The results showed that a small fraction of the "low doses" used in these studies are within the range of human exposures, with the vast majority being at least 10 to thousands of times higher than what humans are exposed to daily. In addition, the range of concentrations spans from upwards of 10 grams per kilogram of weight per day down to 100 picograms per kilogram of weight per day (a picogram is one millionth of a gram).

"Unfortunately, the low dose moniker has been used by some to promote the importance of selected toxicity studies, for example, in arguments to ban BPA," said Teeguarden. "For BPA and all chemicals, we need more accurate language to present these findings so the public and scientists in other disciplines can understand how human exposures compare to exposures in laboratory studies reporting toxicity."

Justin Teeguarden, Ph.D., is a senior scientist in the Systems Toxicology and Exposure Science group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This work was entirely supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/9mZhuOTOqQg/130217084541.htm

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Afghan female troops train for night raids

Kabul --

The Afghan army is training female special forces to take part in night raids against insurgents, breaking new ground in an ultraconservative society and filling a vacuum left by departing international forces.

"If men can carry out this duty, why not women?" asks Lena Abdali, a 23-year-old Afghan soldier who was one of the first women to join one of the special units in 2011.

Night raids have long been a divisive issue between Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who doesn't want foreign troops entering Afghan homes, and the U.S.-led coalition that says the raids are essential to capturing Taliban commanders.

Many Afghans, however, have complained that the house raids are culturally offensive. Having male troops search Afghan females is taboo. So is touching a family's Quran, the Muslim holy book, or entering a home without being invited. Another focus of anger has been the disregard for privacy and Afghan culture because women and children are usually home during the raids.

The raids now are conducted jointly by U.S. and Afghan forces, but the female Afghan special forces soldiers play an important role. Their job: round up women and children and get them to safety while guarding against the potential dangers of female suicide bombers or militants disguised in women's clothes.

The missions have taken on increasing importance, and the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition have stepped up training of the Afghan special forces as international troops prepare to end their combat mission in 23 months.

Afghan women have been part of their nation's security forces for years, but they didn't start being recruited for the special forces until 2011. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said more than 1,000 women were in the army - a small fraction of the total force of 195,000.

Col. Jalaluddin Yaftaly, the commander of the joint Special Unit of the Afghan National Army, said villagers don't like foreign forces to carry out operations in their homes, but they have welcomed the Afghan special forces units and cooperated with them in many operations.

"We were faced with so many problems when we didn't have female special forces in our units," Yaftaly said. "Female special forces are quite useful."

Source: http://feeds.sfgate.com/click.phdo?i=468606745fc03021940b12005d70edb3

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Cyprus goes to polls to elect president to seal bailout deal

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriots went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president who will have to take responsibility for negotiating a financial rescue to save the small island nation from a bankruptcy that would reignite the euro zone debt crisis.

Cyprus' worst economic crisis in four decades has blown away the island's divided status as the main issue in this year's elections, which conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades is tipped to win.

Polls show Anastasiades, the most pro-bailout figure among the main presidential contenders, has a 15-point lead over his closest leftist rival, Stavros Malas, but may not secure the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off a week later.

Election officials said voting started without a glitch at 0500 GMT (0700 Nicosia time). Final results were expected by 1830 GMT (2030 Nicosia time).

The quandary posed to just over half a million voters facing a grim economic future featured prominently in newspaper headlines. "The country has already entered a bleak era, and it is uphill from here," the daily Phileleftheros said in an editorial.

Anastasiades has promised a quick agreement with the European Union and International Monetary Fund on a bailout, a deal investors want thrashed out before the island's troubles derail progress made in shoring up the rest of the euro zone's periphery.

Nailing down a deal has proven tricky because almost any way of solving the crisis - from restructuring debt to slapping losses on banks - could set a precedent for other troubled states and hurt fragile confidence in financial markets.

Fears that the island will never be able to pay back its debt and German misgivings about its commitment to fighting money laundering have further complicated talks on a rescue, which have dragged on for eight months.

"Everything is at stake, like it has never been before," said Kyriakos Iacovides, publisher of the Cyprus Mail newspaper.

"The country must be rebuilt, Cyprus must be rehabilitated in the EU. We need a strong leadership to rebuild the country."

Cyprus sought financial help last year after its banks suffered huge losses from Greece's sovereign debt restructuring. The island, which has been shut out of international financial markets since May 2011, needs about 17 billion euros in aid - a sum worth as much as its entire economy.

JADED

The last polls showed Anastasiades with just over 40 percent share of the vote, comfortably ahead of Communist-backed Malas and the other main challenger, independent George Lillikas.

"What we have are two weak candidates against a potentially unpopular figure. Anastasiades is a polarising figure in Cypriot politics, respected but not necessarily liked," said Hubert Faustmann, an associate professor at the University of Nicosia.

"The economy has dominated, and this must be one of the dullest election campaigns I have ever seen. Somehow it hasn't electrified people, they could be jaded."

Anger at unemployment hitting a record high of 15 percent has cast a pall over campaigning, where rival candidates have jockeyed to cast themselves as the best man to steer Cyprus through its troubles.

Anastasiades has run on a slogan declaring "The crisis needs a leader," while Malas has retorted with a campaign proclaiming "The crisis needs a credible leader."

Reuniting the island after its division nearly 40 years ago into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north and the internationally recognized southern state run by Greek Cypriots has lagged far behind as an election issue.

Cypriots, still coming to grips with a cocktail of pay cuts, tax hikes and benefit cuts imposed last year in preparation for a bailout, have been little impressed with any of the rhetoric.

"Things will get better for Cyprus with a stronger leadership," said Marios Ioannou, 28, private sector employee.

"But people are angry with politicians and bankers for getting us in this mess. A lot of my friends have lost their jobs. This isn't the Cyprus we knew."

(Writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by Stephen Powell and Todd Eastham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-goes-polls-elect-president-seal-bailout-deal-055823841.html

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Simulation helps scientists better understand the origin of our solar system

Feb. 13, 2013 ? Simulations boost the significance of image and measurement data from space missions: based on the example of an asteroid, Bernese astrophysicist Martin Jutzi shows how collisions with other celestial bodies can be reconstructed and that even the internal structure of so-called protoplanets can be described. These models help to understand the development of our solar system.

Four and a half billion years ago, dust particles in a giant, dusty gas cloud combined to form increasingly large clumps. These collided, aggregated and thus grew into planets. Between the planetary orbits of Mars and Jupiter, however, hundreds of thousands of smaller fragments remained. They formed the so-called asteroid belt and hardly changed their composition since then. Asteroids thus contain an inestimable amount of information on the origin of our solar system. In research, particular attention is paid to an asteroid called Vesta: with a diameter of around 500 kilometres, it is one of the three largest asteroids and considered to be a protoplanet. Moreover, it is the only known asteroid to have an earth-like structure -- with a core, mantle and crust.

Computer simulation reconstructs collisions between asteroids

Using a three-dimensional computer simulation, Martin Jutzi from the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the University of Bern has now accurately reconstructed how Vesta collided with other asteroids twice over a billion years ago. The models show that the protoplanet owes its elliptical shape to these collisions and that they also scarred its surface structure. The simulations also enable detailed conclusions on the composition and properties of Vesta's interior to be drawn for the first time, which helps us to better understand the evolution of the solar system.

After all, the formation of planets largely depends upon collisions between celestial bodies. "Our method facilitates especially informative analyses of image and measurement data from space missions," says Martin Jutzi. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the EPFL, France and the USA, features as the cover story in the February 14 issue of Nature.

Models uncover hidden secrets

Previously, observations with the Hubble Space Telescope provided initial evidence of a giant crater at Vesta's south pole. Then, in 2007, NASA's "Dawn" probe began its space voyage into the solar system's past. Starting in the summer of 2011, it closely orbited Vesta for one year. Images from within the visible range as well as other measurement data provided information on the asteroid's topography and the composition of the minerals that are visible on its surface. It became apparent that the crater observed by Hubble at Vesta's south pole is actually composed of two partially overlapping basins.

Based on this information, the computer simulations by Jutzi's team now demonstrate exactly how two consecutive impacts of celestial bodies led to the formation of the observed overlapping basins, which almost span the entire southern hemisphere of Vesta. The models show the size (66 and 64 kilometres in diameter), velocity (5.4 kilometres per second) and the impact angle of the bodies that collided with Vesta. This reveals a lot about the properties of the objects that were near the protoplanet a billion years ago.

The final images of the simulations closely resemble the shape and topography of Vesta's southern hemisphere as observed by the Dawn mission. The models even accurately reproduce the spiral-shaped structures inside the youngest crater which are visible on images from the Dawn mission. "This shows how reliable our method is," rejoices Jutzi. The researchers assume that the models also provide information about previously hidden features of Vesta. For instance, the simulations reveal that the material exposed by the impacts comes from depths of up to 100 kilometres. "Based on the sort and distribution of this material we are able to precisely reconstruct the various inner layers of Vesta," explains Philippe Gillet, Direktor des Earth and Planetary Science Laboratory der EPFL.

"The fact that we can now look inside such protoplanets makes entirely new perspectives in the research on the history of our solar system possible," says Jutzi.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Bern.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. M. Jutzi, E. Asphaug, P. Gillet, J.-A. Barrat, W. Benz. The structure of the asteroid 4?Vesta as revealed by models of planet-scale collisions. Nature, 2013; 494 (7436): 207 DOI: 10.1038/nature11892

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/7uxbp91_2jc/130213132013.htm

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Georgia?s Cherokee Tribune welcomes new sports editor

Emily Horos has joined the Cherokee Tribune as a sports editor. Most recently, she was a sports writer for the paper?s sister publication, the Marietta Daily Journal. Horos also worked on the editorial staffs of the Bradenton Herald, Seneca Journal and Clemson Messenger.

The Cherokee Tribune has a circulation of approximately 4,400. It serves the Cherokee County, Ga., area.

Emily Horos
Cherokee Tribune
(770) 479-1441 x625
ehoros(at)cherokeetribune.com
www.cherokeetribune.com

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/invocus/~3/pibBKp73AYw/

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Why Should My Business Adopt Cloud Computing ... - Virtual Internet

Whether you own a small or large business, it is probably worth keeping up to date and noting relevant technology trends. One of the most recent of these trends is managed cloud hosting. If you?re not familiar with the term, that won?t be a problem: It is simply a term used for using the internet to store data, thus making it easily accessible and secure. In order to embark on the road towards managed hosting however, you?ll have to choose a cloud provider and entrust them with your business data. What factors should you take into account before using a cloud provider?

Obsolete IT Infrastructure?

If you are in the process of considering the need for an IT restructure, be it the overhaul or replacement of servers, hiring of more staff and so on, you may seriously want to think about taking on cloud computing. The advantage to having managed servers is that you effectively don?t need to have any servers (although most companies have an on-site server too) and therefore you won?t need to update, maintain and replace expensive equipment. This also means that there will be no more need for expensive IT staff.

Safeguarding Data

Managed servers also ensure that your data is kept secure. If for instance a fire, flood or burglary occurred; your information, the website you are hosting and so on will still be accessible and running. In such instances, not employing managed hosting would cause severe financial damage both long term and short. Even the aversion of a power cut ensures that your site stays on line and web traffic flows smoothly. You may therefore want to use managed cloud hosting if you live in a high-risk area.

Vulnerable To Traffic Surges?

If your business is growing, and especially if it is in an industry which is vulnerable to visitor surges, you should opt for managed hosting. The bottom line is that managed hosting will save you money and improve efficiency. Not only does a subscription mean that you?re getting the data and server space you want, when you need it, it also means that the foundations for the business to expand, without needing to expand the number of fixed servers or employ more staff to look after them.

Source: http://www.vi.net/blog/2013/02/why-should-my-business-adopt-cloud-computing/

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The Apple Dick Tracy iWatch leaks: Why now ... - Fortune Tech

Corning's bendable Willow glass

FORTUNE -- In case you hadn't noticed, there's been a lot of buzz in the tech press over the past two weeks about the wrist watch-size computer Apple (AAPL) may or may not be preparing for release, culminating over the weekend with a pair of stories in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal -- two of Apple's go-to outlets for leaks from within the company.

The idea, if you missed MG Siegler's modest wish list or?Bruce Tognazzini's?extravagant speculations, is that a device on your wrist would be paired with your smartphone and save you the trouble of having to go to your pocket to check the time, see who's texting you, find an address etc. The Times -- citing unnamed sources -- reported that Apple is developing a smartwatch around Corning's flexible, paper-thin Willow Glass. The Journal added that the company has been talking to Foxconn -- its chief Asian manufacturer -- about building such a thing.

I've got no inside knowledge about what Apple is up to, but I assume that where there's this much smoke, there's probably some kind of fire.

But why now? Why these seemingly coordinated leaks to the Times and the Journal?

I've got five theories, offered in the order of least to most likely:

• To deflect attention from Google Glass. On January 29, Google?(GOOG) gave a secret briefing to developers about writing applications for a different kind of wearable computer -- one that feeds information to you through a tiny screen above your eye. Perhaps. But Apple is a pretty insular company that doesn't usually react so quickly to what the competition is up to.
• To boost Apple's stock price. Wall Street hammered Apple last fall after Tim Cook promised a spate of exciting new products and delivered only incremental improvements on its existing product line. An iWatch might be just the thing to prove to investors that Apple hasn't lost its disruptive mojo. That may be, but since when did Apple care so much about its share price??
• To deflect attention from iTV. For several years, it's been assumed that Apple's next target for disruption would the TV industry. But that's hard to do if Hollywood won't play ball. Apple could get much higher profit margins from a smartwatch without having to negotiate any tricky content deals.?All true, but why choose this moment to break Apple's rule about discussing unannounced products??
• To deflect attention from the cash distribution story. Apple's beleaguered shares staged a modest rally last week on signs that the company was about to give shareholders some of its $137 billion in excess cash. If that payback is going to be delayed, or will be smaller than investors have been led to expect, Apple might want to soften the blow. Again, since when has Apple cared so much about what investors think?
• To dampen runaway iWatch speculation. If you read the story posted last week by Bruce Tognazzini, a long-time Apple interface designer, you might think that there is almost nothing this watch can't do. His version of an iWatch knows all your passwords, has a near-field communications chip for making payments, monitors your vital signs, knows how far you've walked and how many laps you've swum, can find your missing car keys, predict the weather, fix what's wrong with Apple Maps and much, much more. The best part: You never have to take it off for recharging because its batteries are refreshed over the airwaves. Apple might very well want to warn us that its iWatch plans are considerably more modest.?

Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/11/apple-iwatch-smartwatch-rumors/

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Monday, May 13, 2013 - 7th Annual West Michigan Sports Commission Luncheon with Brady Hoke

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://events.grnow.com/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=217970

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Diagnosed with brain cancer: An insurer adds to the nightmare

When my 40-year old sister was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, her one, overriding wish as the days ticked down was to die in her own home with her husband Steve and me sitting next to her, eating meals she liked that we cooked as opposed to coping with the institutional food she was being served, and for her three beloved cats to be lying on the bed with her.

It was a simple enough request, one that would comfort the patient and save medicine a lot of money.

There wasn?t anything that could be done for Janice medically so she didn?t need hospitalization. Because the tumor was on the brain?s interior, surgery was impossible and radiation did nothing to stop its growth. About all that her family practitioner and oncologist could do was show us how to manage her pain when it came.

Her hospital stay was costing more than $10,000 a day, and I was helping pay non-covered costs. Yet when Janice told her HMO she wanted to die at home and asked it to pick up the cost of a daily visit by a visiting nurse or health care aide, she was turned down cold because, the insurer said, her group policy didn?t cover the expense. The ludicrousness of the situation didn?t occur to the HMO: It was willing to pay up to one hundred thousand dollars for her to die in a hospital sometime over the next ten or 15 days, all that she was expected to live, but it wouldn?t cover a couple thousand for daily home care so she could die peacefully in her own bed.

For Janice, Steve and me, this simply added to the nightmare we were living. Only four months earlier, my sister was a healthy woman who held a junior executive position, volunteered in her community, puttered in her gardens, spent time with friends and family, and played with the cats. When she started feeling ?off,? her doctor couldn?t figure out what was wrong and tested her for everything from Lyme?s Disease to fibromyalgia and most kinds of ailments in between. Running out of ideas, she sent Janice to an oncologist in sheer desperation. The specialist had her own difficulty finding what was causing Janice problems. Brain cancer was discovered almost by accident because its source was hidden from the battery of almost daily tests she was enduring; brain cancer almost always begins somewhere else in the body. In the end, the cancer?s origin never was located.

Now, just ten weeks after being diagnosed, Janice was preparing to die yet her HMO was making a painful situation as difficult as possible.

I phoned Janice?s physician who was furious and promised to call the HMO. I recall her saying, ?Not only is this best for the patient, it?s a whole lot cheaper for the HMO!?

Meanwhile, nearly beside himself with rage, Steve called Janice?s employer and begged for help. Fortunately, she worked for a company consistently rated as a ?best employer? in Minneapolis, the city where they lived. When the head of the benefits department notified a senior vice president what was happening, the executive swung into action.

First, he called Steve and assured him that if the HMO wouldn?t cover the cost, the company would. Then he phoned the insurer and raised holy hell, insisting that the business had been paying for a top of the line benefit plan and if the HMO would not take care of Janice?s needs, they would find a new carrier when the policy was up for renewal. But the HMO refused to relent.

In the end, Janice got to come home for her final eight days, thanks to the employer that covered the cost of a visiting RN who showed up every morning and the health care assistant who arrived each afternoon. She died quietly one afternoon in late July, four days after her birthday. Steve was holding her hand as I read a book aloud to her, and the three cats were sleeping next to Janice as she passed away.

I said a painful goodbye to my kid sister that afternoon and recalled holding her in my lap the day she was brought home as an infant. And I cursed a pound foolish insurer that did its best to increase everyone?s suffering in Janice?s final days.

James Bliwas is a winner of the?2012 Costs of Care Essay Contest.

Source: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/02/diagnosed-brain-cancer-insurer-adds-nightmare.html

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Obama to propose 1 percent pay hike for federal employees (Washington Post)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/283717426?client_source=feed&format=rss

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How to Jailbreak Your iPhone or iPad

So you must have heard about jailbreaking by now. Maybe you already hopped right on the long-awaited iOS 6.1 jailbreak for iPhone 5, or maybe jailbreaking is just something you're vaguely aware of. Now is as good a time as any to dive in head first, and you should consider giving it a shot. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/S4_FhhYdezw/how-to-jailbreak-your-iphone-or-ipad

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Switched On: A handset for human hands

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

In the golden era of the PDA, many debated whether future consumers would adopt a one-device or two-device approach. The two-devicers argued that the connectivity for phone calls would come from a simple, bare-bones cellphone while all the fancy data management would occur on a Bluetooth-tethered, PDA-like device unbound from cellular contracts. The Handspring Treo was for many the first converged-device handset that accomplished key tasks well enough to make a convincing case for handset integration, and the smartphone revolution ensued.

The first iPhone featured a large screen for its time but not a much larger footprint than its contemporary competitors such as the BlackBerry or Treo. Competitors asked if a 3.5-inch handheld palette was good for consuming web content, wasn't a 4.3-inch display -- like that on the HTC EVO 4G better? Screen sizes and attendant resolution continued to grow with the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II and culminating in the 6.1-inch Huawei Ascend Mate that debuted at CES. Samsung and Huawei are joined by LG, Sony and HTC in offering or announcing a 5-inch or larger Android phone. The latter joined the pocket-stuffing ranks with the 5-inch Droid DNA on Verizon, available in China as the HTC Butterfly.

Filed under: Handhelds

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Zmv3WXBM96Q/

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Love Of Family & Home: Valentine's Day Yarn Wreath with Felt ...

Hey Friends!!

I hope y'all are having a great weekend!

This week wraps-up the last week of our "Dog Days of Winter" Challenges. The theme for this week's challenge is "Love It." That means we want to see all of your Valentine's Day related projects! It can be Valentine's Day decor, crafts, and/or recipes. I'm excited to share my project for the challenge with you today!?

My Valentine's Day Wreath.....

What do you think?!?

I know it's not the traditional Valentine's Day colors, but that's alright with me. Sometimes it's fun to change things up a bit, don't ya think?!

This wreath was super easy to make! I just started with a straw wreath that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. It was $3.99, but I used my 40% off coupon to purchase it. I bought a package of light gray yarn (also from Hob Lob) & just wrapped it around the straw wreath until it was completely covered. There is no need to take the plastic packaging off the straw wreath....just leave it in place!!

Then I got busy making these super fun felt roses to decorate the wreath. I just bought several different colors of felt at Hobby Lobby to make them.?

1. Start buy cutting a circle out of the felt. For larger roses, you'll want a large circle. For smaller roses, you'll need a small one. To give the look of petals, you can cut out of wavy pattern along the outside edge.

2. Then cut your circle in a spiral as shown in the picture above. Continue the wavy pattern throughout until you reach the center of the circle, which will be your flower base.?

3. Starting at the outside of the felt/circle, begin rolling your felt towards the center.

4. The more you roll it, the more it should start resembling a rose.?

5. When you get to the end, you will be left with the base at the center of the circle. Hot glue the felt rose to the base to secure it. If the base is wider than the rose itself, simply trim off any excess.?

To dress them up a bit, I hot glued a pearl to the center of each rose. This is completely optional. ?I used my leftover pearls from this project. Then I hot glued each rose to the wreath.?

Once I had all of my roses made, I decided to add a little bunting to the center of the wreath. I just used some cardstock & my cricut machine to cut out my triangles & the letters "XOXO".

You can secure the bunting to the wreath using straight pins and/or hot glue.?

Once my bunting was added, the wreath was ready for a little photoshoot....

I just hung my wreath using some pink & white polka dot ribbon that I found at Walmart. You can hang yours however you like!

So, that's it!! Easy peasy & super cute!! Or at least I think so! :)

Be sure to come back tomorrow to show off your Valentine's day creations!! We can't wait to see what you've been working on!!

Don't forget, if you link up on just one blog, your project will be seen on all NINE blogs!! So, get those projects completed & get your posts ready!!

If you don't have a blog, I would still?LOVE?for you to join in!! Share a picture of your project with me on my?Facebook Page! I will be sharing some of my favorites over the course of the week!

I hope you all have a beautiful Sunday!!

Linking up here....
Before & After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick
Tutorials & Tips Tuesday at?Home Stories A to Z
Get Your Craft On at?Today's Creative Blog
Frugal Friday at?The Shabby Nest
Link Up With Me at?Liz Marie Blog
Weekend Wrap-Up Party at?Tatertots and Jello

Don't Miss Out -?DIY projects, home decorating, crafts & more by checking out?my subscribe page.

Source: http://www.loveoffamilyandhome.net/2013/02/valentines-day-yarn-wreath-felt-rose-tutorial.html

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Physical therapy booms with aging, active seniors - The Seattle Times

SPOKANE, Wash. ?

One of Brian Cronin's physical therapy clients is in her 80s and is still skiing. Another is middle-aged, recovering from a water skiing injury. Another is a middle-school-age girl with Olympic gymnast dreams.

With an aging, yet increasingly active population, Cronin has seen his business and the physical therapy industry expand.

As baby boomers age, health care is changing to accommodate.

The Spokesman-Review reports (http://is.gd/d284OF) that with millions of uninsured Americans poised to gain coverage through federal health reforms, professionals in health care fields like physical therapy are facing the challenge of meeting the needs of more and more patients.

Some worry that not enough people will be trained and licensed to keep up, especially as health reform awards insurance coverage to patients.

---

Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com

Source: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020282223_apwaagingbutactive.html

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Deal of the Day: Seidio 3500mAh Extended Battery w/ NFC for Galaxy S3

The Feb. 1 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Seidio 3500mAh Extended Battery w/ NFC for Galaxy S3. Tired of running out of battery life when you need it the most? When you can’t get to an outlet, this high quality NFC battery will keep you moving forward all day. It utilizes a premium Japanese cell to ensure the highest level of safety and performance, offering up to 60% more battery life than your stock battery. Comes with a replacement battery door.

The Seidio 3500mAh Extended Battery w/ NFC is available for just $54.00, 28% off today only. Grab yours while supplies last!

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/wevVtmc2-b4/story01.htm

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Gillmor Gang Live 02.01.13. (TCTV)

Gillmor Gang - Keith Teare, Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor. Recording has concluded for today..

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/pHYeXpY8gaY/

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CBS to air special on Houston's death and Grammys

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? CBS says it will air a behind-the-scenes look at how Whitney Houston's death affected the 2012 Grammy Awards.

The hour-long special, titled "The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family," is scheduled for Feb. 9, the eve of this year's music awards.

Last year, Grammy producers learned of Houston's death less than 24 hours before the ceremony. The CBS program recounts the scramble to pay tribute to the pop star and revamp the show.

The special includes interviews with LL Cool J, Jennifer Hudson, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and other artists.

The 48-year-old Houston was found drowned last February in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub. Coroner's officials ruled her death accidental, with heart disease and cocaine use contributing factors.

The Feb. 10 Grammys will air on CBS.

___

Online:

http://www.grammy.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-31-US-Grammy-Film-Houston/id-5e9fcd3db53c40f580550b262b517d8b

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N.C. Gov. McCrory's comments link college funding to employment

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Should public universities and colleges in North Carolina be judged and funded primarily by how well they groom students for the job market?

Yes they should, Gov. Pat McCrory said this week in a radio interview, offering pointed criticism for college courses he says offer no path to jobs.

Citing the need for more engineers, technicians and mechanics, McCrory said he has instructed his staff to draft legislation that could alter the way the schools are funded, ?not based on how many butts in seats, but how many of those butts can get jobs.?

His comments drew fire from UNC system faculty and others who said higher education should teach more than job-specific skills.

But in interviews with business leaders and educators Wednesday, both themes kept emerging: In a job market struggling to recover, students with specific job skills ? whether from a community college or a four-year university ? stand the best chance of being hired. Yet it?s also important to turn out students who can think critically and be prepared to adapt their skills in a world of rapid change.

Melissa McGuire, director and co-owner of Sherpa LLC, a Charlotte company that helps connect job seekers and employers, says the global economy needs some people with a liberal arts background, some with trade skills and some with advanced degrees.

?Liberal arts is a long-term way of looking at your future, instead of a short-term, get-a-job-immediately kind of way,? she said. But today?s job market makes specialization more important, she said. Companies that once hired several hundred per year and looked for candidates with varied education backgrounds, now might only have a handful of openings ? and they?re looking for specialists.

?People get more specific in this economy,? McGuire said. ?And while the liberal arts is a wonderful education background to have, it isn?t specific to the task needed. (Companies) are really going to hunker down for who exactly fits that role. In a game of inches like this, when the economy isn?t as robust as it could be, you want to have an education that?s specific to what the companies are hiring for.?

Sometimes they?re looking for college graduates with expertise in engineering, informational technology or computer programming. And other times, they need the type of skills only a community college training program can provide.

That?s the case for Siemens AG, which operates Siemens Energy Inc.?s $350 million gas turbine in Charlotte. The company has hired close to 800 people in the last two years and has grown to be the second-largest employer in the Charlotte region?s growing energy cluster, after Duke Energy.

Mark Pringle, director of operations for Siemens? Charlotte plant, said the company?s partnerships with UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College have helped the company hire well-trained personnel. UNCC engineering students fill many of Siemens? white-collar jobs, and CPCC students are trained specifically to fill many of Siemens? blue-collar roles.

Tony Zeiss, president of CPCC, sees working with companies as core to the school?s mission.

?We?re facing one of the greatest skills gaps in America?s history,? Zeiss said. ?Our job is to reach out, out to ... companies, try to find candidates for jobs, and get them the skills they need. If we?re not performing, frankly we shouldn?t be funded.?

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/31/3209847/nc-gov-mccrorys-comments-link.html

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