Plan would help military families take leave (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration is proposing new rules to help military families care for service members when they are called to active duty or become injured.

First lady Michelle Obama was set to join Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Monday to announce the plan that updates the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The proposal would let family members take up to 12 weeks of leave from work to help a service member deployed on short notice. Family caregivers could attend military functions, deal with child care issues, or update financial affairs without fear of losing their jobs.

It would also give family members up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a service member with a serious injury or illness.

Officials also are announcing other efforts to support military families.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_military_family_leave

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Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Is Your Down-In-Fraggle-Rock Deal of the Day [Dealzmodo]

Have you ever studied philosophy? Oh it's dreadful, theorems upon postulations upon unwashed grad students and stuffy dead depressed Germans. Phooey! Fie! If you're considering a philosophy class, please don't do it. They'll tell you all about Plato's Cave, which is where prisoners see shadows and the prisoners are philosophers and Socrates is there and boorrrriiinnnnggggg. The only cave I want to spend that much time in is the one where Fraggle Rock takes place. Fuzzy little muppets laughing and singing and playing all day long? That, my friends, is an ethos. That's philosophy. And this $50, 20-disc complete series compilation is the only syllabus you'll ever need. -BB More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ut1i5c6vYrA/fraggle-rock-the-complete-series-is-your-down+in+fraggle+rock-deal-of-the-day

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Netanyahu pessimistic on Mideast peace prospects (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Peace prospects with the Palestinians are looking poor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after exploratory talks aimed at relaunching negotiations ended in deadlock.

"As things stand now, according to what happened over the past few days - when the Palestinians refused even to discuss Israel's security needs with us - the signs are not particularly good," he told his cabinet in public remarks.

Palestinian officials said last week an Israeli negotiator's verbal presentation on Wednesday of ideas for borders and security arrangements of a future Palestinian state was a non-starter, envisaging a fenced-off territory of cantons that would preserve most Jewish settlements.

Netanyahu said he still hoped the Palestinians would "come to their senses and continue the talks so that we can move on to real negotiations."

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held five rounds of exploratory talks in Jordan, part of a push by international mediators to revive negotiations suspended in 2010 in a dispute over Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

A Palestinian source said no more meetings were scheduled. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he wants to consult Arab League states on the next move.

An Israeli official said Israel's approach to territorial compromise in the West Bank, captured in the 1967 Middle East war, includes the principle that "most Israelis will be under Israeli sovereignty and obviously most Palestinians will be under Palestinian sovereignty."

The official said Netanyahu had acknowledged, in a speech to the U.S. Congress last May, that not all Jewish settlements "will be on our side of the border" with a future Palestinian state.

The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. They say Israeli settlements could deny them a viable and contiguous country.

Israel cites biblical and historical ties to the West Bank, an area it calls Judea and Samaria, and says any peace deal must include stringent security arrangements.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel

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Gingrich's baggage gives voters pause in Panhandle

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with his wife Callista, bow their heads in prayer during a campaign event at the The Villages, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Lady Lake, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke))

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with his wife Callista, bow their heads in prayer during a campaign event at the The Villages, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Lady Lake, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke))

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) ? Newt Gingrich's personal and political baggage is giving even the most hard-core Republicans pause in a conservative swath of the state.

"Not Gingrich" is how Annette Purvis says she plans to vote. "I've never liked Gingrich. Never. Never in the history of Gingrich."

She's turned off by what she calls his moral and ethical issues. He's been divorced twice, is an admitted adulterer and was the first House speaker to be reprimanded by his colleagues for ethical misconduct. All that has Purvis, a 49-year-old wife and mother from Laurel Hill near the Alabama border, looking elsewhere. "I'll probably do Romney," she adds, her hesitation apparent.

Marty Upfield, a 64-year-old retiree from Pensacola, seems equally uneasy with Gingrich. She, too, pointed to Gingrich's political record and personal background as a problem. She's considering voting for Mitt Romney, who she says isn't conservative enough, even though her political views are more in line with Gingrich's positions.

"But it is about trust," says Upfield. "I need to have a little more certainty that he's changed in some ways."

This deep reluctance to back Gingrich was voiced by many of the dozen and a half people interviewed last week in this city in the Florida Panhandle that borders the Gulf of Mexico to the south and west and Alabama to the north. Gingrich's past, it seemed, was heavily influencing decisions about who to back. Many said they were resigned to choosing Romney.

In one of the most conservative parts of the state, many of those interviewed said they see their political philosophy more in line with Gingrich ? who led the GOP revolution that took control of the House in 1994 ? than with Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who in the past has espoused more moderate positions on social issues. But many also said they're considering voting for Romney, or already did during the state's early voting period, because they fear that Gingrich's history ? both personally and professionally ? will hurt him in a general election match up against President Barack Obama.

"I really like him. He's one of the finest speakers. He's got fantastic memory and recall," said Tim Fuller of Gingrich.

But Fuller, 68, and wife Vicki, 67, didn't pick him.

"We voted for the more electable candidate," Fuller said, adding that they chose Romney ? "the lesser of two evils."

On the minds of many interviewed: Gingrich's ethics case while serving as House speaker, the $1.65 million his businesses made off Freddie Mac before he criticized the mortgage giant during his campaign, and his three marriages.

"I like him. I like his mannerisms. I just don't think I can vote for him. There's too much out there," said Bonnie Meenen, 64. Romney may get her vote because of that.

Some also were put off by Gingrich's personality.

"I think Newt's temper is too short," said David Nobles, 57, who voted for Romney. "It came down to Newt and Mitt, and Mitt just seems like more presidential material than Newt."

That Gingrich, who has emerged as the more conservative alternative to Romney, doesn't have a lock on this part of the state, regardless of his flaws, may not bode well for his prospects in other, more diverse parts of Florida ahead of Tuesday's pivotal primary. And the reluctance among some Republicans here to embrace Gingrich indicates that Romney's strategy to raise questions about Gingrich's character may be working.

Over the past week, Romney and his allies have castigated Gingrich on the campaign trail and in TV ads blanketing the state.

"While Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in," says a Romney campaign ad airing in this state. The commercial says that Gingrich collected more than $1.6 million from "the scandal-ridden agency that helped create the crisis."

Romney's team has taken a more subtle approach in attacking Gingrich for his flawed personal life. He has been emphasizing his own 42-year marriage to the same woman, as well as his five sons and numerous grandchildren, as a way to contrast himself to Gingrich. And an outside group backing Romney has run ads mentioning Gingrich's "baggage."

A Quinnipiac University poll released Friday showed Romney leading Gingrich, 38 to 29 percent. Among voters who identify as conservative, Romney and Gingrich are in a virtual tie.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-30-Florida-Panhandle%20Voters/id-73000d8ec5a943abaa3ed0e6f963bef9

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Leadership scramble: GOP rivals vie for title

Evelyn Solomon of Boca Raton, Fla., a supporter of Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich waits during a Republican Jewish Coalition rally at the South County Civic Center, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Delray Beach, Fla. Romney and Gingrich square off over immigration and other issues as they look to woo Hispanics a day after a feisty, final debate before Tuesday?s Florida primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Evelyn Solomon of Boca Raton, Fla., a supporter of Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich waits during a Republican Jewish Coalition rally at the South County Civic Center, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Delray Beach, Fla. Romney and Gingrich square off over immigration and other issues as they look to woo Hispanics a day after a feisty, final debate before Tuesday?s Florida primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Audience members cheer as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Astrotech Space Operations in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Republican presidential contenders are making a pitch to voters that sounds a lot like a children's game: Follow the leader.

When Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich aren't puffing up their own leadership credentials, they're running down the leadership skills of one another and President Barack Obama.

If anyone missed Monday's conference call from the Romney campaign about Gingrich's record as a "failed leader," not to worry. They could have tuned in to Tuesday's conference call. Or Wednesday's. Or Thursday's. Or checked out the "unreliable leader" banner splashed across a Romney news release that labeled Gingrich "unhinged." Romney's political biography, meanwhile, is all about his leadership as a businessman, Massachusetts governor and savior of the 2002 Olympic Games.

It's hard to miss Gingrich's frequent broadsides at Romney, meanwhile, for failing to provide consistent, visionary leadership. Or the former House speaker's pronouncements that he, by contrast, offers "exactly the kind of bold, tough leader the American people want." Or Gingrich's muscular descriptions of all that was accomplished in his four years as speaker in the 1990s.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, lagging them in the polls, keeps trying to muscle his way into the leader palooza by offering himself as the steady bet who can be counted on to offer more reliable conservative leadership than "erratic" Gingrich or "moderate" Romney.

In a race where all the candidates are trying to out-conservative one another, stressing leadership credentials gives the GOP rivals a way to try to distinguish themselves. And in a year when Obama's own leadership skills are seen as one of his weakest qualities, it gives the Republicans another arrow in their quiver as they argue over who would be most electable in a matchup with Obama come November.

Leadership is always a part of the equation in presidential elections. In 2008, for example, the candidates all were abuzz with claims that they offered "transformational" leadership. Obama announced he was running by declaring, "I want to transform this country."

This year, leadership is getting an extra dose of attention, perhaps because of statistics such as this: The share of Americans who view Obama as a strong leader slipped from 77 percent at the start of his presidency to 52 percent in a Pew Research Center poll released this month. And among Republicans, only about a fourth of those surveyed in the most recent poll viewed Obama as a strong leader, compared with 80 percent of Democrats.

At a campaign debate last week in Tampa, Fla., Gingrich and Romney both turned a question about electability into an answer about the L-word.

"This is going to come down a question of leadership," Romney said. Then the former Massachusetts governor recited his track record as a leader in business and government and took a dig at Gingrich for having to "resign in disgrace" when he was speaker in the 1990s.

Gingrich, answering the same question, aligned himself with the leadership record of conservative hero Ronald Reagan and offered himself as someone "prepared to be controversial when necessary" to bring about great change.

The answers offer a window into how differently the two candidates define leadership ? Romney more as a manager with business school credentials, Gingrich more as a big-thinking visionary.

The leadership argument is a particularly potent campaign weapon for Romney because a number of Republicans who served in Congress with Gingrich have been happy to describe his shortcomings in running the House.

"If you were somebody trying to serve with him, you were always sort of left standing with your hands empty in terms of moving forward with an actual plan or putting a plan to paper," Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said of Gingrich on a Romney campaign conference call on Thursday. "So for me, it's an example that he's just not an effective leader. I think Mitt has the temperament and the ability to lead."

Gingrich, who resigned after a spate of ethics problems and a poor showing for House Republicans in the 1998 elections, managed to turn even his resignation as speaker into evidence that he's a strong leader.

"I took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be," he said in the Tampa debate. "I think that's what a leader should do."

As for the turbulence of his tenure as speaker, Gingrich casts that, too, as evidence of his bold leadership.

"Look, I wish everybody had loved me, but I'd rather be effective representing the American people than be popular inside Washington," he said earlier in the campaign.

Stephen Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University, said the harsh judgment of Obama's presidential leadership by Republicans and even some Democrats in part is due to the high hopes that he raised during the 2008 campaign. Obama the president has been measured against the words of Obama the candidate ever since.

Now that it's campaign season again, says Wayne, "he's not competing against his own image, he's competing against a real life person that has frailties. ... In a sense, that lowers the bar for Obama."

___

AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-28-GOP-Follow%20the%20Leader/id-4296a33af707494cb8870640cc77c466

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The Longform Guide to Saturday Night Live

Brian Hiatt ? Rolling Stone ? November 2011

A sweeping, honest interview published just before Murphy announced he wouldn?t host the Oscars included his first public comments on SNL in years:

"Q: You also had some problems with Saturday Night Live.
Yeah, because they were shitty to me on Saturday Night Live a couple of times after I'd left the show. They said some shitty things. There was that David Spade sketch [when Spade showed a picture of Murphy around the time of Vampire in Brooklyn and said, ?Look, children, a falling star?]. I made a stink about it, it became part of the folklore. What really irritated me about it at the time was that it was a career shot. It was like, ?Hey, come on, man, it's one thing for you guys to do a joke about some movie of mine, but my career? I'm one of you guys. How many people have come off this show whose careers really are fucked up, and you guys are shitting on me?? And you know every joke has to go through all the producers, and ultimately, you know Lorne or whoever says, [Lorne Michaels voice] ?OK, it's OK to make this career crack ...?

I felt shitty about that for years, but now, I don't have none of that. I wouldn't go to retrospectives, but I don't let it linger. I saw David Spade four years ago. Chris Rock was like, ?Do you guys still hate each other?? and I was like, ?I don't hate David Spade, I'm cool with him.?

Q: You're still the biggest star who came from the show.
That's only because John Belushi's dead. Belushi's like Spanky of the Little Rascals series. I guess that makes me Stymie, but that's cool. I'll be Stymie. Think of all the people who came off that show. I bet you could figure out the combined grosses of people who came off Saturday Night Live in the movies?me, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd. I bet it's $15 billion. It's no coincidence?that show's like Harvard for a comic actor. When you come off the show and get into the movie business, it's like you're moving in slow motion for a couple of years. You've been working like a crazy person in a pressure cooker, then you're in the movies, just sitting in your trailer.?

Have a favorite piece that we missed? Leave the link in the comments or tweet it to @longform. For more great arts and culture stories, check out Longform's complete archive.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=6cfa4d23826427c4c93adcb1907da797

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Elevated risk factors linked to major cardiovascular disease events across a lifetime

Elevated risk factors linked to major cardiovascular disease events across a lifetime

Thursday, January 26, 2012

In one of the largest-ever analyses of lifetime risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD), researchers have found that middle-aged adults who have one or more elevated traditional risk factors for CVD, such as high blood pressure, have a substantially greater chance of having a major CVD event, such as heart attack or stroke, during their remaining lifetime than people with optimal levels of risk factors. This National Institutes of Health-supported study used health data from 257,384 people and was the first to look simultaneously at multiple risk factors for CVD across age, sex, race, and birth generation.

The paper will be published in the January 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"This paper adds to the substantial body of evidence that modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors in healthy men and women heavily influence the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, regardless of their backgrounds," said Susan B. Shurin, M.D., acting director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"Prevention of cardiovascular disease is a lifetime opportunity for and a responsibility of individuals, families, communities, and the health care system. This paper reinforces that cardiovascular disease can be prevented and controlled throughout the course of an adult's lifetime," she added.

As part of the Cardiovascular Lifetime Risk Pooling Project, investigators analyzed 50 years of data from 18 existing cohort, or population-based, studies in the United States. The investigators pooled the data from the 18 cohorts and measured traditional CVD risk factors ? including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, and smoking status ? in men and women from both black and white populations at ages 45, 55, 65, and 75 years.

Men who were 55 years old with at least two major risk factors were six times as likely to die from CVD by age 80 as were men with none or one CVD risk factor (29.6 percent vs. 4.7 percent). Women with at least two major risk factors were three times as likely to die from CVD as were women with no or one CVD risk factor (20.5 percent vs. 6.4 percent).

When all CVD events ? fatal and non-fatal ? were considered, the results were even more striking. Forty-five-year-old men with two or more risk factors had a 49.5 percent chance of having a major CVD event through age 80, while 45-year-old women had a 30.7 percent chance. On the other hand, men with optimal risk factor levels only had a 1.4 percent chance of having a major CVD event, while women had a 4.1 percent chance of having a major CVD event through age 80.

The results from each individual study were consistent with one another and with those of the pooled group, and showed that traditional risk factors predicted a person's long-term development of CVD more than age. All of the risk factors appeared to carry the same levels of risk as they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago. While black Americans had a higher prevalence of CVD risk factors than white Americans, their lifetime risks were similar when their risk factor profiles were similar.

"In general, previous studies have only looked at CVD risk factors across one specific age or gender in white populations," said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, M.D., principal investigator of the study and an associate professor and chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "We analyzed an enormous pool of available data, which allowed for a more precise estimate of lifetime CVD risks across the age, sex, race, and risk factor spectrum."

Lloyd-Jones added, "These data have important implications for prevention. We need to get more serious about promoting healthy lifestyles in children and young adults, since even mild elevations in risk factors by middle age seem to have profound effects on the remaining lifetime risks for CVD."

The NHLBI supported several of the cohort studies involved, including the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, Cardiovascular Heart Study, Framingham Heart Study, Framingham Offspring Study, Honolulu Heart Program, Puerto Rico Heart Health Program, and Women's Health Initiative.

"This paper illustrates the power of pooling data from epidemiological studies," said Michael Lauer, M.D., director of the NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences. "Because of the U.S. government's investments in these studies, it was possible for the investigators to gather and analyze data on over a quarter of a million people, which could lead to substantial public health and clinical practice implications."

"It is important for adults to know their blood pressure and cholesterol numbers and whether they are at risk for diabetes and also to understand the different approaches they can take to prevent or control their risks for CVD. As American Heart Month approaches in February, this paper underscores the importance of raising awareness of heart disease and coronary heart disease ? the most common type of heart disease and the number one killer of both men and women in the United States," said Lloyd-Jones and Shurin.

In an effort to help people reduce their risks of cardiovascular disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently launched the Million Hearts Campaign, a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.

Also, in December 2010, in an effort to promote healthy behaviors and prevent diseases, including cardiovascular disease, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched Healthy People 2020. Healthy People 2020 and its specific, measurable health objectives represent the nation's disease prevention and health promotion goals for the coming decade.

###

NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov

Thanks to NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117092/Elevated_risk_factors_linked_to_major_cardiovascular_disease_events_across_a_lifetime

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French breast implant boss arrested (Reuters)

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) ? Jean-Claude Mas, the Frenchman who sparked a global health scare by selling substandard breast implants, was arrested on Thursday as Marseille prosecutors build a case against him for manslaughter.

In the first arrests since the two-year-old scandal made headlines worldwide in December, Mas and a second executive at his now defunct company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) were seized at their homes in southern France shortly after dawn.

The detention could lead within hours to Mas being placed under formal investigation on suspicion of manslaughter and causing bodily harm. That could in due course lead to criminal charges, which would carry longer sentences than those he now faces in a fraud case expected to be tried around October.

Women who have been campaigning against PIP since French authorities banned its products nearly two years ago welcomed the move as giving them a sense that the law was now in action:

"It's been too long," said Murielle Ajellio, who heads an association for women with implants. Up to now, she said: "You feel like you're fighting against the wind."

French authorities have been criticized for being slow to react to a case that has sown fear among tens of thousands of women who carry PIP implants. French inspectors ordered them off the market in March 2010, due to concerns over their quality.

But only last month did officials in Paris recommend their surgical removal, drawing attention to the problem for patients worldwide who had been fitted with products from the company, which was at one time the third biggest global supplier.

Lawyers for women in France who have filed complaints over PIP implants welcomed the arrests and said there must be no escaping justice for the 72-year-old Mas, who has been quoted as deriding those suing him as being motivated only by money.

"This is a comfort for the victims," said Laurent Gaudon, whose clients are pursuing PIP and surgeons who used its implants for fraud. "It's the feeling that justice is advancing and they have not been forgotten. It's the assurance that the guilty are at last going to be held accountable."

Philippe Courtois, who represents 1,300 people with PIP implants, said Mas should not be freed pending any trial.

Mas and PIP's former chief executive Claude Couty were questioned at home, as police conducted searches. They were then moved to police custody in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, under the orders of prosecutor Jacques Dallest.

SUBSTANDARD SILICONE

PIP enjoyed years of success with international sales, but behind the scenes employees, and Mas himself, have admitted to hiding from certification agencies the fact they were using cheap, industrial silicone, not approved for medical use.

Health authorities in France and elsewhere have stressed that PIP's products carry no proven link to cancer, but surgeons report that they have abnormally high rupture rates. Responses to the problem have varied among different foreign authorities.

Thursday's arrests follow an investigation opened in Marseille, close to PIP's former premises, on December 8 after the death from cancer in 2010 of a woman with PIP implants.

Mas and Couty can be held for up to 48 hours while a judge decides whether to open a formal probe and, if so, what bail conditions, if any, to set.

A trial date could be years away, given the extent of inquiry required, but the graver manslaughter case could make it harder for Mas to avoid appearing in court later this year on other charges of fraud and deception.

That latter case targets half a dozen former PIP executives and could also carry prison terms for them of several years. It has dragged on as investigators have had to quiz up to 2,700 women who have filed complaints over PIP implants.

Mas, who sold some 300,000 implants around the world, has acknowledged that he used unapproved silicone but dismissed fears that it constituted a health risk.

Earlier in January, leaks from a police document showed Mas admitting to lying about the quality of PIP's implants and describing the women filing complaints against him as just seeking money. The comments sparked public anger against him.

PIP closed down in March 2010 after regulators discovered it was using a non-approved, industrial silicone gel, and pulled its implants off the market.

Last month, the French government advised women with PIP implants to have them removed, and said it would pay for the operations in France, sparking alarm around the world.

Officials in several other countries, including Britain and Brazil, have asked women to visit their doctors for checks.

France has called for tighter European Union regulations on medical devices in wake of the PIP affair, saying suppliers of prosthetics should require the same sort of authorization as manufacturers of prescription medicines.

(Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/ts_nm/us_france_implants

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Immigrant license repeal falls short in first vote (AP)

SANTA FE, N.M. ? Republican Gov. Susana Martinez suffered a temporary political setback Thursday in a bid to stop New Mexico from granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

A legislative committee shelved her proposal and approved a Democrat-backed alternative that continues to allow licenses for illegal immigrants but with new restrictions.

The politically-charged fight is far from over, however. The legislation heads to another panel for consideration and Martinez stands a strong chance of success if the issue reaches the full 70-member House for a vote. A measure to overturn New Mexico's license policy for immigrants passed the House last year with the support of eight Democrats and one independent.

"I've got all the votes I need in the House," said Rep. Andy Nunez, a Hatch independent sponsoring the governor's proposal.

Nunez conceded it's very uncertain whether the measure can clear the Democrat-controlled Senate, which solidly rejected it last year.

The House Labor and Human Resources Committee voted 5-4 on a party-line split for what Democrats described as a compromise proposal. Republicans opposed it.

The measure allows illegal immigrants to continue getting licenses but for only two years before needing renewal. Currently, licenses can last four or eight years. The measure increases penalties for license fraud and will cancel licenses previously issued to foreign nationals if they renew them within two years ? allowing the state to determine whether people remain New Mexico residents.

House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, a Grants Democrat, said the state's license policy allows illegal immigrants to "come up from the shadows" so they can drive to work and take their children to school and other places without fear of arrest for not having a license. The committee-approved restrictions will "really hit the bad guys hard," he said.

State law enforcement and Martinez administration officials told the committee that New Mexico's licensing law posed a security risk to the state and rest of the country.

"This has never been an immigration issue. It's not about immigration. It's simply about public safety and security," said Keith Gardner, the governor's chief of staff.

But church leaders and immigrant rights advocates disagreed, saying a driver's license is critical for immigrants living and working in New Mexico, many with U.S.-born children. The push to repeal New Mexico's law is stirring an anti-immigrant sentiment, they said.

"I think it is about immigration ... it is about divisiveness," said Santa Fe Mayor David Coss. "We should stop calling people in our community illegal aliens."

The governor's proposal would prohibit the state from granting licenses to illegal immigrants. However, it would continue to allow licenses for foreign nationals in the country legally, such as students with a visa.

New Mexico and Washington are the only states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain the same driver's license as a U.S. citizen. Utah grants immigrants a driving permit that can't be used for identification, unlike a driver's license that helps people open bank accounts and make financial transactions or board a commercial airliner.

Martinez contends that New Mexico's license system is subject to widespread fraud. The state has brought charges against several fraud rings, in which brokers were paid to supplement fraudulent documents for foreign nationals from Poland, China, Mexico and other countries.

During the committee hearing, several legislators noted that a review of license data by The Associated Press found that dozens of addresses ? including some for businesses such as a smoke shop ? have been used over and over again by immigrants to get a driver's license. The pattern suggests people are abusing the state's licensing system.

However, supporters of the current policy said the state doesn't need to repeal its law to deal with potential fraud.

"It is important the state is enforcing the law. When the law is enforced, the law works," said Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The AP identified 170 addresses in New Mexico at which 10 or more licenses have been issued to different foreign nationals from 2003 through August 2011. Those account for 2,662 licenses ? representing nearly 3 percent of the total issued to foreign nationals during that period. The AP limited its analysis to addresses with a high number of licenses to try to get an indication of the extent of possible fraud. Large families or frequent tenant turnover at rental property are among the legitimate reasons why there are addresses with fewer than 10 licenses over a period of time.

New Mexico changed its law in 2003 to grant driver's licenses to anyone without a Social Security number, which are unavailable to people living illegally in the country. More than 90,000 licenses have been issued to immigrants, and state officials speculate that most of those have gone to illegal immigrants. However, it's impossible to know for certain because license applicants aren't asked about their immigration status.

___

Follow Barry Massey on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bmasseyAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_go_co/us_immigrant_licenses

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Convicted Marine apologizes to Iraqi civilians (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ? When Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich finally spoke in court, he did not address the judge but instead directed his words at the Iraqi family members who survived his squad's attacks in 2005 that left 24 unarmed civilians dead.

The 31-year-old Camp Pendleton Marine apologized for the loss of their loved ones and said he never intended to harm them or their families. He went on to tell the court that his guilty plea in no way suggests that his squad behaved badly or dishonorably.

"But even with the best intentions, sometimes combat actions can cause tragic results," Wuterich said in an unsworn statement.

The lone Marine was convicted of a single count of negligent dereliction of duty. He faces having his rank reduced but he will not go to jail as a part of a plea agreement that abruptly ended his long-awaited manslaughter trial.

Wuterich, who acknowledged to instructing his men to "shoot first, ask questions later," defended his order to raid homes in Haditha after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. He said his aim was "to keep the rest of my Marines alive."

His sentence Tuesday ended a six-year prosecution that failed to win any manslaughter convictions. Eight Marines were initially charged; one was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped.

The plea deal that dropped nine counts of manslaughter sparked outrage in the besieged Iraqi town and claims that the U.S. didn't hold the military accountable.

"I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair," said survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, showing his scars from a bullet wound to the back.

Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones initially recommended the maximum sentence of three months for Wuterich, saying: "It's difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case."

Then he opened an envelope containing the plea agreement to learn its terms ? as is procedure in military court ? and announced that the deal prevented any jail time for the Marine.

"That's very good for you obviously," Jones told Wuterich.

Jones did recommend that the sergeant's rank be reduced to private, which would dock his pay as a result, but he decided not to exercise his option to cut it by as much as two-thirds because the divorced father has sole custody of his three daughters. The rank reduction has to be approved by a Marine general, who already signed off on the plea deal.

Defense attorney Neal Puckett said Wuterich has been falsely labeled a killer who carried out a massacre in Iraq. He insisted Wuterich's only intention was to protect his Marines.

"The appropriate punishment in this case, your honor, is no punishment," Puckett said.

Wuterich, who hugged his parents after he spoke, declined comment on Jones' decision. Puckett and his co-counsel Haytham Faraj, said in a statement: "We believe justice prevailed for Staff Sgt. Wuterich and in turn, he wishes it was within his power to impart the same measure of justice to the families of the victims of Haditha."

Wuterich directly addressed family members of the Iraqi victims, saying there were no words to ease their pain.

"I know that you are the real victims of Nov. 19, 2005," he said.

He went on to tell the court: "When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive," he said. "So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn't that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

"The truth is I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day," Wuterich later told Jones.

The contention by Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., contradicts prosecutors and counters testimony from a former squad mate who said he joined Wuterich in firing in a dark back bedroom where a woman and children were killed.

Prosecutors argued that Wuterich's knee-jerk reaction of sending the squad to assault nearby homes without positively identifying a threat went against his training and caused needless deaths of 10 women and children.

"That is a horrific result from that derelict order of shoot first, ask questions later," said Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan.

Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life. But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich the deal.

It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

The Haditha attack is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

During the trial before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued Wuterich lost control after seeing his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

Faraj said the government was working on false notions and the deal was reached last week when prosecutors recognized their case was falling apart with contradictory testimony from witnesses who had lied to investigators. Many of the squad members had their cases dropped in exchange for testifying. Prosecutors have declined to comment.

Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was the result of mutual negotiations and does not reflect how the case was going for the prosecution. He said the government investigated and prosecuted the case as it should have.

Wuterich plans to leave the Marine Corps and start a new career in information technology. His lawyers said they plan to petition for clemency.

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_marines_haditha

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Summary Box: Novartis profit falls 47 pct (AP)

FALLING PROFIT: Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG reported a 47 percent drop in its fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday, citing a slate of exceptional costs from the ending of clinical trials to manufacturing problems and layoffs.

THE NUMBERS: Novartis said its net profit reached $1.21 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.32 billion in the same period in 2010. Sales rose 4 percent to $14.78 billion.

THE CHARGES: Novartis booked a $900 million charge as a result of halting a clinical trial into wider uses of the blood-pressure drug Tekturna after it was found to cause complications in patients taking other drugs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_switzerland_earns_novartis_summary_box

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Actor James Farentino dies of heart failure at 73 (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Actor James Farentino, who appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital, according to a family spokesman. He was 73.

Farentino died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital after a long illness, said the spokesman, Bob Palmer.

Farentino starred alongside Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen in the 1980 science fiction film "The Final Countdown." The movie featured a modern aircraft carrier that travels back in time to Pearl Harbor hours before the Japanese attack.

Farentino also starred opposite Patty Duke in 1969's "Me, Natalie."

In 1967, he won a "Most Promising Newcomer" Golden Globe for his performance in the comedy "The Pad and How to Use It."

He also had recurring roles on "Dynasty," "Melrose Place," "The Bold Ones: The Lawyers" and "ER," playing the estranged father to George Clooney's character.

In 1978, he was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Saint Peter in the television mini-series "Jesus of Nazareth."

A four-time divorcee, Farentino's tumultuous personal life made headlines, too.

In March 1994, he pleaded no contest to stalking his ex-girlfriend Tina Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra.

In 2010, the actor was arrested at his Hollywood home on suspicion of battery when he tried to physically remove a man from his home.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1938, Farentino is survived by two sons, David and Saverio.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_ce/us_obit_farentino

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Genetically modified food safe, animal study suggests

ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2012) ? A three year feeding study has shown no adverse health effects in pigs fed genetically modified (GM) maize. The maize, which is a Bt-maize bred for its insect resistant properties, was sourced from Spain.

The results were one of the key findings of trials conducted as part of the GMSAFOOD consortium undertaking post market monitoring: long term, generational and food chain studies to test food safety.

The research team conducted short-term (31 days), medium-term (110 days) and generational pig feeding studies where the health of piglets of sows fed Bt-maize is measured. No adverse effects were observed, suggesting that feeding Bt-maize to pigs of different ages is safe.

"These findings can offer some assurance to consumers as to the safety of consuming Bt-maize," Peadar Lawlor, senior researcher at Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Ireland, said;

"The pig is considered to be an excellent model for humans due to similarities in gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology. Similar responses to Bt-maize consumption could be expected in humans," he said.

In addition to testing for any unforeseen adverse effects, the researchers were also looking for biomarkers (fragments of DNA) associated with immune responses which could be used for predicting immune response to future genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The GMSAFOOD consortium, funded by the European Commission, brings together researchers from Austria, Ireland, Norway, Hungry, Turkey and Australia.

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120124140103.htm

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Look Closer at Those Florida Numbers (talking-points-memo)

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'Mad Men' boss: Don 'may be back with Betty'

By Kimberly Potts, TheWrap.com

AMC

Could it be? Will Betty and Jon reunite next season on "Mad Men"?

Don and Betty Draper?... together again?

That's the hint "Mad Men" series creator Matt Weiner is dropping about the show's upcoming fifth season, which premieres on AMC on March 25.

"It's called 'A Little Kiss,' " Weiner tells TV Guide of the two-hour season premiere. "I like the title to have some kind of synergy with the show so it will pique your interest."

More from TheWrap: Dear ('Downtown) Abbey': An obsession with a long shot

And when asked if Jon Hamm's Don Draper is one half of the titular kiss, perhaps with secretary-turned-fianc?e Megan (Jessica Par?), Weiner answered with a cryptic comment that could mean a surprise reunion for exes Don and Betty (January Jones).

"Who says Megan's even going to be part of Don's life?" Weiner told the magazine. "He may be back with Betty. One of my favorite scenes from (the season four finale) was when Betty offered herself to him again. And let's face it -- those two look really good together."?

AMC did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.

Do you want to see Don and Better together again? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10219055-mad-men-boss-don-may-be-back-with-betty

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Oil price up as Iran threatens to block shipments (AP)

NEW YORK ? Oil prices climbed near $100 per barrel Monday as Iran again threatened to block shipments of crude from the Persian Gulf.

Natural gas prices also rose more than 7 percent after one of America's biggest natural gas producers said it would cut production and exploration this year.

Tanker traffic out of the Persian Gulf has been a major concern for oil traders. Iran says it could close the Gulf to tanker traffic, if the West implements an oil embargo. On Monday, the European Union agreed to do just that.

The EU said its refineries will stop buying Iranian crude after July. It also froze assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions are meant to force Iran to talk with the West about its nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

The embargo itself isn't expected to affect world supplies as oil markets are reshuffled. Analysts say China, which is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, probably will buy more Iranian oil at below-market prices when the embargo begins. That will reduce China's demand from other oil-producing countries that would then sell more to Europe.

"Iran needs to sell its oil to someone," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "Outside the West, Iran really has only one buyer: China. That means China's probably going to get some sweetheart deals.

Experts say Iran doesn't have the firepower to close off the narrow Strait of Hormuz that tankers use to pass through the Gulf. But a conflict there could still clog the waterway with military vessels and force the world's refineries to wait for crucial oil shipments.

"Benchmark crude rose by $1.51 to $99.84 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, rose by 94 cents to $110.80 per barrel in London.

In the U.S., natural gas prices jumped Monday when Chesapeake Energy said it will cut production and exploration because of cheap prices and a massive buildup in supplies. Natural gas production has been surging in the U.S. thanks to new techniques that helped the industry aggressively drill into underground shale deposits.

Natural gas prices have dropped to the lowest wintertime level since 2002. The Chesapeake announcement pushed futures prices 17 cents, or 7.3 percent, higher to $2.52 per 1,000 cubic feet.

At the pump, the national average for a gallon of gasoline stayed at $3.38, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's nearly 16 cents higher than it was a month ago and up 27 cents from a year ago.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose by 4 cents to $3.02 per gallon, while gasoline futures rose about a penny to $2.79 per gallon.

___

Follow Chris Kahn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Travel photo of the day: A lion 'king' of Africa

Submitted by Janice Weinberg / UGC

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

When Janice Weinberg submitted this photo to It's a Snap, she titled it "King of the Ngorongoro Crater." Even though that looks like a lioness, we thought the majestic pose was very king-like.

Weinberg, who lives in Redmond, Wash., took this photo while visiting Tanzania in June 2009. The crater, according to the Tanzania Tourist Board, is often referred to as "Africa's Eden." In addition to lions, herds of zebra and?wildebeest can be seen along the crater's rim.

Of the photo, Weingberg said: "I was on safari in Tanzania and it was a beautiful location with a beautiful wild animal surveying [its] surroundings."

Do you have some photos you want to share? Submit them for a chance to be featured in the weekly gallery by clicking here.

You can also join our It's a Snap Facebook community by clicking here, and share your photos with others.

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Source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199756-travel-photo-of-the-day-a-lion-king-in-africa

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Video: Will the public forgive Gingrich?

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/46077091#46077091

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Automotive Parts | Auto Information

Automotive Parts

Automotive parts are the different components (or spare parts) of an automobile. Every automobile owner will have to shop for automotive parts sooner or later. Contrary to popular belief, automotive parts are not manufactured only by the original manufacturing company (of your automobile) but also by various independent (engineering) companies that specialize in manufacturing and installing automotive parts of a diverse range of automobiles of different makes and models. Automotive parts (manufactured by the original manufacturing company of your automobile) are expensive in most cases. When you factor in the repair or installation charges you will have to pay at the workshop and cost of alternative transport, you would realize that it will make more financial sense to buy your automobile and purchase a new one.

Most car enthusiasts can and do have a certain degree of technical know-how and generic tools that are useful for basic repair work.

If you have undertaken thorough research and explored all the options before purchasing the automotive parts, you would probably have purchased them at a reasonable price. A large number of car enthusiasts save hundreds of dollars just because they have technical know-how and generic tools that allow them to do basic repair work and installation of their vehicles at home. Availability of automotive parts was a huge constraint some time back. Automobile owners could buy second hand parts from their repair workshop or order them from the original manufacturing company of their automobile.

Experts recommend investing in original equipment manufacturer automotive parts despite the fact that they are more expensive because they are superior in quality, more reliable and are made for the specific make and model of your automobile.

On the other hand, aftermarket parts are manufactured for your car by companies other than the original manufacturer and are designed (generically) for several (makes and models of) cars. The performance of aftermarket parts is unreliable at best. Moreover, because they are manufactured by relatively smaller (and unknown companies) there are no guarantees for aftermarket parts available in the market. Thus, do not be lured by the substantially lower price of aftermarket parts because chances are that they would make you spend more in the long run than original equipment manufacturer parts! It should also be kept in mind that original equipment manufacturer parts are not necessarily manufactured by your automobile?s manufacturing company but one or more other companies that have been authorized to manufacture these parts by your automobile?s manufacturing company.

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Tags: Automotive, Parts

This entry was posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 6:47 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.bilfingerberger-bot.com/260/automotive-parts

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IRS's Corporate Auditors Find $9,354 Of Additional Tax Owed Per Hour

(The author is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
By David Cay Johnston
Jan 17 (Reuters) - Congress will spend a trillion dollars more than it levies this year, so how do Washington's politicians respond to the 11th consecutive year of federal budgets in red ink? They plan to shrink the IRS.
Go figure. Cutting the IRS budget by more than 5 percent in real terms makes as much sense as a hospital firing surgeons or a car dealer laying off salespeople when customers fill the showroom.
Shrinking the IRS makes sense if you believe government is too big and that cutting everywhere is the best way to shrink government. But this is the staff that generates revenue, and there is easy money to be made.
Congress should listen to the national taxpayer advocate, a position it created to make sure taxpayers had a voice in how the IRS operates. In her annual report, released last week, advocate Nina Olson said Congress needed to "ensure that the IRS continues to be effective, either by reducing the IRS' workload or by providing adequate funding to enable it to accomplish its assigned mission."
Instead of cutting, we should be expanding the revenue-generating staff because there is plenty of tax money to be had, even in this awful economy.
IRS data show that auditors assigned to the 14,000 or so largest corporations found $9,354 of additional tax owed for every hour spent testing tax returns in the 2009 fiscal year. The highest-paid IRS auditors make $71 an hour. Based on a 2,080-hour work year, that works out to around $19 million of lost revenue annually for every senior corporate auditor position cut from the payroll.
WHY CUT?
It makes no economic sense to trim the ranks of auditors who generate more than a hundred times their annual salaries. Run a business that way and you go broke.
So why would President Barack Obama and Congress cut the IRS budget? Their actions illuminate the rise of corporate power and values, and the diminishing voice of Joe Sixpack, thanks partly to how we finance election campaigns. Then there is the growing army of corporate lobbyists and the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, which allows corporations (and unions) to spend all they can afford on influencing elections.
Keep in mind the IRS costs just a half penny for each dollar of tax collected. Its proposed $11.8 billion budget would be less than the Agriculture Department spends each month.
If the IRS budget is cut, the losers will be workers and ordinary investors, who will find it harder to get their questions answered and their problems resolved by the agency. On the whole, these people do not cheat on their taxes because their incomes are easily checked - through reports by employers, mortgage banks and others. Under a law taking effect in stages between last year and next, brokerages must report the cost basis of securities. This change will reduce capital gains cheating.
TAX CHEATS
The winners will be tax cheats among sole proprietors and other business owners, who are subject to less verification. The latest IRS tax gap report, issued Jan. 6, estimates that just one percent of wages escapes tax, while 56 percent of "amounts subject to little or no" verification do so. http://link.reuters.com/daw95s
America's biggest corporations, those with more than $250 million in assets, also may escape some tax if the IRS budget is cut. These nearly 14,000 companies pay about 86 percent of corporate income taxes.
Audits of these big firms were down even without a budget cut. And audits have become far more complicated, partly because Congress changed the tax code more than once a day on average from 2001 through 2010, Olson reported.
From 2005 to 2009, hours spent auditing the biggest corporations declined by 33 percent, according to IRS records analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York. http://link.reuters.com/faw95s
Two decades ago, when the economy was a third smaller, the IRS staff numbered about 118,000. Now it numbers 95,000 and is on the way to about 90,000. The likelihood of a big company being audited has plummeted 50 percentage points from 72 percent in 1990 to 22 percent in 2010.
Big company audits are now limited to specific issues known to the companies in advance, not unlike when cops tip off owners of favored gambling dens before a raid. Each audit also begins with an "estimated time to completion." Working auditors tell me this is really a hard deadline that allows companies to run out the clock with delays in producing documents.
Some IRS tax detectives privately ridicule this system, calling it "audit lite."
Whether you like the corporate income tax or think it is an abomination, failing to enforce it with the same rigor as taxes on wage earners and most investors is indefensible on economic, budget deficit and moral grounds.
IRS budget cuts worsen budget deficits and send a corrosive signal that only chumps file honest tax returns. So you have a choice. Do nothing and suffer the consequences or call your congressman, senators and the White House - today - and then vote in politicians who support, rather than undermine, tax law enforcement. (Editing By Howard Goller and Eddie Evans)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/irs-auditors_n_1210181.html

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'Alcatraz' author Michael Esslinger: Why a prison fascinates us

With a new TV show focused on the famous penitentiary, author and historian Michael Esslinger debunks some of the most enduring Alcatraz myths.

Almost five decades after the last prisoner left Alcatraz Island, "The Rock" still has the power to intrigue.

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We still don't know what happened to the four prisoners who escaped and swam for freedom across the bay. We do know, however, that some of the country's most vicious criminals spent years behind the stone walls of the Alcatraz federal penitentiary, tempted and tortured by an amazing view of San Francisco skyscrapers and the lives they left behind.

The mystique of Alcatraz has attracted plenty of authors and filmmakers, and now a TV show is ready for its close-up. "Alcatraz" debuted on Monday on the Fox network, featuring a plot about long-dead prisoners reappearing in the modern day. And ? surprise! ? they're up to no good.

Michael Esslinger, an author who lives in Monterey, Calif., is one of the prison's most devoted historians. His book Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years tracks the island's most notorious decades.

In an interview this week, I asked Esslinger to ponder the prison's eternal appeal, debunk a few myths, and speculate about what happened to those freedom-bound escapees.

Q: Why does Alcatraz have such a unique place in American culture and history?

A: When Alcatraz opened in August of 1934, it was considered America?s Devil Island, and it was touted that no one could escape alive. It was intended to turn the spectacular criminal dispositions of America's most notorious criminals into a world of decorum. The Alcatraz regimen demanded more than simple conformity. Silence and cramped cells were the foundation, along with stern discipline, an unrelenting routine, and a set of rules and regulations that shaped most every aspect of daily life on the Rock.
?
The Rule of Silence was heavily enforced during Alcatraz?s infant years as a federal penitentiary. This was the Alcatraz trademark, and proved to silence the voices of some of America?s most notorious outlaws.

Q: Was Alcatraz prison famous from the beginning, or did events and its prisoners help it become more well-known in its early history?
?
?A: The foundation of Alcatraz?s notorious reputation was set in stone from the very onset.
?
The inmates sent to Alcatraz were considered the cream of the criminal crop, and many were a new breed of outlaw that the government had failed to contain. They were comprised of the famous, infamous, unknowns, and were not only bank robbers and murderers, but organized crime figures that orchestrated complex crime syndicates where corruption was boundless and infiltrated even the most sacred levels of law enforcement.
?
?A ticket to Alcatraz was not necessarily based on one's crimes against free society. Recruitment to Alcatraz was a model with no specific prototype or criteria as to what would initiate a transfer. ?Generally space was reserved for inmates who were prone to escape, high profile, difficult, unruly, badly behaved, or simply created delinquency challenges for the prison staff in the federal prison of their confinement.

Q: What are some of the biggest myths about Alcatraz? What do people misunderstand about it?
?
?A: The biggest myth is that Alcatraz was depicted as a horrific prison, but the vast number of inmates I interviewed state it was likely the best. It was clean, had good food, and although small, a private cell was something to be cherished.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/40Z8oxueUBw/Alcatraz-author-Michael-Esslinger-Why-a-prison-fascinates-us

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Daily Desired: A Kurt Cobain Guitar for Children of the 90s [Video]

I first picked up a guitar when I was 11, about a year after Kurt Cobain killed himself. All I wanted was the Fender guitar he designed. I never got it, but now there's a new Cobain guitar for me to drool over. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/YtAA3opLHt8/daily-desired-a-kurt-cobain-guitar-for-children-of-the-90s

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