Pairing masks and hand washing could drastically slow spread of a pandemic flu

ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2012) ? Masks and hand hygiene could cut the spread of flu-like symptoms up to 75 percent, a University of Michigan study found.

A new report shows the second-year results (2007-2008) of the ground-breaking U-M M-Flu study found up to a 75 percent reduction in flu-like illness over the study period when using hand hygiene and wearing surgical masks in residence halls, said Allison Aiello, associate professor of epidemiology in the U-M School of Public Health. Aiello and Dr. Arnold Monto, SPH professor of epidemiology, are co-principal investigators of the M-Flu study.

While the study also showed a 43 percent reduction in the rate of flu, it wasn't statistically significant. Students were more likely to report influenza-like symptoms than to provide laboratory samples for confirmed cases, Aiello said. "This might have impacted our power for detecting significant differences in confirmed flu," she said.

The results from both years found no significant reduction in symptoms in mask use alone, which suggests masks and hand hygiene should be used together, she said.

At the beginning of a pandemic, vaccines probably won't be available immediately so one of the first lines of defense to stop the spread of illness will be non-pharmaceutical interventions like hand hygiene and face masks. The M-Flu results bode well for these types of non-pharmaceutical interventions in the community setting for pandemic preparedness, Aiello said.

"This means masks and hand hygiene may be a good measure for preventing transmissions in crowded living quarters," said Aiello. "In a pandemic situation where compliance may be significantly higher than in controlled studies, masks and hand hygiene together may have even higher preventative implications."

The M-Flu study was the first of its kind and received international exposure when launched in 2006. The team of M-Flu researchers recruited more than 1,000 students in U-M residence halls. The students were assigned to groups who wore masks, wore masks and practiced hand hygiene, or did neither. They were monitored for the presence of flu symptoms or the flu.

The study was the first to test the effectiveness of these measures for primary prevention before people become sick or exhibited symptoms in the university setting, Monto said.

"Ultimately, this research could help the development of national policies for pandemic preparedness," Monto said.

The goal of M-Flu was to estimate the reduction in rate of flu infection and illness attributed to masks and hand sanitizers, and masks alone during two flu seasons. The results in year two were similar to year one with substantial reductions in flu-like symptoms. Students in both studies were asked to wear masks in the residence halls for six hours per day and clean their hands with an alcohol based hand sanitizer in addition to soap and water hand washing.

The group is planning another study involving campus residence halls, this time to evaluate the effect of voluntary sequestration on the flu in residence halls. Details and a timeline for that study are not available yet.

The M-Flu study was a collaboration among the School of Public Health, University of Michigan Housing and the University Health Service. In addition to Aiello and Monto, authors include current students or graduates of the U-M SPH: Rebecca Coulborn, Brian Davis, and Vanessa Perez; and a colleague at Wayne State University, Monica Uddin.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

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

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Allison E. Aiello, Vanessa Perez, Rebecca M. Coulborn, Brian M. Davis, Monica Uddin, Arnold S. Monto. Facemasks, Hand Hygiene, and Influenza among Young Adults: A Randomized Intervention Trial. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (1): e29744 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029744

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.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120131175729.htm

cantaloupe credit union greys anatomy greys anatomy x factor auditions 2011 x factor auditions 2011 redacted

A dolphin could be Romney's undoing - Le?gal In?sur?rec?tion

I saw the link to this circulated on Twitter. I assume this is by a pro-Newt entity, but it just as easily could be the Democrats? theme for the general election.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the sound of the dolphin may be worth ten thousand words, or the image of John Kerry wind surfing, or Mike Dukakis in a tank.

The sound is what makes the ad devastating. It?s memorable.

?

?

?

Source: http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/01/a-dolphin-could-be-romneys-undoing/

the green mile james whitey bulger coptic church amerigo vespucci julio jones steve bartman columbus day

Super Bowl Slot Means Giant Business In NYC - CBS New York

Victor Cruz jersey (credit: CBS 2)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) ? The Super Bowl-bound Giants will meet at the Meadowlands, board shuttle buses to the airport, then head to Indianapolis, but in town or not, local businesses are benefiting from Big Blue?s success on the field.

Victor Cruz, who got a hometown sendoff in Paterson this weekend is so popular, his jerseys and T-shirts are this week?s top sellers at Modell?s in Times Sqaure.

?Victor Cruz, he?s definitely number one in my book with the Giants,? fan Tracy Beck told CBS 2?s Mark Morgan.

?Cruz, anything with the word Cruz on it, customers are flocking in looking for them,? said Marc Sacks, assistant manager of Modell?s.

Asked if he was sick of people requesting Cruz gear, Sacks told Morgan: ?Sick of the phone ringing, for sure, yeah.?

Merchants, of course, are thrilled with Big Blue boost in business.

?That?s why we came in. We came in from New Jersey. Can?t get them in New Jersey anywhere right now, so we thought we?d take a ride in now while it?s quiet and see if we could get one, so here we go,? said Bob Schultz of West Milford, proudly showing off his Cruz jersey Sunday.

Next week, bars will be overflowing with fans.

?It?s just going to be great business for any bar with huge screens and the Super Bowl on,? said Angelica Cartagena, manager of Rumours Bar in Midtown.

?It?s going to be really crowded and I?m going to get here really early so I can have a seat at the bar,? fan Donna Pappalardo told CBS 2?s Dave Carlin. ?Watch them win, that?s the most important thing.?

As the Giants take the next step on the road to glory, fans remain confident in a repeat of Super Bowl XLII.

?We?re New Yorkers and we?re the best team out there. We?re in the best city in the world and I just think it?s time, once again, that the Giants win,? said Clara Panzini of Lake Grove, N.Y.

?Because we got it in the bag, that?s it, New York all the way,? said Rachel Carrillo of Canarsie. ?That?s right, in the bag? No doubt.?

CBS 2 even found a non-Giants fan whose dislike of the Patriots has pushed him into the G-Men camp.

?I?m a Jets fan and if it?s the Giants or the Patriots, I?m going with the Giants. That?s pretty much the way I see it,? said Richard Beck of Colonia, N.J.

Asked if that was hard for him to say, Beck answered: ?No, I?m a New Yorker. I?m for the Giants. Go Blue.?

Please leave a comment below?

Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/29/super-bowl-slot-means-big-giants-business-in-nyc/

jack wagner matt jones snow white and the huntsman trailer snow white and the huntsman trailer sexiest man alive kentucky basketball bob costas

Wagner wins 1st title in night of flawed skating

Ashley Wagner competes in the ladies free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Ashley Wagner competes in the ladies free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Ashley Wagner competes in the ladies free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Ashley Wagner competes in the ladies free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Ashley Wagner, center, reacts after seeing her scores in the ladies free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Ashley Wagner competes in the ladies free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) ? Ashley Wagner is the "Almost Girl" no more.

Wagner won her first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, salvaging what was an otherwise dismal night of splats and spills with a majestic rendition of "Black Swan." She finished with a score of 187.02 points and then watched as two-time champion Alissa Czisny and Agnes Zawadzki melted down.

When the final results were posted, tears filled Wagner's eyes and she rested a hand on the shoulder of coach John Nicks. She beamed when she climbed to the top of the podium, her smile as bright as the gold medal around her neck.

"I can't even describe how happy I am," Wagner said. "It's been since the junior Grand Prix circuit since I've been on top of a podium, and I almost forgot what it felt like. When I got up on the podium today, it was an incredible feeling and made me realize why I do this crazy sport."

Czisny finished second and Zawadzki wound up third. Earlier Saturday, Meryl Davis and Charlie White claimed their fourth straight title with a performance that showed why they set the gold standard in ice dance these days. The world champions' elegant and seamless routine to "Die Fledermaus" earned a total score of 191.54 points, nearly 13 better than siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani.

The U.S. has been looking for someone ? anyone ? with the star power and skill to carry the Americans like Michelle Kwan did for almost a decade. The Americans have gone five years without a medal at the world championships, and they came home empty-handed from the Vancouver Olympics. For the fourth straight year, they'll have only two spots at the world championships.

It's a drought the likes of which the Americans have never experienced, and the shortcomings were made all the more glaring this week by Kwan's return to nationals to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Wagner has never been shy about saying she wants to be the best in the U.S., a skater who can hold her own against the Russians and the Japanese.

"No one's going to say they don't want to be national champion so I think I'm not being cocky, I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking," Wagner said. "No one goes into nationals saying, 'I don't want to be a gold medalist, third place is good enough for me.' Why not say what you're thinking instead of putting on an act?"

But she always seemed to come up just short, finishing third in 2010 and missing a spot on the Olympic team. She also was third in 2008.

Hence that "Almost Girl" nickname.

Wagner had a particularly rough season last year. A head injury from when she was 13 was never treated properly, and the bones in her neck began pressing into her spinal cord, setting off "crippling body tremors." It took two hours of therapy each day with a chiropractor to correct the problem.

When the season ended, Wagner decided she needed to make a radical change if she was ever going to achieve the goals she wanted. She left her family and friends on the East Coast and moved to Southern California to train with Nicks, best known as Sasha Cohen's coach.

"I was really nervous going out there because I felt like it was getting to the point where I wanted it so bad," Wagner said. "Then I remembered that I've made all these changes for a reason. I've learned so much in my time in California and I needed to use that new training. Mr. Nicks has done a great job of helping me refocus."

Third after the short program, Wagner needed a spectacular performance and some help from others. She did her part, a refreshing departure after a night of lackluster, one-dimensional performances. Wagner actually used her music and her portrayal of the "Black Swan" character was so vivid, it's a wonder feathers didn't pop out of her back. Her technical elements were woven right in with her artistic elements, rather than standing alone as individual tricks, and she could have been a swan floating on the lake for how elegantly she moved across the ice.

She wasn't perfect, popping a triple salchow and touching her free foot down on her triple flip.

But it hardly mattered. None of the other top women skated cleanly, though some were much worse than others.

Czisny got off to rough start, putting her hand down on her opening triple lutz, and things didn't improve after that. She fell on her second triple lutz and was crooked in the air on a few other jumps. She was saved by her spins, which were gorgeous as always, high component marks for her elegant presentation.

"I'm not really sure what to think about tonight," a subdued Czisny said. "I knew the program I put out there tonight wasn't my best, wasn't what I wanted to do. At the same time, I guess it got me where I needed to be."

Zawadzki won the short program, and looked early on as she might hang onto the top spot. She opened with a double axel-triple toe loop combination that was bigger and smoother than any other jump done any other woman did Saturday night. But Zawadzki is just 17, two years removed from winning the junior title, and she quickly became overwhelmed by the moment.

"I think I started getting a little ahead of myself instead of staying in the present," she said.

She fell twice, crashing on a triple lutz and a triple salchow, and popped a triple toe that was supposed to be the opening jump of a combination. She also brushed up against the boards on a triple lutz-double toe combination. She dropped all the way to seventh in the long program and barely managed to hold off Caroline Zhang for third place.

"I've never been in this position so it's a different feeling for me," Zawadzki said. "I'm happy with what I've accomplished. I'm a little down on the long but happy with the overall result."

Wagner's next challenge will be at the world championships in March. Wagner and Czisny will need to finish with a combined placement of 13 to earn the Americans to spots at next year's all-important world championships, the qualifier for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

"I was on the team that lost the spot, so I really would like to be on the team that gains that spot back. I think that would be nice to tie that back up and put an end to my mistakes," said Wagner, who was 16th in 2008. "It's time the United States makes a claim in women's figure skating, and I think we have the talent here, we have the skaters. We just need to be able to go out there and put out consistent programs with triple-triples and show people that ladies figure skating in the U.S. is not over."

___

Follow Nancy Armour at http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-29-US%20Championships/id-fe1bdbbd12ab4164b65e40ebbe3e63d0

roatan bobby fischer the lion king john cabot john cabot safety razor safety razor

Stanley builds 5-shot lead at Torrey Pines

Kyle Stanley tees off on the seventh hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kyle Stanley tees off on the seventh hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kyle Stanley hits tee shot on the third hole during third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Golf tournament in San Diego, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kyle Stanley waves after his first putt on the third hole during third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Golf tournament in San Diego,use thi

John Huh watches his chip on the sixth hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi )

John Huh watches his approach shot to the second green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi )

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Kyle Stanley overpowered Torrey Pines and opened a five-shot lead Saturday in the Farmers Insurance Open.

About the only regret for Stanley was missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have broken the 54-hole tournament record set by Tiger Woods in 1998, before Rees Jones beefed up the South Course for the 2008 U.S. Open.

Stanley still managed a 4-under 68, a spot alongside Woods in the record book at 18-under 198 and great position for his first victory.

The performance looked familiar, even if the name didn't.

Woods, playing this week in Abu Dhabi, is a seven-time winner at Torrey Pines as a pro, including that U.S. Open. He used his length on the South Course, especially on the par 5s, and holed his share of putts.

That's been the recipe for Stanley, who has a slight build and enormous speed. He build a three-shot lead with a birdie on the second hole and was never really challenged on another glorious days along the Pacific bluffs.

His lone bogey came on the 12th, when he went just over the green, chipped to 6 feet and missed the putt. On the 526-yard 13th hole, he blasted a tee shot so far down the hill that Stanley had only a soft 7-iron into the green, putting it 15 feet below the hole on the fringe for a two-putt birdie.

"Are you playing this as a par 4?" Sang-Moon Bae turned and said to him with a smile.

John Huh, a 21-year-old rookie who spent three years on the Korean Tour, and John Rollins each had 68 and were at 13-under 203. FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas (70) and Bae (72) were another shot behind. Bae was 5 over through five holes until he ran off four straight birdies to start the back nine to get his name back on the leaderboard.

The question is whether anyone else is in contention.

Stanley is no surprise to those who play with him or watch him hit balls, and he nearly joined the parade of rookie winners last year until Steve Stricker rallied with birdies on the last two holes to beat him in the John Deere Classic.

Stanley had a one-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker going into the third round at Torrey Pines, and before long had a comfortable lead, just as Woods has done on this public course.

From deep rough on the par-5 sixth, Stanley hammered a shot just short of the green and pitched up to 12 feet for birdie. He hit sand wedge to 10 feet on the 10th for another birdie, then established himself on the back nine.

Along with the easy birdie on the 13th, Stanley saved par on the 14th. The day before, his approach jumped out of the rough and over the green for a double bogey. Playing it safe this time, he hit 9-iron that went well short, into the bunker, but blasted out to 8 feet and made a tricky, downhill putt for par.

His final birdie came on a 20-foot putt at the par-3 16th. No one else could make a move.

Snedeker went to tap in a 2-foot par putt on the seventh and was shocked when it made a horseshoe around the cup. He then missed his next five greens in regulation, and when he got home in two on the 13th, he three-putted. Snedeker had a 74 and fell seven behind.

"This is something you dream about as a kid," Stanley said. "But there's still one more round."

Equipped with a big lead, he said he won't play any more conservatively.

DIVOTS: Jay Don Blake in 1991 was the last player to make Torrey Pines his first PGA Tour victory. ... Ryo Ishikawa had his third consecutive round of 69 and was tied for 11th. ... Jonas Blixt had the low round Saturday at 65. Under a "University of Farmers" campaign, that was worth a $20,000 donation to his alma mater, Florida State. Cameron Tringale (Georgia Tech) had a 66 to finish second, which was worth $10,000.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-28-Farmers%20Insurance/id-e05a127039064562a20cc7309b8aaaed

dennys kindle fire glen davis kobe bryant war of the worlds a christmas story prime rib

Regina Weinreich: Wit's Wit

A conceit, an ironic barb, wit can be searing and funny. In the case of Margaret Edson's Wit, the Tony-winning play now in a Manhattan Theatre Club revival at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre under the fine direction of Lynne Meadow, Wit follows the journey of Vivian Bearing, a name that loosely translates to "enduring life," a college professor specializing in 17th century metaphysical poetry, in the verse of John Donne to be specific, author of Death Be Not Proud. As performed by Sex & the City's Cynthia Nixon, she is a brainy Everyman/woman, precious in what she knows and does, vital in knowledge, commitment, and contribution to life, devastating to lose. And lose her we do. Sorry for the spoiler: She dies at Wit's end.

Those passionate about Wit when it was first produced off Broadway in 1999 with Kathleen Chalfant in the gutsy role were skeptical about the casting of Cynthia Nixon. Slightly younger than Vivian as written, Nixon's bone thin skull, sculptural and cadaverous, and large blue eyes bring a great poignancy, the irony of cancer as an equal opportunity killer ravaging the still prime body, what William Burroughs called "the soft machine." Stage four ovarian cancer kills quickly foiling the medical team from using her for their research. Vivian's doctor (Greg Keller) is a onetime student in her poetry class; his procedures seem slightly less perfunctory, even as he administers her morphine drip.

Vivian's brave resistance is meshed with flashbacks to her lectures, Vivian delivering Donne's smart words ("Death, Thou shalt die!"), while she wears a hospital gown and baseball cap covering hairless head. The hat is a bright orange that matches the color of an ice pop she shares with her nurse (Carra Patterson). Brilliant as she was prior to illness, her academic supervisor (Suzanne Bertish), a sole visitor reads to her from that children's classic, Runaway Bunny, before Vivian -- to paraphrase another poet, Dylan Thomas, goes gently into that good night.

The loss is heartbreaking, of her and of her erudition, and in this small beautifully wrought chamber piece, epic.

A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/regina-weinreich/wit-play-review_b_1238979.html

angela davis angela davis zombie apocalypse matt moore matt moore national grid day light savings time 2011

Cosmology in a Petri dish

Friday, January 27, 2012

Scientists have found that micron-size particles which are trapped at fluid interfaces exhibit a collective dynamic that is subject to seemingly unrelated governing laws. These laws show a smooth transitioning from long-ranged cosmological-style gravitational attraction down to short-range attractive and repulsive forces. The study by Johannes Bleibel from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and his colleagues has just been published in the journal EPJ E? .

The authors used so-called colloidal particles that are larger than molecules but too small to be observed with the naked eye. These particles are adsorbed at the interface between two fluids and assembled into a monolayer. This constitutes a 2D model in which particles that are larger than a micron deform the interface through their own weight and generate an effective long-range attraction which looks like gravitation in 2D. Thus, the particles assemble in clusters.

To model long-range forces between particles, the researchers used numerical simulations based on random movement of particles, known as Brownian dynamics. Here, they took advantage of the formal analogy between so-called capillary attraction ? the long-ranged interaction through interface deformation ? and gravitational attraction. They used a particle-mesh method as employed in simulations of what are known as self-gravitating fluids, corresponding to the collapse of a system under its own gravity, traditionally used in cosmological studies.

The authors also found that this long-range interaction no longer matters beyond a certain length determined by the properties of both the particles and the interface, and short-range forces come into play. This means that for systems exceeding this length, particles first tend to self-assemble into several clusters which eventually merge into a single, large cluster.

The study of monolayer aggregates of micron-size colloids is used as a template for nanoparticles deposited onto substrates in nanotechnology applications.

###

Bleibel J, Dom?nguez A, Oettel M, Dietrich S (2011). Collective dynamics of colloids at fluid interfaces, European Physical Journal E (EPJ E) 34:125, DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2011-11125-2

Springer: http://www.springer.com

Thanks to Springer for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 29 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117098/Cosmology_in_a_Petri_dish

san francisco earthquake san francisco earthquake nextdoor premier fitness dan uggla kryptos student loan forgiveness

NC gov's re-election decision could benefit Obama

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue wears a Freightliner hat as she smiles during a news conference at a Freightliner plant in Cleveland, N.C., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. About 1,100 workers laid off from a factory that builds long-distance Freightliner trucks will be called back to work to meet increasing demand as economies in the U.S. and elsewhere improve, Daimler Trucks North America said Thursday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue wears a Freightliner hat as she smiles during a news conference at a Freightliner plant in Cleveland, N.C., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. About 1,100 workers laid off from a factory that builds long-distance Freightliner trucks will be called back to work to meet increasing demand as economies in the U.S. and elsewhere improve, Daimler Trucks North America said Thursday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2010 file photo, President Barack Obama is greeted by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., left, and North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue as he arrives in Greensboro, N.C. The key battleground state of North Carolina is still within President Obama's grasp, despite Democratic Gov. Perdue's surprise decision to drop her re-election campaign. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Shawn Rocco, File)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? The key battleground state of North Carolina is still within President Barack Obama's grasp, despite Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue's surprise decision to drop her re-election campaign.

Obama has been running commercials in the state for months, and the Democrats have staked so much on repeating his 2008 success in North Carolina that their presidential nomination convention will be held in Charlotte.

"It's helpful news for Obama rather than problematic news," John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University, said of Perdue's announcement Thursday. "You'd expect the Obama campaign would rather run with a strong gubernatorial candidate on the ballot, and by all accounts, Perdue was not a strong candidate."

Perdue, the first woman elected governor in North Carolina history, said she worried a fight with Republicans over public education would become too political if she tried for a second term. But Perdue entered the election year with political baggage, including a campaign finance investigation, sagging poll numbers and a tough rematch campaign against an opponent she narrowly beat in 2008, when Obama's coattails helped Democrats across the state.

"North Carolina's a swing state, they can't afford to lose it for the presidential race," said Michael Munger, a political science professor at Duke University who ran for governor as a Libertarian in 2008. "I would guess some senior Democratic people strongly suggested she spend more time with her grandchildren."

Four years ago, Obama shocked many national pundits by becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976, defeating Republican Sen. John McCain by just 14,177 votes out of more than 4.3 million ballots cast.

Perdue, then the state's lieutenant governor, benefited from Obama's highly organized effort to boost voter turnout, an effort the president will look to repeat regardless of whether the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is an incumbent.

"I don't think the president's 2012 chances are affected by this in any way," said Andy Taylor, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. "The presidential race is the dog and the gubernatorial race is the tail, and the dog is going to be wagging the tail."

Obama's win here was the first in 32 years for a Democratic nominee for president. He praised Perdue for breaking down barriers during her political career.

"For over 25 years, she has fought for the people of the Tar Heel state ? working to transform the state's public schools, improve the health care system, protect and attract jobs for members of the military and their families, and create the jobs of the future," Obama said in a statement.

Perdue, a former school teacher, said her decision was about protecting public education from spending cuts by the GOP-led legislature.

"The thing I care about most right now is making sure that our schools and schoolchildren do not continue to be the victims of shortsighted legislative actions and severe budget cuts inflicted by a legislative majority with the wrong priorities," Perdue said in a statement.

The statement made no mention of what Perdue, 65, planned to do in the future. Perdue campaign spokesman Marc Farinella said the governor declined to speak to reporters Thursday because she was spending time with her family after making "this very difficult decision."

"For now she wants her statement to speak for itself," he said.

Perdue's decision means it will be the first time a sitting North Carolina governor has failed to get elected to a second term since voters gave chief executives authority to succeed themselves in the 1970s.

"All the Democrats' waters rose with Obama in 2008," said Brian Nick, a Republican strategist working for likely GOP gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory. "It would be a fallacy to think the governor's race is going to affect the presidential campaign in North Carolina."

Perdue has faced high unemployment, consistently weak approval numbers, a string of political defeats and the indictment of two close aides and a family friend in a campaign finance scandal that is continuing to unfold. She has also made some well-publicized gaffes, like a joking suggestion last year that congressional elections should be suspended for two years to ease partisan gridlock.

North Carolina is crucial to Obama's re-election strategy, with a win there relieving the need to carry more-traditional battleground states such as Florida and Ohio.

Perdue is listed as the co-chair of steering and host committee membership for the 2012 convention. DNC officials were quick to say Thursday that Perdue's withdrawal from the governor's race will have no effect on the September event.

The governor has not been closely involved in the convention planning and was not present at a DNC media conference in Charlotte last week announcing that President Obama would give his acceptance speech to Bank of America Stadium.

"They made the decision to site the convention in Charlotte knowing that Beverly Perdue was facing an uphill fight," said Steven Greene, a political science professor at N.C. State. "That was already factored into their decision."

Perdue may try to maintain a low profile through the end of her term early next year. After issuing a statement declaring her intention not to run, Perdue holed up in the governor's mansion with her aides.

Mark Johnson, the governor's deputy communications director, said the governor has no public events scheduled for the next week.

"Anything beyond next week is tentative," Johnson said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-27-NC%20Governor/id-2e3a79c510a24ea7b7796bdb3ce83cf8

joe arpaio sam hurd arrested roddy white roddy white howard stern howard stern free shipping day

Genetic screens bring new hope for tackling sleeping sickness

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Research led by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has exploited a revolutionary genetic technique to discover how human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) drugs target the parasite which causes the disease. The new knowledge could help lead to the development of better treatments for the tens of thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa who are affected each year.

The findings, published in Nature, are based on the simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes and the action of the five drugs effective against HAT, also known as sleeping sickness. The research was a collaboration between LSHTM, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge and was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The disease ? usually fatal if left untreated - is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma brucei, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly and attacks the central nervous system. Although treatment is available, until now there has been little understanding of how and why the drugs are particularly effective against African trypanosomes and therefore limited scope to tackle resistance when it arises. In particular, an arsenic-based drug called melarsoprol is increasingly ineffective and has the added problem of severe toxicity in patients; it is only because HAT is such a lethal disease that this drug is still in use.

Employing a process of specific gene disruption that prevents the parasite from producing its signature proteins, and targeting one gene in each cell (the parasite is unicellular), the scientists identified which modifications resulted in drug resistance. This implied that the original gene was essential for the drug to work. The technique, called RNA interference target sequencing (RIT-seq), depends upon technology developed by scientists at LSHTM over several years and a high-throughput DNA sequencing approach developed in collaboration with researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

The team screened the entire T. brucei genome of 7,500 genes and found a total of 50 genes, and therefore 50 proteins, that are linked to drug action and resistance. With this information, the group analysed the biological processes those proteins are involved in and deduced how the drugs interact with the parasite.

Lead researcher Dr David Horn, Reader in Molecular Biology at LSHTM, said: "We now know a lot more about how these drugs work. This new understanding of how these medications kill parasites, or fail to kill parasites, could lead to the development of tests that guide the intervention strategy as well as more active and safer intervention options. What is important now is to begin the process of translating the new findings into clinical advances such as new diagnostics and therapies."

###

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk

Thanks to London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 14 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117070/Genetic_screens_bring_new_hope_for_tackling_sleeping_sickness

angela davis angela davis zombie apocalypse matt moore matt moore national grid day light savings time 2011

No energy industry backing for the word 'fracking' (AP)

NEW YORK ? A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and political debate as controversial as what it defines.

The word is "fracking" ? as in hydraulic fracturing, a technique long used by the oil and gas industry to free oil and gas from rock.

It's not in the dictionary, the industry hates it, and President Barack Obama didn't use it in his State of the Union speech ? even as he praised federal subsidies for it.

The word sounds nasty, and environmental advocates have been able to use it to generate opposition ? and revulsion ? to what they say is a nasty process that threatens water supplies.

"It obviously calls to mind other less socially polite terms, and folks have been able to take advantage of that," said Kate Sinding, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who works on drilling issues.

One of the chants at an anti-drilling rally in Albany earlier this month was "No fracking way!"

Industry executives argue that the word is deliberately misspelled by environmental activists and that it has become a slur that should not be used by media outlets that strive for objectivity.

"It's a co-opted word and a co-opted spelling used to make it look as offensive as people can try to make it look," said Michael Kehs, vice president for Strategic Affairs at Chesapeake Energy, the nation's second-largest natural gas producer.

To the surviving humans of the sci-fi TV series "Battlestar Galactica," it has nothing to do with oil and gas. It is used as a substitute for the very down-to-Earth curse word.

Michael Weiss, a professor of linguistics at Cornell University, says the word originated as simple industry jargon, but has taken on a negative meaning over time ? much like the word "silly" once meant "holy."

But "frack" also happens to sound like "smack" and "whack," with more violent connotations.

"When you hear the word `fracking,' what lights up your brain is the profanity," says Deborah Mitchell, who teaches marketing at the University of Wisconsin's School of Business. "Negative things come to mind."

Obama did not use the word in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, when he said his administration will help ensure natural gas will be developed safely, suggesting it would support 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

In hydraulic fracturing, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into wells to break up underground rock formations and create escape routes for the oil and gas. In recent years, the industry has learned to combine the practice with the ability to drill horizontally into beds of shale, layers of fine-grained rock that in some cases have trapped ancient organic matter that has cooked into oil and gas.

By doing so, drillers have unlocked natural gas deposits across the East, South and Midwest that are large enough to supply the U.S. for decades. Natural gas prices have dipped to decade-low levels, reducing customer bills and prompting manufacturers who depend on the fuel to expand operations in the U.S.

Environmentalists worry that the fluid could leak into water supplies from cracked casings in wells. They are also concerned that wastewater from the process could contaminate water supplies if not properly treated or disposed of. And they worry the method allows too much methane, the main component of natural gas and an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas, to escape.

Some want to ban the practice altogether, while others want tighter regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the issue and may propose federal regulations. The industry prefers that states regulate the process.

Some states have banned it. A New York proposal to lift its ban drew about 40,000 public comments ? an unprecedented total ? inspired in part by slogans such as "Don't Frack With New York."

The drilling industry has generally spelled the word without a "K," using terms like "frac job" or "frac fluid."

Energy historian Daniel Yergin spells it "fraccing" in his book, "The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World." The glossary maintained by the oilfield services company Schlumberger includes only "frac" and "hydraulic fracturing."

The spelling of "fracking" began appearing in the media and in oil and gas company materials long before the process became controversial. It first was used in an Associated Press story in 1981. That same year, an oil and gas company called Velvet Exploration, based in British Columbia, issued a press release that detailed its plans to complete "fracking" a well.

The word was used in trade journals throughout the 1980s. In 1990, Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher announced U.S. oil engineers would travel to the Soviet Union to share drilling technology, including fracking.

The word does not appear in The Associated Press Stylebook, a guide for news organizations. David Minthorn, deputy standards editor at the AP, says there are tentative plans to include an entry in the 2012 edition.

He said the current standard is to avoid using the word except in direct quotes, and to instead use "hydraulic fracturing."

That won't stop activists ? sometimes called "fracktivists" ? from repeating the word as often as possible.

"It was created by the industry, and the industry is going to have to live with it," says the NRDC's Sinding.

Dave McCurdy, CEO of the American Gas Association, agrees, much to his dismay: "It's Madison Avenue hell," he says.

___

Jonathan Fahey can be reached at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fracking

david wilson reggie mckenzie bill obrien epiphany exorcism jersey shore season 5 mark driscoll

Obama and GOP candidates offer a campaign preview (AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? On a day that combined two campaigns into one, President Barack Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to raise taxes on the rich as GOP rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich swiped at him on the economy and criticized each other over immigration.

With a week to go before the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary, the polls suggested a tight race, although Romney and his allies seized a staggering advantage in the television ad wars. They have reported spending $14 million combined on commercials, many of them critical of Gingrich, and a total at least seven times bigger that the investment made by the former House speaker and an organization supporting him.

Obama's political timeline was a different one, Election Day on Nov. 6. In a campaign-style appearance in Iowa, he demanded Congress approve a tax increase for anyone like Romney whose income exceeds $1 million a year.

"If you make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay a tax rate of at least 30 percent. If, on the other hand, you make less than $250,000, which includes 98 percent of you, your taxes shouldn't go up," he said after touring a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids and in a state that he won in 2008 that was expected to be a battleground in the fall.

"This is not class warfare," he said. "That's common sense."

As Obama surely knew, it was an offer Gingrich, Romney and the anti-tax Republicans in Congress are likely to find easy to refuse.

Referring to Obama's call in the speech for Congress to end tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas, Romney said he didn't know of any.

Instead, he said the president presides over "the most anti-business, anti-investment, anti-job creator administration I've ever seen, and so, what I'll do ? I'll get America to work again. I spent 25 years in business."

Gingrich was far harsher at an appearance in Miami.

"If he actually meant what he said it would be a disaster of the first order," Gingrich said of the president's call for higher taxes on millionaires.

The former House speaker said the president's proposal would double the capital gains tax and "lead to a dramatic decline in the stock market, which would affect every pension fund in the United States."

"It would affect every person who has a 401(k). It would attack the creation of jobs and drive capital outside of the United States. It would force people to invest overseas. It would be the most anti-jobs single step he could take," he said.

Under current law, investment income is taxed as the rate of 15 percent, a fact that has come to the fore of the campaign in recent days with the release of Romney's income tax return.

Wages, by contrast, are taxed at rates that can exceed 30 percent.

Electability is the top concern for GOP primary voters, according to polls taken in the early primary and caucus states, so both Republicans were eager to paint a contrast with the president.

But Romney and Gingrich also focused on the Florida primary now seven days distant.

Romney has long led in the state's polls, but Gingrich's upset victory last Saturday in the first-in-the-South primary in South Carolina revitalized his candidacy and raised questions about the former Massachusetts governor's staying power.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is also on the ballot, as is Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

But Santorum has been sinking in the polls as Gingrich rises, and Paul has indicated he intends to bypass the state to concentrate on caucuses to be held elsewhere.

That gives Florida the feel of a two-man race, and Romney and Gingrich are treating it that way. The two men sparred heatedly Monday night in a debate that virtually relegated Santorum and Paul to supporting roles.

A second debate is set for Thursday in Jacksonville. And if their separate appearances during the day on the Spanish-language television network Univision is a guide, it will be as feisty as the first.

Gingrich referred acidly to Romney describing a policy of "self-deportation" as a way of having illegal immigrants leave the country without a massive roundup.

"You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatically $20 million income for no work to have some fantasy this far from reality," he said, referring to some of the details disclosed this week when the former Massachusetts governor released his tax returns.

"For Romney to believe that somebody's grandmother is going to be so cut off that she is going to self-deport, I mean, this is an Obama-level fantasy."

Romney's campaign swiftly produced evidence that aides to Gingrich had used the term "self-deport" approvingly, and the former governor attacked.

"I recognize that it's very tempting to come out to an audience like this and pander to the audience," Romney said. "I think that was a mistake on his (Gingrich's) part."

Gingrich also ran into trouble over a radio ad his campaign was airing that called Romney "anti-immigrant." Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is neutral in the presidential race, criticized the commercial, and Romney said the term "anti-immigrant" was an epithet. The campaign took the ad off the air.

Gingrich made a stop in Cocoa, center of the state's now-withered space industry, and he cheered his audience by envisioning construction of the first permanent base on the moon. He also promised a "robust industry" of "commercial near-earth activities" to include science, tourism and manufacturing.

He said he hopes to stimulate investment by having the government offer prizes to private companies, but he did not elaborate. For Obama, Iowa was the first of five stops in three days following a State of the Union speech in which he stressed the theme of income equality that is expected to be one of the cornerstones of his re-election campaign. He also wove in proposals to help restore the U.S. manufacturing base that has withered in the course of the recession that began in 2008.

"Our economy is getting stronger, and we've come too far to turn back now," he told workers and guests at a conveyor manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. Speaking of Republicans, he said, "Their philosophy is simple: We're better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules."

It's a message that may be received differently depending on the local economy.

Iowa's unemployment was most recently measured at 5.6 percent, well below the national average. In Arizona, which has its primary in four weeks, joblessness is 8.7 percent, while Nevada's at 12.6, the highest in the country. Its caucuses are Feb. 4.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Florida contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign_rdp

schweddy balls schweddy balls hedy lamarr bill conlin kendall jenner plane crash plane crash

We love our debit cards, but not our banks

By Allison Linn

The recession served as a wake-up call for many of us to get a better handle on our finances, and for a lot of folks that meant replacing one piece of plastic, the credit card, with another, the debit card.

But now, regulatory changes have made those debit cards less of a cash cow for financial institutions. That?s left many banks scrambling to introduce new fees to make up for that lost money.

The problem: Consumers are dead set against the fees, and they don?t necessarily want to start using their credit cards again, either.

A new report from Javelin Strategy & Research finds that few have sympathy for the banks. In fact, 70 percent of the people surveyed for the report said they think banks are the ones benefiting from the new regulations.

Many expect?the financial institutions to lose billions of dollars in revenue because the new rules limit how much money they can make every time a retailer swipes a debit card.

?Banks are looking kind of like bad guys lately, and I think it has a lot to do with consumers not really understanding what was going on,? said Beth Robertson, director of payments research for Javelin Research, which does research on financial services for financial institutions and others.

The survey of 3,000 people, conducted by Javelin Research in October, also found that about seven in 10 ?respondents are satisfied with their debit cards, which allow you to pay with plastic but draw directly from your bank account.

They don?t want things to change.

If their bank started charging them a fee to use a debit card, 32 percent of consumers would switch to cash rather than pay the fee. Another 26 percent said they?d switch to another bank, while 25 percent would use a credit card instead.

Some would go for an even more arcane form of commerce: 13 percent said they?d use checks instead.

?Because of what?s been happening with the economy (people are) really wanting to control their use of credit,? Robertson said.

Some customers may not be able to use credit cards more because they have lower credit limits than before the recession and credit crunch. Others may have found it easier to keep their spending under control if they use a debit card rather than a credit card, even if they pay the credit card off each month.

And others may find that they just aren?t getting as good of a deal on their credit cards, said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of lowcards.com. His research shows that the average advertised annual percentage rate for a credit card is now 14.05 percent, compared with 11.64 percent when the an earlier set of credit card regulations, known as the CARD Act, was passed in 2009.

That legislation limited how much banks can charge credit card users for things like paying late or going over their limit.

Of course, many big banks already tried to institute a straight, monthly debit card fee, and soon rescinded those plans when faced with broad and fierce consumer outrage.

But experts say that while consumer may have won the monthly debit fee battle, they should be prepared for other, more subtle fees to start sneaking up on them.

Robertson said banks also will try to figure out ways to market the new fees as new customer perks. For example, some may try charging fees for mobile banking, or creating a fee service for expedited online bill payments.

Related story:

Truth about credit cards: They're not always evil?

?

?

{"contentId":"10226603","totalVotes":"238"}

Do you have less credit card debt than before the recession began

?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10226603-we-love-our-debit-cards-but-not-our-banks

cyber monday deals 2011 cyber monday deals 2011 real housewives of atlanta bernie fine bernie fine matt leinart cyber monday 2011

Proposal made for sweeping data protection in EU (AP)

BRUSSELS ? Applying the same standards to protect personal data in all 27 European Union countries will save businesses billions, a senior European Union official said Tuesday, launching a proposal for reforms she said would also safeguard individual privacy.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding's proposal also included a "right to be forgotten" that would mean if a Facebook user wants to take down photos or posts, the company will also have to delete them from its database.

Reding said if enacted the reforms would save businesses operating in the EU about euro2.3 billion ($2.99 billion) a year as they would have just one set of rules to follow rather than the 27 member countries' different sets.

Rule breaches could be punished by fines of up to euro1 million ($1.3 million), or up to 2 percent of the company's annual turnover, she said.

In addition, she asserted that giving consumers increased confidence about the security of their personal information would boost online business in the EU.

"The protection of personal date is a fundamental right for all Europeans, but citizens do not always feel in control of their personal data," Reding said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_hi_te/eu_eu_data_protection

constitution day constitution day dolly parton stephen colbert running for president richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom coachella lineup

Surrogate City (TIME)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/191030501?client_source=feed&format=rss

richard hamilton paris jackson paris jackson howard stern americas got talent china aircraft carrier barbara walters most fascinating person 2011 golden globe nominations

'Electric Earth' Could Explain Planet's Rotation

The issue is not really the source of the long-period "decade" fluctuations in the length of the day (LOD). It has been known for decades that these have to be caused by "weather" (fluid magnetohydrodynamics) in the liquid outer core. Has to be, as there is no other suitable source of angular momentum. The atmosphere and oceans up here on the surface simply fall short, by as much as an order of magnitude, and nothing else (ice, groundwater, tectonics, etc.) can even match them. The "weather" in the core is dynamically rather different than the weather up here - the heat source is radioactivity and precipitation of solid iron, while the core is quite conductive, and so the dynamics are MHD, not just HD. We don't know much about fluid motions in the core, but we do know that they have to exist, to drive the observed LOD variations (and also drive the observed changes in the geomagnetic field).

What the real question is is the nature of the torque between the mantle and the core. The two leading contenders are pressure torques (differences in pressure across whatever inverse mountains there are at the core mantle boundary) and electromagnetic torques. The E&M torques would be enhanced if the mantle is conducting.

So, this is a plus for the E&M torque theorists, but I wouldn't expect this issue to be really resolved for some centuries, if not longer. The core is not that far away, but it's hard to see through thousands of kilometers of rock...

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/nskBi55sKo4/electric-earth-could-explain-planets-rotation

knowshon moreno knowshon moreno dennis hopper florida state ted kennedy warren zevon caroline kennedy

South Carolina Election: State Succeeds At Making Voice Heard On Primary Day

By BRUCE SMITH, ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- South Carolina Republicans established their presidential primary more than three decades ago as way to raise the state's national political profile. They succeeded wildly.

Ever since 1980, when Ronald Reagan won, every candidate who has won the GOP primary in this Southern state of fewer than 5 million has gone on to claim the Republican presidential nomination. State party officials are fond of saying the road to the White House passes straight through South Carolina.

Harry Dent, the late South Carolinian who engineered Richard Nixon's 1968 Southern strategy of appealing to Southern conservatives, and Dan Ross, the late state GOP chairman, are generally credited with planting the seeds for the primary.

Former Gov. James B. Edwards, who in the 1970s was the first GOP governor of the state in modern times, says no one at the time thought the presidential primary would morph into what it has become today bringing all the major GOP candidates to crisscross the state with hundreds of reporters in tow.

"I wasn't that foresighted and I don't know that anybody else was or not. I doubt it," said Edwards, who is now 84.

South Carolina is a different battleground from the corn fields of Iowa and predominantly white New Hampshire. The state is poorer, more conservative and has a population that is 28 percent black. Voters don't register by parties so Democrats and independents enter the mix in the primary.

The state has also proven a second-chance for candidates who have stumbled in earlier contests with their different constituencies.

In the GOP primary in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush beat Sen. John McCain of Arizona after he was upset by McCain in New Hampshire. Four years ago, it was McCain who capped a comeback following a dismal showing in Iowa with a win in New Hampshire and another in South Carolina.

Republican state Sen. John Courson, elected to the Senate in 1984, was a Reagan delegate in 1976 when Reagan lost the nomination to President Gerald Ford. Reagan supporters wanted a primary in 1980 because they believed Reagan would fare better against former Texas Gov. John Connally in an open primary than in a traditional nominating convention.

Courson said two elements have helped to make the primary a success: It's always been the first in the South and has always been held on a Saturday, which party leaders knew would bring conservative Democrats to the polls.

"We had to be the first-in-the-South primary. If any other Southern large state, like Texas or Florida, were before us, we would not see the candidates," he said.

What is lost with all the candidates trooping through is that the primary also helped build the modern Republican Party in South Carolina. Until 2008, the party ran the primary using volunteers. Now it's the job of the State Election Commission.

Getting volunteers involved was central to building the GOP.

"If you start working with the party and working at the polls and organizing the primary, that gives you the stimulus to be a real party," Edwards said.

Much of the proof is in the office-holding.

In 1980, when the GOP presidential primary was established, only 23 of the 170 South Carolina state lawmakers and one of the nine statewide office-holders were Republican. Today, there are 103 GOP lawmakers and the party holds all nine statewide offices.

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/south-carolina-election-_n_1221092.html

sticks and stones top chef powerball winner powerball winner narwhals narwhals gmail app

Arnie visits Austrian town run on green energy (AP)

GUESSING, Austria ? It was another chance to tuck into a schnitzel. But Arnold Schwarzenegger's visit to a small eastern Austrian town had a more compelling purpose.

Austria's most famous living son is proud of his record of greening California while governor. So his visit to Guessing, which meets its energy needs through renewables, was fitting.

In both Guessing and California, "the world has already become a better one," he told fans and dignitaries gathered in his honor Sunday.

After a lunch of Wiener schnitzel and Kaiserscharrn ? chopped up pancakes with jam ? Arnie toured the village's energy plants, describing his push for green energy as "my crusade."

And yes, the "Terminator" star did say, "I'll be back."

___

Philipp Jenne contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_ce/eu_austria_people_schwarzenegger

fast times at ridgemont high fast times at ridgemont high andrea bocelli john hughes panasonic lumix dmc lx5 ucla football taylor momsen

Video: Colbert takes S.C.

What if there were another advanced species?

What if Neanderthals, who bit the dust just 28,000 years ago, had instead wised up and were now living next door? Or what if, during all these millennia that humans have been evolving, some unrelated creature had evolved cognitive and technological prowess in keeping with our own? Another scenario: what if humans had split into two separate species ? the original gangsters, and a successful evolutionary offshoot?

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46077189#46077189

andy williams nyc marathon nyc marathon coriolis effect coriolis effect giants patriots yolo

Southwest posts $152M 4Q profit on strong traffic (AP)

DALLAS ? Southwest Airlines Co. is making money even with higher fuel prices, thanks to full planes and rising fares.

The airline's fourth-quarter net income rose 16 percent to $152 million and revenue jumped to $4.11 billion. Southwest expects strong revenue in the first quarter too, based on passenger-booking trends, says CEO Gary C. Kelly.

Southwest carries more passengers in the U.S. than any airline, and it's the first to report fourth-quarter results. Its profit and other numbers indicate that travel demand is holding up despite the weak economy ? Southwest filled more than 80 percent of its seats, an unusually high percentage.

The average passenger on Southwest paid a fare of $140.18 in the fourth quarter, a 7 percent increase from a year earlier.

That helped the Dallas-based airline offset rising fuel costs. Southwest paid 34 percent more at the pump to fill its fleet of Boeing 737s. Fuel averaged $3.29 per gallon, up from $2.46 a year earlier, and Southwest's fuel tab for the final three months of the year came to $1.49 billion.

And there's no relief in sight. Southwest expects to spend $3.35 per gallon in the first quarter, up from $2.95 per gallon in same period last year.

The increase in Southwest's fourth-quarter profit came entirely from gains on fuel-hedging contracts. Without those one-time gains, Southwest would have earned $66 million, or 9 cents per share, down from adjusted income of $115 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.

Still, the results beat analysts' prediction of 8 cents per share, according to FactSet.

With the addition of AirTran Airways, which Southwest bought last year, revenue jumped to $4.11 billion, just below analysts' forecast of $4.12 billion.

Southwest paid $1.4 billion for AirTran, which allowed it to expand into Atlanta, Mexico and the Caribbean, but it said Thursday that the cost of combining the two airlines will end up at $500 million. The company said it saved $80 million in overlapping expenses in 2011 and expects the annual savings to go much higher.

Shares of Southwest rose 13 cents to $9.15 in early trade.

United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. report results next week, and analysts expect all three will show operating profits for the usually weak fourth quarter. They have helped themselves by limiting the number of flights, which has given them power to raise prices.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_southwest

aids walk redskins oyster festival oyster festival hopkins hopkins the big year

African Union troops reach outskirts of Mogadishu

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, a displaced Somali woman walks past an armored vehicle of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force that was transporting journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, a displaced Somali woman walks past an armored vehicle of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force that was transporting journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, a soldier from the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force mans the gun turret of an armored vehicle while transporting journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, a displaced Somali man pushes a wheelbarrow past an armored vehicle of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force that was transporting journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, displaced Somali boys wave, seen through the plate glass window of an armored vehicle of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force that was transporting journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, a displaced Somali boy gestures towards a soldier from the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force providing security for visiting journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) ? Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday with African Union peacekeepers encountering resistance as they pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents.

Hundreds of residents fled a northern Mogadishu neighborhood after waking to the sound of mortars and gunfire. AU troops have largely pushed al-Shabab militants out of the city over the last year, but pockets of resistance remain.

Resident Abdirahman Ahmed said he was awakened by "noisy mortars" on Friday, said that al-Shabab fighters appeared to be moving back into the northern neighborhood of Heliwa.

"We want to flee now," he said, adding: "People are nervous."

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the spokesman for the AU force that is known as AMISOM, said Friday was the first time that AU forces moved outside of Mogadishu.

"We are moving out of the city now so we can defend the city from outside now. Our troops have captured strategic bases from al-Shabab," Ankunda said.

The nearly 10,000-strong AU force was confined in previous years to small slices of Mogadishu, but the push to expand their zones of control over the last year have been largely successful. The AU force is working side by side with Somali troops, but most of the gains have been made by the better trained and equipped troops from Uganda and Burundi.

Al-Shabab is also being pressured by Kenyan military forces in Somalia's south and Ethiopian forces in the west.

East African nations want the U.N. Security Council to authorize an increase in the number of troops inside AMISOM to 17,000. Kenya has also asked the U.N. for its forces inside Somalia to be integrated into the AU.

Militants continue to carry out suicide and roadside bomb attacks in Mogadishu. At least six bombs were found or exploded in the capital since Wednesday, including a blast on Thursday that killed six people.

Meanwhile, the AU force commander, Maj. Gen. Fred Mugisha, said that around 3,000 Somali troops had not received their wages for the past four months. The AU is supposed to pay them with money donated by Italy, but Mugisha said the Italians had not yet sent the cash. The delay in payment had caused some soldiers to desert their posts, he said.

"It will have an impact on morale," he said.

Around 7,000 other Somali soldiers are paid by the U.S. through a separate program.

Somalia hasn't had a functioning government in more than 20 years. The current transitional government, whose mandate ends in August, is paralyzed by political infighting. The U.N. is pressing government leaders to resolve their differences and expand the areas in the country the government provides services to.

Somalia has also been dealing with a famine the last six months that is estimated to have killed between 50,000 and 100,000 people. Friday was the six-month mark since the U.N. declared famine in Somalia on July 20.

___

Associated Press reporter Katharine Houreld contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-01-20-AF-Somalia/id-77764a0695af4b9ca4a8fc057e789b03

san francisco fire patti labelle the weeknd the weeknd payroll tax payroll tax aisha khan