Nickelback goes after haters on Twitter

Chris Pizzello / AP

Canadian rock act Nickelback are mad as heck and they're not going to take it any more ... so they're firing back at anti-fans on Twitter.

By Randee Dawn

Hating Canadian rockers Nickelback has almost become a competitive sport.

Sure,?they have loads of fans. Nickelback's last album, 2011's "Here and Now," hit No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200.

But a sort of viral dislike for the band blossomed properly on the Internet in 2010 when a woman founded a Facebook page called "Can this pickle get more fans than Nickelback." She won.

More recently, Detroit Lions fans were incensed that the band would play the halftime performance during the Thanksgiving Lions-Green Bay Packers game, and got over 55,000 signatures to prevent it from happening. They lost.

And earlier this January, the drummer for The Black Keys told Rolling Stone that the band is essentially killing rock music, calling it "watered-down, post-grunge crap."

That seemed to be the straw that broke the Nickel's back: Suddenly, the band's official Twitter account was reaching out, and on Jan. 5 they tweeted, "Thanks to the drummer in the Black Keys calling us the Biggest Band in the World in Rolling Stone. Hehe."

Well, they are Canadian. The stinging insults are going to naturally be a bit softer.

But starting about a week ago, things stepped up a little more -- and someone behind the band's Twitter account got busy, tweeting personal responses to individual attacks, which were compiled on BuzzFeed. Among some of the zappers:

Sedated_Nights: "My stereo turned itself back on again, to nickelback AGAIN. DOES IT KNOW I F------ HATE THEM WITH A FIREY BURNING PASSION?"

Nickelback: "@Sedated_Nights that makes your stereo excellent. Enjoy the flames"

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Mybueno: "I blame Nickelback"

Nickelback: "@mybueno we blame you. Not sure for what, but it was definitely you."

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@HistoryClassPro: "So Pandora thought it would be cool and skip over some music that I wanted to hear, then played Nickelback..."

Nickelback: "@HistoryClassPro isn't it amazing when they get it so right?"

On the one hand, exhibiting a sense of humor in light of such public ribbing is worth a thumbs up. But on the Internet, poking the trolls is something of a risky business: Trent Reznor got into a battle with some of his Twitter followers and deleted his account in 2009. (He did ultimately return.)

For now, Nickelback is keeping it interesting ... but based on their anti-fans' vitriol, they may need to hire someone to tweet full-time pretty soon.

Are you a Nickelback fan, a hater, or indifferent? Take our poll, and tell us on Facebook.

{"contentId":"10270436","totalVotes":"11797"}

Nickelback is ...

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Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10270436-nickelback-goes-after-haters-on-twitter

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Senator's stroke shows they can hit the young, too (AP)

WASHINGTON ? When a stroke hits at 52, like what happened to Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, the reaction is an astonished, "But he's so young."

The reality is that strokes don't just happen to grandma. They can happen at any age, even to children ? and they're on the rise among the young and middle-aged.

That makes it crucial to know the warning signs no matter how old you are.

"Nobody's invincible," warns Dr. Ralph Sacco, a University of Miami neurologist and past president of the American Heart Association.

Every year, about 795,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke. While some strokes are caused by bleeding in the brain, most are like a clogged pipe. Called ischemic strokes, a clot blocks blood flow, starving brain cells to death unless that circulation is restored fast.

Make no mistake, the vast majority of strokes do occur in older adults. But up to a quarter of them strike people younger than 65, Sacco says.

In the so-called stroke belt in the Southeast, that figure can be markedly worse. At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, a stunning 45 percent of stroke patients are young or middle-aged, says stroke center director Dr. Cheryl Bushnell.

More ominous, recent government research found that nationwide, hospitalization rates for ischemic strokes have jumped by about a third among people ages 15 to 44 over the past decade.

Sometimes younger-age strokes are flukes with no warning signs, impossible to predict ? like Kirk's appears to be. The Republican senator is a Navy Reserve commander and avid swimmer, but dizziness sent him to the hospital. It turns out he had a tear in the carotid artery in his neck which blocked blood flow to his brain, triggering a stroke. Trauma usually causes such tears, although doctors haven't been able to say what caused Kirk's. His doctor at a Chicago hospital said Monday that Kirk was continuing to improve from the stroke, which affected his left side.

Heart birth defects, such as a little hole in the heart known as a PFO, and blood-clotting disorders also tend to cause strokes more often in younger people than in seniors.

But just like strokes at older ages, a lot of younger strokes are preventable. The increase seems to be part of a troubling trend: As Americans get fatter, high blood pressure, diabetes and other artery-corroding consequences set in at an earlier age ? meaning resulting strokes can hit earlier, too.

Indeed, research reported in Annals of Neurology last fall found nearly 1 in 3 of the 15- to 34-year-olds hospitalized for a stroke, and over half of those ages 35 to 44, already had high blood pressure.

More women are having strokes during or right after pregnancy, too, the government reported last summer. That's because more of them start out with unhealthy conditions like high blood pressure even before the hormonal changes kick in.

Whatever the cause or the age, anyone with stroke symptoms needs emergency care: Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side; sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech; trouble seeing or walking; a sudden super-severe headache.

Younger adults are less likely than seniors to know those symptoms, and tend to try to shrug them off, Bushnell says. She points to a recent 50-something patient who twice ignored temporary episodes of weakness on one side. Called TIAs, for transient ischemic attacks, such episodes are a big red flag that a full-fledged stroke may be imminent. A third TIA finally brought him to the emergency room. By then, aggressive treatment wasn't enough to avoid a stroke that left him with impaired speech.

"As people get older, they have more and more direct contact with people who had strokes," and learn what to watch for, Bushnell says. But at younger ages, "there's just a gap in awareness."

Who is at increased risk for a younger-than-usual stroke? African-Americans and Hispanics, more than whites. Someone whose parent had a stroke before age 65 is at extra risk.

But mostly, the same things that are bad for your heart are bad for your brain, making it crucial to control blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol, to stop smoking and to keep active. At www.powertoendstroke.org the American Heart Association offers a seven-step online test called "My Life Check" that can help assess your risks.

Younger people do tend to survive strokes more than older people, and to recover better.

But Arnold Springs, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., knows it was his friends' fast 911 call that made the difference for him earlier this month.

"All of a sudden, my right arm went numb. The next thing I knew I was on the floor," Springs recalls.

The ambulance got him to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in time for a clot-busting drug to stop his stroke. Springs left the hospital three days later with some loss of vision and trouble walking, problems that his sister says are expected to improve ? plus orders to lower his blood pressure to stave off future strokes.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_he_me/us_med_healthbeat_strokes

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Boatright attorney blasts NCAA after probe (AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. ? A lawyer representing the mother of Connecticut guard Ryan Boatright says the family is considering legal options after the NCAA detailed its investigation into the freshman's eligibility.

The NCAA has cleared Boatright to play, but said Saturday he and his mother had accepted more than $8,000 in impermissible benefits from at least two people.

Attorney Scott Tompsett issued a statement Sunday calling the NCAA's news release false and misleading. He said the people providing the benefits were friends of the Boatright family and had "no expectation of repayment or reciprocation."

"And there's not a shred of evidence that they influenced Ryan's decision to attend UConn or that they intend to represent Ryan if he ever goes pro," he said. "The public also should know that the NCAA never told Tanesha and Ryan who made the accusations about them or told them the substance of the accusations so they could defend themselves."

Messages were left Sunday seeking comment from the NCAA.

Boatright has missed nine games this season as a result of the investigation, including a six-game suspension to start the season. He also is repaying $4,500 in benefits. He was held out of the last three games as the NCAA looked into additional information.

The NCAA said it allowed Boatright to return to action after determining he has lived up to an agreement that gave him limited immunity for cooperating in the investigation, and is "likely the least culpable" of those involved in the violations.

The 6-foot Boatright was back in uniform Sunday as UConn hosted Notre Dame. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game just under 4 minutes into the first half. His first points came on a runner in the lane at the halftime buzzer that gave UConn a 24-21 lead.

"Ryan and his mother Tanesha cooperated fully with the NCAA with the clear understanding that the information they provided would be kept confidential and would not be released to the public," Tompsett said. "The NCAA has violated the Boatrights' privacy by releasing their personal information."

Tompsett said he also has represented Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun in the past.

Before Tompsett's release, university President Susan Herbst issued a statement on Sunday praising Boatright's character.

"This young man has shown tremendous patience and poise all the while in the national spotlight," she said. "This is a strength of character that is seldom demanded of college freshmen and I am extraordinarily proud of him, our team and our coaching staff."

Connecticut went 6-3 this season with Boatright out of the lineup, but dropped two of three when he was forced to sit out a second time. The Huskies (14-5, 4-3 Big East) won at Notre Dame, snapping the Irish's 29-game home-court winning streak, before losing consecutive games to Cincinnati and Tennessee, each by three points.

The NCAA said the benefits included car payments, travel expenses for his mother during four official visits to NCAA schools, and approximately $1,200.

"In addition, Mr. Boatright was provided travel expenses, hotel, meals and training expenses during a two-night trip to California," the organization said.

The NCAA said the benefits came from at least two people with links to "nonscholastic basketball and professional sports."

Several news organizations, including ESPN and The New York Times, had previously reported that a plane ticket was purchased for Boatright's mother by Reggie Rose, who runs the AAU team for which Boatright played. Rose, the brother of NBA star Derrick Rose, has declined to comment on the case.

Boatright averaged more than 10 points and three assists in the 10 games he played after being reinstated to the team.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkc_uconn_boatright

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Police use tear gas on Occupy Oakland protesters (AP)

OAKLAND, Calif. ? Oakland police used tear gas and "flash" grenades Saturday to break up hundreds of Occupy protesters after some demonstrators started throwing rocks and flares at officers and tearing down fencing.

Three officers were hurt and 19 people were arrested, the Oakland Police Department said. No details on the officers' injuries were released.

The protest continued into Saturday evening; a large police contingent monitored the situation, but there were no additional clashes.

Police said the group started assembling at a downtown plaza Saturday morning, with demonstrators threatening to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. The group then marched through the streets, disrupting traffic.

The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

Most of the arrests were made when protesters ignored orders to leave and assaulted officers, police said. By 4 p.m., the bulk of the crowd had left the convention center and headed back downtown.

The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

In a statement Friday, Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana said the city would not be "bullied by threats of violence or illegal activity."

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan also warned that officers would arrest those carrying out illegal actions.

Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans. Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_occupy_oakland

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SmackDown results: The World's Largest Athlete powered through Bryan's sneak attack

TUCSON, Ariz. ? With the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble just two days away (FULL COVERAGE), Big Show triumphed over The World?s Strongest Man, before withstanding a surprise chair assault by World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. Meanwhile, Randy Orton returned from injury, targeted the Barrett Barrage with a vengeance.

Big Show def. Mark Henry by Count-out (WATCH | PHOTOS | WATCH AS DANIEL BRYAN STIRS UP TROUBLE PRIOR TO THE MATCH | PART 2)
Just two days before their Triple Threat Steel Cage Match against Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, The World?s Largest Athlete and The World?s Strongest Man faced off one-on-one ? with the champion sitting ringside. When Henry could not answer the count ? the result of Big Show knocking him out of the ring ? Bryan attacked the victorious giant with a chair.

After breaking out of Bryan?s LeBell Lock, Show roared back, chokeslamming the champion and nearly landing a crushing WMD. Bryan scrambled out of the ring, but where will the submission specialist run when he faces Big Show and Mark Henry in a Steel Cage Match this Sunday? (MATCH PREVIEW)

Aksana def. Natalya (WATCH | PHOTOS)
In her very first match on SmackDown, Aksana got the roll-up in less than five seconds on a distracted Natalya. After the match, the angered third-generation Diva put her in the Sharpshooter, making the Lithuanian beauty frantically tap. Tamina, daughter of WWE Hall of Famer ?Superfly? Jimmy Snuka, came to Aksana?s rescue, landing a splash off the top rope onto her prey.

Prior to the match, a confrontation between Aksana and Natalya let to a very awkward moment (WATCH)

Brodus Clay def. Alex Riley (WATCH | PHOTOS)
The only living, breathing, romping, stomping ?Funkasaurus? in captivity, Brodus Clay, faced off against Alex Riley. As the match began, an affable A-Ry tried to show off some moves of his own. But the Superstar from Planet Funk quickly squashed his rhythm, nailing his opponent with a thunderous ?What the Funk!? to secure the win.

Hunico def. Ted DiBiase (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Despite a cracked bone and torn cartilage in his wrist ? suffered at a WWE live event in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada last weekend ? Ted DiBiase once again battled Hunico. With Camacho in his corner, Hunico focused his assault on DiBiase?s handicap, hurling him to the canvas to secure the victory. After the match, Hunico and Camacho attacked DiBiase and stomped his injured wrist on the unforgiving steel steps.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett ended in a No Contest (WATCH | PHOTOS)
With Randy Orton set to return to SmackDown after being injured one month ago in a brutal Falls Count Anywhere Match with Wade Barrett, his English adversary declared that The Viper was ?spiritually broken? and ?a shell of a man.?

WWE?s Apex Predator interrupted and, within moments, the Barrett Barrage clashed head-on with the vengeance of The Viper, before the match could even begin. With emerging referees and Superstars unable to break them apart, Orton unleashed his retribution, creating all-out chaos. While Barrett was able to escape the ring, the present SmackDown Superstars weren?t so lucky. The Viper delivered five searing RKO?s, suggesting he?s fully recovered, physically and spiritually.

WWE Tag Team Champions Primo & Epico def. Santino Marella & Yoshi Tatsu (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Prior to the match, the odd couple tag team of Santino Marella and Yoshi Tatsu debated whether they should be called ?Santoshi? or ?Yoshitino.? WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo didn?t appear to care either way. After Epico hit a Backstabber on a distracted Santino, the explosive champions celebrated with the stunning Rosa Mendes.

Sheamus def. Drew McIntyre (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Due to Teddy Long?s repeated threats of termination, Drew McIntyre has been on the hot seat for weeks. A match against the quick-tempered Sheamus did little to improve McIntyre?s shaky employment situation, as The Great White overcame the Scottish Superstar with a devastating Brogue Kick. While ?The Chosen One? once again fell short, Sheamus appears to be peaking at the perfect time for the Royal Rumble Match.

Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes def. Justin Gabriel (WATCH | PHOTOS)
For the second week in a row, Cody Rhodes faced off against the high-flying Superstar from South Africa in an exciting, fast-paced match. Gabriel was very competitive against Rhodes but eventually succumbed to the Cross Rhodes, marking another impressive win for the driven Intercontinental Champion. Will Rhodes fulfill his declaration to triumph in the Royal Rumble Match in two days?

Big Show will face Mark Henry in a main event match (WATCH | PHOTOS)
To kick off SmackDown a remorseful and heavy-hearted Big Show apologized for his actions in unintentionally injuring AJ two weeks ago. The emotional Superstar brought doubt as to his state of mind and what the future holds for his career following his match at the Royal Rumble.

He was interrupted by World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, who insulted Show as a ?genetic freak,? calling for his retirement before slapping him. The infuriated giant grabbed Bryan?s face and told him, ?What happened to AJ was an accident, what I do to you Sunday won?t be.? And with that The World?s Largest Athlete tossed the champion through the air.

Not one to miss a confrontation, Mark Henry made his way to the ring to address both Superstars, reminding them that he too is part of the Triple Threat Steel Cage World Heavyweight Championship Match on Sunday. Before things exploded, SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long emerged and made an additional main event for later in the show: Big Show vs. Mark Henry.

MATCH RESULTS

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2012-01-27/results

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US, S. Korean troops to stage two joint exercises

SEOUL: The United States and South Korea said Friday they would start two major annual joint military exercises in February and March despite the sensitive power transition under way in North Korea.

The Key Resolve drill will start on February 27 and continue until March 9. Separately, a joint air, ground and naval field training exercise known as Foal Eagle will be held from March 1 to April 30.

Seoul and Washington, which bases 28,500 troops in the South, say the drills are defensive and routine but the North habitually terms them a rehearsal for invasion.

Key Resolve, a computerised command post exercise, involves about 200,000 South Korean troops and 2,100 US soldiers.

It is "routine and defence-oriented, designed to enhance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean peninsula", General James D. Thurman, commander of US troops in South Korea, said in a statement.

"It is based on realistic scenarios, using various assumed threats," he said.

Foal Eagle will include about 11,000 US forces along with South Korean troops in division-sized or smaller units, US authorities said.

North Korea has denounced the exercises as warmongering.

The North has taken a hostile tone with the South since its leader Kim Jong-Il died on December 17 and was replaced by his youngest son Jong-Un.

The new leader has been appointed armed forces chief and has visited several units in an apparent attempt to burnish his military credentials.

Cross-border tensions have been high since the South accused the North of torpedoing a warship with the loss of 46 lives in March 2010.

The North denied involvement but eight months later shelled a border island and killed four South Koreans.

- AFP/cc

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1179372/1/.html

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Candidates gush about wives as ideal first ladies (AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Winning the White House is a package deal, so the Republican presidential candidates are eager to talk up their spouses as ideal first ladies.

Each of the four contenders was asked during Thursday night's debate why his wife would be strong in the role.

Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum highlight their decades-long marriages and describe their spouses as wonderful mothers.

Romney says wife Ann's past battles with multiple sclerosis and breast cancer would make her an ambassador on health causes.

Gingrich, the only candidate married more than once, says his third wife, Callista, is a patron of the arts who has film production and children's books to her credit.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_first_lady

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Transforming school lunches: The 'historic' new rules (The Week)

New York ? The federal government is trimming the salt and fat in cafeteria meals. Will it help slim down America's students?

For the first time in more than 15 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is raising nutrition standards for school meals, arguing that the "historic" changes will ensure that kids across the nation get healthier meals in their cafeterias. (The rules apply to all schools serving meals subsidized by the federal government.)?Here's what you should know:

How will the new rules change school lunches?
They'll set limits on calories: Elementary students will get no more than 650 calories per meal; middle-schoolers will get up to 700 calories; and high-school students will get up to 850. Favorites such as pizza will contain less salt and more whole grains. Breads, buns, cereals, and pastas will have to list whole grain as their No. 1 ingredient. Whole milk is out, low-fat milk is in, and flavored milk must be nonfat. Plus, kids will be getting more servings and bigger portions of fruits and vegetables. Most of these new lunch rules will take effect next school year.

SEE MORE: Americans' ton-a-year eating habit: By the numbers

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Why the big push now?
It's part of an effort to combat the rising rate of childhood obesity ? a third of U.S. kids are now overweight or obese. The 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act directed the USDA to boost school nutrition standards to help get kids into healthy eating habits early. "When we send our kids to school," says First Lady Michelle Obama, "we expect that they won't be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home."

What kind of impact will this have?
Potentially, it could be tremendous. Nearly 32 million children eat lunch at school every day, and almost 11 million eat breakfast there, too. As a result, American children get between 30 percent and 50 percent of their daily calories in the school cafeteria.

SEE MORE: Georgia's 'grim' anti-obesity ads

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Is everyone pleased?
No. The rules don't go as far as some nutrition advocates wanted. For instance, the USDA had proposed scrapping an existing rule that allowed the tomato paste on pizza to be classified as a vegetable, since striking that classification would have cut the amount of pizza kids could eat. But food companies that sell frozen pizzas to schools objected, and Congress blocked the change, along with another that would have limited servings of potatoes to two a week. School districts also got some rules watered down, saying they would have cost too much.?

How much is this going to cost?
The USDA estimates that the cost of preparing each school lunch will rise by 11 cents under the new rules; the cost of each breakfast will go up 28 cents. The federal government will kick in 6 cents per lunch to help schools meet the standards. Over five years, the total pricetag for the rules will be $3.2 billion. But advocates of the higher standards say they'll pay big dividends by reducing medical bills related to diabetes and other obesity-related conditions. "A healthier population will save billions of dollars in future health care costs," said Dawn Undurraga, staff nutritionist at the Environmental Working Group.

SEE MORE: Paula Deen's diabetes: Don't blame Southern cooking?

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Sources:?Fox News, Guardian, TIME, USA Today, USDA

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20120126/cm_theweek/223718

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AP Interview: Haitian leader could pardon Duvalier (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Haiti's president suggested Thursday that he might pardon former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, saying reconciliation for his nation is more important than making the man known as "Baby Doc" pay for his bloody rule.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Michel Martelly pledged to respect the independence of the judge expected to rule within days whether Duvalier should face trial on corruption and human rights violations. Duvalier was driven into exile in 1986 and returned to Haiti a year ago.

But Martelly suggested he has little appetite for a trial that could be explosive for the Caribbean nation, recovering from decades of political turmoil and a devastating earthquake two years ago.

"My way of thinking is to create a situation where we rally everyone together and create peace and pardon people, to not forget about the past ? because we need to learn from it ? but to mainly think about the future," he said, adding: "You cannot forget those who suffered in that time, but I do believe that we need that reconciliation in Haiti."

Duvalier assumed power in 1971 at age 19 following the death of his notorious father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. The two presided over a dark period in which their private militia of thugs in sunglasses, known as the Tonton Macoute, tortured and killed opponents. The younger Duvalier has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from public funds; he denies the accusations.

Martelly said any decision on a possible pardon would come only with "a consensus among all leaders, all political parties."

Martelly also pledged to build a new Haitian security force to maintain order without the U.N. peacekeepers ? about 11,000 foreign military and police officers have patrolled Haiti since 2004. They have recently come under fire for allegations of sexual abuse and suspicion of being the source of a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 7,000 people and sickened a half-million.

The president refused to blame the United Nations for the problems, saying individual troops should be held accountable for their own misdeeds. But he said he will replace the peacekeepers with a Haitian security force that will create jobs for 3,000-5,000 Haitian youths and help Haiti become self-sustaining.

Martelly said he'll need foreign cooperation to fund and train the security force, but pledged to have it at least partially in place by the end of his term in 2016. He has run into opposition from donor countries that criticized earlier pledges to build a new Haitian army ? disbanded in disgrace in 1995 ? and he acknowledged Thursday that a new army wasn't realistic.

He refused to put a time frame on an exit for the peacekeepers.

"We are working with them to establish a calendar where they can retreat," he said. "I don't want to force the peacekeeping nations to feel like I'm pushing them out."

The Haitian president spoke on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of global power brokers at the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he came to meet with potential investors.

Martelly, a popular musician sworn in as president in May, said he has already provided new homes to thousands of earthquake refugees, sent nearly 1 million more children to free schools and made progress on rebuilding the airport and the ports. Investment, he said, is booming.

His main priority, he said, is to create jobs so Haiti can support itself without being dependent on foreign aid.

"The Haiti that has been waiting for help and not moving no longer exists," he said. "Enough handouts; we need hands up. Enough aid; we need trade."

Part of that mission will involve helping Haitians to take over the earthquake reconstruction work, which has been dominated by foreigners working for non-governmental organizations.

"When I came in, Haiti was not governed by Haitians anymore. Probably mostly by NGOs. And that has done what to Haiti? It has weakened our institutions," he said. "We need to focus on the plan that Haiti has today. We have a plan. When we want to go somewhere we are going to have them accompany us. ... We need to organize and better use that aid.

A key part of that will be drawing home well-educated Haitians who have abandoned their country amid corruption and lack of opportunity. This week the foreign affairs minister in Paris appealed to Haitians abroad to return.

"The diaspora will be put back to work. We need them," Martelly said.

But he said he wouldn't be offering them specific incentives: "It's not we have anything to offer. They need to have something to offer too. They need to come back and understand that Haiti is their country. By going away..." He broke off and sighed.

"Don't they always come back?"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_eu/eu_davos_forum_haiti

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US ambassador to Yemen: Saleh's absence positive (AP)

SANAA, Yemen ? The U.S. ambassador to Yemen said Tuesday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh's absence from the battered country will help its political transition.

Gerald Feierstein also denied reports the U.S. was looking for a country where Saleh could live in exile, saying Saleh can return to Yemen if he chooses.

Saleh left Yemen Sunday for the Gulf sultanate of Oman on his way to the U.S. for medical treatment related to burns sustained after a bomb blast in his palace mosque last year.

Before leaving, Saleh passed power to his deputy as part of a U.S.-backed deal brokered by Gulf nations seeking to end the country's nearly year-old political crisis. Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is set to be rubber-stamped as the country's new leader in a presidential election on Feb. 21.

Feierstein said Saleh will leave Oman for the U.S. in the next few days and that the length of his stay will be determined by doctors. Saleh was granted a visa solely for medical reasons, Feierstein said, adding that his absence at this time is positive.

"We think that him not being here will help the transition," he said. "This is not the reason he asked for the visa and this not the reason we gave the visa. We gave the visa for medical treatment."

White House officials said previously that Saleh's request to travel to the U.S. caused a dilemma. Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 33 years though a combination of sly politics and violence, was long considered a U.S. ally in the battle against Yemen's active al-Qaida branch, which has been linked to attacks on U.S. soil.

At the same time, officials worried the U.S. would face criticism in the Arab world for appearing to harbor an autocrat whose security forces have repeatedly used deadly force to repress demonstrations.

Before granting Saleh a visa, Washington sought assurances that he would not seek to remain in the U.S. after his treatment.

And on Tuesday, Feierstein denied previous reports that the U.S. was looking for a third country where Saleh could live in exile.

"In terms of where he goes afterward, we do not have any information on that," he said. "The only thing that we have heard from him is that he intends to come back to Yemen. We are not involved in any discussion with any countries where he might go after his treatment."

Feierstein also spoke highly of the Gulf plan to remove Saleh from power, saying it could prevent further violence the Arab world's poorest country.

Human rights groups have criticized the deal because it granted Saleh and anyone involved in his government immunity from prosecution. Many of the protesters who have taken to the streets for nearly a year to call for his ouster want to see him tried for his alleged role in deadly crackdowns on demonstrations.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have worked to ensure a peaceful transition of power, fearing that further chaos could destabilize the region and allow al-Qaida to operate freely. The group has already seized a number of towns in Yemen's south and last week occupied the town of Radda, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the capital Sanaa.

Late Tuesday, however, a tribal leader involved in negotiating with the militants said they had withdrawn, leaving the town in the control of two prominent sheiks.

Tribal leaders have been trying to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal for the al-Qaida-linked militants for days.

Negotiator Ahmed Ali Kalaz said the group's leader, Tariq al-Dahab, originally refused to leave unless authorities released 15 detained members of the group and declared the area an "Islamic emirate."

Authorities said they could release the men, and al-Dahab and his 200 armed men surprised everyone by leaving the city Tuesday.

While much of Saleh's regime has remained in tact throughout the uprising, with many of his relatives still in charge of government institutions, mutinies have been spreading calling for the ouster Maj. Gen. Mohammed Saleh, the head of Yemen's air force and Saleh's half brother.

Soldiers at an air base in the Hadramawt province joined the mutiny Tuesday, bringing to five the number of bases across the country calling for the commander's removal.

The continued turmoil has aggravated Yemen's humanitarian situation.

UNICEF said Tuesday that the number of malnourished children under the age of five has risen in the last year to around 750,000. In some parts of the country of 20 million people, the number of children suffering from malnutrition has doubled from the level in 2000, the group said.

Out of the 300,000 people displaced inside the country, 60 percent are children, UNICEF said.

___

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Cairo.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen

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Gene Mutations May Boost Ovarian Cancer Survival: Study (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Genetic mutations known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 raise the risk of getting ovarian cancer, but new research shows that those same mutations may boost a woman's odds of surviving the deadly disease.

Women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer who carry the mutations have a better prognosis than women without the genetic variations, according to an analysis of 26 previous studies. The BRCA2 carriers, in particular, had a better five-year survival rate.

"Our paper provides definitive evidence that BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers have improvement in survival [compared to ovarian cancer patients without the mutations]," said Kelly L. Bolton, lead author of the new analysis and a medical student at the University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine.

The study, which confirms previous findings, is published Jan. 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Nearly 23,000 women will get a diagnosis of ovarian cancer this year in the United States, and about 15,500 will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society. Epithelial ovarian cancer, the type Bolton focused on, occurs in the cells on the surface of the ovary.

Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are found in up to 15 percent of women with this type of cancer. A germline mutation is a gene change in a reproductive cell that can be passed on to offspring.

Data from more than 1,213 ovarian cancer patients was included in the studies reviewed. Of these, 909 had BRCA1 mutations; 304 had BRCA2 variations.

The studies also included 2,666 women who did not have the genetic mutations.

At the five-year mark, 44 percent of the BRCA1 carriers and 52 percent of the BRCA2 carriers were alive, compared to 36 percent of those without the mutation.

Bolton said the survival differences remained after the researchers took into account such factors as the stage of the cancer and age, although it was less significant among women with a family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer.

Exactly how the mutations may improve survival is not known. However, Bolton and others speculate the BRCA1 or BRCA2 status may modify the response to platinum-based chemotherapy, a common treatment.

The new analysis will have important implications for future research and treatment of ovarian cancer, the authors said. Routine genetic screening of women with high-grade cancer might be warranted, they added.

Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, suggested the findings can help health care providers tailor treatment and more accurately counsel them regarding expected survival.

While not new, the information is valuable, Poynor said. "For a long time, we've known that individuals with BRCA1 or 2 actually have a better prognosis," she said. "This is not new information, it's expanded information. It's reinforcing what we already know."

More research is needed, the authors said, acknowledging some study limitations. For instance, the analysis lacked complete information on types of chemotherapy used, which might also have influenced survival.

Some co-authors reported consultancy fees from Complete Genomics Inc., a company engaged in gene sequencing, and from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, Schering-Plough, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical firms.

More information

Learn how ovarian cancer is diagnosed at the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120125/hl_hsn/genemutationsmayboostovariancancersurvivalstudy

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Two Supercarriers Side By Side Look Awesome But It's Very Bad News [Imagecache]

These are the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS John C. Stennis, two of the ten nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft supercarriers in service with the United States Navy. The Lincoln just arrived to the Strait of Hormuz as tension keeps mounting up in the area. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xsanaWYbvoU/you-dont-see-two-supercarriers-side-by-side-every-day

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Tom Gregory: Gore and Suicide Under the Glitzy, Glamorous and Beckoning Dream

This week's horrific story beneath the Hollywood Sign of decapitation, murder, and bloody execution is the latest layer of reality that appears when you look too closely at glamor mixed with the degradation of society. As far as I know dismembered body parts and a head in grocery bag are new to the Silver Screen Dream, but glitz has never been immune to bloody gore.

A picture might be worth a thousand words, but one word looms over Tinseltown that's worth a thousand pictures -- the iconic Hollywood sign.

Known round the world as America's symbol of glamour, hope, fame and fortune, the HOLLYWOOD sign started out as an endorsement for a subdivision of homes called Hollywoodland. Meant to last only a few years the sign stood powerfully on its perch long after the builders went bust and the bulldozers stopped. The 13 50x30-foot white letters soldiered on to woo their way into the bloodstream of the city's pulse. Four thousand lights were added during the depression flashing its hopeful Holly -- Wood -- Land to the dull depression-weary spectators below.

By1949 the last four letters that spelled out LAND were removed, and the sign was spiffed up. But termites get hungry quickly. It wasn't until 1978 when a committee largely led by Hugh Hefner, adopted the sign, helping to make it the permanent steel structure you see today.

Huge sheets and plenty of black paint have altered the sign to fit the prankster's whims. HOLLYWEED when marijuana laws were changed, HOLYWOOD when the Pope visited, and JOLLYGOOD when an airline began nonstop service to London.

Tragically, some dreamers are so stubborn for movie success they close the door to the joy in everyday living. When fame isn't realized drugs, booze, addiction and depression can fill the void left by a lifetime of single-minded ambition. The lucky ones leave only the ghosts of their squashed ambitions even as the next bus teeming with young hopefuls arrives.

Each year thousands of actors head to Hollywood with that instinctual dream of a big break. Some find the road to success too rocky to bear, more run out of patience, while others just run out of steam. Most find their way to happiness in another career -- but for some their failed dream consumes their lives; their end is never stellar.

In 1932 the fame-starved actress Peg Entwistle lived near the sign with her uncle. One September night she left home alone telling him she was going to the drugstore. But in reality persistent Peg found herself making the dusty, difficult hike up to the sign. She climbed a workman's ladder to the top of the "H." Under the watchful gaze of the Hollywood's winking, twinkling lights below, Peg dove into the grim reaper's arms. Just like this week, another anonymous hiker/dogwalker found her body and Peg Entwistle's final pathetic note:

"I am afraid I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E."

The autographed photograph below of Miss Entwislte is the only surviving example known to the world. I stumbled across it at auction. There were no existing examples of her signature. Still, bidding got fierce and I took the pricey plunge. Luckily for my peace-of-mind, not long after my purchase another example of Entwistle's signature surfaced. Happily it was an exact match.

It's hard to imagine such a frail, delicate woman meeting such a brutal end. It's prudent to have more than one dream.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-gregory/hollywood-sign-history_b_1220864.html

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Simon Cowell breaks off engagement

Simon Cowell's trip down the aisle is getting postponed.

In an interview with UK newspaper the Daily Mirror, the "X Factor" judge reveals that he and his fiancee, Mezhgan Hussainy, are taking a break from both their relationship and their wedding plans.

PHOTOS: See which Idol alums are engaged or have kids

"It's quite a complicated relationship. We have had a break from each other, and we are still incredibly close," the 52-year-old Brit explains in Sunday's Mirror . "I'm vulnerable. It's not on, it's not off, it's somewhere in the middle. I don't know if I will ever get married, but I am happy."

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PHOTOS: Celebrity engagements

Cowell and Hussainy met on the set of American Idol in 2003, where she was working as a makeup artist, and the couple got engaged in February 2010. At the time, Cowell, who's known for his emotionless demeanor, made it clear that he was very much over the moon.

"I'm smitten with Mezghan, I think she's the one," he gushed to the British TV host Piers Morgan. "She's very special...You know when you've found somebody very special."

PHOTOS: Revisit Simon's last season on Idol

But in Sunday's Mirror, Cowell alludes that the spark has fizzled out and he's regretting his remarks from two years ago.

Addressing his heartfelt quip on "Piers Morgan," Cowell says, "I have been pretty good about not talking about my private stuff, but I got caught up in the moment."

Copyright 2012 Us Weekly

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46095115/ns/today-entertainment/

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GOP race offers scattershot list of angels, demons

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters during a campaign rally, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters during a campaign rally, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich meets with supporters, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Orangeburg, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In the 11 days since Mitt Romney tried unsuccessfully to leave the rest of the GOP field behind in New Hampshire, the presidential race has served up a scattershot cast of angels and demons as the candidates try to strike a chord with different slices of the electorate.

Capitalism was in, then out, then in again. Insurance companies got a sideways sympathetic nod. Mike Huckabee and Betty White proved to have some cachet. The press was an ever-popular whipping child.

Europe and entitlements, felons, food stamps and French: All were on the outs with one candidate or another.

Newt Gingrich even ran an ad faulting Romney for his language skills: "Just like John Kerry, he speaks French," it warned ominously.

The GOP challengers went after Romney's venture capitalist credentials with a vengeance ? most memorably when Texas Gov. Rick Perry rebranded him a "vulture capitalist" ? then eased up somewhat when they caught grief from the defenders of free enterprise.

For a little while, even insurance companies ? typically a popular target for politicians of any stripe ? got a little love after Romney said he liked the idea of being able to fire them for poor performance. The other candidates summoned a chorus of outrage at the notion that Romney would relish firing anyone.

Republican strategist Terry Holt said it all adds up to "a blizzard of buzz words" as candidates try to deliver a headline-grabbing quote that will get people's attention.

But does it work?

"Ultimately, it all blends together into a general sense of the candidate," says Holt. "The back-and-forth is lost on most people."

And there's been a lot of back-and-forthing.

Romney and Gingrich both ran ads trying to claim a little luster from popular conservative Huckabee by rolling out nice things he'd said about them. But it turned out Huckabee hadn't endorsed either of them, and both got a scolding from the former Arkansas governor.

President Barack Obama, watching the GOP race from the sidelines, had to be hoping that a little of Betty White's uncanny popularity would rub off when he taped a video piece for her 90th birthday in which he joked that the actress looks so good she should cough up her long-form birth certificate to prove she's really that old.

The GOP candidates trotted out plenty of reliable enemies ? "Obamacare," federal regulations, big government, the Dodd-Frank financial regulations ? but added some new ones to the mix as well.

Gingrich, catering to South Carolina sensibilities and its port communities, singled out the Army Corps of Engineers, complaining in Thursday's debate that the corps "takes eight years to study ? not to complete ? to study doing the port. We won the entire Second World War in three years and eight months."

Candidates' messages zig-zagged all over in search of a winning line that would work with voters.

Earning money was good ? except if your name was Mitt Romney.

A super PAC supporting Gingrich made a half-hour movie attacking Romney for reaping "massive rewards for himself and his investors," complete with sinister music and a baritone-voice narrator.

Romney defended his capitalist credentials by lining himself up with the philosopher known as a father of capitalism, proudly announcing, "Adam Smith was right."

Perry managed to turn the news that U.S. troops had apparently been captured on video urinating on corpses in Afghanistan into an indictment of the Obama administration. The Texas governor accused the Obama team of piling on against "kids" who sometimes make "stupid mistakes."

It didn't do him much good: He was out of the race within days.

Then came the issue of infidelity: Gingrich chose not to comment on the details of his marriage to his second wife after she claimed that he'd asked her for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress.

Gingrich managed to steer that conversation to the one enemy that all the candidates love to beat up on: the media.

"I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country," he declared.

But even rival Rick Santorum saw through the tactic, urging voters not to be swept away by Gingrich's blast at the press.

Republicans should "get past the glib one-liners, the beating up of the media, which is always popular with conservatives," Santorum said.

Democratic strategist Karen Finney said the Republicans' random list of friends and foes has emerged as candidates "try to pick off pieces of the Republican electorate" with very targeted appeals that will add up to an overall win in each primary or caucus state.

"The narrative is shifting based on the audiences they're speaking to," she said.

"There's always, 'Who's the good guy and who's the bad guy,'" she said.

In this campaign, that lineup changes every day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-21-GOP%20Angels%20and%20Demons/id-1e9fa854ff7a4637894af324c3d07efa

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Taking Pride: Walking A Heathen Path Away from Guilt (slacktivist)

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

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This Laser Scanner Could Let You Fly With Bottles Again [Air Travel]

After terrorists tried to fly with liquid explosives back in 2006, air travelers have been limited to bringing only small bottles onto planes. But that inconvenience could soon be gone if Cobalt's new laser scanners start appearing at airport security checkpoints. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ytM7zvqLXW4/this-laser-scanner-could-let-you-fly-with-bottles-again

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AMD A8-3870K

There's good news and less-good news about AMD's new A8-3870K Accelerated Processing Unit (or APU). The good news is that it surpasses its predecessor, the A8-3850, in every way (if only slightly),
and provides overclocking features and performance potential beyond what you may think you can expect from a chip with a $135 (list) price?whether from AMD or Intel. But for all the strides AMD has made since it released the previous APU this past summer, the A8-3870K still can't replace a solid CPU?discrete video card combo for even quasi-serious gamers. But it shows that AMD is taking its Fusion product seriously, and thus hints at more good things to come.

Like the A8-3850, the A8-3870K is based on a 32nm production process and contains four CPU cores and a DirectX 11 (DX11)?supporting Radeon HD 6550D GPU with 400 GPU cores (in roughly the middle budget range of AMD's video products, judging by the previous generation's naming scheme). There's 128KB of L1 cache and 1MB of L2 cache available per core, and the APU supports dual-channel DDR3 memory at speeds of up to 1,866MHz. The A8-3870K of course also requires a motherboard that uses the (relatively) new FM1 socket, based on either AMD's A75 (with enhanced USB 3.0 and SATA III support) or A55 (USB 2.0 and SATA II) chipsets.

One important reminder about the graphics system on the APU: If you have a discrete video card installed, the APU will by default function as the boot-up video adapter, meaning any displays connected to a video card won't work until Windows loads the proper video drivers. This can be annoying if you only have one display, but you can toggle this "feature" in the motherboard's BIOS or UEFI settings. Second, the APU lets you access AMD's new Dual Graphics technology to "combine" the power of a discrete GPU with the integrated graphics; but this only works if both your hardware (the video card must be relatively low-end, and if you're only using one DIMM of memory, the whole thing might not work) and software (you'll need the AMD Vision Engine Control Center running) is correctly configured. Make sure your PC meets all the requirements before trying it out.

The biggest difference between the A8-3850 and the A8-3870K is in terms of the clocks. The CPU core on the newer chip has been bumped up from 2.9GHz to 3GHz, though the GPU clock remains unchanged at 600MHz?but both are now unlocked. This means you may overclock them to your heart's (and your PC's thermal) content, independently of each other, to get as much new performance as you can muster. It's also one of the first genuinely compelling reasons we've seen for enthusiasts (or just wannabes) to consider an APU that, by the broader standards of AMD's product line, is not an exceptional performer.

As we said when we reviewed the A8-3850 last year, Intel doesn't have any products that directly compare with AMD's new APUs in terms of overall capabilities. But if you care about raw processing more than graphics, an Intel platform based on chips like the lower-end Core i3-2100 or the considerably more powerful Core i5-2500K will serve you better. At its stock clock speeds, the A8-3870K represents only a tiny increase over the A8-3850; its multicore CineBench R11.5 score rose from 3.46 to 3.55, it took only six seconds less (5 minutes 12 seconds versus 5 minutes 18 seconds) to apply 12 filters in Adobe Photoshop CS5, cryptography throughput in TrueCrypt 7.0 raised from 106MBps to 109MBps, and its score in our full-system Futuremark PCMark 7 benchmark was functionally unchanged.

Video tests showed similarly small increases, with scores rising from 1,024 to 1,026 in 3DMark 11, frame rates increasing from 6.3 frames per second (fps) to 6.4fps in Lost Planet 2, and frame rates not improving at all in the Heaven Benchmark 2.5 (it remained at 5.5fps both times). These were all at basic resolutions, by the way?the Performance (1,280 by 720) preset for 3DMark 11, and 1,280 by 1,024 for the other two?though we maxed up all the details. By reducing the titles' resolutions or turning down the visual effects, you'll be able to get something much closer to playable frame rates, but you'll be making quite a few sacrifices.

This is where the overclocking comes in, right? Theoretically. We're happy to report that overclocking (when the APU was installed in the Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H motherboard) was a breeze, and being able to separately focus on the CPU and GPU was an enormous frustration reducer. We had very little trouble nudging the GPU clock up from 600MHz to 900MHz and the CPU clock from 3GHz to 3.5GHz, using just a basic air cooler?and AMD tells us that, with more aggressive cooling and fine tuning of voltages, a combo rate of 960MHz/3.8GHz is possible. The A8-3870K offers you a lot of leeway.

But is it worth it? That depends on your point of view. The 3DMark 11 score rose from 1,026 to 1,244, CineBench from 0.90 to 1.04, the Heaven Benchmark from 5.5fps to 6.4fps, Lost Planet 2 from 6.4fps to 7.5fps, PCMark 11 from 2,509 to 2,691, Photoshop times down from 5:12 to 4:36, and TrueCrypt throughput up from 109MBps to 119MBps. (Predictably, load power rose as well, from 134.6 watts to 142.3 watts.) These aren't poor jumps by any stretch of the imagination. But except for those who might be really excited to overclock with such an inexpensive chip, we're not sure they're dazzling enough to set many hearts racing.

Still, the AMD A8-3870K is a fascinating part that shows how serious AMD continues to take the mainstream processor race. Our conclusion with this APU remains the same as with the A8-3850: Though you'll want a standalone video card for any real gaming purposes, AMD's blending of processing and video performance delivers a balance you just can't get from Intel right now. This may change when Intel ships its Ivy Bridge CPUs, which will support advanced DX11 graphics rather than Sandy Bridge's DX10, in a few months. But for now, AMD's Fusion approach is generating the most comforting heat in the midrange market.

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Questions for Gina Carano

Carano: Channing studied the sport for a long time, and he?s very, very athletic. Ewan and Fassbender picked up the technique and the choreography surprisingly quickly, for the short amount of time I got to spend with them in creating these fight scenes. Fassbender?s extremely tricky, and tricky fighters are very hard to fight. Ewan?s incredibly smart. I find that whoever you are as a person is how you?re gonna fight, and every basic instinct kind of comes out at that moment.

Slate: When you were working with Soderbergh, did you get the sense that he was treating you differently than the more experienced actors like Fassbender and McGregor?

Carano: I do think Steven had a specific idea in mind for me. He helped me quite closely and really walked me through everything when it came to the acting part of it. On physical days there was no problem, I felt very free. And the wonderful thing he did with me was he kept me physical throughout the whole movie.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=a88a96dccd5979f7ed8a6a5990e27440

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Kids & Cursing: 'Modern Family' Toddler Typical, Scientists Say (LiveScience.com)

Bleeped-out swearing may be okay for adults on TV, but what about kids? The ABC show "Modern Family" is about to find out by airing an episode this week about a foul-mouthed 2-year-old.

The show's theme already has critics at the anti-indecency Parents Television Council grumbling, but researchers who study cursing find that believe it or not, 2 years is about the age when kids really start to use "adult" language.

"Yes, 2-year-olds say f---," said Timothy Jay, a psychologist who studies psycholinguistics and obscenities at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "Preschoolers are pretty well-versed in the lexicon, and by 11 to 12, we are looking at adult swearing patterns."

Starting early

The obscenity colloquially known as the "f-bomb" will drop from toddler Lily's mouth on Wednesday's (Jan. 18) episode of "Modern Family." The storyline centers around Lily's parents, Cam and Mitchell, who are trying to clean up their daughter's language before she appears as a flower girl at an upcoming wedding. (The obscenity will be bleeped.)

While the director of communications and public education at the Parents Television Council told FoxNews that the storyline is "in poor taste," it may hit close to home for many parents today. [10 Tips for Raising Happy Kids]

"Kids say swear words as soon as they talk," Jay told LiveScience. "We have 1- and 2-year-olds who say 'f---' and 's---' in our sample."

Jay and his colleagues have a dataset stretching back into the 1970s of words that schoolteachers, day care workers and other adults who work with children report hearing. Kids mimic words early on and pick up quickly on which words are "bad," even if they don't know the exact definitions of those words, Jay said.?

Profanity and the brain

In fact, studies suggest that swearing is firmly embedded in the brain. Swearing is a form of "formulaic language," said Diana Van Lancker Sidtis, a professor of communicative sciences and disorders at New York University. These are expressions such as "You bet!" that frequently appear in conversation, and kids learn them as they're learning how to piece together sentences.

Not only does swearing start early, it's hard to dislodge. Stroke victims and people with brain injuries often remember how to swear even when other words elude them, according to a 1999 review by Van Lancker Sidtis in the journal Brain Research Reviews.

The emotional component of swear words may be what makes them stick, according to the review. Because these emotional words are processed differently in the brain, they may remain when other speech patterns are ravaged.

Swearing also makes it easier to bear pain, according to a 2009 study in which volunteers submerged their hands in a tub of ice water, a common laboratory method for inducing pain. Some were told to repeat a swear word of their choice as they submerged their hands, while others were told to repeat a boring, nonobscene adjective.

The volunteers who were swearing a blue streak kept their hands submerged longer than the other participants, suggesting the profanity helped them cope with pain. It's possible that swearing increases aggression and thus pain tolerance, study researcher Richard Stephens of Keele University told LiveScience at the time.

Swearing also serves a purpose of expressing emotion more deeply, succinctly and cathartically than any other type of speech, Jay said. But this positive side of swearing gets little attention, he said.

"A lot of people don't realize that swearing represents an evolutionary leap, in that it allows us to be verbally aggressive without being physically aggressive," Jay said. [10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors]

Learning to swear

The positive aspects of profanity aside, parents may wince at a 3-year-old swearing like a sailor ? especially because children don't fully understand the social nuances of when and where swearing gets a pass until they are teens, according to Jay.

Choosing to have TV toddler Lily say the f-word, bleeped or not, is likely to elicit the most discomfort possible for viewers, at least according to a January 2011 paper published in the journal Mass Communication and Society. That research surveyed 500 college students and found that sexually suggestive words were rated as the most offensive, with excretory language coming in second and religious blasphemy bringing up the rear. The students also reported that swear words are most offensive on broadcast television, which would include ABC, the channel that hosts "Modern Family."

Broadcast television is currently under fire, with an ongoing Supreme Court case determining whether the Federal Communications Commission breaks the First Amendment by penalizing broadcasters for brief nudity and fleeting expletives. A previous Supreme Court case, FCC v. Pacifica in 1978, cited children's exposure to television as a reason to uphold indecency laws.

But it's not "Modern Family" or even famously profanity-laced, bleep-free shows like HBO's "The Sopranos" or "Deadwood" that teach kids to swear, Jay said. Those lessons come from closer to home.

"Television really has nothing to do with it," Jay said. "Nothing to do with it. We don't learn how to swear from television ? nobody does. We learn how to swear from our siblings, from our parents, from the backyard."

"Little kids are like language vacuum cleaners," he added.

You can follow LiveScience?senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120118/sc_livescience/kidscursingmodernfamilytoddlertypicalscientistssay

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