Socioeconomic status may explain racial disparities in diet, exercise, and weight

Socioeconomic status may explain racial disparities in diet, exercise, and weight

Monday, November 28, 2011

Large disparities exist in obesity and other chronic diseases across racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Are racial differences in diet, exercise, and weight status related to better knowledge about healthy eating and awareness of food-related health risks? Or are they more closely related to differences in socioeconomic status (SES)? A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds that people with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be overweight, regardless of racial/ethnic background, and that the level of nutritional knowledge and health awareness did not lead to significant racial differences in weight and diet.

"Our findings suggest that disparities in obesity in the United States may be more affected by the broader social environment," said authors Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, MS, director of the Johns Hopkins Global Center for Childhood Obesity and associate professor of International Health and Epidemiology, and Xialoi Chen, MD, PhD, MPH, assistant scientist in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. "Poor quality retail food environments in disadvantaged neighborhoods, in conjunction with limited individual economic resources, contribute to increased risk of obesity within ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations."

The authors hypothesized that between-group differences in nutrition- and health-related psychosocial factors, including nutrition knowledge and beliefs, are important contributors to the large racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences observed in U.S. adults' dietary intakes, exercise, and obesity. They analyzed nationally representative data collected from 4,356 individuals who had participated in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Individual Food Intakes, and who had completed the Diet and Health Knowledge Survey, which asks about self-perceptions of nutritional intake, awareness of the relationship between diet and health, perceived importance of following nutritional guidelines, and other questions related to health and diet.

Each participant was asked 24 questions to evaluate nutrition and health-related psychosocial factors (NHRPF). SES was assessed using education and household income. The authors analyzed the relationship between NHRPF and SES with self-reported dietary intake, diet quality (measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Healthy Eating Index [HEI]), exercise participation, body mass index (BMI), and overweight or obesity. Changes in racial/ethnic differences in weight status were compared with diet and exercise participation.

In general, compared to non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks had higher BMI and scored lower on the HEI, and were less likely to participate in exercise. Hispanics scored higher on the HEI. The racial and ethnic differences in diet and BMI changed little after controlling for NHRPF. But when SES was controlled for, the black?white differences in HEI became smaller and the white?Hispanic differences became greater.

"Our study shows several important findings that could help enhance the understanding of the complex factors that affect disparities in diet, exercise, and obesity across ethnic and SES groups," commented Dr. Wang. "Different from what we expected, few of the racial/ethnic differences in diet, exercise, and weight status were explained by health- and nutrition-related psychosocial factors. But SES explained a considerable portion of the disparities."

"The underlying causes of ethnic disparities in eating, exercise, and obesity in the United States are complicated. More well-designed studies with vigorous and comprehensive assessment of related factors are needed to help advance understanding."

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The article is "How Much of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Dietary Intakes, Exercise, and Weight Status Can Be Explained by Nutrition- and Health-Related Psychosocial Factors and Socioeconomic Status among US Adults?" by Y. Wang and X. Chen. It appears in theJournal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 111, Issue 12 (December 2012) published by Elsevier.

Elsevier Health Sciences: http://www.elsevierhealth.com

Thanks to Elsevier Health Sciences for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115501/Socioeconomic_status_may_explain_racial_disparities_in_diet__exercise__and_weight

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Burglar strikes nonprofit animal rescue group in Lorain

LORAIN, Ohio -- A man broke into the Animal House Adoption Center on North Ridge Road and took the cash register.

The nonprofit Ohio Pet Placement Foundation runs Animal House.

The burglary occurred at 2:40 a.m. Saturday, director Crystal Luli said.

The man shattered the window in a rear door, triggering an audible alarm, walked straight to the cash register and ripped it off the counter, she said.

He was wearing gloves, but left a hammer and screwdriver behind, she said.

He was in and out in about 30 seconds and ran into woods behind the shelter, Luli said.

The group posted video of the damage on youtube.com. Repairs will cost about $1,500, Luli said, but she hasn't been able to determine yet how much money was in the register.

The group and the owner of the building have insurance.

Anyone with information on the burglary is asked to call Lorain police, 440-204-2100.

The group fundraises with its first Painted Paws Art Show from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Animal House, 2555 North Ridge Road East.

Dogs, cats, a rabbit and a turtle, assisted by Lorain High School students, created artworks by walking through paint globs on paper.

See some of the paintings at ohiopetplacement.org/gallery.html. Tickets are $15 each or $25 for a couple and include hors d'oeuvres, beer and wine; call 440-277-7400.

Source: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/burglar_strikes_nonprofit_anim.html

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Yangon: From stately city to crumbling symbol of isolation (Reuters)

YANGON (Reuters) ? There are no skyscrapers in Yangon. No gleaming shopping malls. Certainly no subway system. Its rutted sidewalks are laced with treacherous holes and broken slabs of concrete.

Myanmar's former capital and biggest city is a crumbling monument to almost half a century of isolation and mismanagement at the hands of generals who took power in a 1962 coup and ruled with an iron first until a nominally civilian parliament opened in March this year.

The city that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit this week wasn't always that way.

In the early 20th century, the country then known as Burma was one of Asia's richest nations and a shining part of the British empire.

Imposing Victorian buildings rose on the waterfront of the capital. Department stores sold goods imported from Europe. Crowds packed into majestic cinemas with grand names such as the Palladium and Excelsior.

After seizing Yangon in 1852 and anglicizing its name to Rangoon, Britain developed the area into its administration base, building law courts, parliament buildings, shady parks and botanical gardens. Rangoon University, founded in 1878, became one of Asia's premier universities.

The city was laid out by many of the same British urban planners who helped to design another strategic British colony, Singapore. Its public services and infrastructure rivaled London's.

Rangoon was ravaged during the Japanese occupation in World War Two, but still retained much of its imperial grandeur when it was granted independence by Britain in 1948.

But independent Burma was plagued by insurgencies and the military took over in a 1962 coup. A disastrous "Burmese Way to Socialism" adopted by the then-leader, General Ne Win, led to sweeping nationalization and global isolation.

Today, chronic power outages and deteriorating buildings are constant reminders of decades of troubles.

Yellow and orange diesel generators, some as big as buses, are ubiquitous, symbols of a failing power grid behind the city of about 5 million people that accounts for a quarter of Myanmar's economic activity.

"Sometimes the power is cut and sometimes it's regular. We're used to it," said 71-year-old Abdullah Mingala, an ethnic Indian Burmese who was born and raised in Yangon and who makes a living renting out a pickup truck and a sedan as taxis.

"The best thing about the city is its weather and people. The weather is not too hot and everyone is simple and friendly and open."

PARIAH

Myanmar has not had a record of being simple or friendly.

The United States and Europe imposed sanctions in the years after the junta refused to hand power to the winners of a 1990 election and threw hundreds of democracy activists in jail. Thousands of activists were killed. Continued human rights abuses over the years sealed the country's pariah status.

Aid from organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund ended. Investment from the West dried up.

The government moved the capital to the interior, a new city called Naypyitaw, in 2006.

Signs of Myanmar's isolation include a dearth of major international brands, save a few Asian consumer goods and computer manufacturers such as Hitachi and Samsung.

There are no Coca-Cola or Heineken signs in Yangon. Instead, billboards proudly advertise made-in-Myanmar goods such as "Sunday Coffee Mix and Tea Mix," "Wellman Vitabiotics Supplements," "Fresh Up" toothpaste and "Denim" men's care products.

"Beer stations," Yangon's humble answer to the pub, sell cold Myanmar beer on tap for 600 kyat (76 U.S. cents) a glass.

On the steeets, booksellers throw plastic tarpaulin over sidewalks stained with rust-red betel nut spittle and offer used titles such as Frederick T. Wood's 1961 book "Current English Usage." One even had the March 30, 1992, issue of Newsweek for sale, a youthful Bill Clinton on the cover with the headline "Can He Beat Bush?"

At Cherry Mann, a restaurant in Yangon's Chinatown that's been serving the community for 42 years, customers sit at fold-out tables in the street on a cool night and tuck into curried meat and fried 'pratha' flat bread.

"It's hard to say if business conditions now are good or bad or improving. They're okay. They could be better," said Htat Kyo, a restaurant employee, as he prepares cheques.

U Thu Myint, a 77-year-old former professor of Burmese history, said he was forced to retire from his job at a state university at the age of 64, a year before he would have been eligible to collect his pension. Life is a struggle, he says.

He spends his days shuffling around Myanmar's holiest of shrines, the dazzling, gold-domed Shwedagon Pagoda, where he offers visitors facts about the stupa, its history as the anchor of Yangon and the principles of Buddhism. He asks for cash donations.

"The cost of living is very high now. One kg of rice went from 1,000 kyat a few months ago to 1,500 kyat now," he said. "I may move back to my place of birth and become a monk next year."

WRECKING BALL

But Myanmar's economic stunting has one silver lining: it may have saved once-stunning landmark colonial-era buildings in Yangon from the wrecking ball.

A riverside grid of streets that forms the downtown area, a colonial vestige in and of itself, is full of buildings constructed when the country was one of Britain's most-prized colonial crown jewels from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s.

The $300-a-night Strand Hotel, opened in 1901 and refurbished in 1995, is an example of what many buildings could be, with marble floors, lazy ceiling fans and dark wood paneling.

Some locals fear the new government's recent eagerness to end its isolation could threaten stately but time-worn structures that are reminders of Yangon's former glory. A sense of urgency to protect the architectural heritage appears to be growing.

There has been outcry in recent weeks, for instance, in Myanmar's flourishing private newspapers over comments by a well-heeled businessman and member of parliament that the derelict, red-brick former colonial government complex known as the Secretariat might be turned into a hotel.

The complex that occupies an entire city block is abandoned, overgrown with weeds and surrounded by a fence to keep the public out. Some consider it beyond repair, yet it holds a place in history as the site where revered General Aung San, the father of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was assassinated in 1947.

In recent weeks a feeling of cautious optimism has begun to infect the slow-moving city as the nominally civilian government that took office eight months ago shows signs of embracing reforms and engaging with the world, as illustrated by Clinton's thee-day visit from Wednesday, the most prominent by an American since before the 1962 coup.

"We are all talking about it," said Abdullah Mingala. "We are all hopeful."

(Editing by Jason Szep, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ron Popeski)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/wl_nm/us_myanmar_yangon

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Tesla Motors spills its guts for showroom tour, visitors wonder where the gas tank's hiding

Tesla will begin priming the car-hungry public for its next electric offering, still set for a mid-2012 launch. The Model S will be given an extensive deconstruction in Tesla showrooms, touring around both the US and Europe over the next few months. The socket-friendly sedan will show off its electrical internals, including what the manufacturer says is the most energy dense battery in the industry, apparently capable of squeezing up to 300 miles from a single charge. We're also promised interactive touchscreen interfaces dotted around the stores to help explain precisely how it all works. Check out the full Tesla Motors tour schedule at the source below.

Continue reading Tesla Motors spills its guts for showroom tour, visitors wonder where the gas tank's hiding

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Settlement in Hulk Hogan divorce case in Fla.

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) ? Court records show a financial settlement has been agreed upon between wrestler Terry Bollea ? better known as Hulk Hogan ? and his ex-wife.

The St. Petersburg Times (http://bit.ly/vGbAkV) reports Linda Bollea received a little more than 70 percent of the couple's liquid assets in their divorce settlement.

He agreed to give his ex-wife 40 percent ownership in his various companies and pay her an additional $3 million property settlement. Linda Bollea filed for divorce in 2009.

The settlement was confidential but came to light this week after it was attached to a new motion filed in court records.

The paper reports Linda Bollea received $7.44 million of the couple's $10.41 million that was held in bank and investment accounts. Terry Bollea will not pay his ex-wife alimony.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-23-Hulk%20Hogan-Divorce/id-6febfed6ea93486cb523f1098abb804d

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Belarus jails rights activist for tax evasion (Reuters)

MINSK (Reuters) ? A Belarussian court jailed leading human rights activist Ales Belyatsky for 4-1/2 years for tax evasion on Thursday, sparking an outcry in the European Union, particularly in neighboring EU countries which unwittingly aided his prosecution.

Belyatsky, 49, heads Vesna-96, the best-known rights group in the former Soviet republic, which has campaigned for scores of opposition activists prosecuted by the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.

The EU immediately denounced the sentence as "clearly politically motivated" and said it had targeted Belyatsky and his Vesna co-workers because of their "courageous support to victims of repression."

Cries of "Shame!" rang out in the Minsk courtroom from his supporters when judge Sergei Bondarenko handed down sentence, saying it was impossible for him to pass a lesser punishment.

The outcome, in the face of fierce condemnation of the trial in the West, supported the view that Lukashenko has written off relations with the EU for now and is not relying much on Western help to see him through a financial crisis.

With fresh loans from Moscow now assured, Lukashenko, once dubbed Europe's last dictator by the United States, appears to be signaling that he will not relax his hardline policies toward the political opposition in exchange for Western help.

High-ranking Belarus financial officials have expressed concern that Lukashenko's hardline policies could endanger possible credit of up to $7 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

But in the past few weeks Belarus has found financial help more forthcoming from Russia. Last week Sberbank and regional lender Eurasian Development Bank announced they would put up a loan of $1 billion to help it over its crisis, which was caused by excessive pre-election public spending.

Russian gas giant Gazprom confirmed that it will sign a new gas deal with Belarus on Friday in exchange for acquiring ownership of Belarus's gas pipeline operator Beltransgaz.

"SENTENCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS"

The EU, in its statement issued by the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said the sentence passed on Belyatsky was "a symbol of the ever intensifying crackdown on civil society in the country."

The human rights organization Amnesty International said his conviction was "a disturbing sign of the vindictive campaign" waged by the authorities against rights' defenders.

"Sentencing Ales Belyatsky is a sentence for human rights in Belarus. It confirms that the current regime does not respect basic standards of civil rights and freedoms," Poland's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The charge of tax evasion was merely an excuse to again attack the non-governmental sector, which the regime wants to take full control of," it said.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis said: "This case must be seen as part of a broader pattern of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in Belarus." He called for Belyatsky's release.

Belyatsky was arrested and charged after officials in Poland and Lithuania unwittingly helped his prosecution by supplying information about bank accounts held in his name after a request by Belarus's financial authorities.

Belarus imposes tough restrictions on the financing of non-governmental organizations and their activities that virtually rule out any financial help from abroad.

The furor that ensued led to a public apology in August by Warsaw and also caused high-level embarrassment in Lithuania.

Senior EUofficials had earlier called for Belyatsky's release, saying the charges against him were "a politically motivated pretext to target his important work to the benefit of victims of repression."

The prosecution had asked for a five-year sentence to be handed down on Belyatsky, who listened to his sentence from inside a metal cage in the courtroom.

Vesna-96 says the money held by Belyatsky in Poland and Lithuania belonged to the organization and was set aside for paying for human rights activities and supporting political prisoners and their families.

It had latterly been used to support families of opposition activists arrested in a police sweep last December after mass street rallies against Lukashenko's re-election for a fourth term.

Two opposition leaders are still in jail for their part in those protests.

The EU and the United States introduced travel restrictions and other sanctions against Lukashenko and other officials after an election widely criticized as rigged.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Warsaw and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/wl_nm/us_belarus_belyatsky

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Big stakes as Black Friday, shopping season arrive (Providence Journal)

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

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Watching Faces Blend Together Like Water Feels Like You're Hallucinating [Video]

Mica?l Reynaud, a french animator, turned photographer Michael Jang's black & white head shot series into a fluid animation that merges different people's faces, mixes other people's features and trips the hell out of you. It looks like a gentle, rippling pond of changing faces. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/tICazBlGauk/watching-faces-blend-together-like-water-feels-like-youre-hallucinating

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11 Uncomfortable Facts About How IQ Affects Your Life

We'd like to think that IQ isn't the determining factor for success in life.

But psychology professors David Hambrick and Elizabeth Meinz recently wrote an Op-Ed for The New York Times, "Sorry Strivers, Talent Matters," where they cite a few scientific studies that point to innate talent ? not practice ? as what separates the good from the great.

This is a bummer for many of us who want to believe that putting in the work will yield successful results. And not to say it doesn't: it just can't compete with outright intelligence.

Another unpopular idea is that of intelligence quotient (IQ) tests being an accurate barometer of a person's smarts (the Op-Ed also points out that SAT tests are pretty good measures of IQ).This all goes against recent thinking on the subject ? including Malcolm Gladwell's thesis in Outliers, which says that hard work is a key predictor of one's success.

As it turns out, many factors throughout our lives affect our IQ scores ? and conversely, our IQ scores can greatly affect the outcome of our lives.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-you-dont-want-to-know-iq-2011-11

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Cops: Woman kills 2, injures 4, then kills self (AP)

GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Mary Ann Holder wanted to see her married former flame one last time as their bitter love triangle threatened to open a new and potentially costly chapter in court.

The meeting ended with Randall Lamb, 40, getting shot and Holder, 36, taking her own life Sunday. Later, police found that Holder gunned down four children living in her home, including her two sons, and the older boy's girlfriend. Two are dead. Three of the children survived and were in critical condition Monday.

Investigators were trying to unravel the violent chain of events and understand why Holder took out her rage on children. Holder left notes taking responsibility for the shootings and apologizing for the pain she was causing, Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said. The notes also indicate Holder was angry about how her relationship with Lamb came to an end.

"They were obviously shot for the purpose of killing them. You can call it an execution, you can call it a shooting, you can call it whatever you want. The result is the same," he said. "We may never know exactly what her thoughts were and why."

Investigators said Holder and Lamb had been having an affair for almost four years and it was grinding to an acrimonious end.

In February, Lamb's wife, Jennifer, sought a court order to keep Holder away from her and her husband. Jennifer Lamb stated in the complaint that Holder would constantly call and text their cell phones and that Holder also sent nude pictures of herself. In June, Holder filed restraining orders against Lamb and his wife, saying they stalked and harassed her and that Lamb constantly drove past her house.

Authorities said Lamb agreed to meet Holder at a community college parking lot around 9 a.m. Sunday. His wife was about to file an alienation of affection lawsuit against Holder. North Carolina law allows a married person to sue the person with whom his or her spouse had an affair.

Holder shot at him multiple times and hit him once in the shoulder, the sheriff said. Lamb called his wife, who reported the shooting to 911 dispatchers. He was in stable condition on Monday.

Holder then drove off to pick up her 14-year-old son. Phone records indicate that about 45 minutes later, Zachary Smith was sending a text message thanking his hosts for letting him stay over the previous night.

Nearly half an hour later, a sheriff's deputy on the lookout for Holder's black SUV drove past it and turned around after seeing what he thought was a puff of smoke inside the vehicle. Holder was found dead inside with a gunshot to the head, and Zachary critically wounded was in the SUV's back seat. Deputies recovered two handguns inside the vehicle, one in Holder's lap, the sheriff said.

The officers then went into Holder's home in the Pleasant Garden community south of Greensboro and found Holder's son, 17-year-old Robert Dylan Smith, dead. Smith's girlfriend, Makayla Woods, 15, and Holder's nephew, Richard Suttles, 17, were also shot inside the home and were in critical condition Monday. Holder's niece, Hannaleigh Suttles. 8, died Monday.

The victims appeared to have been shot while they slept in a bedroom and the home's living room, said Barnes's chief deputy, Col. Randy Powers.

Holder's decision to take in her dead sister's children appeared to add to the pressures of what appeared to be a life in turmoil, neighbor Teresa Scott said.

"Why would you take them children, keep them children, when your life's rocky, up and down?" said Scott, who said Holder began renting the home across the street about four years ago.

Holder's children were kind and vigilant towards the elderly couple across the road, Teresa Scott said. They volunteered to help with yard maintenance and enquired about the health of her husband Joe, who has had recent health problems.

In the past, Lamb also appeared to like Holder's children, Teresa Scott said. "They'd pack up things and go places together," she said.

But it was also clear the affair between Holder and Lamb had become acrimonious, Teresa Scott said. Robert Smith posted no-tresspassing signs on trees in the front yard this year in response to the rising level of tension between Holder and Lamb, Scott said.

No one answered the door at Lamb's home or at the homes of neighbors at the end of long driveways.

The multiple shootings stunned law officers, Barnes said.

"We've got death. We've got drama. We've got a situation basically no one could ever imagine," Barnes said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_re_us/us_greensboro_shootings

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Falcons hold off Locker, Titans for 23-17 win

/

By PAUL NEWBERRY

updated 9:15 p.m. ET Nov. 20, 2011

ATLANTA - The Falcons held on for the win, which was the most important thing.

They still don't look like the same team as a year ago.

Roddy White had seven receptions for a season-high 147 yards and Atlanta fended off a comeback led by rookie quarterback Jake Locker, beating the Tennessee Titans 23-17 Sunday.

The defending NFC South champion Falcons (6-4) were solid but hardly spectacular, struggling to finish drives and settling for three short field goals by Matt Bryant. They had to sweat it out at the end after Locker, taking over for the injured Matt Hasselbeck, nearly led an improbable comeback.

"We made it a little harder than it needed to be," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "There's a number of things we need to address, that we need to get fixed."

Locker took over late in the third quarter after Hasselbeck went out with a sprained right elbow, having endured an ineffective day even before he was hurt.

The youngster hooked up with Nate Washington on a pair of touchdown passes that made a game of it, but the Falcons managed to run out the clock after Matt Ryan completed a third-down pass to Harry Douglas that was barely enough for the first down.

At least the Falcons shook the hangover from their stunning overtime loss to New Orleans the week before. The Saints prevailed 26-23 in the crucial division game after Smith made a much-debated decision to go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory. Michael Turner was stuffed, and the Saints kicked the winning field goal.

But, as they've done so many times under Smith, the Falcons bounced back. They improved to 16-3 after losses since their coach took over in 2008.

"It starts at the top," said Ryan, who completed 22 of 32 for 316 yards. "In this league, you're going to have some tough losses. You need to move on from that."

Atlanta jumped out to a 13-0 lead on Ryan's 17-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez and Bryant's first two field goals. Turner, who rushed for 100 yards, stretched the lead to 20-3 with a 4-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the second half. But Turner's fourth-quarter fumble deep in Tennessee territory allowed the Titans (5-5) to get back in it.

But Tennessee simply made too many mistakes to win on the road for the second week in a row. The Titans were penalized 10 times ? two of which came on third down to extend Atlanta scoring drives ? and Hasselbeck threw an interception that led to the first Atlanta field goal.

Plus, Chris Johnson had one of the worst games of his career in what has already been a hugely disappointing season. He followed up a 130-yard effort against Carolina with a season-low 13 yards on 12 carries, his longest gain going for only 6 yards.

"You go back to the last game and I got 130 and everything was good," Johnson said. "You come back to this game and nothing is working. It goes back to the offense not executing, not being consistent."

White was in the midst of a disappointing season, as well, leading the NFL with nine dropped passes. He bobbled another one against the Titans but more than made up for it with his longest reception of the season, a 43-yarder that set up Turner's touchdown. White also took a short pass for a 32-yard gain, leading to Bryant's final field goal and a 23-3 lead that looked safe, especially when Hasselbeck went out.

"I got in a little groove," White said. "I feel like I get faster into the game, get a groove going, when they get me the ball early in the game."

Locker at least gave the Titans hope. On his third snap, he threw a deep pass to Washington, who came down with the ball and got away from two defensive backs for a 40-yard touchdown.

The Falcons were driving for the clinching score when Turner had the ball knocked loose at the Tennessee 8 by Colin McCarthy. Will Witherspoon fell on the ball, and Locker guided Tennessee on a 14-play, 84-yard drive capped by a 4-yard scoring pass to Washington with 3:06 remaining.

The rookie didn't get a chance to complete the comeback, watching as Ryan kneeled down in the final seconds.

"It was a lot of fun," said Locker, who was 9 of 19 for 140 yards. "I would have liked a better outcome, but it was fun to be out there competing."

Hasselbeck, who passed for 124 yards, injured his elbow when a Falcons defender struck him on his follow-through. Coach Mike Munchak said he didn't think the injury would keep Hasselbeck out for an extended period and left little doubt he's still the No. 1 quarterback.

"I'm happy for the team that we bounced back," Hasselbeck said. "It hurts to come up short."

NOTES: Bryant connected from 19, 33 and 24 yards and is 18 of 19 on the season. ... Tennessee didn't cross midfield until late in the second quarter, driving into position for Rod Bironas' 46-yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining in the half. ... Gonzalez also became just the 13th player in NFL history to go past 13,000 yards receiving. He finished with six catches for 74 yards.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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No charges recommended for Stevens prosecutors (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The special prosecutor who investigated the botched case against late Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is not recommending criminal charges against any of the Justice Department attorneys who tried him despite finding widespread misconduct beyond what has yet been publicly revealed.

The findings in a two-and-a-half-year investigation by Washington lawyer Henry F. Schuelke III were revealed Monday in an order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan. Sullivan wrote the investigation found the Stevens prosecution was "permeated" by the prosecutors' concealment of evidence they collected that could have helped the senator's defense.

The full 500-page report remains under seal until the Justice Department has a chance to respond, but Sullivan says he will release it publicly.

A jury convicted Stevens of seven felony counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure documents to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in home renovations and gifts from wealthy friends, including a massage chair, a stained-glass window and an expensive sculpture. A few days later, Stevens lost re-election to the seat he'd held for 40 years, making him the longest-serving Republican in the Senate at the time.

Sullivan dismissed the conviction after the Justice Department admitted misconduct in the case, including withholding of notes from an interview with the government's star witness. The witness was Bill Allen, the millionaire founder of a major Alaska company that supported oil producers called VECO Corp., who testified that he oversaw extensive renovations at Stevens' home and sent his employees to work on it.

Sullivan ordered the criminal investigation, saying at the time that he'd never seen such misconduct in 25 years on the bench. He appointed Schuelke, a former prosecutor and veteran white collar defense attorney who oversaw a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into influence-peddling allegations against former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato in 1989 and an internal investigation for Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm after his misconduct came to light.

Stevens died in a plane crash last year while the investigation continued.

Sullivan wrote that Schuelke's team uncovered even further evidence of concealment and serious prosecutorial misconduct that almost certainly would never have been revealed publicly or to him without the exhaustive investigation that reviewed more than 150,000 pages of documents, interviewed numerous witnesses, and conducted twelve depositions. The investigators also found at least some of the concealment was intentional.

But Schuelke did not recommend criminal contempt charges because the judge never issued a direct order spelling out the rules of evidence.

"Because the court accepted the prosecutors' repeated assertions that they were complying with their obligations and proceeding in good faith, the court did not issue a clear and unequivocal order directing the attorneys to follow the law," Sullivan wrote.

Subjects of the criminal investigation were prosecutors Brenda Morris, Edward Sullivan, Joseph Bottini, James Goeke and William Welch, who did not participate in the trial but at the time supervised the Justice Department's Public Integrity section and had overseen every major public corruption case in recent years.

Another attorney who was targeted in the investigation, Nicholas Marsh, committed suicide last year.

The Justice Department also conducted a separate, internal investigation and found in a draft report that Alaska-based prosecutors Bottini and Goeke and FBI agent Mary Beth Kepner engaged in misconduct in the trial, according to a lawyer familiar with the investigation. Lawyers familiar with that investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility told The Associated Press that it remains open.

Kepner came under scrutiny after an FBI whistle-blower said Kepner had an inappropriate relationship with the star witness in the case. Beth Kepner's lawyer, Michael Schwartz, said last month his client has cooperated with the OPR investigation, continues to do so and remains an agent of the FBI assigned to the Alaska division.

Last month, Chuck Rosenberg, a lawyer for Morris, said that OPR found no misconduct by his client.

___

Associated Press writer Pete Yost contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_go_co/us_stevens_investigation

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Three days left: why debt super committee is poised to throw in the towel (Christian Science Monitor)

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Sniffing Out a Good Time

Head Lines | Mind & Brain See Inside

Ambient smells could make or break a party

By Carrie Arnold ?| November 19, 2011?|

Image: Simon Tonge/Getty Images

Spotting a good dance party seems pretty easy: throbbing music, swaying bodies, flashing lights. But a new study, published in Chemosensory Perception, shows that partygoers should use their nose to find the best bash. Scientists found that ambient smells such as peppermint and orange increased clubbers? ratings of the dancing, the club, the music and the overall experience. The researchers say that smell is an important but previously underrated part of the multisensory party experience and that club owners?or hosts at home?could further impress their guests by adding scents to the surroundings.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c841aadbdc5af0f09aa8e2c799cbde7f

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Eyeing Deal Flow, Bain Capital Ventures Heads West; Opens Silicon Valley Office

Bain Ventures, the Boston-based venture capital arm of private equity firm of Bain Capital, has recently opened a Palo Alto office, the firm's first presence on the West Coast. The new office is being led by Bain partner (and former Trilogy alum) Ajay Agarwal. "We needed to be part of the ecosystem out here, and we want to build a business out here for the long term," he explains. Agarwal says that the Palo Alto office will focus on sourcing Series A opportunities and growth capital for startups, in the range of $3 to $5 million. The fund will be investing out of Bain's $525 million fund.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ICj5eljdlvg/

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Budke, Serna coached together for decade

FILE - In this jan. 29, 2011 file photo, Oklahoma State head coach Kurt Budke, right, talks with guard Tiffany Bias, left, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Oklahoma in Stillwater, Okla. Oklahoma State University says Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash in central Arkansas. The university said in a news release Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that the two were on a recruiting trip to Arkansas when the plane crashed near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

FILE - In this jan. 29, 2011 file photo, Oklahoma State head coach Kurt Budke, right, talks with guard Tiffany Bias, left, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Oklahoma in Stillwater, Okla. Oklahoma State University says Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash in central Arkansas. The university said in a news release Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that the two were on a recruiting trip to Arkansas when the plane crashed near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2011 file photo, Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke makes a point during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas A&M, in College Station, Texas. Oklahoma State University says Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash in central Arkansas. The university said in a news release Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that the two were on a recruiting trip to Arkansas when the plane crashed near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File)

FILE -- In this March 20, 2010 file photo, Oklahoma State women's basketball head coach Kurt Budke reacts during the first half of an NCAA first-round college basketball game against Chattanooga, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma State University says Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash in central Arkansas. The university said in a news release Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that the two were on a recruiting trip to Arkansas when the plane crashed near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) ? Kurt Budke believed in Oklahoma State when no one else did, and he wasn't afraid to show it.

Less than two years after his Cowgirls failed to win any of their 16 conference games, Budke led them up against powerhouse Oklahoma and reigning national player of the year Courtney Paris. He supported his upstart team with quite the fashion statement: the brightest orange blazer he could find.

Behind a scintillating 45-point game from Andrea Riley, the Cowgirls upset the sixth-ranked Sooners for the first time in nine years.

Wherever Budke went, he won.

The charismatic coach who turned the Cowgirls into an NCAA tournament regular was killed along with assistant coach Miranda Serna and two other people in a plane crash in Arkansas late Thursday. The two coaches, who first united as player and coach 16 years ago, had been on a recruiting trip.

Budke frequently offered his players encouragement from the sidelines, but he also could be firm, raising his deep voice. And on more than one occasion, he grabbed a microphone to speak to the Gallagher-Iba Arena crowd after a win.

"Coach Budke was a ball coach. What he did to turn this program around was unbelievable but that's not important right now," said Jim Littell, Budke's assistant who will replace him on an interim basis.

"What's important is he was a father figure for these kids. He had a tremendous knack of taking kids that maybe were struggling in some part of their life and making it better for them. That was his strongest trait."

Serna, 36, was one of his top helpers along the way. Before spending the last seven seasons at OSU, she played on one of his four teams that won the junior-college national title at Trinity Valley (Texas) and was his assistant at Louisiana Tech for the last of three straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

The Guadalupita, N.M., native was his recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma State, which has been to the postseason the past five years. University President Burns Hargis said Serna was the first in her family to go to college.

"I loved her energy for the game," Oklahoma State men's basketball coach Travis Ford said. "She had a great enthusiasm for the game. She enjoyed recruiting and she enjoyed the process of that and just had a warm heart."

When Budke took over the program, the Cowgirls had finished with a losing record in five of their previous seven seasons and never finished more than a game over .500 during that span.

The Cowgirls went 0-16 in Big 12 play in his first season, then secured their first bid to the NCAA tournament in 11 years. The next year brought a trip to the round of 16.

"You learn how to lose, and that's a bad habit," he once said of those early struggles. "Sometimes, it's easier to lose than to fight back, so we had to change habits and expectations."

Budke had little to sell but a dream, but it was enough to convince the WNBA-bound Riley to come make her mark. She left as the program's career scoring leader.

"I came to this league because I wanted to coach against the best, night in and night out," he once said. "These players that want to come play for us want to play against the best. That's how we go out and recruit."

A Salina, Kan., native, Budke was a married father of three, including a daughter currently at Oklahoma State.

"I looked at him almost as a mentor," Ford said. "I can't tell you how many times I would pick up the phone and ask him how he ran his zone offense. He'd come down to the office or I'd go up to his and we would sit and talk.

"Just somebody who I had the utmost respect for as a person and a husband and father and obviously as a coach. In this profession, the way it gets crazy at times, he had everything in perspective."

Ford called Budke "a complete father figure" for his team.

"It's his personality, his greatest strength," Ford said. "He just really had great relationships with the girls and could communicate with them."

Budke played basketball for Barton County (Kan.) Junior College and graduated from Washburn in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. After some early small-college jobs, he built the JUCO powerhouse at Trinity Valley before hooking up with Louisiana Tech, once one of the top programs in the women's game.

"When I first went there and got into the gym office, I saw eight players in the outer office hanging around, enjoying themselves and relaxing," said Leon Barmore, who made nine Final Four trips with the Lady Techsters and also hired Budke.

"This was a player's coach. The players loved to play for him. He presented an environment which was relaxing. He made you feel warm and at ease, that always stood out to me."

After playing for Budke, Serna went on to finish her playing career at Houston before returning to Trinity Valley to start her coaching career under Budke. They won another JUCO national title together in 1999 before Serna gained more experience as an assistant at three other schools.

Budke hired her again for his final year at Louisiana Tech, then brought her along to Stillwater.

"Miranda was a really great person," said Carlene Mitchell, another of Budke's former players from Trinity Valley who's now the coach at UC Santa Barbara.

"She worked hard. She believed in him. That's why she stayed. ... She had some opportunities to look at some other jobs, but she wanted to bring in players and help him win at Oklahoma State."

Budke moved to Louisiana Tech when Kim Mulkey left to become the coach at Baylor, where she has won a national championship and currently has the No. 1 team in the country.

"It just hits home with all of us in this profession that truly we just coach a game," Mulkey said, adding that she turned to her son and started crying when she heard the news.

"There's a bigger picture out there and it's not a basketball game, it puts life in perspective. I feel for the Oklahoma State community, how many more tragedies can they endure?"

The crash is the second major tragedy for the sports program in about a decade. In January 2001, 10 men affiliated with the university's men's basketball team died in a Colorado plane crash.

Mitchell has a link to both. In addition to playing for one of Budke's national championship teams, she was an assistant at Oklahoma State in 2001. She was floored when she heard the news.

"He was just an amazing man," Mitchell said. "I'm so sick and sad. He helped me get the job out here and was so excited when I got hired. He was screaming into the phone.

"You want to say that Oklahoma State is cursed with those two tragedies."

Sherri Coale, the coach at rival Oklahoma, remembered Budke as a fantastic coach, a tremendous competitor, a devoted father and husband and a humble but courageous leader of young people.

Texas A&M coach Gary Blair called Serna a rising star in recruiting and Budke his closest friend in the Big 12, with both sharing experience at Louisiana Tech.

"He was a devout family man and the conversation never stopped without us talking about our own kids, not just the players we coached," Blair said. "Life is precious. We must enjoy it and we must respect it because it can be taken away at any time."

___

Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-18-Obit-Oklahoma%20St%20Coaches/id-3b2983e18b0f4124ab661e9bc0aeca69

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Nano-Scale LEDs Toast Lasers When It Comes to Data Transfer [Guts]

When it comes to transferring huge amounts of data in the fastest possible time, copper sucks. What you need to use is light. Until now that meant lasers—but nano-scale LEDs can do it with a fraction of the energy. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/aTtyWDezIAU/nano+scale-leds-toast-lasers-when-it-comes-to-data-transfer

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Lenovo LS2421p Wide

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Lenovo LS2421p Wide is an affordable 23.6-inch LCD monitor that delivers solid color and text performance without using much power.

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