? A report by the National Center for Policy Analysis?has investigated how much baby boomers are spending on things like education, entertainment and clothing, and how that has changed over the past 20 years.
?For a number of years now, retirement and financial experts have bemoaned the fact that baby boomers and others who should be thinking about retirement saving are nowhere near ready to retire,? Pamela Villarreal of NCPA said in the summary of the report.
?Some blame the failure of 401(k) and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) retirement plans to fill in the gaps left by elimination of corporate pensions. Others argue that American adults of all ages are simply not saving enough.?
Education
The rising cost of education is taking its toll on boomers. From 1990 to 2010, education expenditures jumped 80% for 45 to 54 year olds and 22% for 55 to 64 year olds.
Some individuals may be carrying debts over while others may be furthering their education later in life. More likely, the report said, is that baby boomers have some of their finances tied up in helping their children pay for their college expenses and deal with loans.
Healthcare
Taking into account both out-of-pocket expenses and insurance premiums, health care expenditures rose 30% for 45 to 54 year olds and 21% for 55 to 64 year olds. Insurance premiums nearly doubled for both age groups.
?This reflects the growth of health care spending, which has essentially wiped out the gains in median family income over the past decade,? Villarreal said.
Helping Grown Children
More than half, 59%, of parents who had an 18 to 39 year old son or daughter were spending money to support their adult child. Of that 59% some were paying living expenses (48% of expenditures), transportation costs (41%), spending money (29%), medical bills (28%), and paying back loans (16%).
Mortgage Debt
In the last two decades, expenditures on principal, mortgage interest, taxes, maintenance and insurance rose 25%. For those between the ages of 55 and 64, half of the increase was due to rising interest expenditures, the report said, even though mortgage interest rates have fallen over time.
?The portion of income they spend on mortgage interest increased 47%, from 4.3% to 6.3%,? Villarreal said.
The report speculates that the increase may be due to the rate at which home prices outpaced growth before the 2008 collapse.
Entertainment
Baby boomers seem to be cutting back on their bills here, according to NCPA:
*Food purchases, including spending at restaurants, fell 18% for 45 to 54 year olds and 20% for 55 to 64 year olds.
*Household furnishings fell nearly one third for 45 to 54 year olds and dropped one-fourth among the 55 to 64 range.
*Clothing expenses fell the most dramatically, down 42% for 45 to 54 year olds and 70% for the 55 to 64 year olds. (NCPA attributes this drop in part to a decrease in labor costs that brought down prices of apparel.)
Falling Income
Income median income for 45 to 54 year olds peaked at $74,457 in 1999 and has since fallen to $62,485 (correlated to the 2008 recession).
Income peaked for 45 to 64 year olds at $60,345 in 2007 and has since fallen to $56,575 in 2010.
?This difference is likely due to the fact that 45 to 64 year olds hold more income in stocks; thus stock market volatility has affected their capital gains and dividends, particularly during the 2000s,? the report said. ?
Business leaders have criticised the Scottish Government's plans to cut rates relief for empty shops and offices.
CBI Scotland said the proposal would increase the burden on companies by ?18m a year and put struggling firms at a disadvantage.
The government has said legislation on the issue is just one part of a plan to support town centres and that rates relief will remain more "generous" than in England.
It said the reforms would encourage landlords to let out empty properties and new rates discounts were being created for entrepeneurs who moved in.
CBI Scotland director Iain McMillan said: "This increase in taxation will make it more expensive for firms to invest and create jobs and is simply the wrong approach.
"Far from being an incentive to encourage the use of empty properties, for many firms this tax rise feels more like a stick than a carrot.
"After all, commercial premises are rarely left empty on purpose as they do not generate an income. Ultimately this proposal remains a tax on distress."
David Melhuish, director of the Scottish Property Federation, said: "Increasing further empty property rates costs is a major blow to businesses and investors.
"This will lead to further administrations as landlords struggle to pay an 80% increase in their vacant rates costs and will put pressure on ratepayers who cannot sublet or dispose of unwanted property assets.
"The increase in vacancy costs is also another deterrent to new commercial development. This is a dangerous tax rise at exactly the wrong time in the economic cycle."
Opposition to the government plan also came from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Scottish Retail Consortium, the Business Centre Association, the British Council of Shopping Centres and Scottish Land & Estates.
MSPs will vote on the third and final stage of the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties) (Scotland) Bill on Wednesday.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Scotland's town centres are blighted by empty buildings and our suggested reforms will encourage landlords to let out empty properties as well as create new rates discounts for entrepreneurs who take on these properties.
"Reform of empty property rates, which currently costs over ?150 million a year, is only part of our proposals to support town centres.
" The total relief package offered by Scottish Government now exceeds ?500 million per year and has either eliminated or substantially reduced business rates for three out of every five commercial properties."
LONDON -- The world's markets may believe that the worst of the financial crisis in Europe is over after three turbulent years, but those people who control the purse strings of the world's businesses are not breathing any easier.
An annual survey of finance directors from global business consultancy BDO finds that the crisis over too much government debt in Europe remains one of their key concerns ? so much so that Greece is considered a riskier place to invest and set up business in than war-torn Syria.
Car bomb in Damascus shatters feeble Syria cease-fire
Only Iran and Iraq are considered more risky than Greece, which also struggles to convince its international creditors that it deserves bailout loans to avoid bankruptcy and a possible euro exit.
"CFOs are becoming increasingly wary of Southern Europe, parts of which they now see as risky as the politically unstable countries of the Middle East," said BDO chief executive Martin Van Roekel.
Greece isn't the only country in the 17-country group that uses the euro in the survey's top 10 riskiest countries to invest in. Spain, which even as the eurozone's No. 4 economy with a long-standing relationship with Latin America, stands at No. 7.
Hate crimes increase, extreme right strengthens as Greece economy sinks
This reluctance by finance directors, particularly from fast-growing economies such as Brazil and China, to invest in Europe's indebted countries goes to the heart of the financial crisis. A major part of these countries' recovery is dependent on the private sector stepping in to fill the investment gap left by cuts in government spending.
While countries like Greece and Spain are struggling to convince international business that they are good places to invest, others are prospering. Despite recent signs of slowing down, China is considered the most attractive country for expansion, closely followed by the U.S. Others such as Brazil, India, Germany and the U.K. also feature in the top 10 of countries ripe for expansion.
PhotoBlog: 'Enough is enough': Striking Greeks clash with police
Overall, the survey from BDO found that CFOs around the world are finding it more difficult to conduct business abroad. As well as an uncertain global economic situation, they cite increased regulation and greater competition.
Van Roekel also said he is "surprised" that more finance directors haven't voiced concerns about the heavy debts of countries outside of Europe, notably Japan and the U.S.
With the Greek unemployment rate at 25 percent, anti-foreigner sentiment is growing. NBC News' Andy Eckardt meets politician Ilias Panagiotaros of the far-right Golden Dawn party and Ali Rahimi, an Afghan national who was attacked by a mob and told to leave Greece.
Though Japan's debt is worth around double the size of its economy, the country has managed to avoid stoking too many investor concerns because most of its self-financed by its own pension funds.
The U.S., which has the advantage of having the dollar, the world's reserve currency, has problems of its own and the winner of the presidential election, whoever it is, will soon have to grapple with the "fiscal cliff" ? a package of huge tax hikes and spending cuts that will automatically be introduced if the different arms of government don't come to a budget agreement.
BDO surveyed 1,000 CFOs from medium-sized companies currently planning foreign investment.
Read more coverage of Greece on nbcnews.com
Read more economic coverage from bottomline.com
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? In a new study out today, researchers used mice to identify a combination six naturally occurring bacteria that eradicate a highly contagious form of Clostridium difficile, an infectious bacterium associated with many hospital deaths. Three of the six bacteria have not been described before. This work may have significant implications for future control and treatment approaches.
The researchers found that this strain of C. difficile, known as O27, establishes a persistent, prolonged contagious period, known as supershedding that is very difficult to treat with antibiotics. These contagious 'supershedders' release highly resistant spores for a prolonged period that are very difficult to eradicate from the environment. Similar scenarios are likely in hospitals.
C. difficile can cause bloating, diarrhea, abdominal pain and is a contributing factor to over 2,000 deaths in the UK in 2011. It lives naturally in the body of some people where other bacteria in the gut suppress its numbers and prevent it from spreading. If a person has been treated with a broad-spectrum antibiotic such as clindamycin, our bodies' natural bacteria can be destroyed and the gut can become overrun by C. difficile. The aggressive strain of C. diff analysed in this study has been responsible for epidemics in Europe, North America and Australia.
"We treated mice infected with this persistent form of C. diff with a range of antibiotics but they consistently relapsed to a high level of shedding or contagiousness," says Dr Trevor Lawley, first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "We then attempted treating the mice using faecal transplantation, homogenized faeces from a healthy mouse. This quickly and effectively supressed the disease and supershedding state with no reoccurrence in the vast majority of cases."
"This epidemic caused by C. diff is refractory to antibiotic treatment but can be supressed by faecal transplantation, resolving symptoms of disease and contagiousness."
The team wanted to take this research one step further and isolate the precise bacteria that supressed C. diff. and restored microbial balance of the gut. They cultured a large number of bacteria naturally found in the gut of mice, all from one of four main groups of bacteria found in mammals. They tested many combinations of these bacteria, until they isolated a cocktail of six that worked best to suppress the infection.
"The mixture of six bacterial species effectively and reproducibly suppressed the C. difficile supershedder state in mice, restoring the healthy bacterial diversity of the gut," says Professor Harry Flint, senior author from the University of Aberdeen.
The team then sequenced the genomes of the six bacteria and compared their genetic family tree to more precisely define them. Based on this analysis, the team found that the mixture of six bacteria contained three that have been previously described and three novel species. This mix is genetically diverse and comes from all four main groups of bacteria found in mammals.
These results illustrate the effectiveness of displacing C. diff and the supershedder microbiota with a defined mix of bacteria, naturally found in the gut.
"Our results open the way to reduce the over-use of antibiotic treatment and harness the potential of naturally occurring microbial communities to treat C. difficile infection and transmission, and potentially other diseases associated with microbial imbalances," explains Professor Gordon Dougan, senior author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Faecal transplantation is viewed as an alternative treatment but it is not widely used because of the risk of introducing harmful pathogens as well as general patient aversion. This model encapsulates some of the features of faecal therapy and acts as a basis to develop standardized treatment mixture."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
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Journal Reference:
Trevor D. Lawley, Simon Clare, Alan W. Walker, Mark D. Stares, Thomas R. Connor, Claire Raisen, David Goulding, Roland Rad, Fernanda Schreiber, Cordelia Brandt, Laura J. Deakin, Derek J. Pickard, Sylvia H. Duncan, Harry J. Flint, Taane G. Clark, Julian Parkhill, Gordon Dougan. Targeted Restoration of the Intestinal Microbiota with a Simple, Defined Bacteriotherapy Resolves Relapsing Clostridium difficile Disease in Mice. PLoS Pathogens, 2012; 8 (10): e1002995 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002995
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2012) ? In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that those who suffer cardiac arrests in upper income, white neighborhoods are nearly twice as likely to get cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) than people who collapse in low-income, black neighborhoods.
"If you drop in a neighborhood that is 80 percent white with a median income over $40,000 a year, you have a 55 percent chance of getting CPR," said study author Comilla Sasson, MD, an emergency room physician at the University of Colorado Hospital. "If you drop in a poor, black neighborhood you have a 35 percent chance. Life or death can literally be determined by what side of the street you drop on."
The study was published October 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Sasson, an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, analyzed data from 14,225 patients who suffered cardiac arrests in 29 cities from 2005-2009. She and her colleagues used census data to determine which neighborhood the event took place in, its racial make-up and median household income. Low-income was considered at or below $40,000 a year.
"We found a direct relationship between the median household income and racial composition of a neighborhood and the probability that a person whose heart had stopped would have a bystander perform CPR," the study said. "This association was most apparent in low-income black neighborhoods where the odds of receiving bystander- initiated CPR were approximately 50 percent lower than in high-income, nonblack neighborhoods."
A number of reasons were identified for this disparity. One is the cost of CPR training. Another is a lack of outreach to minority neighborhoods by organizations that promote CPR. And there are also language barriers and cultural issues surrounding the learning and performance of CPR.
Part of the study involved conducting focus groups in poor neighborhoods. In one area of Columbus, OH residents had median incomes of $20,000.
"If they paid $250 for a CPR class you are talking about 15 percent of their salary," Sasson said. "When you look at the competing economic interests -- am I going to eat tonight or attend a CPR class? -- the answer is obvious."
Yet the consequences are also obvious.
According to the study, there are 300,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year with survival rates that vary wildly from 0.2 percent in Detroit to 16 percent in Seattle. The difference can be explained in large part to intervention with CPR.
"For every 20 who get CPR you get one life saved," Sasson said. "So you are talking about thousands of lives being saved here."
The problem isn't only about income. Even in wealthier black neighborhoods, those who had cardiac arrest were 23 percent less likely to receive CPR than in high-income nonblack neighborhoods.
And the study showed that regardless of the neighborhood where a cardiac arrest occurs, blacks and Hispanics were 30 percent less likely than whites to receive CPR from a bystander.
"This suggests that, neighborhood effects, though important, do not fully account for observed racial differences," the study said.
Sasson called for more targeted, low-cost CPR training efforts based on the income and racial composition of neighborhoods. She is also working on creating public health programs aimed at increasing bystander-given CPR in specific communities.
As a doctor who once practiced in a level one trauma center in Atlanta, Sasson has witnessed first-hand the human toll of this inequity.
"I would see African-Americans coming in and dying from cardiac arrests after having laid there for 10 minutes with no one delivering CPR," she said. "There is no reason in 2012 that this kind of disparity exists -- that you live or die depending on what side of the street you drop on. It is simply unacceptable."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Colorado Denver, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Comilla Sasson, David J. Magid, Paul Chan, Elisabeth D. Root, Bryan F. McNally, Arthur L. Kellermann, Jason S. Haukoos. Association of Neighborhood Characteristics with Bystander-Initiated CPR. New England Journal of Medicine, 2012; 367 (17): 1607 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1110700
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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.
CU-Boulder researchers uncover new target for cancer researchPublic release date: 24-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Emilia Costales emilia.costales@colorado.edu 303-735-3001 University of Colorado at Boulder
In a new paper released today in Nature, BioFrontiers Institute scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, Tom Cech and Leslie Leinwand, detailed a new target for anti-cancer drug development that is sitting at the ends of our DNA.
Researchers in the two scientists' laboratories collaborated to find a patch of amino acids that, if blocked by a drug docked onto the chromosome end at this location, may prevent cancerous cells from reproducing. The amino acids at this site are called the "TEL patch" and once modified, the end of the chromosome is unable to recruit the telomerase enzyme, which is necessary for growth of many cancerous cells.
"This is an exciting scientific discovery that gives us a new way of looking at the problem of cancer," Cech said. "What is amazing is that changing a single amino acid in the TEL patch stops the growth of telomeres. We are a long way from a drug solution for cancer, but this discovery gives us a different, and hopefully more effective, target."
Cech is the director of the BioFrontiers Institute, a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Co-authors on the study include postdoctoral fellows Jayakrishnan Nandakumar and Ina Weidenfeld; University of Colorado undergraduate student Caitlin Bell; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Senior Scientist Arthur Zaug.
Telomeres have been studied since the 1970s for their role in cancer. They are constructed of repetitive nucleotide sequences that sit at the ends of our chromosomes like the ribbon tails on a bow. This extra material protects the ends of the chromosomes from deteriorating, or fusing with neighboring chromosome ends. Telomeres are consumed during cell division and, over time, will become shorter and provide less cover for the chromosomes they are protecting. An enzyme called telomerase replenishes telomeres throughout their lifecycles.
Telomerase is the enzyme that keeps cells young. From stem cells to germ cells, telomerase helps cells continue to live and multiply. Too little telomerase produces diseases of bone marrow, lungs and skin. Too much telomerase results in cells that over proliferate and may become "immortal." As these immortal cells continue to divide and replenish, they build cancerous tumors. Scientists estimate that telomerase activation is a contributor in up to 90 percent of human cancers.
To date, development of cancer therapies has focused on limiting the enzymatic action of telomerase to slow the growth of cancerous cells. With their latest discovery, Cech and Leinwand envision a cancer drug that would lock into the TEL patch at chromosome ends to keep telomerase from binding there. This approach of inhibiting the docking of telomerase may be the elegant solution to the complex problem of cancerous cells. Cech, a biochemist, and Leinwand, a biologist, joined forces to work on their latest solution.
"This work was really made possible by the fact that our labs are so close," Leinwand said. "My lab was able to provide the cell biology and understanding of genetics, and Tom's lab allowed us to explore the biochemistry. We have a unique situation at BioFrontiers where labs and people comingle to make discoveries just like this."
###
Leinwand is the chief scientific officer of the BioFrontiers Institute and a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology.
Researchers at the University of Colorado have a significant history in developing marketable biotechnologies. Cech founded Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. Leinwand co-founded Myogen with CU professor Michael Bristow, Hiberna and recently launched MyoKardia.
The BioFrontiers Institute is an interdisciplinary institute housed at the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building at CU-Boulder. The institute is dedicated to training the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists through its IQ Biology Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology Ph.D. program. For more information about BioFrontiers visit http://biofrontiers.colorado.edu
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
CU-Boulder researchers uncover new target for cancer researchPublic release date: 24-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Emilia Costales emilia.costales@colorado.edu 303-735-3001 University of Colorado at Boulder
In a new paper released today in Nature, BioFrontiers Institute scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, Tom Cech and Leslie Leinwand, detailed a new target for anti-cancer drug development that is sitting at the ends of our DNA.
Researchers in the two scientists' laboratories collaborated to find a patch of amino acids that, if blocked by a drug docked onto the chromosome end at this location, may prevent cancerous cells from reproducing. The amino acids at this site are called the "TEL patch" and once modified, the end of the chromosome is unable to recruit the telomerase enzyme, which is necessary for growth of many cancerous cells.
"This is an exciting scientific discovery that gives us a new way of looking at the problem of cancer," Cech said. "What is amazing is that changing a single amino acid in the TEL patch stops the growth of telomeres. We are a long way from a drug solution for cancer, but this discovery gives us a different, and hopefully more effective, target."
Cech is the director of the BioFrontiers Institute, a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Co-authors on the study include postdoctoral fellows Jayakrishnan Nandakumar and Ina Weidenfeld; University of Colorado undergraduate student Caitlin Bell; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Senior Scientist Arthur Zaug.
Telomeres have been studied since the 1970s for their role in cancer. They are constructed of repetitive nucleotide sequences that sit at the ends of our chromosomes like the ribbon tails on a bow. This extra material protects the ends of the chromosomes from deteriorating, or fusing with neighboring chromosome ends. Telomeres are consumed during cell division and, over time, will become shorter and provide less cover for the chromosomes they are protecting. An enzyme called telomerase replenishes telomeres throughout their lifecycles.
Telomerase is the enzyme that keeps cells young. From stem cells to germ cells, telomerase helps cells continue to live and multiply. Too little telomerase produces diseases of bone marrow, lungs and skin. Too much telomerase results in cells that over proliferate and may become "immortal." As these immortal cells continue to divide and replenish, they build cancerous tumors. Scientists estimate that telomerase activation is a contributor in up to 90 percent of human cancers.
To date, development of cancer therapies has focused on limiting the enzymatic action of telomerase to slow the growth of cancerous cells. With their latest discovery, Cech and Leinwand envision a cancer drug that would lock into the TEL patch at chromosome ends to keep telomerase from binding there. This approach of inhibiting the docking of telomerase may be the elegant solution to the complex problem of cancerous cells. Cech, a biochemist, and Leinwand, a biologist, joined forces to work on their latest solution.
"This work was really made possible by the fact that our labs are so close," Leinwand said. "My lab was able to provide the cell biology and understanding of genetics, and Tom's lab allowed us to explore the biochemistry. We have a unique situation at BioFrontiers where labs and people comingle to make discoveries just like this."
###
Leinwand is the chief scientific officer of the BioFrontiers Institute and a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology.
Researchers at the University of Colorado have a significant history in developing marketable biotechnologies. Cech founded Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. Leinwand co-founded Myogen with CU professor Michael Bristow, Hiberna and recently launched MyoKardia.
The BioFrontiers Institute is an interdisciplinary institute housed at the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building at CU-Boulder. The institute is dedicated to training the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists through its IQ Biology Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology Ph.D. program. For more information about BioFrontiers visit http://biofrontiers.colorado.edu
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Did you know that PEN ? that venerable group that fights for freedom of expression worldwide ? is an acronym for Poets, Essayists, and Novelists?? I didn?t, until I attended the PEN Center USA Literary Awards Dinner last night in Beverly Hills (swanky hotel, delicious dinner.)?Way back in 1921, the founders of the world?s oldest international literary society acknowledged us nonfiction writers. Today PEN also includes historians, screenwriters, playwrights, graphic writers, journalists, editors, and translators. But somehow PENHSPGJET doesn?t trip lightly off the tongue, so PEN it remains.Founded in London, PEN?s first president was John Galsworthy, followed by H.G. Wells and J.B. Priestley.? In the wake of World War I, its first members hoped that ?if the writers of the world could learn to stretch out their hands to each other, the nations of the world could learn in time to do the same.? If only?? PEN American Center was born a year later in 1922 in New York, and PEN Center USA (for writers west of the Mississippi) set up shop in Los Angeles in 1943.? Today PEN is active in more than 100 countries.Though PEN began as a dinner club for literati, it became overtly political in the 1930s, and for decades has lobbied for release of writers imprisoned for speaking their minds. Lives have been saved and prisoners released thanks to PEN?s Writers in Prison Committee.An empty chair has been a PEN symbol for oppressed writer for decades now, and in 2011, to mark the 90th anniversary of PEN, Witness, a sculpture by Anthony Gormley, was installed at the British Library plaza in London.? Its simple lines speak volumes.In addition to its human rights mission, PEN gives out literary awards every year and that?s what took me to Beverly Hills.? I was a finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Children?s Literature (for my novel, All the World?s A Stage: A Novel in Five Acts,) and sat with the winner, Matthew Kirby (for Icefall.) ?Yes, fiction nabbed all the honors for children?s literature, but I was pleased to see that six of the twelve awards went to nonfiction writers: graphic literature, creative nonfiction, research nonfiction, journalism, poetry, and first book award.?
Children?s books are sometimes removed from shelves in U.S. schools and libraries, or not purchased at all. Self-censorship ? by writers and publishers ? of controversial issues has been discussed here and elsewhere. But we haven?t been thrown into prison, tortured, or killed. (I see on the PEN website that just last week, down the road in Tijuana, another journalist was murdered.)?
PEN recognizes our work.?I?d like to encourage my literary community to join PEN in their worthy work.?
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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older women who regularly drink green tea may have slightly lower risks of colon, stomach and throat cancers than women who make no time for tea, a large study suggests.
Researchers found that of more than 69,000 Chinese women followed for a decade, those who drank green tea at least three times a week were 14 percent less likely to develop a cancer of the digestive system.
That mainly meant lower odds of colon, stomach and esophageal cancers.
No one can say whether green tea, itself, is the reason. Green-tea lovers are often more health-conscious in general.
The study did try to account for that, said senior researcher Dr. Wei Zheng, who heads epidemiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.
None of the women smoked or drank alcohol regularly. And the researchers collected information on their diets, exercise habits, weight and medical history.
Even with those things factored in, women's tea habits remained linked to their cancer risks, Zheng noted.
Still, he said in an email, this type of study cannot prove cause-and-effect.
What's more, past studies have so far come to conflicting findings on whether green-tea drinkers really do have lower cancer risks. All of those studies are hampered by the fact that it's hard to isolate the effect of a single food in a person's diet on the risk of cancer.
Really, the only types of studies that can give strong evidence of cause-and-effect are clinical trials, wherein people would be randomly assigned to use green tea in some form, or not.
But few clinical trials have looked at whether green tea can cut cancer risk, and their results have been inconsistent, according to the National Cancer Institute.
There is "strong evidence" from lab research - in animals and in human cells - that green tea has the potential to fight cancer, Zheng's team writes in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Green tea contains certain antioxidant chemicals - particularly a compound known as EGCG - that may ward off the body-cell damage that can lead to cancer and other diseases.
For their study, Zheng and his colleagues used data from a long-running health study of over 69,000 middle-aged and older Chinese women. More than 19,000 were considered regular green-tea drinkers. (They had the beverage at least three times per week.)
Over 11 years, 1,255 women developed a cancer of the digestive system. In general, the risks were somewhat lower when a woman drank green tea often and for a long time.
For example, women who said they'd regularly had green tea for at least 20 years were 27 percent less likely than non-drinkers to develop any digestive system cancer. And they were 29 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer, specifically.
None of that proves you should start drinking green tea to thwart cancer.
Women who downed a lot of green tea in this study were also younger, ate more fruits and vegetables, exercised more and had higher-income jobs. The researchers adjusted their data for all those differences - but, they write, it's not possible to perfectly account for everything.
If you want to start drinking green tea, it's considered safe in moderate amounts, says the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. But the tea and its extracts do contain caffeine, which some people may need to avoid.
Green tea also contains small amounts of vitamin K, which means it could interfere with drugs that prevent blood clotting, like warfarin. Since many older people are on multiple medications, it's wise for them to talk with their doctors before using green tea as a health tonic.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/OZXHcT American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November, 2012.
Recently, HTC has officially launched their 5-inch smartphone, the Butterfly J. Now Sony is busy preparing themselves to counter-attack HTC?s new Android smartphone. Sony will be launching their new phablet so called Sony Odin. Take a peek on the device after the break.
The device was leaked by the folks from Android Police. The device on the picture is Sony Xperia C650X or also known as Odin. It features 5-inch smartphone will rock an impressive 1920 x 1080p full HD resolution (441 ppi) and Qualcomm?s 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and more. Price and availability tba.
Tracing its origin back to surfing in California, skateboarding has now become a popular activity. While it can be a fun and interesting pastime, it is important to know how to skateboard properly along with the different do?s, don?ts and tips and tricks to prevent unwanted injuries. One of the crucial things to remember before skateboarding is choosing the most appropriate skateboard.
Choosing a skateboard is no simple job. With the mind boggling variety of skateboards available in the present day, it becomes very difficult to choose a particular one, especially if you are a beginner. However, here are a few things to remember when going shopping for skateboards.
First and foremost remember that a hefty price tag always does not guarantee quality and a cheaper one is not a good one. Do not let the price of the skateboard be your only deciding criteria. When choosing a skateboard the top priority should be your skating style and how you skate, for instance when skateboarding, whether you prefer a long or broad board or a small one or big one.
Also your body weight should be taken into consideration. For those who have a small stature, a small board will work fine but if you are on the bigger side, it is always wiser to opt for a solid deck which will be able to give more support.
Before buying a skateboard, it is advisable to do a little research; go around a few different shops before deciding on one. This will give you a better idea about the styles and varieties available as well as allow you to compare the prices. You can also ask the opinion of the shopkeepers; most of the attendants are skaters or former skaters and can offer valuable advice which can help in your decision making; this is especially true if you are new to the world of skateboarding. Apart from deciding on the kind and width of board or deck you want, also take into consideration the quality of the wheels. Test a few of the boards to get a feel of which is the most suitable and appropriate one.
A clever way to get a good deal is to check the online stores. After deciding which skateboard you want, do a quick search and see whether it is available in the online stores at a lesser price. Remember, do not buy a skateboard in a hurry, spend a little bit of time deciding and choosing if you want a quality one.
This article from www.articlesite.eu was published in the Extreme,Recreation & Sports category by the author Paul.
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On October 26, 2009, we pushed the button and you saw (well, some of you saw) the brand new Oregon Music News. Three years and nearly 10,000 posts later, we?re still here.
To celebrate that amazing fact (amazing to us, too), we?re throwing our third birthday party and beginning our fourth year on Wednesday, October 24 at the?Secret Society Ballroom. It?s a free show with four bands and a birthday cake:
Sara Jackson-Holman?-?The Portland native who has a sizable national following. Here is ?Come By Fire? from her latest album?Cardiology.
Andy Stokes?- Soul singer who will revive the spirit of the Candlelight Lounge where he was a regular star for many years. Here he is at the Candlelight (now a left turn on the new MAX line) in October 2011. In this video: Butch Ford, keys. Rusty Cox, percussion/vocals. Ricky Varnardo, bass.
Kelley Shannon?s Jazz All-Stars?-?The Jazz singer/composer will bring pianist George Colligan, bassist Glen Moore, percussionist Bobby Torres, saxophonists Mary-Sue Tobin and David Valdez?plus a whole bunch more of Portland?s best Jazz performers.
Sad Little Men?-?The clever Indie duo of Dusty York and Aaron Lind will bring?energetic, percussion-oriented tunes, with catchy rhythms and hooks that have York switching back and forth between guitar and piano, as well as handling all of the writing and vocal duties.
Come celebrate with us at OMN?s third birthday party?on Wednesday, October 24 at the Secret Society Ballroom. Doors at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm, free, 21+.
Durango, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/23/2012 -- The forerunners in breast health education, Mammo Mamas, are preparing to launch their first interactive iPhone App this October.
According to recent studies by the American Cancer Society, more than 65% of women experience fears and doubts when it comes to getting their annual mammogram. With over 20 years experience as mammographers and clinic directors, Mammo Mama?s founder Joanna Atencio and Melanie Cruise want to change these statistics.
?We are using the latest technology in order to spread awareness and create an online community where people can come to get the facts about mammography. Our iPhone/Andoid App puts news, doctors? advice, and support into your hands, literally, and makes it fun and interactive,? Atencio says.
In addition to providing news and tips about mammograph, the App will answer questions and concerns, provide access to personal results, and lead both men and women through the fears related to mammography.
About Mammo Mamas Mammo Mamas was created based on a passion for women's health and to meet a demand for answers and support about breast health and mammography. Passionate and professional, founders Joanna Atencio and Melanie Cruise are highly qualified mammographers with over 20 years of dedication to the field of Mammography and the love and care of their patients.
For more information and details, visit Mammo Mamas? website: www.mammomamas.com. Recently launched, the website is an extended version of the information that will be published on the APP.
For more information, contact Joanna Atencio at info@mammomamas.com or 970-749-4141.
Identifying your home or street from a Google Earth image may be tough enough, but what about your cosmic address? Turns out, fewer than 50 percent of adults ages 37 to 40 know that humans live in the spiral Milky Way galaxy.
That's according to a new report of more than 4,000 American adults who make up the core of Generation X.
"Knowing your cosmic address is not a necessary job skill, but it is an important part of human knowledge about our universe and ? to some extent ? about ourselves," study author Jon D. Miller said in a statement.
Miller is the director of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Beginning in 1986, with funding from the National Science Foundation, scientists have collected data about the lives and knowledge of Generation X.
In the latest installment of the study, Miller showed participants a Hubble Space Telescope image of a spiral galaxy and asked them to identify the picture. The participants were asked to identify the image first in an open-ended question and then in a multiple-choice setup. [Infographic: Our Milky Way Galaxy]
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Just 43 percent of participants gave an answer saying the image represented a galaxy like our own. And men had a leg up, with 53 percent of males and 32 percent of females nailing their cosmic location to some degree. Those with less than a high-school education fared the worst, with just 21 percent knowing our cosmic address, compared with 63 percent of those with doctorates or professional degrees who said the same.
"One of the factors that contributes to this educational difference is exposure to college-level science courses," Miller said. "The United States is unique in its requirement that all college students complete one year of college science courses as part of a general education requirement."
Though four out of five participants indicated they had seen this type of space-telescope image before, often online, 60 percent said this was the first time they took a careful look at such an image.
Those who correctly identified the sparkly swirl as a spiral galaxy like the one we live in were more likely than the "cosmically lost" participants to agree with the statements:
"When I see images like this, I am reminded of the vastness of the universe" (70 percent versus 53 percent).
"Images like this show how small and fragile planet Earth is in the context of the universe" (58 percent versus 44 percent).
"Seeing images like this make me want to learn more about the nature of the universe" (27 percent versus 19 percent).
"It is very likely that there is intelligent life at many places in the universe" (39 percent versus 26 percent).
However, those in the know about the Milky Way were slightly less likely than the other participants to agree that "the size and complexity of the universe proves the greatness of God's creation" (45 percent versus 51 percent, respectively).
"Unlike our distant ancestors who thought the Earth was the center of the universe, we know that we live on a small planet in a heliosphere surrounding a moderate-sized star that is part of a spiral galaxy," Miller said. "There may be important advantages in the short-term ? the next million years or so ? to knowing where we are and something about our cosmic neighborhood."
With the rise of the Internet, Miller noted, such images and cosmic information are more accessible than ever. Even so, he said, "some of the science information on the Internet is incorrect or misleading." When asked, participants indicated the most trusted Internet resources for universe-related information included a NASA website, a program or exhibit at a planetarium or museum, a PBS Nova science show, a Discovery Channel science show and a lecture by an astronomy professor. The least trusted sources: a lecture by a leader of a church or religious group.
The headline on an earlier version of this report mischaracterized the proportion of respondents who correctly identified the spiral galaxy picture. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) ? Russell Means never shunned attention. Whether leading Native Americans in railing against broken federal treaties, appearing in a Hollywood blockbuster or advocating a sovereign American Indian nation within U.S. borders, the activist who helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee reveled in the spotlight.
But it was only on his terms. Openly critical of mainstream media, the onetime leader of the American Indian Movement often refused interviews and verbally blasted journalists who showed up to cover his public appearances. Instead, he chose to speak to his fan base through YouTube videos and blog posts on his personal website.
When he did speak out publicly, he remained steadfast in his defense of AIM. He found himself dogged for decades by questions about the group's alleged involvement in the slaying of a tribe member and the several gun battles with federal officers during the 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee, but denied the group ever promoted violence.
"You people who want to continue to put AIM in this certain pocket of illegality, I can't stand you people," Means said, lashing out an at audience member question during an April gathering commemorating the uprising's 40th anniversary. "I wish I was a little bit healthier and a little bit younger, because I wouldn't just talk."
Means, who announced in August 2011 that he had developed inoperable throat cancer but told The Associated Press he was forgoing mainstream medical treatments in favor of traditional American Indian remedies, died early Monday at his ranch in in Porcupine, S.D., Oglala Sioux Tribe spokeswoman Donna Salomon said. He was 72.
Born in Wanblee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Means grew up in the San Francisco area before becoming an early leader of AIM. He often was embroiled in controversy, partly because of AIM's alleged involvement in the 1975 slaying of Annie Mae Aquash.
But Means also was known for his role in the movie "The Last of the Mohicans" and had run unsuccessfully for the Libertarian nomination for president in 1988.
AIM was founded in the late 1960s to protest the U.S. government's treatment of Native Americans and demand the government honor its treaties with Indian tribes. Means told the AP in 2011 that before AIM, there had been no advocate on a national or international scale for American Indians, and that Native Americans were ashamed of their heritage.
"No one except Hollywood stars and very rich Texans wore Indian jewelry," Means said. "And there was a plethora of dozens if not hundreds of athletic teams that in essence were insulting us, from grade schools to college. That's all changed."
The movement eventually faded away, the result of Native Americans becoming self-aware and self-determined, Means said.
Paul DeMain, publisher of Indian Country Today, said there were plenty of Indian activists before AIM but that the group became the "radical media gorilla."
"If someone needed help, you called on the American Indian Movement and they showed up and caused all kind of ruckus and looked beautiful on a 20-minute clip on TV that night," DeMain said.
Means and AIM co-founder Dennis Banks were charged in 1974 for their role in the Wounded Knee uprising, but after a trial that lasted several months, a judge threw the charges out on grounds of government misconduct.
Means said he felt his most important accomplishment was the founding of the Republic of Lakotah and the "re-establishment of our freedom to be responsible" as a sovereign nation inside the borders of the United States. His efforts to have his proposed country recognized by the international community continued at the United Nations, he said, even as it was ignored by tribal governments closer to home, including his own Oglala Sioux Tribe.
But others may remember him for his former organization's connection to Aquash's slaying. Her death remains synonymous with AIM and its often-violent clashes with federal agents in the 1970s.
Authorities believe three AIM members shot and killed Aquash on the Pine Ridge reservation on the orders of someone in AIM's leadership because they suspected she was an FBI informant. Two activists ? Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham ? were both eventually convicted of murder. The third has never been charged.
Means blamed Vernon Bellecourt, another AIM leader, for ordering Aquash's killing. Bellecourt denied the allegations in a 2004 interview, four years before he died.
DeMain, an Indian journalist who researched the case, said AIM's leaders know who ordered Aquash's killing but have covered up the truth for decades.
Also in 1975, murder charges were filed against Means and Dick Marshall, an AIM member, in the shooting death of Martin Montileaux of Kyle at the Longbranch Saloon in Scenic. Marshall served 24 years in prison. Means was acquitted.
In addition to his presidential bid, Means also briefly served as a vice presidential candidate in 1984, joining the Larry Flynt ticket during the Hustler magazine publisher's unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination.
But Means always considered himself a Libertarian and couldn't believe that anyone would want to call themselves either a Republican or a Democrat.
"It's just unconscionable that America has become so stupid," he said.
His acting career began in 1992 when he portrayed Chingachgook alongside Daniel Day-Lewis' Hawkeye in "The Last of the Mohicans." He also appeared in the 1994 film "Natural Born Killers," voiced Chief Powhatan in the 1995 animated film "Pocahontas" and guest starred in 2004 on the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Means recounted his life in the book "Where White Men Fear to Tread." He said he pulled no punches in his autobiography, admitting to his frailties and evils but also acknowledging his successes.
"I tell the truth, and I expose myself as a weak, misguided, misdirected, dysfunctional human being I used to be," he said.
Salomon, the tribal spokeswoman, called Means' death a "great loss" for the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Means' death came a day after former U.S. Sen. George McGovern died in Sioux Falls at the age of 90. McGovern had traveled to Wounded Knee with U.S. Sen. James Abourezk during the 71-day takeover to try to negotiate an end.
"I've lost two good friends in a matter of two to three days," Abourezk said Monday morning. "I don't pretend to understand it."
________
Follow Kristi Eaton on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kristieaton.
Ed Capitani?s 30 points carried Tropics to a 59-56 Our Island victory over the Tone Setters. ?
Tropics 59, Tone Setters 56 ?
Call It A Wrap 53, Dream Team 47 ?
Allstate Insurance 78, Jump Street 76 ?
Knicks 75, Monstarz 69 ?
Staten Island 89, Average Joes 63 ?
Dark Side 81, College Bound 59 ?
Fantasy Guru 60, Redeem 51 ?
?GOLF? ?
Vagabonds? ?
Bea Karbowski?s 33 paced the Vagabonds? count-par-fours-only tournament (80 percent) at South Shore.
Soon Choi, who had low putts of 32 and birdied the 14th hole, carded a 35.
Liz McCoy chipped in for a bird on the sixth. ?
?BOWLING? ?
Rab?s Country Lanes
Golden Oldies: Dotty Bellantoni 201, 203-553; Bob Lampariello 245, 226, 223-694; Tom Griffiths 215; Ralph Loggia 211; Howard Weiss 220-602; Jim Touhey 211.
?For a number of years now, retirement and financial experts have bemoaned the fact that baby boomers and others who should be thinking about retirement saving are nowhere near ready to retire,? Pamela Villarreal of NCPA said in the summary of the report.
More than half, 59%, of parents who had an 18 to 39 year old son or daughter were spending money to support their adult child. Of that 59% some were paying living expenses (48% of expenditures), transportation costs (41%), spending money (29%), medical bills (28%), and paying back loans (16%).
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Public release date: 24-Oct-2012
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On October 26, 2009, we pushed the button and you saw (well, some of you saw) the brand new Oregon Music News. Three years and nearly 10,000 posts later, we?re still here.
