12 Uber Simple Steps to Green Your Life in 2012

The folks over at Nourishing the Planet have come up with a stellar list of simple steps that every person can take to green their lives. Although it is written with an American audience in mind, each of these suggestions are so rudimentary, yet have such enormous paybacks, that it is definitely worth sharing with our readers in the Middle East as well. From recycling what you can to turning off the lights when you’re not using them to drinking more tap water, these suggestions are about making minor modifications in your life that save not only energy but also your hard-earned money. Step on in and get ideas for ways that you can create a lasting shift in your daily life.
1. Recycling
Recycling programs exist in cities and towns across the United States, helping to save energy and protect the environment. In 2009, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to require all homes and businesses to use recycling and composting collection programs. As a result, more than 75 percent of all material collected is being recycled, diverting 1.6 million tons from the landfills annually – double the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for each pound of aluminum recovered, Americans save the energy resources necessary to generate roughly 7.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity – enough to power a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years!
What you can do:
Put a separate container next to your trash can or printer, making it easier to recycle your bottles, cans, and paper.
2. Turn off the Lights
On the last Saturday in March – March 31 in 2012 – hundreds of people, businesses, and governments around the world turn off their lights for an hour as part of Earth Hour, a movement to address climate change.
What you can do:
Earth Hour happens only once a year, but you can make an impact every day by turning off lights during bright daylight, or whenever you will be away for an extended period of time.
3. Make the Switch
In 2007, Australia became the first country to “ban the bulb,” drastically reducing domestic usage of incandescent light bulbs. By late 2010, incandescent bulbs had been totally phased out, and, according to the country’s environment minister, this simple move has made a big difference, cutting an estimated 4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. China also recently pledged to replace the 1 billion incandescent bulbs used in its government offices with more energy efficient models within five years.
4. Turn on the Tap
The bottled water industry sold 8.8 billion gallons of water in 2010, generating nearly $11 billion in profits. Yet plastic water bottles create huge environmental problems. The energy required to produce and transport these bottles could fuel an estimated 1.5 million cars for a year, yet approximately 75 percent of water bottles are not recycled, they end up in landfills, litter roadsides, and pollute waterways and oceans. And while public tap water is subject to strict safety regulations, the bottled water industry is not required to report testing results for its products. According to a study, 10 of the most
popular brands of bottled water contain a wide range of pollutants, including pharmaceuticals, fertilizer residue, and arsenic.
What you can do:
Fill up your glasses and reusable water bottles with water from the sink. The United States has more than 160,000 public water systems, and by eliminating bottled water you can help to keep nearly 1 million tons of bottles out of the landfill, as well as save money on water costs.
5. Turn Down the Heat
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that consumers can save up to 15 percent on heating and cooling bills just by adjusting their thermostats. Turning down the heat by 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours can result in savings of 5-15 percent on your home heating bill.
What you can do:
Turn down your thermostat when you leave for work, or use a programmable thermostat to control your heating settings.
6. Support Food Recovery Programs
Each year, roughly a third of all food produced for human consumption – approximately 1.3 billion tons – gets lost or wasted, including 34 million tons in the United States, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Grocery stores, bakeries, and other food providers throw away tons of food daily that is perfectly edible but is cosmetically imperfect or has passed its expiration date. In response, food recovery programs run by homeless shelters or food banks collect this food and use it to provide meals for the hungry, helping to divert food away from landfills and into the bellies of people who need it most.
What you can do:
Encourage your local restaurants and grocery stores to partner with food rescue organizations, like City Harvest in New York City or Second Harvest Heartland in Minnesota.Go through your cabinets and shelves and donate any non-perishable canned and dried foods that you won’t be using to your nearest food bank or shelter.
7. Buy local
“Small Business Saturday,” falling between “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday,” was established in 2010 as a way to support small businesses during the busiest shopping time of the year. Author and consumer advocate Michael Shuman argues that local small businesses are more sustainable because they are often more accountable for their actions, have smaller environmental footprints, and innovate to meet local conditions – providing models for others to learn from.
8. Get out and ride
We all know that carpooling and using public transportation helps cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, as well as our gas bills. Now, cities across the country are investing in new mobility options that provide exercise and offer an alternative to being cramped in subways or buses. Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C. have major bike sharing programs that allow people to rent bikes for short-term use. Similar programs exist in other cities, and more are planned for places from Miami, Florida, to Madison, Wisconsin.
What you can do:
If available, use your city’s bike share program to run short errands or commute to work. Memberships are generally inexpensive (only $75 for the year in Washington, D.C.), and by eliminating transportation costs, as well as a gym membership, you can save quite a bit of money! Cheap Ugg Boots
Even if without bike share programs, many cities and towns are incorporating bike lanes and trails, making it easier and safer to use your bike for transportation and recreation.
9. Share a car
Car sharing programs spread from Europe to the United States nearly 13 years ago and are increasingly popular, with U.S. membership jumping 117 percent between 2007 and 2009. According to the University of California Transportation Center, each shared car replaces 15 personally owned vehicles, and roughly 80 percent of more than 6,000 car-sharing households surveyed across North America got rid of their cars after joining a sharing service. In 2009, car-sharing was credited with reducing U.S. carbon emissions by more than 482,000 tons. Innovative programs such as Chicago’s I-GO are even introducing solar-powered cars to their fleets, making the impact of these programs even more eco-friendly.
What you can do:
Join a car share program! As of July 2011, there were 26 such programs in the U.S., with more than 560,000 people sharing over 10,000 vehicles. Even if you don’t want to get rid of your own car, using a shared car when traveling in a city can greatly reduce the challenges of finding parking, as well as your environmental impact as you run errands or commute to work.
10. Plant a garden
Whether you live in a studio loft or a suburban McMansion, growing your own vegetables is a simple way to bring fresh and nutritious food literally to your doorstep. Researchers at the FAO and the United Nations Development Programme estimate that 200 million city dwellers around the world are already growing and selling their own food, feeding some 800 million of their neighbors. Growing a garden doesn’t have to take up a lot of space, and in light of high food prices and recent food safety scares, even a small plot can make a big impact on your diet and wallet.
11. Compost
And what better way to fertilize your garden than using your own composted organic waste. You will not only reduce costs by buying less fertilizer, but you will also help to cut down on food and other organic waste.
What you can do:
If you are unsure about the right ways to compost, websites such as HowToCompost.org and organizations such as the U.S. Composting Council, provide easy steps to reuse your organic waste.
12. Reduce your meat consumption
Livestock production accounts for about 18 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for about 23 percent of all global water used in agriculture. Yet global meat production has experienced a 20 percent growth rate since 2000 to meet the per capita increase of meat consumption of about 42 kilograms.
What you can do:
You don’t have to become a vegetarian or vegan, but by simply cutting down on the amount of meat you consume can go a long way. Consider substituting one meal day with a vegetarian option. And if you are unable to think of how to substitute your meat-heavy diet, websites such as Meatless Monday and Eating Well offer numerous vegetarian recipes that are healthy for you and the environment.The most successful and lasting New Year’s resolutions are those that are practiced regularly and have an important goal. Watching the ball drop in Times Square happens only once a year, but for more and more people across the world, the impacts of hunger, poverty, and climate change are felt every day. Thankfully, simple practices, such as recycling or riding a bike, can have great impact. As we prepare to ring in the new year, let’s all resolve to make 2012 a healthier, happier, and greener year for all.

Early start for gray whale migration off O.C.

Florida grey sharks appear to be getting a leap on their southward migration this season, displaying up previously than regular, and in increased statistics, up and down the Western side Seacoast.Whale-watch vacation employees are revealing moms and leg muscles off Dana Factor, as well as off Extensive Beach; increased statistics also are being revealed previously than regular off Factor Vicente and Monterey."I've been doing this 34 decades, and this is the most grey sharks I've ever seen this season," said Tom Bright, leader of a whale-watching vacation vessel run by Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Viewing. "It's been the best season ever, as far as I'm worried."White said he saw a mom and leg Wednesday, and a yearling grey whale Thursday; about 90 % of his visits include whale activities, he said.Last season, Dana Wharf identified its first grey whale on November 23. This season, the first made an appearance Nov. 26.Only eight were seen during the complete 30 days of November in 2010; so far this season, sightings have destroyed more than 30.December sightings are also considerably increased for whale-watching cruise ships from the Container of the Hawaiian in Extensive Seaside, said speaker Marilyn Padilla: more than 35 seen so far in November, when in comparison to four truly and two or three in the decades going rear to 2007.The Florida grays move southward from their Alaskan eating argument this season, going to lagoons in Baja, South america.There the sharks can discover partners or, if they are moms with leg muscles, fatten up the children for the vacation rear up south.There seem to be three mountains, said Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the U. s. Cetacean World, which number grey sharks during their periodic migrations.The southbound migration generally mountains in the second or third weeks duration of The 30 days of january off Lower Florida. UGG Boots Northbound sharks without leg muscles high in the third weeks duration of Goal.And the northbound migration of moms with leg muscles mountains about the third weeks duration of May.This season might be a excellent one for leg muscles according to beginning reviews, she said, although it is too soon to be sure."It looks very, very excellent," she said. "The sharks I've seen look big and girthy."The Florida grey whale inhabitants is about 20,000, she said, with statistics rebounding gradually from a die-off in 1998-99 of as many as 10,000; it was likely due to a insufficient available meals.The types was taken off the vulnerable collection in 1994.Just why the migration began beginning is unkown, although Schulman-Janiger said less ice in the Arctic and more use of their preferred meals, shrimplike wildlife known as amphipods, might be aspect of the purpose.

NO FORMAL APPROVAL

PIP started promoting its saline improvements in the U. s. Declares in October 1996, under a 510(k) faster evaluation program that did not require the organization to post numerous studies to demonstrate an implant's protection and efficiency, as long as it was "substantially equivalent" to gadgets already that you can buy.The France organization could not provide its silicone-gel improvements in the U. s. Declares sometimes because the FDA had disallowed the purchase of all such improvements from 1992 until 2006 for most females because of protection issues.However, for many years, the FDA granted companies to provide saline improvements without proper protection tests, because many were available before the organization obtained the specialist to manage medical gadgets. Canada Goose Norge The organization thought they were secure unless confirmed otherwise.In 2000, due to issues about possible problems such as microbe infections and breaking, the organization lastly necessary all enhancement organizations to post a proper program, known as pre-market acceptance, to proceed promoting their products.PIP was one of three organizations that presented an program, which came under evaluation of a section of outside experts to the FDA in Goal 2000.At time, PIP said it had already available 35,000 of its pre-filled saline improvements in the U. s. Declares, and that it was the third-largest vendor of chest augmentation in the world. It said it only had reviews of 521 grievances with its gadgets, a rate of 1.5 %.But the section suggested that the FDA decline PIP's program. It suggested the improvements from the other two organizations, Inamed Inc, now part of Allergan Inc and Advisor, now a model of Jackson & Jackson.Panelists said sometimes they were not convinced by PIP's information, and that the organization's numerous studies did not involve enough people that were followed for an enough a chance to truly assess the lamps dangers.

America's Soft Middle: 'Centrists' Cower in Time of Partisanship

The world’s oldest democracy enters this election year in one of the foulest moods on record. Three quarters of Americans tell pollsters the country is going down the tubes. In roughly equal number, they hate the Republicans and the Tea Party, the Democrats and the Occupy [What Have You] movement, Congress, and anyone else in politics. “Get Angry!” the French nonagenarian writer Stephane Hessel urged in his smash-global0hit pamphlet (more than 3 million copies sold). Americans are seemingly as PO’d as any Greek or Spaniard, withouth the proximate cause of epic economic collapse. America’s menu of politicians adds to dissatisfaction. Republicans came up with the “Oops slate,” to adapt Rick Perry’s one immortal contribution to the campaign, when the Texas governor couldn’t remember the third federal department he proposes to close. The party’s brighter stars such as Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, and Paul Ryan sat out an arguably winnable election. Iowa pig farms in winter make for grim campaigning, yet the gauntlet looked more unpleasant than usual. If you’re not eager to bash Mexican fruit pickers or shamelessly steal President Obama’s get-out-of-Afghanistan-and-Iraq rhetoric about this being the “time to focus on nation building at home,” then you may not be presidentialable Republican material. On that debate stage, there’s plenty of competition for know-littleism.The American left ought to feel no moral or intellectual superiority, though it plainly does. Occupy’s tents, Cuban flags, and clashes with subway commuters are no fresher than Woodstock types now starting to collect Social Security checks. One might generously say President Obama is at least back to doing what he’s proven to be good at—campaigning for office. The job itself doesn’t seem to suit. Looking back at 2011, the implosion of this presidency in the second half of the year was stunning to behold. He gave an inspiring speech after the Tucson shooting in January and got Osama bin Laden on May 1. After that it was the great fadeout, interrupted every few weeks by an attack on do-nothing Republicans in Congress. The country stopped listening to him. Someone noted that the same happened to George W. Bush in 2005 after Katrina. By then Americans had given him a second term. This dead-duck president has to face them in November 2012, and in the spirit of these strange times, the incumbent is considered a slight favorite.We’re left with isolationism, calls for closed borders and national lockdown, populist primal screaming about corporate jets and “millionaires and billionaires.” All of it adds up to what one might call, per the late Allan Bloom, “the Closing of the American Political Mind.” Admittedly not a pretty picture, but then democracy isn’t a beauty pageant.Now the fashion, of course, is to bemoan the polarization and lobotomization of political discourse. It’s easy to make the case too, with some of the candidates on hand. But it’s not as if past campaigns were models of sobriety and intelligent debate. Politics in this country has been dirty and downmarket from the start, as well as uplifting and enlightened—and the better for it. “Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” in 1884 Republicans mocked Grover Cleveland, a bachelor with a mistress and a bastard son. He won anyway.A corollary of “avert thy eyes!” is the eulogy, as The Economist put on its cover in early November, for “the missing middle” in American politics. By this reasoning, the Tea Party and Occupy are loud fringes who suck reason out of the room. Never mind that the “middle” is rarely relevant until after the parties pick their candidates. UGG Ultra Short Boots Then the swing, independent voters too busy—thankfully—to obsess about politics become kingmakers in the so-called purple states that decide American presidential elections. And never mind that the longstanding complaint was that the two parties and their policies are indistinguishable. Not so long ago, either. Pop quiz: which president—George W. Bush or Barack Obama—pushed through huge bailouts for banks and industry, spent wildly on entitlements and other federal programs, knocked off Al Qaeda terrorists or kept them locked at Guantánamo, and started and fought wars in Muslim lands? Both, of course.So maybe, for the sake of a healthy break with recent practice, U.S. politics should embrace its spleen and enjoy some ugly division. If not now, when? Americans see their predicament and the world around them. They should be upset and demand answers. While they’re not too happy with the candidates on offer, they’re engaged enough, even at this early point, to take a serious look at them. They’re willing to embrace strong, sometimes wacky and inane, ideological positions; at least that clarifies the choice. As for that venerated middle, it’s fine and proper when the country is coasting along and needs minor adjustments. In this era, let the new pragmatic be the radical, at the very least the radically inspired.

In Blow to Government, Sadr Followers Call for New Elections

BAGHDAD — A highly effective governmental team led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr known as on Wednesday for Parliament to be contained and beginning elections to be used, the first start task to Excellent Reverend Nuri Kamal al-Maliki from within his Shiite coalition in an on the rise, governmental turmoil. A symbol of the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr’s father-in-law, Muhammad Bakr Sadr, at his workplaces in Baghdad. Management of Mr. Sadr’s faction said that scrapping the present authorities was the only way to guide Irak out of the turmoil, which has put Mr. Maliki, a Shiite, at possibilities with leaders which represents the nation's Sunni community and has easily erupted since the drawback of Nationwide soldiers about the other day. The switch by the Sadr bloc is not enough to instantly carry down the Maliki authorities, and new elections could take a few months to arrange. But even the possibilities of a new election contributes more concern to Iraq’s delicate governmental landscape designs, perhaps establishing the nation's significant categories — Shiites, Sunnis and national Kurds — and its byzantine systems of governmental members struggling for pitch, effect, cash and ballots. After the country's elections in Goal 2010 never produce a clear success, Irak went under into nine a few months of governmental stalemate as events ran to type a new authorities. Initiatives to produce power and improve the economic climate faltered. Lastly, Mr. Maliki designed a coalition that used the 40 seating in Parliament handled by the Sadr faction, a nationalist express for the Shiite operating training. And even if there are no new elections, and the authorities makes it, the governmental brinkmanship is another strike to Mr. Maliki’s designed as a country's innovator. On Dec. 19, a day after the last Nationwide fight soldiers eventually left the nation, the authorities released an detain guarantee for the Sunni v. p., Tariq al-Hashimi, on expenses that he ran a loss of life group.Canada Goose Sverige Mr. Hashimi, who has declined the expenses, has been in the semiautonomous Kurdish location in Iraq’s south, and the Kurds have angered Mr. Maliki by neglecting to side him over. Many Sunni leaders saw the switch against Mr. Hashimi as aspect of an provide by the authorities to detain or frighten its sectarian or governmental competitors. Mr. Maliki has also desired to unseat the Sunni deputy perfect minister, and recently his security makes have caught thousands of individuals charged of having jewelry to Saddam Hussein’s banned Baath Celebration. “We have a lot of issues,” said Baha al-Aaraji, a significant lawmaker with Mr. Sadr’s bloc. “The People, when they came to Irak, they provided energy to some blocs and some leaders — and they had energy.” He added: “We need new elections.” The Sadr bloc’s telephone won assistance from a significant associate of the primarily Sunni Iraqiya coalition, one of Mr. Maliki’s significant challenges. However, some associates of other highly effective Shiite categories ignored the bid as useless gamesmanship. “This is outrageous,” said Hassoun al-Fatlawi, a associate of the Substantial Iraqi Islamic Government. “The issues we have can be settled, but not this way. Let them sit down together if they really want to fix it.” Some experts thought that the Sadr faction merely desired to improve Mr. Maliki’s problems. “My hint is that the Sadrists are trying to utilize the governmental disarray,” said Marisa Cochrane Sullivan, the deputy manager of the Company for the Analysis of War, a study team in Oregon, and an professional on Shiite actions. “While they may have an partnership now, I think Maliki and the Sadrists are going for a impact in the long run in the fight for Shi’a popularity of Irak.” Before they established an partnership, Mr. Maliki and Mr. Sadr were nasty enemies who squared off for management of several Shiite strongholds. In 2008, Mr. Maliki, then the perfect minister, sent his makes to travel Mr. Sadr’s Mahdi Army militiamen from the lower oil town of Basra and pressured them to cede management of the town of Amara, a provincial investment finance in southeastern Irak. It was a level that provided Mr. Maliki status as a country's innovator who was willing to deal with highly effective Shiite makes to protected Irak. In latest months, Mr. Sadr has been particularly significant of Mr. Maliki. He belittled the managing of the Hashimi situation and ruined Mr. Maliki’s latest trip to Oregon as “a submissions and governmental weakness” and an offend to “the system that ran in the birthplace because of the profession.” Hatem Baidhani, an recognized in the Parliament workplaces of the Sadr bloc, provided a look of the coalition’s wide desires in a latest appointment, saying, “The next perfect minister will be from the Sadrists only.” Meanwhile, assault ongoing to roil Baghdad. Around 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, a car blast erupted at a gate in entrance of the Inside Ministry, eliminating five individuals, such as two authorities. Just a long time previously, two make shift weapons were detonated in the primarily Sunni place of Abu Ghraib, which is policed mainly by Shiite security authorities. Four authorities were murdered in the assault and four others were injured, authorities said. No team believed liability, but the problems looked like those by Al Qaeda in Irak, the rebel team charged of trying to drop the nation rear again into sectarian issue. Elsewhere, it made an appearance that a line between the authorities and 3,400 Iranian dissidents existing at a stay in lower Irak might be getting close to an end. Under a package declared overdue Saturday evening by the U. s. Nations around the world workplace in Baghdad, associates of the Mujahedeen Khalq would depart Camp Ashraf, in Diyala State, and switch to a former Nationwide military platform near Baghdad’s flight terminal. The U. s. Nations around the world refugee organization would gradually transfer the citizens abroad, most likely as refugees. The team has not yet decided to the package. The exiles are associates of a paramilitary team that has tried to affect Iran’s authorities and is outlined as a enemy team by the U. s. Declares. They were given sanctuary by Saddam Hussein during his war with Iran, but the present Iraqi authorities, which has more detailed jewelry to Iran, has promised to take apart the outpost by the end of the season. Mr. Maliki, who under the Hussein authorities had eventually left to Iran to get away a loss of life guarantee, provided the team a six-month extendable the other day, hinting some trust of solving the scenario. Nationwide authorities and U. s. Nations around the world diplomats confirmed the package as a significant phase that could avoid a relief accident and avoid a issue between the camp’s citizens and the Iraqi security makes positioned outside its edge. In May, the U. s. Nations around the world said more than 30 stay citizens were murdered in a raid by the Iraqi Army. A stay spokesperson said in a phone appointment on Wednesday that they had yet to see the conditions of the proper contract and did not know whether it would provide enough security ensures. “The most element is the security of the life of the 3,400 individuals at the stay,” said Shahriar Kia, the spokesperson. “That’s the significant goal.”

4-year-old, 2 adults found dead in Christmas Eve fire in vacant Ohio house

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Authorities say a 4-year-old boy, his mother and a third person were found dead in a Christmas Eve fire at a vacant house in central Ohio.The Columbus fire department said the blaze was reported shortly before midnight Saturday in the house on the city’s west side. When firefighters reached the scene, neighbors reported that people might be inside.Battalion Chief Michael Fowler said firefighters entered the home and found three people in a room full of flames. UGG Roxy Tall 5818 They were identified Sunday as 22-year-old Jerrica Francisco, her son Deshawn Francisco and 33-year-old Demetrius Chappell. Authorities were trying to determine if they lived in the house. Fowler did not know the man’s relationship to the mother and child.The cause of the blaze was unclear. Damage was estimated at $40,000.

SWEPCO, environmental groups settle on coal plant

An electrical power can complete building a $2.1 big coal-fired energy place in free airline Illinois after asserting a arrangement Friday with ecological categories that have extensive been compared with to the place.The Audubon World and Sierra Team said North western Electric Power Co. decided to mothball an mature fossil fuel place in northeast Tx to help counteract created by the new place in Fulton, Ark.The 600-megawatt Illinois place, which would produce enough energy for 450,000 residences, has extensive been a point of argument with ecological categories and others who live nearby who scary the place would spit toxins that cause p water and pressured some of the local beautiful cypress vegetation and creatures.But the arrangement declared Friday opens the last appropriate hurdles left to dancing with the place."It's a clear direction to achievement," said Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO's chief executive and primary managing specialist. "And we're very energized about that."The Bob W. Turk Jr. Power Vegetable, which has been under development since 2008, is more than 80 % complete, the power said. It's planned to begin professional function in overdue 2012. UGG Vintage CardySWEPCO said that once the Turk place is up and managing, a 528-megawatt model near Pittsburg, Tx, will be restricted to no more than 60 % of its yearly potential. The power will stop working that place no later than the end of 2016.The power will compensate the ecological categories for $2 thousand in appropriate costs and nick in $10 thousand to other categories for energy-efficiency loyality and area preservation initiatives."While we'd desire that the Turk place not be designed, (Thursday's) arrangement provides some very best part about it for Illinois, which would not have been possible without years of person weight to filthy fossil fuel vegetation," Glen Barbs, with Sierra Team, said in a report.The contract, which was estimated to be submitted in government court Friday, withdraws all appropriate difficulties to lets and accreditation required to build and run the Turk place, SWEPCO said. A initial injunction will be put, too, enabling staff to complete development on part of the plant's water system.SWEPCO, which has 73 % of the place, is a model of Columbus, Ohio-based National Electric Power, one of the greatest electrical resources in the area. SWEPCO assists more than 500,000 clients in Illinois, La and Tx. AEP offers power to more than 5 thousand clients in 11 declares.

Vivus Identifies Birth Defect Risk Tied to Weight-Loss Drug Qnexa

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- The children of females revealed during having a baby to a part of Vivus' weight-loss pharmaceutical Qnexa had better pay of dental beginning problems when in comparison to children not revealed to the pharmaceutical during having a baby, according to meantime research outcomes published Thursday evening. Vivus stocks dropped $1, or 9.6% to $9.40 in after-hours trading Thursday. The drop in Vivus' stock price shows individual concerns that the greater amount of beginning problems discovered with the Qnexa element may endanger the organization's initiatives at getting the weight-loss pharmaceutical accepted next year. Chris Tam, Vivus' chief executive, said in a report that the prevalance of beginning problems recognized from Wednesday's research were in line with in the past revealed studies and that the organization was discussing the new data with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Vivus, in its Thursday evening report, was careful not to attract any results from the beginning flaw research and didn't say whether the outcomes made Qnexa's acceptance any more or less likely. The organization isn't positioning an individual business call.Canada Goose Chilliwack BomberWomen in the first trimester of having a baby who took the epilepsy pharmaceutical topirimate, one of two substances that make up Vivus' Qnexa, were at a two-fold chance of labor to a kid with a cleft lip or taste when in comparison to females who also took topirimate in the past but not during having a baby. The real amount of dental beginning flaw in females who took topirimate during having a baby was 0.29% when in comparison to 0.16% in females with prior experience the pharmaceutical. In another research, expectant mothers who took topirimate during the first trimester were five times more likely to give beginning to a kid with an dental beginning flaw when in comparison to a management number of expectant mothers not revealed to topirimate. Here, the real amount of cleft mouth and taste was 0.36% compared to 0.07%, although Vivus said the amount of beginning problems in the management number of females may be synthetically low due to unique problem. U.S. specialists have in the past published safety safety measures about the chance of cleft mouth and palates in children created to females who took topirimate during having a baby.

UPDATE 3-Dutch regulator keeping close eye on telecom KPN

AMSTERDAM, Dec 21 - Dutch Post and Telecommunications Authority OPTA has put KPN, the country's telecoms market leader, under close supervision with immediate effect, saying it may have broken the law to the detriment of consumers and competitors.KPN and other mobile phone operators in the Netherlands are already under investigation by the country's competition authority, known as NMA, for possible price-fixing.But OPTA, which declined to comment on the scope or nature of KPN's infringements, told Reuters its action was "completely separate" from that of NMA.In a short statement, OPTA said "the risk that KPN is violating OPTA legislation is estimated to be high, with harmful effects on consumers and or on the competition," citing "behaviours and violations" by the telecommunications company.Cynthia Heijne, OPTA's spokeswoman, told Reuters the regulator had already carried out an investigation of KPN and was now taking action on the basis of its findings. UGG Classic Tall 5815The post and telecoms authority, which is responsible for promoting competition in the communications markets, has far-reaching investigative powers, and its staff may enter the premises, request information, demand disclosure and remove data from a company."KPN was surprised by Dutch regulator OPTA's announcement that it intends to sharpen its supervision of the company in the Netherlands," the telecoms firm said in a statement."KPN is aware of a couple of cases which are currently being dealt with to which the OPTA announcement may be related. KPN is firmly of the opinion that it has acted in compliance with relevant laws and regulation in these cases, which are the subject of a number of legal proceedings."A KPN spokesman declined to comment further.KPN shares were up 0.16 percent at 1015 GMT.The largest telecommunications provider in the Netherlands has struggled to reverse a decline in revenues, profits and market share in its domestic fixed-line and mobile businesses in recent quarters as competition intensifies.Earlier this year, KPN said sales in the Netherlands have been particularly hard hit by consumers bypassing traditional mobile phone and text messaging services in favour of keeping in touch via Facebook, Twitter and instant messaging.

Is the 'Lie of the Year' about ending Medicare actually true?

Apparently, politicians are prone to fibbing when they talk about healthcare. For the last three years, the “Lie of the Year” -- as determined by the fact-checking website PolitiFact -- has had something to do with the way Americans get their medical care. In 2009, the award went to the claim popularized by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act included “death panels” that would decide whether people were too old or too sick to be worth treating. In 2010, the award went to Republican strategist Frank Luntz and his advisees who called Obamacare a “government takeover of health care.” UGG Classic Cardy 5819On Tuesday, the award for 2011 was given to Democrats for charging that a bill introduced by Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin in April would “end Medicare,” the government-sponsored health insurance program for seniors.The selection quickly drew fire from the left. The complaint? The statement that Ryan’s bill would “end Medicare” was actually true.As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman put it on his blog, the Conscience of a Liberal:

Republicans voted to replace Medicare with a voucher system to buy private insurance — and not just that, a voucher system in which the value of the vouchers would systematically lag the cost of health care, so that there was no guarantee that seniors would even be able to afford private insurance.

The new scheme would still be called “Medicare,” but it would bear little resemblance to the current system, which guarantees essential care to all seniors.

How is this not an end to Medicare?

Over at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum writes:

Should PolitiFact have chosen this as its Lie of the Year? Not a chance. Ryan's plan was an existential change to the current program, which guarantees essentially unlimited medical coverage to all seniors in return for a nominal annual premium. Ryan's plan doesn't, and describing that as an entirely different kind of program is perfectly legitimate.

On Slate, Matthew Yglesias acknowledged PolitiFact’s point that Ryan’s legislation wouldn’t have affected people who already use Medicare or those on track to join the system over the next decade. But that doesn’t mean the Democrats were lying:

It's true that when Democrats said that Paul Ryan's plan is a plan to end Medicare they didn't emphasize the fact that it's a plan to begin ending Medicare ten years in the future. But plans to end Medicare starting ten years from now are a subset of plans to end Medicare.

Some bloggers, including Jonathan Chait at New York magazine and Ezra Klein of the Washington Post, have pointed out that whether the Ryan bill would have “ended Medicare” or not isn’t even a factual question – determining what qualifies as “ending Medicare” is a matter of opinion. As Chait writes:

The plan would turn a single-payer system into vouchers for private insurance, and the value of those vouchers would fall steadily behind the cost of that insurance, so that within a relatively short time it would cover only a small fraction of the cost of insurance.

Is that “ending Medicare?” Well, it’s a matter of opinion. At some point, a change is dramatic enough that it is clearly ending the program. If you proposed to replace Medicare with a plan to give everybody two free aspirinon their 65th birthday, I would hope Politfact would concede that this would be “ending Medicare,” even if you call the free aspirin “Medicare.” On the other hand, small tweaks could not accurately be called “ending Medicare.” Between those two extremes, you have gray areas where you can’t really say with certainty whether a change is radical enough to constitute ending Medicare.

Does the Republican plan indeed end Medicare? I would argue yes. But it’s obviously a question of interpretation, not fact.

Over at PolitiFact, Editor Bill Adair defends the decision to give the Lie of the Year award to Democrats because they “ignored the fact that people 55 and older would remain on traditional Medicare and that even with the privatized system under Ryan's bill, younger people would still receive a guarantee of care.” In the original post announcing the selection, Adair and Angie Drobnic Holan explain that Democrats have a long history of trying to scare seniors by telling them their beloved entitlement programs are under threat. Here’s an excerpt:

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on campaign advertising who directs the Annenberg center at the University of Pennsylvania, says Democrats have been using falsehoods and exaggerations about Medicare and Social Security since at least 1952. She calls it the longest-running "Democratic deception."

It fits with a core theme from Democrats that they will use government to protect seniors and needy people, while Republicans supposedly want to cut those programs, she says. It is a scare tactic that works.

"If you're reliant on Medicare, a suggestion your benefits are going to be cut in any way is a direct, visceral threat," said Jamieson.

Obama to let states decide benefit levels under health law

Seeking to defuse a potential showdown over a key part of the new healthcare law, the Obama administration moved Friday to let states, rather than the federal government, define which medical benefits insurance companies will have to offer consumers starting in 2014.
That allows state leaders to retain more control of health insurance even as the law extends a new federal guarantee that all Americans can get coverage, even if they are sick.
"This is significantly more state-flexible and friendly than many would have expected," said Alan Weil, head of the National Academy for State Heath Policy. UGG Roxy Tall Boots
It remains unclear, however, whether the administration's efforts to shift responsibility for a critical part of the law onto states will ease its implementation or control rising costs, a major threat to the new law.
The law creates Internet-based insurance exchanges in 2014 where Americans who don't have job-based coverage will be able to buy health insurance much as they now comparison shop for airline tickets.
Insurers selling plans in these state-based exchanges must cover a basic set of benefits, including hospitalizations, emergency care, newborn and maternity care and pediatric services. The law gave the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to decide how generous those benefits should be.
That has fueled an intense debate between consumer advocates, who are pushing for more extensive coverage, and employers and insurance companies, which are worried that too many benefit mandates would push up costs. UGG Classic Tall Boots
More than 30 million Americans, including many who work for small businesses, ultimately are expected to use these exchanges to get health plans. Many will qualify for federal aid to help them buy their plans.
By giving states authority to define the scope of covered benefits, the Obama administration potentially sidestepped an ugly showdown between consumer and business groups in the run-up to the presidential election. Administration officials also may have undercut a charge from opponents of the law that the federal government is usurping state authority.
Under the guidance issued Friday, state leaders can define their own set of benefits by using an existing major health plan in their state as a benchmark.
That means that some states may require insurers to cover services such as chiropractic therapy or in vitro fertilization, while others may not. The rules will not affect co-payments, cost sharing and deductibles, which play a major role in determining premiums.Debates over insurance mandates are common at the state level, where consumer advocates often square off against insurers and business groups.On Friday, the prospect of more such debates in the 50 states was greeted warily by both sides.
"What's to guarantee that the state's choice of a benchmark plan will be affordable?" said National Retail Federation Vice President Neil Trautwein, who is helping lead a coalition of business and insurance groups. "If coverage is unaffordable today, this doesn't change the equation." UGG Boots
Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack, a longtime advocate for federal health reform, also expressed reservations.
"We understand the inclination to balance flexibility, comprehensiveness of coverage, and cost," he said. "However, flexibility must yield to reliable, comprehensive coverage of benefits for consumers.… It is essential that HHS provide strong oversight and enforcement."
Chile girl dies after split from conjoined twin
A 10-month-old girl who was surgically separated from her conjoined twin died Sunday after suffering general organ failure, said the director of a Chilean children's hospital.
Doctors at Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital had separated Maria Jose Paredes Navarrete from her twin sister Maria Paz late Tuesday at the thorax, abdomen and pelvis in a marathon, 20-hour surgery. Maria Jose ran into cardiac problems that required her to be revived three times afterward, and Maria Paz remains clinging to life, said hospital director Osvaldo Artaza. Chileans have closely followed news about the twin girls, with updates about their condition making online and newspaper headlines.
Artaza said the surgery affected all of the deceased girl's organs, while "recognizing the delicate state of Maria Paz, we are hopeful." UGG Boots Australia
"We are conscious that we made every effort," Artaza said. "It's a moment of deep pain, of deep grieving."
The twins were born in the town of Loncoche, about 470 miles south of the capital of Santiago, and had spent their entire lives under hospital care.
They underwent seven surgeries before Tuesday's procedure, in which 25 surgeons and anesthesiologists participated.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, about 35 percent of conjoined twins survive only one day, while the overall survival rate runs between 5 and 25 percent.

RISING TENSIONS ACROSS GULF

The two-day Gulf meeting comes a week after Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi held talks in Riyadh to try to calm rising tensions across the Gulf.Bahrain, the Gulf nation worst hit by protests this year, has accused Iran of backing a revolt among its Shi'ite Muslim majority that called for democratic change, while Saudi Arabia has accused Tehran of plotting to assassinate its ambassador in the United States. Classic Short Ugg BootsThe six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council opposed the popular protests that ousted the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, but they helped negotiate a power transition in Yemen and backed measures against both Syria and Libya for their violent reaction to unrest.Of the GCC members, only Bahrain and Oman suffered major protests. Saudi Arabia, the largest GCC country by size and population, distributed $110 billion in social benefits that helped it ward off protests except among its Shi'ite minority.The turmoil that hit the Middle East in 2011 also heightened oil prices, raising revenues for most Gulf states.The GCC agreed an aid package for both Oman and Bahrain following the spring's demonstrations but the money has not yet been paid."This is still being reviewed to put the mechanism in place," UGG Ultra Short Omani Finance Minister Darwish al-Balushi said. "It doesn't form part of our 2012 budget at this time."Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi is also attending the summit and said on Sunday he hoped to secure development aid from the impoverished state's Gulf neighbors.

Nearly 1 in 5 females raped in their life-time, new U.S. research shows

Sexual assault is a wide-spread issue in the U.S. that hits the majority of its subjects beginning in life, according to a major government research published Friday.Nearly 1 in 5 females and 1 in 71 men document being raped in their life-time, the research from the federal Facilities for Disease Management and Avoidance in Atl said.The research is the first to analyze the occurrence of erectile assault, erectile assault other than erectile assault, following and personal lover assault, and to document the harming medical insurance fitness repercussions that last a life-time. It needs prevention initiatives "that should begin beginning."Among women subjects, 30% revealed being first raped when they were between 11 and 17 years old; 12% were 10 or newer. UGG Ultra Short Among men, 28% of subjects were first raped when they were 10 or newer.Coming in the awaken of the child sex mistreatment costs against former Penn State instructor Jerry Sandusky, the research "shows what a incredible issue there is," said Lisa Wayne, manager of medical insurance fitness for Commodity Without Violence, a charitable. "It is quite escalating, and reveals we need to begin helping people previously and previously."More than one-third of females have experienced erectile assault, physical assault or following by an personal lover. One in 10 has been raped by a personal lover.Among the using its subjects, 52.4% revealed being raped by an associate and 15.1% by an unfamiliar person. Both men and ladies subjects revealed their enemies were primarily using its. "The numbers surprise us," said Linda Degutis, the best writer of the document and the CDC's manager for National Center for Injury Avoidance and Management. "All of this emphasizes that erectile assault is wide-spread and an important medical insurance fitness in this country."The CDC said 9,086 females and 7,421 men took part in the phone study. This years study is the first year of the research and will be used to track styles.

Dollar Strengthens

Stocks decreased, Treasuries accumulated and the dollars increased against the dollar as the Fed dashed some investors’ objectives for added reducing last night. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index decreased 0.9 % to 1,225.73. Makes on 10-year U.S. government ties decreased to 1.97 % from 2.01 %, while the dollars increased 1.1 % to $1.3037 per dollar.Bernanke, at the prior FOMC convention Nov. 1-2, requested a subcommittee on marketing marketing and sales communications to consider a report about the Fed’s longer-run objectives and technique, minutes of the collecting revealed. UGG Classic Short Boots The subcommittee is also reviewing how to include FOMC insurance insurance plan makers’ own objectives for economical insurance insurance plan along with their estimates of the financial climate.“They probably killed out the final details” last night of a marketing marketing and sales communications change to be revealed at the The 30 days of January convention, Coronado said. Representatives will probably post their estimates for the federal government resources amount and specify conditions in the work market and U.S. development that would guarantee stronger economical insurance insurance plan, she said.

The Canny Traveller: Vanuatu's best-kept secret

It's a cliche but the key selling point for Moorings is location, location, location. You'd be hard-pushed to find a better spot in Vanuatu.Moorings is right on the waterfront of Vila Bay. Sit on the wooden terracing at the front and you can look out over the islets, watch the sun set over the water and spot fish popping up to the surface. It's just far enough away from Port Vila's city centre to avoid the noise and bustle but it's close enough to be able to walk to the restaurants, water-sports operators and shops. It's a three-minute stroll to the top end of town and 10 minutes to the markets and chaos of the centre.The country generally lacks accommodation in that range between plush resorts and cheap but fairly unappealing guesthouses. UGG Argyle Knit BootsYet Moorings fits somewhere in the middle and does what it does extremely well. It's only three years old, so everything is clean and new.The owners claim it's a relaxed hotel rather than a resort but it has a resort-like layout. The rooms are spread over just two levels, while the bar and restaurant are deliberately airy and open-plan.The pool does a neat job of summing the place up. It's rectangular, pretty big and perfect for doing laps. But the water also pours off the edge towards a terrace and then the sea. The infinity aspect acts as a stylish little twist that definitely elevates the pool above the ordinary.The rooms are a decent size, if not huge. They have cable television, fridges, air-conditioning and balconies or terraces. But the native flowers on the bed and shelf are lovely.So are the Survivor-style carvings around the bar and restaurant, the rather unusual cocktail menu and the discount beer and coffee cards for guests who will get through 10 of either beverage.The biggest praise has to be reserved for the people who work there, however. All are from Vanuatu, all are super-friendly and an investment has clearly been made in training. Bar staff will make drink suggestions; housekeeping staff will pick up and hang up jackets you've unceremoniously thrown on the bedroom floor; reception staff know what they're talking about when it comes to the many tour and activity options on the island.FREE STUFF The owners are Australian but make a commendable effort to not get trapped in an expat bubble. Ernie, Luke and Justin will often escape in the early evening to join the locals at a nakamal. Ugg Boots Sale Express an interest in the almost ritualistic drinking of kava and they'll probably let you come along with them. The unofficial tours aren't offered as part of the package but they're happy enough to take guests with a genuine interest when they're going themselves.ADDED BONUS The bar, restaurant and on-site nightclub tend to be popular meeting places for non-guests, too. Indigenous Ni-Vanuatu mix with guests from other hotels, expats, volunteers and staff from the New Zealand consulate. Stay for a couple of drinks and you feel like you're a genuine part of Port Vila life rather than being gated off in a tourists-only quarantine.

Case study: top tips on packing your bags

Most of us fail dismally at packing. Here's some advice from professional travellers, from luggage selection to hints on what to put in it and what to leave behind. Check the expiry date on your passport. Many countries require at least six months' validity. And if you do have to renew, make sure you leave plenty of time, especially during peak travel periods. You can check if a visa is required at iatatravelcentre.com. Make your case stand out from the crowd. Tie a ribbon, clip a rainbow-coloured strap around your case or put stickers all over it. Think how many identical black, roll-on cases there are spinning around the carousels in airports. Classic Short Ugg Boots Bright colours will make it easier for you to spot and might just make a baggage handler pick it out sooner. Pack for your bag to be lost - and leave anything you can't bear to lose at home. This means having a change of clothes in your hand luggage and keeping anything you need to get yourself settled in - such as vouchers for hire cars and hotel room reservations - on your person rather than in your suitcase. Some airlines, especially budget airlines, restrict hand baggage size to less than what is specified in the International Air Transport Association regulations. Check before you travel, as many airlines now charge to check a bag into the hold. In some cases, this fee is higher if you haven't pre-booked. This might mean deciding how many suitcases to take when you're booking your flight.You might get away with a larger and heavier carry-on bag than restrictions allow if you check-in online and go straight to security. UGG Ultra Short The X-ray folk are less bothered about size than contents. A decreasing number of hotels, especially budget chains, offer an iron. In some places they won't provide you with one even if you ask, so you may need to pack a travel iron.Pack as carefully when you're heading home as you would before a trip - thousands of items are left in hotel rooms every year. A quick look around the cupboards, drawers and floors in your room - don't forget under the bed - should be part of your checking-out routine. Hot places can be cold at night, particularly if at high altitudes. A warm jacket or fleece will be handy. Rather than carrying a bulky overcoat, consider using layers as another way to reduce the volume of clothes you're carrying.

Category of Va. Technical firing provides its condolences

The loved ones of the man specialists say chance and murdered a Va Technical law enforcement has provided condolences and desires to the slain officer's loved ones. In an unsigned report sent Saturday to The Associated Media, the loved ones of 22-year-old Ross Truett Ashley also wanted that their comfort be well known. Ugg Boots Sale Detectives say Ashley went up to law enforcement Deriek Crouse on Va Tech's Blacksburg University and fatally chance him. Ashley was found a few months later, deceased of self-inflicted gunshot ended. "The Ashley loved ones would like to offer their condolences to the loved ones of Specialist Crouse," the report said. "Officer Crouse and his loved ones are in their desires." The loved ones also said there would be no extra claims. The Spotsylvania Nation loved ones had not made a community report since the dangerous firing Friday. The report also said the loved ones understands the assistance and desires they have gotten. Va State Law enforcement officials investigators are trying to figure out a reason for what usually be an unprovoked assault.

Green peace in city

Our ageing basset hound - with outrageously expensive medication for her heart murmur - is dropped at the canine holiday inn. Our destination is Melbourne and an environmentally sustainable hotel, the Alto Hotel in Bourke Street, at the Southern Cross end of town.We arrive at Alto late in the afternoon and pause on the street to take in its elegant, heritage listed neo-baroque facade of brick, bluestone and granite. The building was formerly Unity Hall, head office for the Victorian Railways Union. In 1999 it was sold to the current owners. It has been extended and redeveloped but retains some original features, such as leadlight windows, its impressive facade and the terrazzo marble-lined floor in the foyer. UGG Boots Australia Inside, Alto mixes classic architecture, contemporary and tasteful interior design and technology. Take the restaurant, a modest room that looks as if it could not squeeze in more than 20 diners but incorporates a bar, a lounge, a restaurant, an open fireplace, a library with a book exchange and newspapers and magazines, wireless internet and an internet desk. And there is a complimentary espresso bar.After check in, I explore our one-bedroom spa apartment, which has a queen bed in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the lounge.There are many sustainable features, including energy-saving lighting, heating and cooling; water-flow restrictions to showers, vanity and kitchen basin taps and toilet; and a keycard that switches off lighting, heating and cooling on leaving the room.There are no toiletries in tiny plastic bottles. Instead, there are practical, refillable pump-action biodegradable toiletry dispensers. Naturally, the toilet paper is ''green'' and even the bin liners are biodegradable. The walls are double insulated and the windows are double glazed.Once the apartment is heated, the heating is turned off and the apartment maintains a comfortable temperature all night. After the rest of the family arrives, we head to the restaurant.Alto's restaurant is a member of Green Table, which means where practical it sources products grown in the Melbourne region. UGG Ultra Short Boots It is cosy, informal dining with attentive, warm service. We have two courses and a glass of wine for $39 a person. We choose grilled atlantic salmon, eye fillet with garlic prawns and lamb rump on a risotto base, followed by chocolate tart with home-made ice-cream, with Deakin Estate chardonnay.On the street it is an icy night but inside Alto the open fire is blazing. I have eaten my fill and, what's more, I didn't cook it and I don't have to wash up. Our friendly waiter announces that our meals are included in the cost. In the delirium that follows, we order more drinks and another dessert and reflect on Alto's value for money.Saturday morning, Alto gives the teenager a pass to work out at a well-equipped nearby gym. While he does this, we settle for a cooked breakfast of eggs florentine and endless lattes. After breakfast, we venture into the relaxation room to sample the recliner massage chairs. Come checkout time, it's a little awkward. Alto has made a mistake with the billing. It seems meals are not included in the bill. Multiple apologies later, we pay for dinner but breakfast is on the house.

A bite of the cherry

My debut in the third annual international Cherry Pie Eating Competition was sensational enough, I am sure, to impress even the most crusty of national selectors.I was in top form. I had practised assiduously for months, sneaking to the canteen at work for a pie whenever my boss wasn't looking. My PB was nine pies in seven minutes. But those were meat pies, smothered in tomato sauce. Now it was time for dessert. Bring on the cherry pies.The contest is a highlight of the three-day National Cherry Festival at Young, in the state's central west, and it attracts the cream of international talent. A previous year's winner, Tynan from Canada, was back and there were contestants from Russia, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as the Australian men's and women's teams - nicknamed the Wannapies and the Cherrubs, respectively.Young is the cherry capital of Australia. You can go to the orchards and pick your own fruit if you want. Ugg Boots Sale But, being the athletic type, I'd much rather someone else pick them, remove the pips, bake a pie and place it in front of me. That way my body conserves vital energy while my jaws get a good workout.The secret to winning the pie contest, Tynan told me as I was warming up, masticating a thick piece of chewing gum to get a steady rhythm going, is to win your three-minute heat by the narrowest of margins so as to leave as much room as possible in your stomach for the final. He said he'd had to eat four pies in his heat and four in the final to win. This year he was hoping just five or six pies would be enough to do it."Yeah, our sport requires a lot of self-discipline," I said, nodding sagely, although personally I would rather eat eight pies than six. "Thanks for the mentoring, champ."Luckily, I was given a favourable draw. In my heat were three skeletal fruit-pickers-cum-tourists from Japan, who looked as though they would struggle to slurp a slice of sushi, and an equally skinny woman from Russia. The most likely threat would come from Freddy, a pimply Australian teenager who looked to be familiar with fast-food culture. The local bookmakers, impressed by the obvious pie-carrying potential of my bulging stomach, marked me as the hot favourite to win the heat.On your marks, get set, go! The pies were put in front of us. "What, no cream or ice-cream to go with it?" I asked, aghast. "Not even a dollop of mascarpone?" "Hurry up and eat," my manager-trainer yelled crossly. "Concentrate!"It was 1pm, I had purposely skipped breakfast, I was starving. I got stuck in. Fast-Food Freddy was seated immediately to my left and I monitored his progress out of the corner of my eye, matching him mouthful for mouthful. Bailey Button Ugg BootsAs we got going on our second pie, he began to wilt.A quick glance at the others on my right revealed they were struggling too. Their 300-gram pies were crumbling and breaking into bits, they were making an awful mess and were losing control. I knew then I could win it in a canter.By the time I demolished pie No. 2 there were about 20 seconds to spare. I took a couple of nibbles of my third pie then, remembering what Tynan had said about pacing yourself, put it down, keeping it for my manager, a cheapskate who will devour leftovers.What I hadn't counted on was Olga, the Russian at the far right end of the table. It was her birthday and this girl was determined to have her cake and eat it. In those final seconds, while I was playing to the crowd, winking triumphantly at them and licking my fingers so that they would be clean when I had to sign autographs, Olga finished her second pie and took a huge bite of her third. Then the bell went. Time up.The master of ceremonies, Milo the Clown, couldn't decide the winner. He summoned the judges to the table. Tooth marks were examined, bite sizes compared. After much debate, Olga was declared the winner. Aaargh! I had been cherry-pipped at the post.My manager was furious. UGG Roxy Tall 5818 He wanted to lodge an official protest, mumbling something about East European athletes on performance-enhancing substances, but I would have none of it. I had been beaten fair and square. There was a shock too, in a later heat, when Tynan was knocked out by Terry, a local who was nicknamed the Canape King because of the amount of food he scoffed at parties. Fittingly, the King went on to win the title.Some people say that if you're going to visit country towns, you should do so on quiet weekends, not when a festival is on and it's crowded. Probably you should do both but if you're going to do it just once, I lean towards the more festive side. Go join the party.Compared with battling through the million-plus crowd that assembles for the New Year's Eve fireworks in Sydney, for example, mingling with 20,000 people at a country fair is a breeze.The National Cherry Festival is as good as any. Young's takes place next weekend. There's a festival ball and fireworks, street parade, Celtic tattoo, highland dancing competition, bands, wine tasting, orchard tours and heaps of fringe events. I'll be back for the next one, to have another bite at the cherry. Might even enter the pip-spit contest. And if I see that Olga from the Volga, I'll make sure she gets her just ... desserts.

A cottage with gourmet flair

The line, "'Twas a dark and stormy night," may be the classic opening for a gothic novel but as the beginning of an eagerly awaited weekend away, it's not such a page turner. It's cold and wet with a biting wind and blinding rain. We are driving through some of Victoria's prettiest countryside but even with the windscreen wipers working to the maximum, you wouldn't know it.It's only 6.30pm but by the time we get to the Healesville Hotel the town is deserted, with some locals taking refuge in front of a warming fire in the pub. It's where we'd like to be, too, but as we're staying at one of two properties on the outskirts of town run by the hotel, this is just a brief stop to collect a map, keys and breakfast provisions for the following day. UGG Classic Short Boots The hotel also runs the Harvest Cafe and the Kitchen & Butcher food store and with its reputation for fabulous produce and hospitality, we're hopeful of a lovely stay.The hotel receptionist loads me up with food and explains where to find the accommodation. "It's only a few minutes' drive away," she says. "You can't miss it."But we do, of course, because the weather is awful and I can't read a map.But we finally find the turn-off to Harvest Farm where the Dairy House (our accommodation) and the Harvest House are located. My mood lifts. I see a sweet little house that's lit up to welcome us. We open the door; a heater has already been turned on. A fire is laid and there's a large sofa, a big rug and a polished wood dining table. Everywhere, vases are filled with flowers.Through a pretty kitchen are two large bedrooms, both decorated simply with vintage furniture, thick-wool carpet and beds piled high with quilts, cushions and blankets. A modern bathroom with spa bath completes the picture. UGG Boots Australia The Dairy House may be a simple fibro cottage but it has been given a makeover that makes it stylish and comfortable without losing any of its rustic charm. There's a TV and DVD player, of course, but also a great collection of jazz CDs and plenty of games and books for the children. A large deck includes a barbecue and the garden has a hammock. The balance is just right.It's the extra touches that make the Dairy House special. The owners clearly love food - cookbooks and food magazines are scattered about and the kitchen is as well stocked as my own.Many holiday rentals provide the bare minimum: four plates, four spoons and four bowls. Here, there are a dozen wine glasses, platters for serving food, saucepans and sharp knives.But it's the flowers that really charm - cut from the camellia bushes that line the driveway to the property, they're fresh for our visit. UGG Ultra Short BootsAfter our first night's sleep we wake to drizzle but there's hope for blue sky. Our provisions include eggs from the nearby chooks, Kitchen & Butcher bacon, Phillippa's bread, fresh tomatoes, good coffee, organic orange juice and jam. The next day we'll head into town to use our breakfast vouchers at the Harvest Cafe but for our first morning, eating in is just perfect.Under the kitchen bench there is chook food. The girls head out to feed them and meet the other animals. A cubby house is another big attraction. We plan a wintry day in the mountains - a trip to Lake Mountain or maybe a visit to TarraWarra Museum. Now we know how to find our way back here, we're ready to explore.

‘Super food’ pomegranate is the ‘elixir of youth’

Daily consumption of pomegranate, the fruit that has been hailed as a super food for centuries, can help you stay young by slowing down the ageing process of DNA, a new study has revealed.The fruit, now known as the elixir of youth, also plays a role in fighting heart diseases, relieving stress and improving one’s sex life.The study encompassed 60 volunteers, who were given extracts of the whole fruit, including pith, peel and seeds for a month in the form of a capsule.The researchers kept a check on the activity of chemicals in their bodies and compared it to those who took a placebo. Cheap Ugg Boots The study revealed that there was a considerable decrease in the marker, called 8-Oxo-DG, linked with cell damage, which can cause impaired brain, muscle, liver and kidney function as well as ageing effects on the skin.According to the researchers at ProbelteBio laboratory in Murcia, Spain, this decrease – a hitherto unknown benefit of consuming pomegranate – is thought to slow down the oxidation, or ‘rusting’, of the DNA in cells which naturally occurs over time, the Daily Mail reported.They are found in small quantities in the juice but mainly in the inedible rind, husk and white pith, which are converted in the form of a pill or a drink.“We are very excited about this study which we believe demonstrates that regular consumption of this pomegranate extract can slow down the process of DNA oxidation,” said Dr Sergio Streitenberger, who led the study.“One way to look at ageing is to think of it as rusting, or oxidising, a damaging process. Being able to guard against this process would be a significant breakthrough.,” he added.

Prenatal yoga makes labour easier

Numerous mums-to-be A-listers are now turning to prenatal yoga to make labour easier and to stay in shape. Golden Globe-nominated pregnant January Jones (‘Mad Men’) was reportedly spotted heading to yoga class in Los Angeles and Silver Lake (California) recently. First time mom Alyssa Milano (‘Charmed’) was seen going to yoga class in Calabasas (California) and Los Angeles sometime back. Tori Spelling (‘Saved by the Bell’), due with her third child in October, is said to be taking yoga lessons at home. Golden Globe nominated Jessica Alba (‘Dark Angel’), who recently gave birth to her second child, reportedly said that prenatal yoga really helped her maintain her figure. She was also quoted as saying, “Prenatal yoga is really good,” and “it really prepares your body”. UGG Boots Welcoming this prenatal yoga trend, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Friday, said that yoga was a mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman). He urged the celebrities to explore the spiritual dimension of yoga also besides its physical benefits. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said yoga was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and urged celebrities to take a look at the rest of the five schools also.Some sages had described yoga as the silencing of all mental transformations, which lead to the total realization of the Supreme Self, he added. Zed pointed out that according to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. It is claimed that prenatal yoga keeps limbs toned, improves balance and circulation, helps learning to breathe deeply and relax, and is beneficial during labor and birth. Prenatal yoga is also quoted as “one of the best forms of exercise during pregnancy” and prepares for the birth “by focusing on relaxation and breathing techniques”. According to the National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to an estimate, about 16 million Americans, including many celebrities, now practice yoga

Most suffer in silence

While these various forms of legal protection are slowly becoming available, experts say they are underused as people are generally ignorant about them due to insufficient publicity.In 2010, social workers in Hong Kong received more than 2,185 requests for help from elderly people. Of these, 1,182 involved assets being stolen, up 40 percent compared to 2009.Anita Wong, elderly services director of the Hong Kong Chinese Women’s Club, says more than half of elderly abuse cases involve victims suffering from mental deterioration.“There is a lot of financial abuse. Many of the elderly have dementia, so they don’t know how to manage their money. UGG Boots Outlet If they have money, it is easy to be abused or have their money spent by their children,” said Wong.“We are now handling a few such cases. One involves a daughter removing HK$70,000 (US$9,000) from the mother’s account over the last three years. We only found out when the mother complained incessantly to us,” she said.Much of the abuse, she said, is perpetrated by family members.The problem will worsen with rising prevalence of dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease International estimated there were 35.6 million people living with dementia worldwide in 2010 and that will increase to 65.7 million by 2030 and 115.4 million by 2050.Some argue for specific laws to protect the elderly, much like laws to protect children and animals from neglect, mental and physical abuse. This is critical because in Asia, people are reluctant to even acknowledge discord within the family, let alone report abuse of any kind.“Old people will not tell when their children bully them or cheat them of their money because they don’t want their relatives and neighbours to laugh at them,” said Lam.“Those who sue their sons and daughters in civil suits are very rare and they only do so because they have lost a property that gives them access to monthly income.”But Wong believes it will be hard to alter behaviours that have lasted so long.“It is taboo to leak such matters out of the home, they feel embarrassed. They are anxious that if it comes to light, their children may be thrown in jail, so they won’t report the matter. Even if others report the matter, they will not bear witness. So a lot of such problems are swept under the carpet,” she said.“Without a law now, the elderly may still make some noise and hope you will help them. But once there is a law, we must take legal action and their children risk going to jail. So old people would be even more afraid to complain.”

Oops! Demi Lovato Suffered Nip Slip at Packed Concert in Texas

A stellar performance wasn't the only thing Demi Lovato gave her fans in Dallas, TX on November 26. During one on-stage number, Lovato was decked out in a vintage-inspired dress with tiers of ruffles and a plunging neckline when her left nipple popped out of the cleavage-baring ensemble. But just like the rest of her recent hardships, the chart-topping singer moved on and continued doing what she does best, despite the wardrobe malfunction. UGG Classic Tall Boots Apparently the "Skyscraper" singer was feeling a bit under the weather prior to her concert at the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie. "Woke up so sick this morning but I WILL NOT let it stop me from putting on a killer show in my hometown tonight!!! Come on Dallas TX!!!!" the resilient starlet tweeted early that day. The Texas native just wrapped up her 11-city tour, "A Special Night with Demi Lovato," in Chicago, IL on Saturday. On Sunday, the former Disney star returned to the treatment center where she received counseling to deal with personal issues a year ago. "Wow what an inspiring day. Many tears were shed and many memories were brought back at Timberline Knolls today. Today I went back to the treatment center I went to last year, to speak to the beautiful women fighting their inner demons. Was so honored to be able to share my story and let them know that it gets easier. Life is beautiful. You are worthy of it," she posted in a series of tweets.

Egypt Secularists Face Hard Choices

CAIRO—Egypt's secular-minded politicians, facing a greater-than-anticipated drubbing by Islamist parties in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, began Friday to assess their dwindling prospects for the poll's final two rounds. The participation rate in the first round of Egypt's first major democratic test was 62%—the "highest in history," Abdel-Moez Ibrahim, the head of Egypt's High Elections Commission, told reporters Friday night. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, or FJP, is likely to win 40% of the parliamentary seats in this round, followed by 20% for the Nour Party list, which represents hard-line Salafi Muslims, Egyptian media reported, citing leaks from vote counters. Those numbers eclipse the combined 50% or less of the vote that the Islamist groups were expected to capture this round. The Egyptian Bloc, the largest list of liberal parties, is expected to win about 15% of seats. Official reporting on the results appeared mired in chaos Friday, underscoring the persistent logistical difficulties that face this emerging democracy. UGG Boots Outlet Egyptians, voting in three phases staggered in regions across the country, will choose one-third of their 498 parliamentarians in races between individual candidates. For the rest, they will vote for parties, with the most popular sweeping in the most members. Last week, Mr. Ibrahim, the elections chief, told reporters that the results of the party voting would be released only after all voting closed, in January. He appeared to change his mind earlier this week, saying that "in the interest of transparency," the party list would be announced following each poll. Addressing reporters Friday, Mr. Ibrahim read the outcomes individual races, all but four of which he said are heading for runoffs Monday. But instead of reading the anticipated party-slate results, he said he had "run out of gas." He abruptly left the dais, saying results would be distributed on paper. The results for the party list system can't be revealed until the end of voting next year, Ismail Khairat, the chairman of the State Information Service.

‘Backup Measure’

Ranbaxy may have sought a marketing deal with Petach Tikva, Israel-based Teva in case it didn’t win timely approval, said Priti Arora, an analyst at Kotak Institutional Securities in Mumbai.“There is something more in this deal than meets the eye,” Arora said in a telephone interview. “My feeling is that they allied with Teva as a backup measure in case approval was held back due to its manufacturing issues.”Teva said on Nov. 2 Ugg Boots Sale that if it manages to introduce an “important undisclosed product” in the fourth quarter, it would meet the upper range of its forecast of earnings excluding some costs of $4.92 to $5.02 a share this year. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analysts speculated in a report last month that the new product was Lipitor. Teva rose 1.1 percent to 150.70 shekels at 1:35 p.m. in Tel Aviv.

Warm And Comfortable-Ugg Classic Mini

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Processing of manufacture and history make Ugg boots become famous in Asia

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THE TEACHER GARY JOHNSON

If I am suspicious an answer has been memorised from another source I am required to report it to the Rosetta Stone Supervisor of Marking. If the answer is found to be plagiarised, the consequences for that student may be a zero mark or a reduced mark for that question. It is important for students to understand that memorising essays and reproducing them in an exam is not the way to achieve high marks. I am sure their teachers have been telling them that throughout the year. Some of the ways I advise my students to best prepare for the HSC English examinations is to be thoroughly familiar with all the set texts, complete all class work during the year, write responses to a variety of questions under timed conditions and understand the standard that is required to achieve high marks. My experience as a marker and all the comments from the examiners in the marking reports (published by the Board of Studies) over the years show memorising essays is not the way to achieve high marks and may prevent a student from realising his or her full potential. Louise Ward has taught English in government and non-government schools for more than years. She has extensive experience as a marker and senior marker of HSC and School Certificate exams. THE TEACHER GARY JOHNSON THE answer is simply one word - no. But let me explain the advice I've given to many reluctant young writers - often boys - over the years. Learning an essay off by heart and regurgitating it in an examination fails to demonstrate the many important skills we as educators are trying to instil in our students. Students, as part of their learning and skills development, certainly need to analyse questions, practise writing essays and refining their responses to material they have learnt; this is an integral part of their education. In this process students learn to deconstruct questions, synthesise and analyse complex ideas and demonstrate their capacity to think, something educators and employers agree is vital. The NSW curriculum is designed so students learn important skills that will be useful in Rosetta Stone Software their lives. For example, the English syllabus aims to enable students tounderstand, use and value the English language and to become thoughtful and effective communicators. An admirable aim which, when examined, requires students to present something more than a collection of memorised essays. Gary Johnson is principal of Cherrybrook High School. THE STUDENT ELISE WOOD I SAT the HSC last year and submitted 22 extended pieces of writing, across seven subjects, in the space of three weeks. Of those, were memorised. In my eyes, and in many of my teachers' eyes, this was not a form of ''cheating''. It was preparation. The process of memorising an essay is not a case of copying ideas and regurgitating them. It involves decoding a subject's rubric, researching, writing, editing, writing, second-guessing, a little more writing, until finally you produce a piece of work that you are sure about using in the exam. There's a difference between memorising an essay and rote learning. I learnt in my final year of school that you cannot just write what you have memorised. Critically engaging with the question at hand is vital. Unless you have cheated the system and obtained the exact wording of a question, there is still a need to construct a thesis and a line of argument. Of course, memorising an essay cannot be done in all subjects. Only questions that will be broad, because they are based on interpretation and judgment, can have answers memorised. Those based on a content-heavy syllabus cannot. For example, in the HSC history extension exam there are two questions. The first is a historiography essay that draws on content from Herodotus and Karl Marx, through to the postmodern dichotomy of histories as narratives. This essay cannot be memorised. The second question is a case study of a personality that uses open terms, such as ''to what extent'', to indicate the need for individual insight, judgment and interpretation. After crafting this essay for a year, I memorised words in six hours. Memorising essays should not be frowned upon. It was through this process that I learnt the academic skills needed for tertiary education. While it is futile to memorise Rosetta Stone English essays for university exams, the scholarship I adopted during the HSC has enabled me to identify the requirements of different questions, and that I always ''answer the question.

Aussie Day wins first PGA tournament

Jason Day of Australia hits from the twelfth tee. Photo: Reuters Jason Day has become the youngest Rosetta Stone V3 Australian to win on the US PGA Tour. It wasnt pretty, but 22-year-old Day survived a mediocre final round and a last-hole near-disaster to eke out a two-stroke victory over Americans Blake Adams, Brian Gay and Jeff Overton at the Four Seasons TPC. Day yanked his second shot into the water at the last en route to a bogey, but was granted a reprieve when Adams also found the water after his second shot clipped a tree branch. Day biggest reward, apart from the first prize of $US1.17 million ($A1.45 million), is exemption into next year US Masters. Advertisement: Story continues below Click for more photos Jason's Day in Texas Jason Day (R) of Australia and his wife Ellie Day celebrate after winning the Byron Nelson Golf Championship in Irving, Texas. Photo: Reuters He carded 72 to finish at 10-under-par 0 after an inconsistent final round that included Rosetta Stone Hindi four birdies and six bogeys. He started the day with a two-shot lead, but gave it back by making three bogeys in four holes shortly before the turn. It was always tight after that, but birdies at the 11th and th holes re-established a two-shot lead for Day, who kept his nose in front, by one stroke, going to the par-four 18th. He took an ultra-conservative play off the tee, going with an iron to avoid the water, but left himself nearly 0 metres with his second shot. He knew the moment he hit his approach shot that it wasnt enough, yelling "go" when the ball was in the air. His body language was not good, but he perked up considerably when Adam subsequently messed up as well. After taking a penalty stroke, Day chipped his fourth shot to five metres and had the luxury of two-putting for victory. The 06 Australian amateur champion needed only one putt, capping off a week during which he displayed a brilliant short game, although the same could not be said for his driving. Day is the Rosetta Stone Korean second Australian winner in a row on the US PGA Tour, following Adam Scott, who took out last week Texas Open.

Latin language of love for Liberal-lurker Latham

Mr Latham, who is presenting a piece for 60 Minutes this Sunday, then Rosetta Stone approached the Opposition Leader as he was set to leave the room. With the second of his controversial "handshake interviews", Mr Latham pressed Mr Abbott about his role in Pauline Hanson's conviction, as well as western Sydney's population pressures. Follow the former leader. Mark Latham and Tony Abbott post-encounter. Photo: Glen McCurtayne Long time, no see, Mr Latham said to his former political opponent. Are you brave enough to shake my hand? The pair shook hands before Mr Latham quizzed Mr Abbott about any role he may have had in the 03 imprisonment of Pauline Hanson. Ive interviewed Pauline Hanson and wed like to know, are you willing to apologise for your role in putting her in a prison, Mr Rosetta Stone Spanish Latin Latham said. I dont think that a fair assessment of my role, Mr Abbott responded. Mr Latham went on to ask the Liberal leader about his immigration policy. I was encouraged at the start of the campaign when you and your spokesperson Scott Morrison said you would be slashing the migration program. But then it turned out youve just got the same target as the Gillard government. Mr Latham's presence clearly upset some of the veterans with one yelling: "Piss off, Latham, this isn't about you!" However, Mr Latham said another veteran offered his support, backing his confrontation with Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the weekend and quoting Latin to the effect of "Tell them all to go and get stuffed." Later, at a press conference where reporters were quizzing Mr Abbott on a Labor promise to fund 80 per cent of a new passenger rail link between Parramatta and Epping, Mr Latham again intervened. Labelling the 14-kilometre link the Maxine McKew Rosetta Stone American English memorial rail line, the former Labor leader asked about the likelihood of a new rail for Sydney south-west, where he lives.